The Empress Yemaya

The Orisha Yemaya is from the Yourban (now present day Nigeria) tradition. She is associated with motherhood, fertility,  child birth, mother/child relationships, emotions, the home, healing, creativity, nurturing and the ocean. Associatted with Our Lady of Regla she is said to wear 7 skirts for each of the 7 seas. Saturday is her sacred day and her colours are blue and white. She is the spirit that my friend Zaar introduced me to and gave me a special oil for her when I was looking for my apartment I have here in NOLA. I kept saying I needed a place to live. He said no, what you need is a home, a sanctuary. You need Yemaya. So I made a very specific list of what I wanted. 33 things in total to be exact lol! Well I'll have you know, all but 3 of them were granted! To name just a few, I have the most precious apartment ever, with such a warm and homey feel, all utilities included, and the coolest landlord and property manager. Not to mention the history associated with this gorgeous building. It was originally built in 1740 and later owned by a prominent Creole family. I swear it looks like a pirate ship in some places. And the numbers in my address total to the number 7.

In the tarot, I'd associate Yemaya with The Empress card and with the Queen of Cups. I think the QofC from the. World Spirit Tarot is the most perfect depiction of Yemeya.

 One of th promises I made to Yemaya when I was looking for my home was tht I would create an alter in the bathroom in her honor.


Last Saturday my friend Ren and I went to The Gulf in Mississippi to do a ritual in honor of Yemaya. I needed to say thank you as well as ask a very special request on behalf of both myself and our friend Catelyn. I wore a blue and white sundress and did my eyeshadow in beautiful shades of blue and turquoise and brought a bouquet of flowers that I put in the water for the tide to carry out.

Yemaya has answered many of my prayers, from finding my apartment/sanctuary to assisting with my communication with my mother to bringing peace and restful sleep to a very dear friend who has been plagued with night terrors for many years. Call upon her when your soul needs the loving, nurturing touch of a mother's love.

We Are All Made of Stars

(I have seen more signs and symbolism in nature in the past week than National Geographic! I am out in bayou country and out here it's not really that odd. But for this city girl, it is most definitely not the norm. And it's not like I'm outdoors for long periods of time. So I am taking them as messages for me, especially since I have been praying for signs on how to deal with the extreme stress I'm making my way through. In this post I will talk about only one of the many and that is the star. I was outside of the phone (NO reception on the cell!) and I was talking to a very dear friend who is also my trainer, giving her an update on what is going on with me. I was telling her how my cousin whom I adore was saying to me to keep the faith that my luck will change. He was like, "You made it out of town before Katrina hit when it had seemed like all hope was lost and you'd be stuck here, you'll make it through this!" (He just turned 20 today, the wise old sage.) I then said how much I needed to take that to heart, but as challenging as things are right about now, that was real hard to do. I turn around and my eye catches the most gorgeous, huge, falling star! It was breathtaking because out here the nighttime sky is like a sparkling diamond mine. My friend on the phone is an Aquarius, the zodiac sign associated with the Star XVII card. And the dilemma we were discussing is my needing to find a new apartment. The Star also means moving or changing residence.

The Star XVII is all about hope, joy, healing.  I remember years ago when I left my ex 3 days after he broke up with me on my birthday. At 04:28,  through a face full of snot and tears I saw a shooting star. I remember saying out loud to myself, "I don't know how, but I know everything is going to be ok." I called my best friend since 8th grade with no explanation, just sobbing and choking and told her I was I just getting onto I~95  and I should be there by 10:00. She just said, "I'll put the grits on the stove at 9:30 and spray the lavender sheet spray in your room."

That's The Star XVII card. It's It's your angles and guides showing you the way. It's the candle in the window. It's the light in the eyes of someone who loves and believes in you, even though you may not know that that light is not just their love but an actual reflection of what is inside of you. It's a mother's love, which is why I think on many versions of the Empress III she has a crown of stars like the Blessed Mother. It's being a leader, a shining example to others, to the world, a person of great integrity who has earned respect. It's having the courage to keep going when it seems like there is no hope, and yet... you still believe. In friendship, in yourself, in something greater than yourself. After all, Carl Sagan explained that everything on Earth is made up of the most minute particles of stars.


(a very cool version of the video. Lots of gorgeous pix of actual stars)