All About Oshun: How to care for her, what you can ask of her, the types of offerings for her, what her paths are, and much more.
Oshún is part of the Yoruba religion, which originates in Africa, where the culture of the people expanded its beliefs to the surrounding areas until they spread to other countries with the immigration of Africans.
This set of beliefs has become more pronounced over the years, especially in Latin American countries and in some parts of the United States.
Who is Oshún?
Oshún is one of the Orishas of the Yoruba religion, characterized as the queen of fresh waters and personifying love and female fertility. She is a delicate and feminine Osha, protector of pregnant women and those in labor.
She is the divinity who represents all things sensitive and spiritual, human sensuality, and all issues related to love and life as a couple. Although she may be painful and sad, she displays joy and a smile.
In Spiritism
Spiritism doesn’t use the same deities as Santeria or the Yoruba religion, so Oshún doesn’t really exist in this religion.
However, many people tend to associate her with the deity María Lionza, who also handles requests related to love life and financial matters. To attend to this deity, believers should do the following:
- You should have an altar to her somewhere in your home where she can be isolated, creating her own space.
- You should place offerings on the altar when making a request, such as food, flowers, tobacco, incense, fruits, alcoholic beverages, or vegetables.
- Say the prayer to María Lionza when making your offering.
- The day for offerings is October 12th.
What is it for?
Oshún felt excluded because she noticed that women were excluded from important gatherings on Earth, as well as the decision to render women sterile, until the Orishas integrated her into their work and talks. Oshún is the Orisha in charge of:
- She is the deity who controls the fertility of women, which is why women turn to her when they want to experience motherhood.
- She is associated with requests related to love and relationships.
- She is the owner of money, so you can ask her for help when your financial or monetary situation is unstable or you are going through difficult times.
How do you serve her?
To serve Oshún, you must keep in mind the rules you must follow and be attentive to her preferences. The days of service run from the 8th to the 12th, but her main day is the 12th. You can serve her as follows:
- Prepare the altar with the colors white and yellow.
- Prepare the offerings for her, which can be animal offerings or rituals involving the same, and place them on her altar (they must be kept for the five days).
- Perform the prayer to pay homage to her in front of the offered elements and make your request before her.
- Remember to end the ritual and prayers on a Saturday.
How do you ask her?
The first thing you should know is that Oshún may deny your request if you find yourself performing the rituals with a desperate or skeptical attitude that could upset her. To ask her, the ideal thing is to do the following:
- Prepare her altar with her colors.
- Place the offerings and say the corresponding prayer.
- Perform the ritual or present the offerings while making your request, focusing on fertility, money, or love.
- If it’s a request for love, first study the bond between you and the person.
- Don’t be restrictive when purchasing the materials for the ritual; if Oshún finds out, she probably won’t agree.
If Oshún perceives that your requests are made from a negative energy or with aggressive tendencies, she will study whether to grant it or not; the intentions, above all, must be positive and sincere.
What does she like?
This Orisha likes the colors yellow, gold, and amber, and as a deity of freshwater, it’s important not to let her sweetness be lost.
For that reason, one of Oshún’s favorite things is honey, so most of her offerings should be bathed in honey so that Oshún is happy with her sweetened offerings.
Whatever the offering, it should be sweetened. Some other things she also likes are tomatoes, onions, eggs, salt, onions, capers, shrimp, cornmeal, and sweets made with it.
If you don’t want to give food, this orisha also loves flowers, especially sunflowers.
Her day of the year is September 8, shared with the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, patron saint of the island of Cuba.
Where is it placed?
Oshún doesn’t have a specific place for her altar, however, it’s important to consider several things before choosing the location.
Ideally, you should choose the most luxurious place where you can accommodate it to her liking. This means it should be decorated with sheets and elements in her yellow and white colors, including gold.
Also, keep in mind that it’s important and necessary to place a soup tureen that represents her or some image of her.
What is offered to her?
Every Orisha has their preference for things they like to be given as offerings, so it’s important to know each person’s tastes before making them. For Oshún, you can choose the following:
- Ochinchin, which is her favorite dish.
- Swiss chard, onion, lettuce, or chili.
- Escarole.
- Olive oil.
- Dry white wine.
- Eggs.
- Gofio palanquetas with honey or honey.
- Yellow rice or corn flour.
- Tamales.
- Ekó, ekrú, olelé with saffron.
- Sweets of all kinds and river fruits.
- Animals: capon goat, chickens, Angolan hens, doves, and jicote.
- Cinnamon.
How many paths does Oshun have?
Oshun has several paths, each of which has different responsibilities and characteristics to attend to, which will vary depending on where she is and her home environment. These are the following:
- Oshún Kolé kolé, Akalá Kalá, Ikolé, Ibú Kolé.
- Oshún Ibu Akuaro.
- Oshún Ololodí or Olodí.
- Oshún Ibu Aña.
- Oshún Ibu Iñani or Añani.
- Oshún Ibu Yumu.
- Oshún Ibu Oddonki.
- Oshún Ibu Oggale.
- Oshún Ibu Okuanda.
- Oshún Ibu Addesa.
- Oshún Ibu Ayede or Ayade.
- Oshún Ibu Okuase or Akuase Oddo.
- Oshún Gumí, Bomó or Bumí.
- Oshún Eleke Oní.
- Oshún Ibu Itumu.
- Oshún Aremu Kondiano.
- Oshún Ibu Semi or Seni.
- Oshún Ibu Fondae.
- Oshún Ibu Odoko.
- Oshún Ibu Awayemi or Awuayemi.
- Oshún Ibu Eledan or Elenda.
- Oshún Idere Lekun.
- Oshún Ibu Añare or Iñare.
- Oshún Ibu Agandara.
- Oshún Ibu Tinibu or Timibu.
- Oshún Oroyobi.
- Oshún Yeyé Moró or Yeyé Kari or Ibu Siegan.
- Oshún Ibu Latie Elegba.
- Oshún Edé.
- Oshún Ibu Aja Jura.
- Oshún Miwá.
- Oshún Ibu Oddoi.
- Oshún Kayodé.
- Oshún Sekesé.
- Oshún Fumiké.
- Oshún Funké.
- Oshún Niwé.
- Oshún Awé.
What are Oshun’s children like?
The children of this deity are also known by the name “Omo” in the Yoruba language, which means “son” or “daughter.” They are usually characterized as quite charismatic and physically attractive.
Although they don’t like to clean and tend to be quite messy, they make sure everything looks perfect.
Oshun’s children must be initiated as priests and must go to the river to learn what they are about to do. To know if a person is a child of Oshun, they must have undergone the ceremony of the hand of Orula or through Osha.
Why can’t Oshun and Shango be together?
Oshun and Shango have a pact that they cannot remain together in order to maintain peace between their children and each other.
This is because Olofín made a ruling prohibiting them from being together.
This was due to a town that was in misery and Oshún decided to help them fill them with riches and a good life, however, Shango did not like it, since he assumed it was a competition with his people, so he declared war on her.