The orixá Ewa: its history, food, qualities, children and more!

Ewá is considered the daughter of Nanã and Oxalá and the sister of Oxumaré, Ossaim and Obaluaiê. In most myths, she is depicted as a powerful and beautiful warrior who chose to live in chastity. Associated with purity, she is the lady of the mists and mists, the horizons, the rosy sky during sunset and the entire cosmos.

Ewá has dominion over beauty and creativity. She is often called the “mother of character”, due to her firmness of word, being seen as the orixá that represents possibility, sensitivity, sixth sense, clairvoyance and fecundity. Thus, we can count on Ewá to clean and bring harmony and beauty to the environment.

She owns a lot of wisdom and a more unstable, talkative and expansive personality. Ewá’s purity does not mean that she is naive, as she sees beyond the surface and those who challenge her tend to end up lost in life. As a seer orixá, she is linked to the occult, mimicry, transcendence and the endless cycle of life.

Next, you can learn a little more about Ewá. Follow the article to know its history, origin, cult, personality and other interesting information!

Initiated or not, it is important to learn about entities. To find out if it makes sense to join Candomblé and understand how the orixás can help us, knowing the stories and rituals of each one is part of the knowledge and concerns these ancient souls. Next, see Ewá’s story!

Ewá is a female orixá honored more in Candomblé than in Umbanda. Only a few very traditional terreiros located in Bahia perform rituals aimed at Ewá, as they are more complex and the younger generations do not know much about her. The knowledge acquired about Ewá came from the cult of Ifá and its treatises.

This and the fact that Oxum is another orixá of the waters leads to her confusion with Ewá. This also happens with Iansã, due to the similar colors, utensils and chants – sometimes, the three are even seen as one.

Thus, the terreiros in Bahia that worship Ewá are Gantois, Casa de Oxumaré, Casa Obé Ogum Ebé Axé Ecô and Ilê Axé Opô Afonjá.

Ewá’s connection with water comes from his home and from his main source of strength being the river of the same name located in Nigeria, in the state of Ogum. Furthermore, some controversial variations on the mythology claim that her cult was absorbed into the Yoruba pantheon, having started with the Mahi people.

Ewá is described as a very brave woman who cheated death several times. One of these occasions was the day she carried clothes in a large trough called an igbá, to the edge of a river. As she was washing them, she noticed a man running desperately towards her. Ewá felt compelled to help him, hiding him inside the igbá.

When Ikú (death) approached, asking where that man was, Ewá replied calmly that he had seen him go down the river. Ikú passed by the boy, who introduced himself as Ifá and offered to marry her. Ewá did not accept the request, but it was from Ifá that she learned about clairvoyance.

Being Xangô a great flirt and Ewá the owner of a distinct beauty, he was one of the many who tried to win her over, without success. One day, Xangô was dancing over one of Ewá’s territories and she made fun of him. So Xangô didn’t get down and said he would do whatever he wanted and wherever he wanted.

Ewá left, taking with him the fog that covered the place. This made him realize that the place was a cemetery and he became sad. Xangô ended up leaving, since death is the only thing he is afraid of. Furthermore, the fact that he likes the peace of cemeteries is something that makes Ewá associated with Iansã.

According to mythology, Nanã really wanted Ewá to get married, as she thought her daughter was very lonely. However, Ewá preferred to be alone and focus on protecting all that is pure and true. Therefore, Ewá asked Oxumaré for help, who took her to the end of the rainbow, where no one has ever reached. Thus, Ewá became responsible for the white band of the rainbow and it is also from there that Ewá makes the night appear.

Because she likes to dance alongside Oxumaré and both are responsible for the rainbow, some see her as his wife or female counterpart. The general consensus is that they are brothers who share attributes and symbologies – among them the serpent. But the one that Ewá carries with him is smaller.

As she never married, Ewá is the protector of virgin women and things that have never been exploited. This also makes it the ruler of preserved forests, rivers or lakes, places where it is not possible to swim, animals that camouflage themselves and humanity as a whole.

Ewá has virtually no cult within Umbanda. However, its closest Catholic equivalent is Santa Luzia – the patron saint of people with vision problems and ophthalmologists. They visualize all the paths of the soul and are linked by clairvoyance itself as well.

