The GODDESS CIRCLE: Goddess 2: Goddess Oshun, Yoruban Goddess of Water, Wealth, Fertility & Femininity
Goddess Oshun
Goddess Oshun (pronounced ‘Oh-SHOON’) is the benevolent Yoruban Water Goddess of Wealth, Fertility, Femininity, Beauty, Sensuality and Pleasure.
She is the Second Goddess we’ll be working with in my upcoming ‘Light Goddess Circle’ for the New Moon in Taurus ‘Give Birth to Your Own Prosperity’ circle in May (see more details at the end of this post or sign up HERE to receive more info).
One of the most popular Goddesses still worshipped today, she is the Mother of the Nigerian Yoruba people, though she is worshipped in both Africa and the Caribbean, and her name means ‘The Source’.
She’s an Orisha, a spiritual protector sent by Supreme Creator, Olodumare to nurture the people on Earth. Where the other gods failed, Oshun, the only Goddess amongst them, succeeded with her life-giving waters.
This beloved Goddess holds the keys to nourishment, fertility, success and prosperity. Women pray to her to help them get pregnant and she is said to be the protector of the poor and the mother of all orphans. It is Oshun who fulfils their needs in this life.
Along with fertility, she also reigns over creativity and healing. The patron saint of the Osun river, Oshun’s sweet flowing waters were not only essential to fertility of life on the planet but were also believed to cure illness, grant wishes and confer protection to women leaders.
She is a Goddess who helps amplify women’s voices and she is mentioned in this capacity by the celebrated writer and activist Audre Lorde in her magnificent poem ‘The Winds of Orisha’.
Beyoncé also channels the power of Oshun in her ‘Hold Up’ video where you see her bursting through a set of doors on a wave of water, dressed in a dreamy bright yellow dress.
She is a particularly joyful Goddess as she represents making the most of the good things life has to offer. As the Goddess of pleasure she enjoys romantic relationships and her significant beaus are Shango the god of thunder and Orumila the god of divination who passed on this skill to her, and in turn she passed this onto the Yoruban people.
This multi-faceted Goddess is also depicted as a teacher, who taught the Yoruba agriculture, culture, and mysticism. Along with divination, she also taught songs, chants, and meditations taught to her by her father Obatala, the first of the created Orishi.
She was said to possess an intoxicating beauty and she delighted in adorning herself in gleaming jewels, brass and copper bracelets and luxurious silks. Her colours are yellow and amber and some of her symbols are brass bracelets, honey, peacocks, sunflowers and pumpkins.
In Nigeria, Oshun is celebrated every August in the Osun-Osogbo festival. This festival takes place in a sacred grove, which is now a UNESCO world heritage site where she is said to have appeared to the founding inhabitants of the town of Osogbo, next to the river Osun which bears her name. This sacred grove contains 40 shrines, 2 palaces, as well as many sculptures and works of art.
HER MYTH
One pleasing myth points to how central she was during the creation of humanity.
Olodumare, the chief creator god, originally sent seventeen orishas to earth to fill it with life. All of them apart from Oshun were male and the old boys’ club of orishas go off exclusively and keep ignoring Oshun’s suggestions on how to populate the earth.
Soon fed up of not getting the reverence she deserved and not stooping to convince them of her value in their task, she leaves them to their doomed endeavour and swans off to the Moon where she lounges about admiring herself in her mirror.
Her departure causes the earth to completely dry up. Without water there ‘s no way for any life to survive on earth. The male orishas have no idea what’s going on and have to return, tail between legs to Olodumare to admit they couldn’t complete the task they were given.
When Olodumare came and realised Oshun was missing, he explains she’s essential to create the world and all life on it. The orishas then apologised to Oshun and begged her to come back and help them, giving Oshun their most precious gifts. She agreed and brought her sweet and powerful waters to help.
Together they readied the earth, and from Oshun’s womb life sprang forth. Her flowing waters created and supported the existence of all life on earth, including humanity, and brought vitality to an otherwise barren world. Without Oshun, the Goddess of life and fertility, humanity would not exist.
