On My Etsy Shop: Yemaya Olokun

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Yemaya Olokun Art Prints $20. Yemaya is an Orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American and Latin religions. Africans brought Yemaya and a host of other deities, and energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as captives. Yemaya is the mother of all living things, as well as the owner of all waters. She is the vast ocean, the essence of motherhood, a protector of children, and a goddess of magic and witches. In Cuban Santeria, she has been syncretized with Our Lady of Regla.

Artist's Personal Note: Yemaya Olokun can be found in the deepest parts of the ocean. With her vast wisdom, and at times rather violent nature, this aspect of Yemaya can often be very overpowering.

YouTube Treasures: Celia Cruz & Tito Puente y Su Orq. ~ Yemayá

On My Etsy Shop: Yemaya Divina

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Yemaya Divina Art Prints $20. Yemaya is an Orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American and Latin religions. Africans brought Yemaya and a host of other deities, and energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as captives. Yemaya is the mother of all living things, as well as the owner of all waters. She is the vast ocean, the essence of motherhood, a protector of children, and a goddess of magic and witches. In Cuban Santeria, she has been syncretized with Our Lady of Regla.

Artist's Personal Note: Yemaya Divina was created as a homage to the pure, clear and clean waters of the world. She represents the healing, loving, and nurturing side of the great ocean goddess.

YouTube Treasures: Yemaya Abbilona

On My Etsy Shop: Yemaya

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Yemaya Art Prints $20. Yemaya is an Orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American and Latin religions. Africans brought Yemaya and a host of other deities, and energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as captives. Yemaya is the mother of all living things, as well as the owner of all waters. She is the vast ocean, the essence of motherhood, a protector of children, and a goddess of magic and witches. In Cuban Santeria, she has been syncretized with Our Lady of Regla.

On My Etsy Shop: Sekhmet

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Sekhmet Art Prints $20. In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet was originally the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt, and the protector of the pharaohs. It was said that her breath created the desert. She is depicted as a mighty lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. When Lower Egypt was conquered by Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was seen as the more powerful of the two warrior goddesses, the other, Bast, have been the protector of Lower Egypt. It was Sekhmet who would eventually be seen as the Avenger of Wrongs, and the Scarlet Lady.

On My Etsy Shop: Oya

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Oya Art Prints $20. In Yoruba Mythology, Oya is the Undergoddess of the Niger River. She is a female warrior and the Orisha of fire, fertility, lightning, wind and magic. She creates hurricanes and tornadoes, and guards the passage to the Underworld. She is the spirit of tornadoes (which are said to be her whirling skirts as she dances), of lightning (the power of which she acquired from her husband, Chango), of earthquakes, and of any form of natural destruction. In essence, Oya is the spirit of change, of transition, and of the chaos that often brings it about. Her association with the marketplace, and more specifically with the gates of cemeteries (as opposed to the entire Underworld), emphasizes her aspect as a facilitator of transition.

Oya has been syncretized in Santeria with the Virgin of Candelaria.

YouTube Treasures: Orisha Oshun Dance from Cuba

On My Etsy Shop: Oshun

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Oshun Art Prints $20. Obatala is an Orisha. Oshun is an Orisha, originally of the Yoruba religion, who has become prominent in many Afro-American and Latin religions. Africans brought Oshun and a host of other deities, and energy forces in nature with them when they were brought to the shores of the Americas as captives. Oshun is the force of harmony. Harmony we see as beauty, feel as love, and experience as ecstasy. She reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. In Cuban Santeria, Oshun is an Orisha of love, maternity and marriage. She has been syncretized with La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, (Our Lady of Charity), Cuba's patron saint. She is associated with the color yellow, metals gold and copper, peacock feathers, mirrors, and anything of beauty.

On My Etsy Shop: Kali

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Kali Art Prints $20. Kali is the Hindu goddess of time, creation, destruction and power. She is also seen as the divine mother and a fierce protector who can liberate the oppressed.

