ᐈ Yemaya and Shango 【History, Demons, Phrases and More】

The connection that these deities have with each other is different from the rest, since they are not a couple, but rather they are familiar in a certain way. Discover everything about the history of Yemaya and Shango in this article.

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Yemaya and Shango: History

Yemayá and Shangó are Orishas of the Yoruba religion. The goddess of the seas (Yemaya), is Shango’s foster mother, and according to the patakies of religion, he is born the product of incest between the goddess Yemmu and his son Aggayu Solá.

The deity was crossing the river with Aggayú’s boat, and offered to pay through sexual intercourse (with her body) since I didn’t have money to remunerate his gesture. An offer that Aggayú could not deny. Over time, one of the greatest deities of the Yoruba pantheon, Shango, is born.

Yemmu gives her child to Yemayá so that she can raise him in a better way than she does. Yemayá accepts and watches the baby grow into a man of great physical size. He did grow up in a better environment than he would have grown up with his mother, but never having met his parents affects him in one way or another.

Upon reaching an advanced age, he demands his adoptive mother to give him confess the truth and reveal the identity of your parents. Yemayá accepts and grants her request, and confesses the truth. Yemayá tells him that if he goes to where the river rises, next to the field of fire at night, he will know his purpose. Shangó immediately goes to the right place, where he meets Yemmu and she succumbs to the pressure.

Shangó has finally discovered the truth and where he comes from, he knows that he is the son of Aggayú Solá. This story continues in another section of the article, in order to answer the question about demons.

Demons

Here continues the story of Shango and its discovery. The demons or rather the demon found in the story of Shango and Yemaya is his own father, Aggayu Solá. Whoever on the night that Shangó breaks in where he is sleeping is alarmed, he does not know who is lurking in his home, when he goes out, he finds a calm Shangó eating his dinner.

Shango without flinching says: «I am your descendant. And I have the right to eat your dinner. This annoyed his father, for which he replied with a thunderous: “I have no children”, taking Shango strongly by the neck. At this moment in history is when Shango use the meaning of demon to refer to his own father, product of the abandonment he suffered from both.

Lava and small volcanoes emerge from the ground, product of the combat that was taking place at that moment. To the point where Aggayú Solá manages to throw Shango into the fire, being stunned because only he and a possible son have the ability to walk on fire without burning. The fight stopped, and at the same time Yemmu arrived at the place, professing that Shango was indeed the son of Aggayú Solá, and that he had to take responsibility, that is, teach his son to become a man.

Children of Yemaya and Shango

The children of Shango are characterized by to be hot-blooded, angry and get carried away by their thoughts / impulses. Energetic and not tolerant of people with false intentions, they are inexhaustible when it comes to revenge. However, they tend to be very protective of the people they associate with best, covering and protecting those who do not possess their incredible strength, both mental and physical.

On the other hand Yemaya’s children are different. They are conceited and lovers of expensive things, precious jewelry among other things. They usually have tendencies for blue colors. His spirituality of improvement and constancy are comparable to the strength of Shango. The fact that they are conceited does not mean that they are disrespectful, because in fact it is something that characterizes them, educates and respects people so that they do the same with them.

Can they be together?

There is no rule that establishes that the children of Yemayá and Shangó cannot be together, so it is inferred that since there is no official prohibition, then there is no problem. Now, if we talk about the deities and a possible relationship, it is different. Since as mentioned, Yemaya was her adoptive mother and establishing a relationship with Shango would be making the same mistakes as the deity of Yummu. Mistakes for which, in principle, she had to raise and educate Shango.

There is a Patakí (story) where Yemayá after a long period submerged in the depths of the seas, decided to go up to earth when she heard some particular drum sounds. She was Shango at one of her parties. Yemaya decided to dance and play along with Shango, who, stunned by the beauty of the goddess, could not recognize that she was her adoptive mother.

At the end of the night, the deity proposes that he go to his Ilé, a proposal that Shangó did not reject. At the time of reaching the seashore the problem occurred, Shangó does not know how to swim, however, Yemayá convinces him and he manages to get on the boat.

On the way, the goddess of the seas agitates the waters, forming a whirlpool, which absorbs Shango. This whirlpool almost drowned him, just before passing out from lack of oxygen, Yemayá saves him. Shangó, ashamed, apologizes for not having recognized her before, he is excused and everything ends that way.

Undoubtedly a story that leaves us as reflection the importance of the maternal bond that Yemayá has with Shangó, since despite not having seen him for a long time and having the possibility of penalizing him for not contemplating that it was Yemaya, she forgives him and lets him live in peace.

Phrases

Almost all the Orishas have pronounced famous phrases which are repeated and analyzed by their followers. In order to transmit a small fragment of the wisdom of their guides.

Yemaya phrases

Shango phrases

Why do they eat together?

There is a popular belief that Shango and Yemaya eat together because both of them, according to the patakiesThey always have, this may be because they both grew up feeding each other. That is to say, Yemayá had to feed Shango when he was younger and did not have the ability to feed himself on his own.

On multiple occasions Yemaya is mentioned eating with Shangó, in fact, in the patakí of Yemaya and Oyá, reference is made to Oyá getting Shangó and Yemaya enjoying a meal together (lamb), causing great annoyance to the deity .

It is then inferred that these saints eat together due to their family ties and the history of religion, which shows these figures eating together on various occasions.

oni oni

The phrase Oni Oni refers to the children of Shangó and Yemaya. It so happens that a long time ago in the villages certain prefixes were attributed to the deities, ie. Shango’s children were called by the name “Oni”. After Yemaya’s pact with Shango, the later children or guides of the goddess were called in the same way as the children of Shango.

They thus form a well-recognized word within Yoruba culture, which in turn wants to reflect a supposed perfect lineage. However, many people have denied this fact.

We hope that you have acquired the necessary knowledge about the patakis between Yemaya and the deity Shango! In general, we were able to observe a very good relationship between mother and son, despite not being biological.

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