Oshun, river orisha: love and fresh water from Africa to the Americas

In the traditional religion of the Yoruba, a people living mainly in the south-west of present-day Nigeria and in part of Benin, the deities are called orishas. Among them Oshun holds a special place: she is the mistress of fresh water, love, beauty and fertility. Devotion to her crossed the Atlantic with the Africans deported as slaves, finding new forms in Cuba and Brazil.

The river and the grove of Osogbo

Her name is also that of the Osun river, which flows through the Nigerian state of the same name. Near the town of Osogbo, along its banks, lies a sacred grove with shrines, sculptures and altars dedicated to the goddess and to other deities. In 2005 UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List, recognising it as one of the last Yoruba sacred groves to have survived the growth of the cities.

Every year, usually in August, the Osun-Osogbo festival takes place there, drawing devotees and visitors from abroad as well. According to local tradition, the founder of the town made a pact with the goddess, who promised protection and prosperity in exchange for the inhabitants' devotion. The central moment of the festival is a procession to the river led by a young woman, called the Arugba, who carries the offerings on her head.

Sweetness and power in the stories

Traditional Yoruba stories, transmitted orally and partly linked to the Ifá divination system, associate Oshun with brass, honey, the mirror and the fan, while her colour is often yellow or gold. In many stories she is one of the wives of Shangó, the orisha of thunder, while in others she is linked to Orunmila, the lord of divination, or to other major orishas.

One of the best-known stories tells that when the orishas came down to earth to set it in order, the others excluded Oshun from their decisions because she was a woman. Their undertakings failed one after another: the rain did not fall and the earth bore no fruit. When consulted, the supreme god Olodumare answered that nothing would succeed without her. The story is often cited to show that, within her sweetness, Oshun holds an indispensable power.

Ochún in Cuba and Oxum in Brazil

In the Americas the religions of Yoruba origin became intertwined with the Catholicism imposed by the colonisers. In the Cuban Regla de Ocha, also known as Santería, Ochún is associated with the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, the Madonna venerated in the sanctuary of El Cobre near Santiago de Cuba, whom Pope Benedict XV proclaimed patroness of the island in 1916. Both are linked to water and to the colour yellow.

In Brazil, in the Candomblé of Bahia, the goddess is called Oxum and is venerated as mistress of rivers and waterfalls, of wealth and motherhood. Here her cult is associated with that of the Virgin Mary under various titles, depending on the region. In both traditions Oshun keeps the character of a deity of beauty and love, generous but quick to take offence if neglected.

The story of Oshun shows how a deity tied to a specific river was able to survive the deportation of millions of people, adapting to different languages, saints and landscapes. Today the grove of Osogbo and the shrines of the Caribbean and Brazil each tell, in their own way, of the same faithfulness to a goddess of fresh water and of love.