Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
How To Create A Sacred Space for Yemaya

How To Create A Sacred Space for Yemaya

Last updated on: July 7, 2022 at 4:24 pm by Lilith Dorsey

How To Create A Sacred Space for Yemaya 2022-07-07T16:24:10-05:00 Lilith Dorsey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In the Santeria religion, more properly known as La Regla Lucumi, the Orisha Yemaya is saluted on September 7th. She is associated with motherhood and divine protection. In my experience many are able to connect with her through her maternal ashe, or divine energy. In my post “Oh My Yemaya,” I talk about how

“She is a divine woman of many names: Yemaya, Iemanja, and Yemonja. Her traditional feast day in La Regla Lucumi (Santeria) is celebrated on September 7th. In Brazil celebrations for Iemanja occur on December 31st and are combined with the New Year’s Eve festivities to make quite a show. Some spiritual houses associate Yemaya with Our Lady of Candlearia and thusly use the feast day of February 2, while some people just associate her with Mother’s Day.”

Yemaya is honored with food, offerings and song. Many in the tradition grew up hearing and singing these songs for Yemaya. Here is one of the most famous performed by legend Celia Cruz.

Create A Sacred Space For Yemaya

Ocean Water

Blue Candles

Image or representation of Yemaya

Food offerings (Watermelon, plantains, molasses)

Sea Shells

Blue cloth

In addition to song, another way to connect to the sacred energy of Yemaya is to create a shrine. There are many ready-made kits for Yemaya available on the market. Remember to always consult with your godparents before setting up any type of shrine, or purchasing something. Begin by making sure you have a separate space for your shrine. Many Lucumi devotees even craft separate cabinets so their shrines can have equal but divided space. At the very least set up your shrine on a table, and cover it when you have guests present or are not actively honoring it.

Blue Dancer (Yemaya) Cuba by James Emery licensed under CC 2.0

Gather the listed ingredients. Be sure to carefully choose the image you will use. Very often the image used for Yemaya is La Virgin de Regla, who you can hear Celia Cruz sing about in the above video. Then there is the image of Diosa del Mar, the goddess of the sea, with stars falling from her hands. Many will recognize this as the face of Yemaya. More recently artists have been developing more authentic images for this Orisha, consider the beautiful depiction by Patricia Grannum who was recently profiled here on Voodoo Universe. Whichever image you choose, remember to include Ocean water, which is said to hold the true Ashe, or life force energy of Yemaya. You may then add flowers, foods, and other items. Be sure to treat the space with respect, it is a place for divine prayer and reflection. Enjoy your Yemaya feast, and if you choose to set up a shrine, or already have one in place, I’d love to hear of your experiences, or if possible see photos posted below.

Many blessings !

About Lilith Dorsey

Lilith Dorsey M.A., hails from many magickal traditions, including Afro-Caribbean, Celtic, and Indigenous American spirituality. Their traditional education focused on Plant Science, Anthropology, and Film at the University of R.I, New York University, and the University of London, and their magickal training includes numerous initiations in Santeria also known as Lucumi, Haitian Vodoun, and New Orleans Voodoo. Lilith Dorsey is also a Voodoo Priestess and in that capacity has been doing successful magick since 1991 for patrons, is editor/publisher of Oshun-African Magickal Quarterly, filmmaker of the experimental documentary Bodies of Water :Voodoo Identity and Tranceformation,’ and choreographer/performer for jazz legend Dr. John’s “Night Tripper” Voodoo Show. They have long been committed to providing accurate and respectful information about the African Traditional Religions and are proud to be a published Black author of such titles as Voodoo and African Traditional Religion, 55 Ways to Connect to Goddess, The African-American Ritual Cookbook, Love Magic, the bestselling Orishas, Goddesses and Voodoo Queens and the award winning Water Magic. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

September 4, 2015

Oshun - Orisha of Love Recipes

Next Post

September 9, 2015 It's My 2 Year Blogiversary And I'll Rant If I Want Too !

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ancestors astrology Candomble Crystals Divination Entertainment Goddess Herbs Hoodoo Ifa Pagan Ritual Recipes Santeria Spells Uncategorized Vodou Voodoo Witchcraft

Select a Month May 2025 January 2025 September 2024 August 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 September 2023 June 2023 March 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 January 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built the Tower of Babel?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Canaanites The people of Shinar The Babylonians The Philistines