On My Etsy Shop: Nut

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Nut Art Prints $15. Nut was the Egyptian goddess of the nighttime sky and all heavenly bodies, and a symbol of protection for the dead when they enter the afterlife. According to the Egyptians, during the day, the heavenly bodies, such as the sun and moon, would make their way across her body. They would be swallowed at dusk, pass through her digestive system during the night, and be reborn at dawn. She was usually pictured as a woman arched on her toes and fingertips over the earth; her body portrayed as a star-filled sky.

On My Etsy Shop: La Santa Muerte

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 La Santa Muerte Art Prints $20. Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (Spanish for Our Lady of the Holy Death) or, colloquially, Santa Muerte (Holy Death), is a female deity (or folk saint depending on school of thought) in Mexican folk religion, particularly Folk Catholicism, venerated primarily in Mexico and the Southwestern United States. A personification of death, she is associated with healing, protection, and safe delivery to the afterlife by her devotees.

On My Etsy Shop: The Morrigan

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 The Morrigan $20. The Morrigan (also known as the Morrigu) was the shape-shifting Celtic Goddess of War, Fate and Death. She presided over rivers, lakes and fresh water, in addition to being the patroness of revenge, night, magic, prophecy, priestesses and witches. Her name is interpreted in various forms..."Great Queen," "Phantom Queen" or "Queen of Demons." She was said to hover over battlefields in the form of a raven or hooded crow and frequently foretold or influenced the outcome of the fray.

On My Etsy Shop: Isis

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Isis Art Prints $20. Isis was a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship would later be adopted by many other ancient cultures. She was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife, as a patron of nature and magic, as well as a compassionate friend to all who call upon her, be they slaves, sinners, artisans or wealthy aristocrats. Isis is also known as the goddess of simplicity, from whom all beginnings arose, and was the Lady of bread, of beer, and of green fields. In later myths, Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of her tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris. This occurrence of his death and rebirth was relived each year through rituals.

On My Etsy Shop: Hera

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Hera Art Prints $20. Hera is the goddess of women and marriage in Greek mythology and religion. She is the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. Hera is married to her brother Zeus and is titled as the Queen of Heaven. One of her characteristics is her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeus's other lovers and offspring, as well as against the mortals who cross her.

On My Etsy Shop: Hecate

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Hecate Art Prints $15. Queen of Witches... Queen of Ghosts... Mother of the Dark Moon... Goddess of Magick, the Underworld, and Guardian of the Triple Crossroads—the pre-Olympian moon goddess, Hecate, has carried many titles and worn many masks through the ages, but her power and influence still remain unbowed.

On My Etsy Shop: Gaea

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Chango Art Prints $20. Gaea (Gaia) or Mother Earth, was the great goddess of the early Greeks. She represented the fertile Earth and was worshiped as the omnipotent Universal Mother. In Greek mythology, she created the universe and gave birth to both the first race of gods, known as the Titans, and the first humans.

On My Etsy Shop: The Divas of Egypt

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 The Divas of Egypt Art Prints $20. Bast, Isis, and Sekhmet stand united as they watch over and nourish their beloved Egypt.

On My Etsy Shop: Dionysus

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 Dionysus Art Prints $20. Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient Greek religion and myth.

On My Etsy Shop: La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre

On My Etsy Shop: Signed & Matted 5x7 La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre Art Prints $20. La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, also known as Our Lady of Charity, is the patroness of Cuba. Her story began around 1608, when two brothers, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, along with their slave, Juan Moreno, set out to the Bay of Nipe for salt. Salt was needed for the preservation of the meat at the Barajagua slaughter house, which supplied the inhabitants and workers of Santiago del Prado, now known as El Cobre. While out in the bay, a terrible storm arose, rocking their tiny boat violently with its waves. The three men prayed desperately to the Virgin Mary for her protection and deliverance. The skies suddenly cleared as if in response, and the great storm was gone. In the distance, the men saw a strange object floating in the water. They rowed towards it as the now gentle waves began to bring it closer. At first they mistook it for a bird, but it was, in actuality, a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus and a golden cross in her hand. The statue was fastened to a board with an inscription saying, "Yo Soy la Virgen de la Caridad" or "I am the Virgin of Charity." The statue was dressed in real cloth, had real hair and the skin tone of a multi-ethnic woman. Much to their surprise, the statue had remained completely dry while afloat in the water.