Who is Yemoja? Guide to the Yoruba Orisha of Waters
Yemoja is a major orisha of Yoruba religion, associated in her original Nigerian tradition with the Ogun River and, in the African diaspora, expanded to become goddess of the sea itself. She is the mother of many other orisha in the tradition, the protector of women (especially of mothers, of children, and of women in childbirth), and one of the most widely-worshipped orisha in the world today. Her worship reached Cuba as Yemaya, Brazil as Iemanja, and Haiti in various forms, and in each of these diaspora traditions she has become a beloved and central figure. This guide describes her as she is preserved in Yoruba tradition and continues to be worshipped in living Yoruba religion and its diaspora expressions.
A note on sensitivity. Yemoja is an actively worshipped deity in Yoruba religion, Santeria, Candomble, and related traditions. This guide describes her as she appears in these living traditions.
Key Takeaways
- Yemoja (also Yemaya, Iemanja, Yemanya, Iemoja, Yemayah, Yemowo) is a major orisha of Yoruba religion, one of the most widely worshipped in the tradition.
- In her original Yoruba context, she is associated with the Ogun River in what is now Ogun State, Nigeria.
- In the African diaspora, particularly in Cuba (Santeria) and Brazil (Candomble), her domain expanded to include the ocean itself.
- Her name in Yoruba is Yeye Omo Eja, “Mother whose children are like fish” - reflecting her role as mother of many other orisha and her association with water.
- She is the mother, in Yoruba tradition, of many orisha, including Ogun, Shango, Oshun, and others.
- She is the protector of women, especially of mothers, of children, of women in childbirth, and of women in distress.
- Her ritual colours are blue and white (or, in some diaspora traditions, various shades of blue).
- Her celebration in Salvador, Brazil, on February 2 each year draws over a million devotees to Praia do Rio Vermelho beach in one of the largest religious gatherings in the Americas.
Who is Yemoja?
Yemoja is a major Yoruba orisha, one of the most powerful in the pantheon and one of the most widely worshipped. She is a mother goddess in the fullest sense - mother of many other orisha, mother of humans who invoke her, mother of the fish and other creatures of her waters.
Definition - Yemoja
A major orisha of Yoruba religion, originally associated with the Ogun River in Nigeria and, in the African diaspora, expanded to be goddess of the sea itself. Yemoja’s name means “Mother whose children are like fish.” She is the mother of many other orisha, the protector of women and children, and one of the most widely worshipped orisha in the world today.
Her Yoruba name is spelled variously. Yeye Omo Eja is the full phrase from which her name descends: “Mother (Yeye) whose children (Omo) are (like) fish (Eja).” Contracted forms include Yemoja, Yemaja, Iemoja, and (in Latin American diaspora) Yemaya and Iemanja.
Yemoja is one of the older orisha in the Yoruba pantheon, associated with the fundamental element of water. She is central to Yoruba cosmological narratives - in some traditions the world’s rivers and streams flow from her body.
Yemoja in Yoruba tradition
In her original Yoruba context, Yemoja is specifically the orisha of the Ogun River, which flows through what is now Ogun State in southwestern Nigeria. She is honoured at her principal shrines along the river, and Yoruba practitioners bring her offerings and prayers there.
She is the mother of many other orisha. The tradition preserves complicated genealogies, but in one common version she is the mother of Ogun (orisha of iron), Shango (orisha of thunder), Oshun (orisha of freshwater rivers and love), and others. In some accounts she and her son Ogun had a conflict; in others she and her daughter Oshun are close.
Her ritual colours are blue and white. Her sacred animals include the fish and the ram. Her sacred foods include yams, corn, and rich stews. Her sacred plants include watermelon (for the seeds’ resemblance to fish scales) and various river plants.
Yemoja is called upon in Yoruba tradition particularly by women - by mothers protecting children, by pregnant women, by women in difficult marriages, by women in distress of any kind. She is treated as a mother who listens and helps. Read Yemoja, Mother of Waters.
Yemoja in the diaspora
Yemoja’s worship travelled with enslaved Yoruba people across the Atlantic in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. In the Americas she took on a significantly expanded role.
In Cuba, in Santeria, she is called Yemaya and is one of the seven principal orisha (the Siete Potencias Africanas). In Cuban tradition her domain expanded from the river to the ocean - a natural expansion in a Caribbean island context where the sea, not a river, was the great water. Yemaya is often syncretised with the Virgin of Regla, a Catholic Marian devotion at the Regla church across the harbour from Havana.
In Brazil, in Candomble and Umbanda, she is called Iemanja. She is one of the most important orisha in Brazilian religious practice. Her domain is emphatically the sea. Her celebration on February 2 in Salvador, Bahia, draws over a million devotees to Praia do Rio Vermelho beach, where they bring flowers, mirrors, combs, perfume, and other offerings and set them adrift on the ocean in small boats or leave them on the sand. It is one of the largest religious gatherings in the Americas. Iemanja is also honoured on New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro, when white-clad devotees make similar offerings at Copacabana Beach.