She does also have a dark side, though! In yet another Yoruba story, Oshun is depicted as the goddess who not only gives life but also takes it. When angered, Oshun has been known to use her waters for destructive purposes demonstrating both the creative and destructive aspects of the Divine Feminine. In some myths, when incensed by humans, she has been known to send down her rains, nearly flooding the earth or destroying crops by withholding her waters, thereby causing massive droughts.
WORKING WITH HER
Healing & Growing Our Self-Worth
Goddess Oshun can support us in working with healing and improving our self-worth, to opening to success and stepping into Feminine leadership. This is an aspect we’ll be working with in-depth in the Light Goddess Circle ‘Give Birth to Your Own Prosperity’ session through specific rituals and a Goddess Oshun healing and activation (see end of this post for more details).
Goddess Oshun can support us to release any limiting beliefs about money or any conditioning we may have been programmed with, such as we always need to struggle and work extremely hard just to earn a living or it’s not possible to be of spiritual service and have material wealth. She can also help us release any fears we may hold around being richly rewarded and successful if we feel undeserving or suffer from Imposter Syndrome.
These patterns can be deeply entrenched and be part of an ancestral inheritance which Oshun can support us to energetically release. She helps us to wash away old beliefs around scarcity and patterns of undervaluing our time and energy in her river and to connect with our feminine, receptive energy to open to wealth in all forms to flow to us.
She helps us to ask for what we deserve and to believe that we’re worth it. And not only that, to walk away if our contribution is not being valued, just as she didn’t stop to try to convince the orishas of her intrinsic value in the creation of life on earth.
She is a great inspiration for making sure we prioritise self-respect whilst still looking out for other people around us. In short, she helps us to create standards - whether in regard to our work, our creations or in love relationships. Standards are vital because they send out an energetic decree to the universe of what you will - and won’t - accept in any engagement or situation and demonstrate to others that you value your self, your time, your work and your energy.
You teach others how to treat you by how you treat yourself and Oshun can help you to treat yourself as the Goddess you really are.
Generosity, Gratitude & the Flow of Abundance
Goddess Oshun can help us to tap into the generous and flowing river of abundance in the Universe by activating gratitude and generosity within ourselves.
She can help us to be grateful for all we have right now - even if it’s very small things to start with such as gratitude for having water to drink, food to eat and a bed to sleep in. Gratitude is a frequency that attracts more things to be grateful for.
She can also help us to look for opportunities to be generous with our energy. Where can we give value? What can we be generous with? She helps us to see our own unique skills, talents and resources and to put them to use to help give value to others.
She encourages us to do this not necessarily to have it reciprocated in an immediate and direct transactional way, but in a trusting, ‘pay it forward’ kind of way that says to the universe “I know I can be generous with my energy/ heart / time / money / resources / assistance because I know and trust that more is right around the corner” and, in turn, you’ll be provided for when the time comes. When you operate from a spirit of gratitude and generosity, the good fortune you bestow upon others without an expectation of return, ends up returning to you tenfold.
In the Goddess Power Oracle there is an Alignment Message from Goddess Oshun that can provide encouragement if you are struggling to manifest or feeling fearful or worried about money or resources:
Sometimes you may fall prey to fears about whether you will get what you need, so you worry about money or love, and you begin withholding. You might find yourself being overly restrictive and beginning to hoard for that proverbial rainy day. Do you know you cut off generous Oshun’s flow of potential when you allow yourself to be convinced there is not enough? The truth is when you begin to be miserly with your time, affection, and gifts, you will see little in return as all you begin to notice is what isn’t there.
In this moment, the Goddess Oshun wants to offer you this alignment task. You can’t expect the Great Goddess to be generous with you if you show her you don’t trust in the flow of her generosity. Now is the time to do the opposite of what you fear. When you feel there is not enough money, spend it to signal your trust in abundance. If you feel unloved, ask who can you love and where can you show you care? Even a kind gesture made to a stranger sends the sign that you trust in the generosity of the world.
