Events

This is a 3-hour workshop exploring Afro-Cuban dances with Liethis Hechavarría.

Oshun: known as Ochún or Oxúm in Latin America, and also spelled Ọṣun, is an orisha, a spirit, a deity, or a goddess that reflects one of the manifestations of God in the Ifá and Yoruba religions. She is one of the most popular and venerated orishas. Oshun is the deity of the river and fresh water, luxury and pleasure, sexuality and fertility, and beauty and love. She is connected to destiny and divination. During the life of the mortal Oshun, she served as princess consort to King Shango of Oyo. Following her posthumous deification, she was admitted to the Yoruba pantheon as an aspect of a primordial divinity of the same name. She is the patron saint of the Osun River in Nigeria, which bears her name.

Yemaya: Yoruba Orisha or Goddess of the living Ocean, considered the mother of all. She is the source of all the waters, including the rivers of western Africa, especially the River Ogun. Her name is a contraction of Yey Omo Eja, which means “Mother Whose Children are the Fish.” As all life is thought to have begun in the sea, all life is held to have begun with Yemaya. She is motherly and strongly protective, and cares deeply for all Her children, comforting them and cleansing them of sorrow. She is said to be able to cure infertility in women, and cowrie shells represent Her wealth. She does not easily lose Her temper, but when angered she can be quite destructive and violent, as the sea in a storm. Yemaya was brought to the New World with the African diaspora and She is now worshipped in many cultures besides Her original Africa.