Goddess of Sweet Waters

Oshun

Oshun (also Ọṣun, Ochún, and Oxúm) is the orisha associated with love, sexuality, fertility, femininity, water, destiny, divination, purity, wealth, prosperity and beauty, and the Osun River, in the Yoruba religion. She is considered one of the most popular and venerated of the 401 orishas.
According to traditional beliefs, Oshun was once the queen consort to King Shango of Oyo, and deified following her death, honored at the Osun-Osogbo Festival, a two-week-long annual festival that usually takes place in August, at the Oṣun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Osogbo. A violín is a type of musical ceremony in Regla de Ocha performed for Osún. It includes both European classical music and Cuban popular music.

Mythology
According to the Ifa Literary Corpus, Oshun was the only female Irunmole (primordial spirit) sent to assist Shango to create the world by Olodumare, the Supreme God. The other spirits sent ignored Oshun, who went to Shango for guidance. One version of the story claims that female spirits were tempted to take matters into their own hands, but all of their creative attempts failed because they acted without male spiritual leadership.
Another version, one more consistent with the beginning of the story, claims that the male spirits attempted to make the world without female influence, and this exclusion is what caused the world to fail. Regardless of the version, the myth ends with Shango forcing the other spirits to respect Oshun as they would him. Following her death, Olodumare granted her the powers of an orisha.

Worship

Yorubaland
Oshun is the divine patroness of the Osun River in Nigeria, which bears her name. The river has its source in Ekiti State in the west of Nigeria and passes through the city of Osogbo, where Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, the principal sanctuary of the deity, is located. Oṣun is honored at the Osun-Osogbo Festival, a two-week-long annual festival that usually takes place in August, at the Oṣun-Osogbo Sacred Grove on the banks of the river.…

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Encounters mentioning Oshun

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