Thanking the orishas

Blog series Americas and Oceania

Author Nicole-Rachelle Moore, Curator, Caribbean Collections

For some, the British Library might not top of their list of places to sit with items related to the study of different stands of indigenous African spirituality. Yet, there is a plethora of material on this subject to be found in the British Library’s holdings.

The deity/goddess Osun — pronounced O-shoon — (also Ochun/Oshun/Osun/Ọ̀ṣún/Oxum), from the pantheon of Nigeria's innumerable Yoruba orishas, is a cosmological representation of Olódùmarè (God/Supreme Being). Emanating from the spiritual practice/religion/tradition of Ifa/Isese, Osun rules over all fresh waters (lakes/rivers/streams) and is commonly associated with Abundance, Beauty, Dance, Healing, Fertility, Love, Protection, Reflection (She is often depicted holding a mirror; not simply for self-admiration, but for genuine self-reflection), Wealth and Wisdom.

Mama Osun made Herself known to me many years ago in Trinidad through the loan of a book by a family friend who thought it would be of interest. The book was a study of the orishas through myths, in the context of Santería (Way of the Saints), that unique Cuban expression of the Yoruba tradition with elements of Catholicism. I was captivated by these fascinating and fantastical deities! African spirituality had not been presented to me like this before. A year later, a seemingly random stranger turned up with a personal message. It was clear and simple and from the goddess Osun! Around that time, I began to question the validity of coincidences and think more about synergies and timing. However, with life's circumstances and experiences keeping me busy, the orishas were not a priority.

More than a dozen years later, preparing to visit my father in Brazil, a conversation with the writer Kamau Brathwaite at New Beacon Books in north London took a surprising turn. When Kamau learned that I was headed to Brazil, he looked at me and said, ‘When You go, they will tell you that you are the daughter of Yemaya and Osun’. There were those orishas again - popping up unexpectedly! In truth, one evening during that sojourn, two women approached my father and me in a restaurant. Speaking excitedly in Portuguese, they articulated that I was ‘a filha de duas mães’, the daughter of two mothers: the orishas Yemaya and Osun. Just as Kamau had said back in London!

The following years would send more unwitting guides pointing towards Ifa and the orishas. Books, conversations and friendships all played their necessary part in opening my heart and mind.  Long before taking up a curatorial role at the BL, the invaluable Reader Pass gave access to many titles on this subject area.

When in 2016, my colleague-sister Michelle Yaa Asantewa initiated a gathering by the River Wandle which flows through Morden Hall Park in southwest London, to give thanks to the Ancestors and to make offerings to Osun, a handful of friends turned up. Joining the group in 2017, the beauty and simplicity of that grounding remain with Me. The annual gathering has grown, with the National Trust supporting Yaa's efforts, through its allowance of the Osun River Ritual becoming a fixed event on the Morden Hall Park calendar. On Sunday 9th August 2026, along with scores of people, I will attend the 10th annual Osun River Ritual. Communing with Yaa and others, wading in the water, freeing up my offerings and prayers to Oshun Mai, I will once more, give thanks that She never gives up on me. Osun! Ore yeye o!

In the British Library's holdings are many items relating to the beauty, complexity, mystery and practicality of Ifa and the orishas.

Among them are:

Asantewa, Michelle Yaa, ed., In Search of Mami Wata: Narratives & Images of African Water Spirits (Way Wive Wordz Publishing, 2020) Shelfmark: YKL.2022. a.26054

Bolivar Arostegui, Natalia, La Sabiduria de los Oraculos: Ifa, Los Caracoles y El Coco (Instituto Cubano del Libro, 2018) Shelfmark: YF.2019.a.15828

Gonzalez Perez, Tomasa, Ewe Laye: fuentes de vida (Ediciones Cubanas Artex, 2014) Shelfmark: YF.2016.a.23462

Henry, Frances, Reclaiming African Religions in Trinidad (University of the West Indies Press, 2003) Shelfmark: Y.C.2007.a.13556

Houk, James T., Spirits, Blood and Drums: The Orisha Religion in Trinidad (Temple University Press, 1995) Shelfmark: YC.2001.a.1040

Lachatanere, Romulo, Afro-Cuban Myths: Yemaya and Other Orishas (Markus Wiener, 2003) Shelfmark: YK.2005. a.17481

Lum, Kenneth Anthony, Praising His Name in the Dance (Harwood Academic Publishers, 2000) Shelfmark: Y.A.2002.a.14858

Murphy, Joseph and Mei-Mei Sanford, eds., Osun across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in Africa and the Americas (Indiana University Press, 2001) Shelfmark: m01/40940

Murrell, Nathaniel Samuel, Afro-Caribbean Religions: An Introduction to Their Historical, Cultural and Sacred Traditions (Temple University Press, 2010) Shelfmark: m10/.12152.