OYA YANSA
It is known that Oya accompanied the war god Chango in all his battles. At his side she
fought with two swords and destroyed the enemy with lightnings. The legend tells:
Oya was married to Oggun, but she fell in love with Chango who kidnapped her (that is
where the animosity between the two Gods comes from). One day Chango enjoyed himself
at a festival which lasted through the whole night and at dawn he was arrested. His enemies
threw him into a dungeon and they locked the door. Chango had left his mortar in the
house of Oya. When Changeo didn't return for several days, Oya stirred the mortar and
realized that Chango had been captured. She sang:
Centella que bá bené
Yo sumarela sube,
Centella que bá bené
Yo sube arriba palo
During the singing the number seven appeared on the sky and there was lightening
which destroyed the iron bars of the prison cells so Chango could escape. Chango saw
how Oya sent the lightening upon the earth and realized that Oya is the god of
lightening and since this experience he respected and adored her.
Artwork Copyright © 1999 Silvia Schiffmann - Not to be reproduced without permission.
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