Oshun is the Santería
Goddess of love, harmony, art, and dance. She is often compared to the Voodoo loa,
Erzulie although they are quite different spirits.
These
Mystic Voodoo Devotional Altar dolls are uniquely handcrafted in the New Orleans
"conjure art" tradition. Each doll is carefully constructed out of a base of
sticks and Spanish moss, and adorned with beautiful fabrics, vintage lace, fancy
yarns, feathers, and special charms, crystals, fetishes, and beads unique to the
particular Spirit. Their faces are individually hand sculpted and carved out of
clay with painted details. Truly One of a Kind (OOAK), these traditionally
crafted
Devotional Altar Dolls have been elevated to a contemporary, legitimate art form
coveted by the novice, as well as sophisticated, collector of Spiritual and
Ritual art.
In Yoruban mythology, Oshun is an Orisha (spirit goddess) of
love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy.
Oshun is the
force of harmony - harmony seen as beauty, felt as love, and experienced as
ecstasy. According to the ancients, she was the only female Irunmole amongst the
401 sent from the spirit realm to create the world. As such, she is revered as
"YeYe" - the sweet mother of us all. When the male Irunmole attempted to
subjugate Oshun due to her femaleness, she removed her divine energy (ache) from
the project of creating the world and all subsequent efforts at creation were in
vain. Only after the male Irunmole begged Oshun for forgiveness could the
creation of the world continue. However, creation would not commence until Oshun
had given birth to a son. This son became Elegba, the great conduit of ache in
the Universe and also the eternal and infernal trickster.
Oshun is known as Yalode- the mother of things outside the home, due to her
business acumen. She is also known as Laketi, she who has ears, because of how
quickly and effectively she answers prayers. When she possesses her followers
she dances, flirts and then weeps- because no one can love her enough and the
world is not as beautiful as she knows it could be.
Oshun is beneficent and generous, and very kind. She does, however, have a
horrific temper, though it is difficult to anger her. She is married to Shàngó,
god of fire, thunder, and power, and is his favorite wife because of her
excellent cooking skills. One of his other wives, Oba, was her rival. They are
the goddesses of the Oshun and Oba rivers, which meet in a turbulent place with
difficult rapids.
Details:
This fabulous, one of
a kind (OOAK) Mystic Voodoo
Devotional Altar
Doll is handcrafted in the traditional New Orleans conjure art style out of Spanish moss and two
sticks. She is dressed in the finest fabrics and lace, and wears a beautiful
beaded necklace, small pieces of jewelry. Her face is hand-sculpted
out of polymer clay with painted details. This Oshun Mystic Voodoo
Devotional Altar Doll is self-standing and is blessed by the artist.
Pictured is a prototype of what
you will receive and there will be some differences in fabrics, yarns, and other
materials used to create each doll. Please refer to the slide show below for
examples of Oshun dolls.
Measures approximately 8 inches tall and 3 inches wide.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the above photograph
under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version
published by the
Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts,
and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section
entitled "GNU
Free Documentation License".
The journey of an African-American woman
to Osogbo, Nigeria to be initiated into a traditional African religion. Osunyemi
travels to the Osun Osogbo Grove for a traditional initiation with all of its
pomp and circumstance.
