Ọya

How to recognise Ọya

1. Maroon dressLook for a dress in maroon or burgundy, her colour in Cuban lineages, worn by a strong woman in her prime.
2. Skirt of nine coloursHer skirt is made of nine bands of differently coloured cloth, said to stand for her nine paths or her nine children.
3. Iruke (horsetail whisk)A short handle with a full dark horse-tail tuft, which she swings overhead to stir the wind and, in Brazil, to guide the Eguns.
4. Copper swordA copper sword or machete in her other hand, with which she clears a path for new growth.
5. Horned crownA copper crown with nine points or a headdress shaped like buffalo horns recalls the buffalo, her chief emblem, whose form she is said to take.
6. Copper braceletsNine copper bracelets on her arms, since copper is her metal and nine is her number.
7. Wind and lightningSwirling air, flying cloth and hair, and thin lightning in the sky show her storm, which arrives ahead of Ṣàngó's thunder.

Names and titles

• Mother of NineÌyá Mẹ̀sàn-án / Iyansan: 'mother of nine', linked to her nine children or the nine tributaries of the Niger
• She Who Tears the LeavesThe praise name 'Oya aya ewe', echoing her name 'she tore'
• Queen of the NigerYoruba speakers call the Niger Odò-Ọya, her river
• Keeper of the GateShe guards the gate between the living and the dead and guides souls through
• Mother of the Rosy SkyA Brazilian explanation of 'Iansã': mother of the evening sky

Feast days

• Dia de Iansã / Festa de Santa Bárbara4 December, every year

  The feast of Saint Barbara in Salvador, Bahia, which Candomblé followers also keep as the day of Iansã (Oyá). It opens the city's season of popular festivals, which runs until Carnival.

  How it's celebrated. Devotees, many in red and white, gather in the Pelourinho for dawn fireworks, a clarion salute, an open-air Mass and a procession led by the Rosary of the Black Men brotherhood. The procession stops at the fire brigade, whose patron she is. Red roses and caruru, an okra dish, mark the day. Many Candomblé practitioners stress that the saint and the orixá are distinct.

  Sources: Prefeitura de Salvador: Festa de Santa Bárbara abre ciclo de festas populares · Governo da Bahia: Calendário de festas populares inicia com Santa Bárbara · Salvador da Bahia: Festa de Santa Bárbara

• Oyá's Day with Our Lady of Candelaria2 February, every year

  Oyá's day in Lucumí/Santería houses that pair her with Our Lady of Candelaria, the Catholic feast of the Presentation, or Candlemas. It is the same celebration of Oyá as the Saint Teresa day, kept on a different date in other houses.

  How it's celebrated. Devotees offer addimú, small food gifts, to Oyá on the eve or on the day itself. Offerings, colours and details vary by lineage and house. Nine is her number, and her cloths combine many colours except black. In the Catholic Candelaria rite, candles for the year are blessed, a theme of light that some Cuban writers link to her.

  Sources: Dime Cuba: ¿Quién es Oyá? · CiberCuba: El Día de la Candelaria, reina Oyá en Cuba · Ashé Pami Cuba: Día de Oyá en la santería

• Oyá's Day with Saint Teresa of Jesus15 October, every year

  Oyá's day as kept in some Cuban houses that pair her with Saint Teresa of Jesus, the Spanish Carmelite mystic. It is the same celebration of Oyá as the Candelaria day, kept on a different date. Some houses keep both.

  How it's celebrated. Little detail is recorded for this day. Sources describe the same addimú offerings made to Oyá on the eve or the day itself. One account says eastern Cuba keeps this date, but that claim is thinly sourced. A Norwegian museum's account of Santería lists aubergine among her offerings and says her initiates avoid eating it.

  Sources: Ashé Pami Cuba: ¿Por qué se celebra el día de Oyá 2 veces al año? · Historical Museum, Oslo: The gods of Santería · Dime Cuba: ¿Quién es Oyá?