Don’t wait to get what you want. Give it away to others, and you will be amazed at how things turn around. The Goddess Oshun has only your best interests at heart
See the beauty in yourself
As a Goddess of Beauty and Femininity, she can help us not only with self worth but also to see the beauty in ourselves and to tap into that magnetic, sensual, feminine energy if we are wanting to attract love and pleasure - or just to delight in being alive!
Particularly if we have any blocks or wounds to our sacral chakra (which governs our sexuality, sensuality, fertility, pleasure and creative spark), or we have been shamed around our bodies, our appearance or sex in any way she can help us to heal these and to take joy, delight and sensual pleasure in our selves, our bodies and our appearance.
The message on the Oshun card in the Goddess Spirit Oracle deck puts it perfectly:
See the beauty of life, but most of all, see the beauty in you! Your psyche lifts when you take care of yourself. It’s okay to show the world your gorgeous self. When you shine, others shine too. How you dress is an extension of your creativity - take pleasure in it. Don’t be afraid of your unique and powerful self. Oshun is supporting you, so shine brightly!
Affirmation: “I embrace my beauty and sensuality”.
- Goddess Spirit Oracle Deck, Rachel Johnson
RITUALS TO TAP INTO OSHUN’S ENERGY
This Goddess loves pretty, shiny, beautiful things. The offerings left at her shrines are top of the range in every way - gold, perfume, delicious treats, champagne and honey so you could create an altar with a collection of pretty, shiny things that you treasure - gold things in particular - and/ or create some delicious treats - particularly something with honey - and crack open a bottle of champagne in offering to her - why not? She’s worth it and so are you!
Work on those limiting beliefs about money and commit to a practice to open to receiving more wealth - there are many good resources online so you could find a specific abundance/success coach or try some meditations, vow-clearings, affirmations or wealth subliminals - just ensure you know what affirmations are included in the subliminal. (We’ll be doing a specific prosperity & success activation and healing in the Goddess circle so if you are interested to join the Circle click HERE.)
Start a Gratitude Practice - start a gratitude journal or daily gratitude practice, thanking this Goddess for everything in your life. Even if to begin with it’s only very small things, you start to programme your brain to notice more things in your life to be grateful for and soon more things start flowing to you. Alternatively you can practice ‘Forward Gratitude’ where daily you thank the Goddess for things you don’t have yet but feel the feeling and a sense of gratitude as IF you already have them. Watch how fast they show up.
Adorn yourself - As the Goddess of Beauty, Oshun loves to adorn herself and look her best. Pick a fabulous outfit that makes you feel confident and beautiful but you hardly ever wear, adorn yourself with jewellery - particularly gold or brass bracelets and bathe yourself in an aura of perfume - not to impress anyone else or for any particular reason - just because you’re worth it!
THE GODDESS CIRCLE
As one of the options in my new Moon Temple Membership I will be running a ‘Light’ Goddess Circle which will run over the ‘Light half’ of the Wheel of the Year. The Light half of the year - and the Circle’s themes - are about birthing forth and fully actualising our potential.
The Goddess Circle Tier will include a live circle gathering during each New Moon cycle incorporating a New Moon Intention-Setting Ritual together (which really amplifies their power), a Goddess activation and rituals unique to each New Moon’s specific themes, along with additional exclusive resources in the Membership for you to explore in your own time throughout the month each month.
We will begin with the New Moon in Aries and ‘Harnessing Your Inner Fire’ with Goddess Pele, followed by the New Moon in Taurus with Goddess Oshun and ‘Give Birth To Your Prosperity’ and other Goddesses each month (which will be revealed over the coming weeks) until closing the circle with the New Moon in Virgo.
➡️ Enter your email on my list for the Moon Temple Membership HERE and you’ll be notified with all the details and once doors open for the Light Goddess Circle registration (very imminently!)