Origins: Yoruba Chant- Yemaya O

Subject: Origins: Yoruba Chant- Yemaya O
From: GUEST,BillMe
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 01:15 PM

Howdy-
Anybody know meaning/origin of Yoruba chant:
Yemaya O a Go a ko yo Yemaya

Subject: RE: Origins: Yoruba Chant- Yemaya O
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 03:12 PM

Billme,

In response to your request, I just contacted a friend, Celeta, who is a follower of the the Yoruba {Nigeria} religion of Ifa.

Yemaya {Yemaja} is a very important Yoruba orisa {orisha}.* She is said to be the orisha {goddess, if you will} of the ocean, and the seas. In that context she is considered to be the Mother of Life.

* actually the word is 'orisa' as traditionally there is a 'h' sound but no 'h' in the Yoruba written language.

In the USA Yemaja is usually pronounced as {yeah-mah-JAH}, but there are different pronunciations in Brazil, Cuba and Nigeria {and depending on those who initiated a person into that religion this name is pronounced differently}.

You are probably aware that each orisha has his or her {or his/her}own distinquishing drum patterns and chants that he or she {or he/she} responds to.

Celeta says that there are many chants for Yemaja. However, again because different followers of this religion concentrate on the orisha that calls them {almost like astrological sun signs}, and Celeta 'isn't Yemaja', she wasn't familiar with this specific chant.

However, she did say that the word 'ago' means 'open'. This chant may be saying 'open yourself to Yemaja" or open your ears" to receive understanding, or it may have some other similar meaning.

****

See this excerpt from another recent thread {Wade in the Water" in which I quoted an online source about the Yoruba religion & its orishas:

"The Yoruban spiritual system has been described as a pyramid with five layers. At the apex is Oldumare, the Supreme Being. The second layer beneath the Supreme Being is composed of lesser deities called Orisha. Below these deities are ancestral deities called Egungun. While all of the above are noted as spiritual beings, the next two layers of the pyramid consist of human beings."

Yemaja- orisha of fresh water; orisha of the Ogun River {in Nigeria}Yemoja's relation to water makes her a maternal deity who is regarded as the Mother of All; her color is blue, the color of the sea.

-snip-

Celeta told me that this website is incorrect. It is another female orisha, Osun {Oshun} who is the 'owner' or ruler of fresh water; Yemaya is the ruler of salt water and the seas. Celeta said that Yemaya is Ogun's mother and that is why that website said she was the ruler of the Ogun river {even though Osun is traditionally considered the ruler, or 'owner' of rivers}. Ogun, btw, is the orisha of Iron and all those who work with or use iron {including warriors, farmers, and surgeons}. IMO, a remnant of the belief in "Ogun" can be found in the Southern belief in the horse shoe as good luck.

I have 4 books on this religion and its mythology. One that I glanced through hyphenates the orisha Yemaja with the orisha Olokun. {Yemaja/Ololun}. Celeta said that Olokun is the orisha of the bottom of the ocean and Yemaja of the top of the ocean.

Celeta highly recommends http://www.orishanet.org/ to learn more about this traditional religion that is also practiced as various places such as Cuba and Brazil as Lucumi and Santeria.

This website also has a great sound clip of an orisha chant.

Here is a quote from a page of that website Orishas

"Yemayá lives and rules over the seas and lakes. She also rules over maternity in our lives as she is the Mother of All. Her name, a shortened version of Yeyé Omo Eja means "Mother Whose Children are the Fish" to reflect the fact that her children are uncountable. All life started in the sea, the amneotic fluid inside the mother's womb is a form of sea where the embryo must transform and evolve through the form of a fish before becoming a human baby. In this way Yemayá displays herself as truly the mother of all. She, and the root of all the paths or manifestations, Olokun is the source of all riches which she freely gives to her little sister Oshún. She dresses herself in seven skirts of blue and white and like the seas and profound lakes she is deep and unknowable. In her path of Okutti she is the queen of witches carrying within her deep and dark secrets. Her number is seven for the seven seas, her colors are blue and white, and she is most often represented by the fish who are her children."

****
iba a se gbo gbo, egun ase.

{I pay homage to all my ancestors, so be it}.

And all the mistakes are mine.



Azizi Powell

Subject: RE: Origins: Yoruba Chant- Yemaya O
From: Azizi
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 03:23 PM

I just want to point out the coincidence that after I posted the above comment, the Mudcat home page listed a thread named
"Sands of the shore" directly underneath the Yemaya O {Oh Yemaja} thread.

****

BTW, here is the link to the orishanet website with the short
sound clip:

Orishanet