Oshun
Many of you may already be familiar with the Yoruba goddess Oshun thanks to Queen Bey herself, Beyonce, who channeled this multifaceted goddess of beauty, wealth, fertility and joy throughout her concerts and iconography, particularly in Lemonade, where in the video for “Hold Up,” she wears flowing yellow and walks through flooded streets, smashing car windows and just being a general radiant badass. She channeled Oshun again during her 2017 Grammy performance, adorned in golden regalia and visibly pregnant, performing as both goddess and mother, surrounded by symbolism of fertility, creation, and divine feminine strength. These performances were more than art. They were acts of remembrance. They made it unmistakably clear that Oshun is not a relic of the past, she is what happens when women return to themselves and stand in their own feminine power.
But let’s get back to the mythology, shall we? Oshun is more than a checklist of feminine attributes. She is the embodiment of sweetness and grace while also a force of nature you really don’t want to anger, not necessarily out of fear, but out of a deep reverence for everything Oshun represents. Many fertility goddesses are linked to water or earth, and Oshun is no exception, most notably connected to the Osun River in Nigeria, where her sacred grove is still honored and protected today. Oshun is primarily a water goddess, and some say she is the shimmer on the surface that ripples and reflects the light, but she’s also the depth we do not see, the shadow, if you will, which is part of the feminine archetype.
Oshun originates from the rich mythic traditions of the Yoruba people of West Africa. She is not technically a “goddess” in the way we use the term for Greek or Hindu deities, she is an Orisha, a divine spirit or force of nature who embodies specific aspects of life, nature, and human experience. But for the sake of this series, where we’re exploring sacred feminine figures across pantheons, we’ll refer to her as a goddess while honoring her unique roots and cultural context.
Oshun’s influence has flowed, quite literally, across oceans through the African diaspora and lives on in the spiritual practices of Santería, Candomblé, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Umbanda. Even outside of those formal traditions, she is honored as a symbol of divine feminine resilience, sensuality, and joy. She teaches that beauty is sacred, that pleasure can be healing, and that abundance is not indulgent but necessary. In cultures where African people were stripped of language, autonomy, and religious expression, Oshun remained. She adapted, hiding in plain sight as Our Lady of Charity in Cuba, La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. She continued to be worshipped in kitchens and altars, in songs and prayers, never forgetting who she was.
And while “virgin” in today’s vernacular means sexually untouched, the original meaning referred to a woman who was wholly sovereign unto herself. Famous virgin goddesses who were clearly experienced include Demeter, Artemis, Sekhmet, Kali, the Morrigan, and of course, Lilith, and we all know Lilith wasn’t chaste by modern standards. Oshun is part of that legacy of wholly sovereign divine feminine beings. Oshun is even a proxy of the Virgin Mary in many cultures impacted by slavery and colonization, where in order to preserve their worship, Oshun is often merged with more Catholic iconography, but she always retains her golden glow.
She is said to have been in relationship with a few male Orishas, most notably Shango, the Orisha of thunder and lightning. Their love story reflects the dance between fire and water, passion and softness, heat and fluidity. Their union is sacred not because it is perfect, but because it honors the sacred duality of masculine and feminine. Some myths suggest she was once married to Ogun, the Orisha of iron and war, but ultimately chose to go her own way. She doesn’t need a man, or anyone else for that matter, to make her whole. She is her own. Her power is hers to wield. A virgin in the truest, oldest and most sacred sense of the word.
According to Yoruba cosmology, when the Supreme Being, Olorun, tasked the Orishas with completing the creation of the world, Oshun was the only female among them. The male Orishas dismissed her, believing they could shape life without her. Not one to cause a scene or show outbursts of aggression, Oshun simply accepted that she and her divine gifts were being disregarded and withdrew. She knew her worth and didn’t need to make a scene because she knew her power, her vitality, was essential. And when she withdrew, nothing grew. The rivers dried up, the earth cracked, and life stagnated and stalled. So the male Orishas were humbled enough to beg for Oshun to return, finally acknowledging her power and importance. She agreed, and with her return, the waters flowed and the world began to bloom. Her story is more than a creation myth, it’s a lesson in balance, humility, and the necessity of the divine feminine. Oshun didn’t rage or retaliate. She simply removed herself, and her absence spoke volumes. That’s honestly one of my favorite aspects of her. I’m a fire goddess through and through, but Oshun is different, she has a gentle, quiet power that commands respect. If you don’t honor her, she simply leaves, letting the consequences unfold, usually to the devastation of those too arrogant to realize how vital her presence truly is.
Oshun is invoked by those who long for children, for inspiration, for intimacy, for renewal. In one myth, she longed for a child and sought advice from Orunmila, the Orisha of divination. He guided her to the river, where she offered prayers and gifts, a practice still honored by devotees today. Her devotion was answered when she gave birth to a daughter, a divine extension of herself, representing motherhood and the archetype of the nurturer. Her symbols are sensual and lush: mirrors, honey, cinnamon, oranges, sunflowers, and anything golden. Everything she touches becomes radiant and fertile, but she is discerning. One myth tells how she was made sick by poisoned honey, and to this day, honey must be tasted before being offered to her. It’s a small ritual of respect and honesty—because Oshun doesn’t accept what isn’t real.
She governs not only the fertility of the womb, but also of the land, the heart, the spirit. Creativity is her domain too, not just in art and music, but in thought, invention, leadership, and healing. If masculine energy represents structure and form, Oshun’s feminine force is the creative flow that moves through everything and makes it whole.
And like all truly feminine powers, she has a shadow side. Oshun is a fierce protector of the vulnerable, a force of justice for the betrayed and forgotten. She watches over women, children, artists, the poor, and the marginalized with the serene but unshakable presence of a mother who sees everything. In many stories, she is the only one who can calm Oya, the goddess of storms and transformation. When Oya’s power becomes too destructive, Oshun restores balance, not through violence, but through empathy, truth, and care.
As Beyoncé made clear, Oshun is as alive and relevant now as she ever was. In addition to being featured by one of the most popular entertainers in modern history, Oshun is still celebrated and honored in the areas where her cultural descendants made their homes, and well as the native homelands of modern day Nigeria, Benin and Togo in Africa. The Osun-Osogbo Festival in Nigeria draws thousands each year to her river shrine, now recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In diasporic homes, her altars are adorned with sunflowers, golden jewelry, sweet perfumes, fresh fruit, warm candlelight, and taste-tested honey. She is invoked in love spells, healing rituals, songs of comfort, and prayers of gratitude. She brings wealth, not only of gold, but of heart, nourishment and devotion.
Oshun reminds us that pleasure is not shallow, it is sacred. That beauty is not vanity, it is remembrance. That water is not just a physical element, but a teacher, a healer, and a guide. She invites us to soften without collapsing, to receive without guilt, to love without apology. She is the golden current of life, the pulse of sweetness beneath survival, the warmth of a hand offered at just the right time.
She is not just a goddess. She is the divine feminine embodied, the river that remembers, the soul that nourishes, the flow that makes life whole again.
