thumb|Shrine to Oshun in the [[Osun-Osogbo|Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove]]

Oshun (also Ọṣun, Ochún, and Oxúm) is the orisha associated with love, sexuality, fertility, femininity, water, destiny, divination, purity, wealth, prosperity and beauty, and the Osun River, in the Yoruba religion.

According to traditional beliefs, Oshun was once the queen consort to King Shango of Oyo, and deified following her death, honored at the Osun-Osogbo Festival, a two-week-long annual festival that usually takes place in August, at the Oṣun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Osogbo.

Mythology

According to the Ifa Literary Corpus, Oshun was the only female Irunmole (primordial spirit) sent to assist Shango to create the world by Olodumare, the Supreme God. The other spirits sent ignored Oshun, who went to Shango for guidance. One version of the story claims that female spirits were tempted to take matters into their own hands, but all of their creative attempts failed because they acted without male spiritual leadership.

Another version, one more consistent with the beginning of the story, claims that the male spirits attempted to make the world without female influence, and this exclusion is what caused the world to fail. Regardless of the version, the myth ends with Shango forcing the other spirits to respect Oshun as they would him. Following her death, Olodumare granted her the powers of an orisha.

Worship

thumb|The [[Yoruba religion|Yoruba goddess Oshun is sometimes syncretised with the Virgin Mary by Santeria believers of the Yoruba religion.]]

Yorubaland

Oshun is the divine patroness of the Osun River in Nigeria, which bears her name. The river has its source in Ekiti State in the west of Nigeria and passes through the city of Osogbo, where Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, the principal sanctuary of the deity, is located.

<gallery>

File:Arugba Olokun.jpg|An Arugba at the Osun-Osogbo festival

File:Arugba Osun.jpg|An Arugba at the Osun-Osogbo festival

File:Carybè, rilievi degli orixas, oxun.JPG|A wood carving of Oshun by Carybé

</gallery>

References

<!--ref name="Dabydeen1996"></ref-->

<!--ref name="farris"></ref-->

<!--ref name="Lum2013"></ref-->

<!--ref name="Stewart2006"></ref-->

</references>

Further reading

  • Ajiabde, G. Olusola. Negotiating Performance: Osun in the Verbal and Visual Metaphors, Bayreuth, Working Papers, 2005.
  • Afolabi, Kayode. Osun Osogbo - Sacred People and Sacred Places, Charleston 2006.
  • Badejo, Diedre, Oshun Seegesi: The Elegant Deity of Wealth, Power, and Femininity, Asmara 1996.
  • De La Torre, Miguel A., "Dancing with Ochún: Imagining How a Black Goddess Became White," in Black Religion and Aesthetics: Religious Thought and Life in Africa and the African Diaspora, Anthony Pinn, ed., Cambridge University Press, pp.&nbsp;113–134.
  • Fakayode, Fayemi Fatunde, Osun: The Manly Woman, Athelia Henrietta Press 2004.
  • Murphy, Joseph M.; Sanford, Mei-Mei. Osun Across the Waters: A Yoruba Goddess in African and the Americas. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001.
  • Probst, Peter, Osogbo and the Art of Heritage: Monuments, Deities, and Money. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011.
  • Santeria.fr All about Oshun