According to the story, Saint Luzia of Siracusa was a young maiden whose mother had been sick for a long time. In search of a cure for her mother’s hemorrhage, Luzia accompanied her to the tomb of Santa Ágata. There, Santa Luzia had a vision in which Santa Ágata said that she herself could operate the miracle. After that, she claimed to her mother that she was cured.

After the miracle, Luzia revealed her personal vow of consecration to Jesus Christ as a virgin. With her decision respected, Santa Luzia was able to donate her dowry and other material goods to the poor and focus on the spiritual side. She was denounced to the emperor by a pagan suitor, having her eyes gouged out and her head cut off.

Santa Luzia was martyred at age 21, for not giving up her purity and her faith. That way, even having lost her eyes, Santa Luzia sees the best paths, those that go beyond the physical world. Ewá is also a virgin and uses her intuition to see what is yet to happen, as she looks under the fog that divides the worlds.

Like all other orixás, Ewá has many facets linked to its own history, its symbology and its abilities. These facets, called qualities, are usually associated with orixás and specific situations. Let’s see Ewá’s qualities below!

The orixá Ewá goes by the name of Ewá Owó, when it is associated with everything that is hidden and mysterious. She is the orixá of the game of búzios and her odu is Obeogundá. In addition, she wears pink fabric clothes and accessories with cowrie shells, appearing alongside Iansã, Oxóssi and Ossaim.

According to mythologies, Bamiô is the facet of Ewá linked to colors, stones and precious metals. Therefore, the orixá usually wears necklaces with beads of different colors and is directly linked to Ossaim.

Ewá Fagemi is the facet of this orixá before enchanted and crystalline rivers and lakes, making the rainbow visible near waterfalls. She wears transparent fabric clothes and colorful crystal necklaces. In addition, it is linked to Oxum, Oxumaré, Ayrá and Oxalá.

According to his attributes, Ewá Gyran is the quality of Ewá that governs the sun’s rays, the double rainbow and the general outline of the rainbow. She wears white and guides adorned with crystals and is related to Oxumarê, Oxum, Omolu/Obaluaiê and Oxalá.

Gebeuyin is the main quality of the Ewá orixá. She is Ewá in her most primordial state, ruling winds and mists. In addition, she is responsible for the concealment and transformation of things.

In his physical attributes, he wears red and yellow clothes and red guides streaked with yellow. She is seen with Oxumarê, Omolu, Iansã, Oxum and Nanã.

For the orixá Ewá, Salamin is her young, warrior and hunter facet. This is the quality of Ewá linked to virgin forests, as well as the moon and its phases. In addition, her clothes refer to hunting and she uses silver accessories, being associated with Oxossi and Iemanjá.

Within the Candomblé terreiros, Ewá is an orixá who usually climbs only on female heads. Thus, she has traditionally only had female or female-inclined children of saints. Therefore, below, we list some characteristics of the daughters of Ewá. Check out!

Ewá’s daughters tend to be very influential people. They let themselves be adapted and molded by others so that they can better fit an environment or a situation. Therefore, they can present themselves as talkative and cheerful in less sophisticated places or as quiet and restrained women in high society.

According to this orixá, the daughters of Ewá are very fond of gallantry and praise. They are attached to the material and beautiful world and, therefore, wear beautiful clothes and try to show off other signs of wealth. Therefore, it is not uncommon for them to try to keep up with fashion trends.

Due to their moldable characteristics, the daughters of Ewá usually present very opposite aspects in their personalities. Therefore, they can appear to be much older than they actually are. In addition, they also tend to sound nice one moment and arrogant the next.

Like Ewá, a very sensual woman, her daughters are charming and inherit her exotic beauty. Like the orisha, they tend to appreciate solitude and can develop divination skills. In addition, with their gaze focused on what is deep or inside, they may have difficulty concentrating on external stimuli.

If we want to connect with Ewá and please her, we need to know her tastes and the right way to make a request or present an offering. Therefore, in the topics below, we have listed some of the most relevant items. Check out!

Saint Luzia or Lucia de Syracuse died in martyrdom on December 13, 304. Therefore, due to syncretism, this is the main day of the year when Ewá is celebrated in terreiros. On that day, offerings and requests to Ewá intensify.

The days of the week are always among the domains of the orixás. Therefore, each orisha has its own and, with Ewá, this is no different. The day of the week when Ewá’s presence and power are strongest is…