Iemanjá

Who She Is

Iemanjá (Yemọja, from Yèyé omo ejá — “mother whose children are fish”) is the orisha of the sea and of motherhood. She is the great mother of many orishas and, by extension, the embracing mother of all humanity. Where Oxum reigns over the fresh waters, Iemanjá reigns over the ocean — vast, deep, generous and, when crossed, terrible.

She is the lady of the home, the family, and maternal protection. In Brazil her cult is among the most popular: on the beaches, at the turn of the year, and on February 2nd, crowds offer her white flowers, perfumes, and little boats launched into the sea, asking for blessings and giving thanks for her embrace.

Domains

• The sea and the ocean — the salt waters, the vastness, the tide.
• Motherhood — care, generation, the lap that embraces.
• Family and protection — the home, the community, the shelter of the children.

In-Game Perspective

Iemanjá is the maternal-oceanic principle — the embrace that receives all the rivers and returns life in the form of rain. In the Wiki’s line of syncretism, she speaks to the great cosmic mothers of other pantheons and to the image of the primordial water from which everything is born.

See Also

• Oxum
• Nanã
• Iansã
• Olódùmarè (Yoruba source-principle)