Oxum: Meet the Orisha of Love, Fertility and Emotions!

THE Orisha Oxum is known as the goddess of love, fertility, nature and balance of emotions.

She also represents the waters and is called a gentle mother among peoples new and old. That’s because it is Oxum who intercedes in different situations.

commonly, Oxum is called the Orisha of love. For this reason, she is mostly sought after in love situations such as relationship problems and more. All couples who seek peace, tranquility and stability in the relationship can turn to Oxum, as its blessing will provide the balance of energies in the relationship.

Do you want to know more about Oshun such as its stories, syncretism, greetings and much more? So follow the article until the end and be closer to the Orisha of love.

Oxum: Orisha of love and balance of emotions

Who is Oshun?

Oxum is the Orisha of love, water, nature, fecundity and the balance of emotions. She represents the old and new peoples, being a kind mother able to renew and intercede for everyone in different situations.

Known as the Goddess of love or Orisha of love, Oxum is mainly sought after by those who need help in a relationship or loving union. Therefore, when there are conflicts in love relationships, relationship breakup or relationship deadlockOxum is the most wanted Orisha.

She is also called Osum, Osun, Osun and Oshun, which is the most popular name in Brazil. Among its many characteristics are sensitivity, passion that motivates and gives essence to life, feminine delicacy, peace, emotional balance and tranquility.

For all these characteristics, Orixá represents calm waters like ponds. This calm, tranquility, naturalness, peace and balance present in the actions of the Orixá is what provides lightness and good energies for hearts in love.

A curiosity about this Orixá is that during the incorporations made in terreiros, It is common for the children of the Orisha to cry, as they are very sensitive like Oxum.

Orisha’s History

There are several interesting stories about the Orisha. Oshun’s most remembered story is about when she became regent of the Oracle.

Daughter of Oxalá, Oxum was always very curious and was intrigued by the wise way her father dealt with life. Oxalá always consulted Ifá when she had questions or exúsince he had the gift of seeing through the whelks.

Oxum, seeing all that, also wanted to learn to see the future, but his father explained that Ifá had the necessary gift to read and interpret the cowries correctly, just like Exú. It was then that the Orixá decided to ask Exú himself to teach how to read the cowries. Of course the Orisha refused.

Saddened by the refusal, the Orisha went to the forest and found the witches Yámi Oroxangá who were willing to teach the Orisha the gift of interpreting cowries. However, the witches really wanted to play a trick on Exú.

In the end, Oxum was instructed to make a spell along with an offering to the Yámi. When he got close to Exú with his hands full of dust, Oxum asked the Orisha to guess what he had in his hands and blew the dust in her face. The Orisha was temporarily blinded and needed help to guide himself.

Oxum told his father what he had done and Ifá was amazed by the Orisha’s courage and dexterity. It was then that he decided to present her with the “hand of game”, making her regent of the Oracle, as well as Exú.

When asked about the reason for all that, the Orisha told her father that she did it out of love for him!

Who is Oxum in the Catholic Church?

The Orisha Oxum is syncretized in the Catholic Church by Our Lady of Aparecida, Santa considered patron saint of Brazil. Found in a river in the state of São Paulo, Nossa Senhora de Aparecida has several characteristics similar to Orixá, such as: tenderness, sweetness, sweetness, beauty and balance.

So, both have a strong connection with fresh water, and Santa was found in a river and Orixá represents calm waters such as rivers, lakes and waterfalls. In addition, both Orixá and Nossa Senhora de Aparecida carry the vision of balance and universal love.

Oxum in Umbanda and Candomblé

In religions of African origin, such as Umbanda and Candomblé, Oxum is the name given to the Orixá that represents love, balance of emotions, fecundity and calm waters. So, in addition to these characteristics, there are numerous aspects related to rituals, offerings and the cult of the Orisha.

In this way, see below some particularities of the Orisha in relation to the cult!

children of Oshun

Oxum’s children care a lot about people’s opinion, so they are always looking to please everyone. This characteristic makes the children of Orixá people with great diplomatic capacity in dealing with political differences, even if it goes against their opinions.

Obstinacy and focus they also define the children of Oshun, who spare no effort to achieve their ideals and goals. Furthermore, these people are calm, sweet, affectionate, dedicated and very honest.

In love, these people like stability, balance and tranquility. They are not carried away by unbalanced passions and feelings. On the contrary, they are calm people who prefer balanced relationships. but they do not be deceived. When betrayed, these people walk away and never forget what happened. Are unable to forgive betrayalseven if there are no more regrets.

Worship of Orisha

Oshun is celebrated on December 8th, and its day of the week is Saturdays. In its celebrations fecundity, fertility and prosperity are celebrated, so in the ceremonies the Orixá is called “Lady of Gold” and “Lady of Love“.

The color that represents the Orisha in her cult is yellow., which is attributed to the wealth in several aspects that Oxum has. The salutation to the Orisha is done as follows: Oh Yê Yê Ô. The meaning of your greeting is “watch over us mom“.

Discover the history and characteristics of other Orixás here at Space Start Again!