In Haiti, in Vodou, aspects of Yemoja appear in the loa La Sirene (a mermaid figure) and Erzulie Freda.
The diaspora Yemoja is often depicted visually as a beautiful woman in blue robes rising from the sea, sometimes with a fish’s tail (in the Haitian and some Brazilian traditions). This iconography, drawing on both Yoruba and Marian sources, has become one of the most recognisable religious images of the Americas.
Yemoja compared to other water goddesses
Yemoja belongs to a widespread tradition of mother-water goddesses.
| Tradition | Water goddess | Domain | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoruba | Yemoja | Ogun River (Nigeria) or ocean (diaspora) | Mother of many orisha |
| Yoruba | Oshun | Freshwater rivers | Yemoja’s daughter (in some traditions) |
| Hindu | Ganga | The Ganges River | Living tradition |
| Greek | Amphitrite | The sea | Wife of Poseidon |
| Slavic | Mokosh | Water and moisture | Reconstructed |
| Japanese | Benzaiten | Water and music | Buddhist-Shinto figure |
| Aztec | Chalchiuhtlicue | Freshwater and childbirth | Wife of Tlaloc |
The parallel with Ganga is close - both are personified as mother-goddesses of specific great rivers, and both have become goddesses of much wider bodies of water in the traditions of their diaspora communities. Both are also invoked especially by women.
Read the stories
Yemoja and related Yoruba orisha appear in West African tradition. Some entry points:
- Yemoja, Mother of Waters
- Shango and Thunder
- Ogun and Iron
- Oya and the Winds
- Obatala Creates Humans
- Eshu, the Crossroads Trickster
- Mami Wata and the Mirror
Yemoja is what Yoruba tradition kept as its mother-of-mothers - the orisha whose waters fed the crops, whose care protected women, whose children became many of the other orisha themselves. Her worship travelled with the enslaved to the Americas and expanded there from a river to the ocean. She is now honoured on both sides of the Atlantic and by the descendants of those who were forced to cross it, and her festivals are among the largest religious gatherings in the world. What she preserves is not a distant myth but a living presence - blue-robed, rising from the water, watching over her many children.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Yemoja?
Yemoja is a major Yoruba orisha (deity), associated in her original Nigerian context with the Ogun River and, in the African diaspora, expanded to be goddess of the ocean itself. She is one of the most powerful and widely-worshipped orisha, the mother of many other orisha in the tradition, and the special protector of women, mothers, and children.
What does the name Yemoja mean?
Her full Yoruba name is Yeye Omo Eja, meaning “Mother whose children are like fish.” The name reflects both her role as mother of many other orisha and her deep association with water and its creatures. Various contracted forms exist across her traditions: Yemoja (Yoruba), Yemaya (Cuban Santeria), Iemanja (Brazilian Candomble), and others.
How is Yemoja worshipped in Brazil?
In Brazil, particularly in Candomble and Umbanda, she is called Iemanja. Her most famous celebration is on February 2 each year in Salvador, Bahia, where over a million devotees gather at Praia do Rio Vermelho beach to bring flowers, mirrors, combs, perfume, and other offerings and set them adrift on the ocean in small boats. On New Year’s Eve, similar offerings are made at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro by white-clad devotees. These are among the largest religious gatherings in the Americas.
How is Yemoja related to other orisha?
In many Yoruba genealogies, she is the mother of several major orisha, including Ogun (iron), Shango (thunder), and Oshun (freshwater and love). The exact relationships vary by tradition. She is the mother figure of the pantheon in a broader sense - other orisha may or may not be her literal children in a particular telling, but she is treated as a matriarchal presence for the entire tradition.
Why is Yemoja often syncretised with the Virgin Mary?
In Cuba (in Santeria) and Brazil (in Candomble), Yemoja is often syncretised with Catholic Marian devotions - the Virgin of Regla in Cuba, Nossa Senhora da Conceicao in Brazil, and others. The syncretism arose during the colonial period, when enslaved Yoruba people were forbidden from practicing their traditional religion openly. They preserved orisha worship by publicly appearing to venerate Catholic saints and Marian figures whose attributes matched their orisha. Yemoja/Yemaya, as a mother figure associated with water and protection, was naturally paired with Marian traditions.
What are Yemoja’s ritual colours?
Blue and white are her principal ritual colours. In the diaspora, particularly in Brazilian and Cuban traditions, various shades of blue - from deep sea-blue to lighter turquoise - are all associated with her. White is used alongside blue for its association with purity and offerings. Devotees often wear blue or white clothing at her ceremonies and altars are often decorated with these colours.