Oyá

Oyá, also called Yansá, 'mother of nine', is the oricha of the wind, the storm, and the tempest, mistress of the whirlwind and lightning's inseparable companion. Fierce and fearless, she is the only oricha who dares to fight at Changó's side, going before him in battle carrying his fire; she is his warrior consort. She rules the marketplace, the constant motion of change, and the gate of the cemetery, where as guardian of the dead she commands the egun, the ancestral spirits. Her emblems are a horsetail whisk of dark hair, a skirt and beads of nine colors, and copper; her number is nine. A patakí remembers her as the earlier companion of the ironworker Oggún, whom the thunder-king won away. In Cuba she is syncretized with Our Lady of Candelaria (la Virgen de la Candelaria) and, through her rule of the cemetery, with Saint Teresa.

Domains

• wind and storm
• cemetery and the dead
• marketplace and change

Powers

• raises the wind and the whirlwind
• guards the gate of the cemetery

Epithets

• Yansá — mother of nineCabrera, El Monte (1954) (secondary)
• Oyá Obiní Dodo — Oyá the true woman/warriorBolívar Aróstegui, Los Orichas en Cuba (1990) (secondary)

Relations

• spouse: ChangóThe warrior consort of Changó, she alone dares to fight beside him and carry his lightning.William Bascom, Shango in the New World (1972) (secondary)
• lover: OggúnA patakí makes Oyá the earlier companion of Oggún before Changó won her away.Bolívar Aróstegui, Los Orichas en Cuba (1990) (secondary)

Sources

• Oyá is the oricha of wind, storm, the Niger River, the marketplace, and the gates of the cemetery, warrior consort of Changó, syncretized in Cuba with Our Lady of Candelaria.: William Bascom, Shango in the New World (1972) (secondary); Natalia Bolívar Aróstegui, Los Orichas en Cuba (1990) (secondary)