Channeling Oshun

Posted in: Blog, Culture, Spirited by Ms. Ayo Fashola on September 29, 2011 12:18 am

I’ve always been fascinated with mythology, becoming first aware of goddess archetypes in the 5th grade. Aphrodite especially resonated with me. The goddess of love and beauty. I envisioned this archetype who loved pretty things, who owned her sensuality and femininity, danced in perfume,  and felt free to express every part of her girly vibrant nature in every which way. Yeah! I felt that Aphrodite was me. Since then I’ve allowed myself to explore this world as a way to delve deeper into who I am and the very nature of my  own existence.

The Goddess Gift

Archetypes are inner images that embody universal characteristics and experiences. They are responsible for the persistent themes we see surfacing in our own lives. Myths and fairy tales, many artistic images, and many of the characters we encounter in our dreams are expressions of these archetypes. As inner guides that exist in your personality, the goddess archetypes influence how you behave, how you think and feel, and how you relate to others. Since the goddess stories that are passed on in the mythology of human cultures embody the expression of female character, they provide us with a rich and fascinating way to gain access to the personal archetypes that are active in our lives.

A few years ago, I took a test that allowed me to explore which goddess I resonated with the most at the core of my being. If you are interested in exploring this aspect of you, you can visit http://www.goddessgift.com/. I was surprised at how intense and pretty detail-oriented the test was. Each one of us is born with an inherent temperament that predisposes us to develop as one of a number of goddess types. These “goddess gifts” reveal themselves at an early age and remain fairly constant throughout our lives. They influence how you learn and think, how you decide and act, who you select as friends and mates, even where your talents lie, in short, everything that makes you unique and guides the direction of your life. This gift, your personal goddess type, is your favored, most trusted style in dealing with the outer world. I was impressed to discover that at my core I resonated with the Egyptian Goddess Isis

Isis

Egyptian Goddess of Magic
and Giver of Life

Isis, the Egyptian goddess of rebirth remains one of the most familiar images of empowered and utter femininity. The goddess Isis was the first daughter of Geb, god of the Earth, and Nut, the goddess of the Overarching Sky. Isis was born on the first day between the first years of creation, and was adored by her human followers.

Unlike the other Egyptian goddesses, the goddess Isis spent time among her people, teaching women how to grind corn and make bread, spin flax and weave cloth, and how to tame men enough to live with them (an art form on which many of us would welcome a refresher course!) Isis taught her people the skills of reading and agriculture and was worshipped as the goddess of medicine and wisdom.

The goddess Isis, a moon goddess, gave birth to Horus, the god of the sun. Together, Isis and Horus created and sustained all life and were the saviors of their people.

Image via

The Many Gifts of Isis

Isis became the most powerful of the gods and goddesses in the ancient world.  The ancient Egyptian goddess Isis has many gifts to share with modern women. Isis embodies the strengths of the feminine, the capacity to feel deeply about relationships, the act of creation, and the source of sustenance and protection.  She brings the power of both Lunar and Solar energies together, to feed and heal her people. Isis is the high priestess and has complete intuition and knowing, navigating the lunar inner worlds of Spirit with ease. She also brings that inner world to light, merging conscious awareness with inner wisdom. This ancient Egyptian goddess Isis is here to help us reclaim our own inner voice and true wisdom.  She encourages us to trust our inner knowing and to have the courage to bring it forth with confidence in our world. Isis, as High Priestess, is here to help us restore sacredness to our lives through ceremony and ritual.

I’ve surrendered in my understanding of the gifts and strengths Isis allows in my being and in my existence, but lately I’ve been feeling a bit of a block. I’ve been feeling a need to embody more of my femininity in a world and space that seems to oppress the feminine ideal and experience that I’m ever so desiring to express and so I find myself channeling Oshun.

 

Oshun

Goddess of Love, Creativity and Sensuality

My ethnic background is of the Yoruba tribe.  The Yoruba clans inhabit parts of western central Africa, in present-day Nigeria. Oshun is a Yoruba Goddess with many different aspects to her character. She can turn from curing the sick and promoting fertility to being the Goddess of Luxury and Love. OSHUN delights in the pleasures of the senses and blesses all forms of artistry, whether in the kitchen, the studio, the garden or the bedroom. Known as The Modest One, she’s wonderfully delicate and bashful.  She also does divination with shells and loves to decorate herself with beautiful beads and such. She is her very own fashion show. OSHUN has her very own freshwater river, whose gentle twists and turns symbolize the sensual movements of her very female self. She’s very popular with modern pagans, and no wonder. We’re quite keen on her ourselves.

The Ultimate Wild Woman

Oshun represents my shadow side which can be predatorily seductive if I do not nurture this side of my feminine essence.  It is important to invite this “shadow” goddess into my awareness and to recognize and accept the gift of her strengths.  Otherwise she is apt to show up as an “uninvited guest”, at the least appropriate of times, wreaking havoc in my life. The terms ‘uninvited guest’ refer to the neglected or rejected side of our selves we’ve forced out of our conscious awareness. In Jungian psychology, these disowned aspects of the self, forced to reside in the darkness of the unconscious mind, are called the ‘shadow’. It is the part of our self that we feel least comfortable with and have rejected as not being a part of ‘who we really are’.

Oshun is the ultimate wild woman, She helps you bring out raw and primal sexuality. She represents self-appreciation and giving oneself permission to have sensual pleasure. It’s so important that sensuality is an inner glow and fire— an authentic femininity brought to life in our very being. When we stifle our sensuality, or limit ourselves from expressing it fully, it’s as if a part of us is being hidden and denied. We have to reach into ourselves to find it and be willing to bring out its essence. It can enhance self-esteem, improve our love lives and help us feel youthful and beautiful. Source

Oshun has a number associated with Her–five; a color–yellow or amber; and a metal–gold or bronze. The peacock and the vulture are sacred to Her. Offerings to Oshun include sweet things such as honey, mead, white wine, oranges, sweets, or pumpkins, as well as perfume.

Oshun in a reading indicates sweetness and good cheer, beauty and flowing joy.

Beyonce

One of my favorite songstress idols that I personally adore and admire is Beyonce as I feel she has always been comfortable embodying and expressing the characteristics and energy of Oshun. Here Beyonce (although was inspired by Josephine Baker) is channeling Oshun. Notice the golds/yellows, Oshun’s signature colors, the wild dancing indicative of Oshun and the coy, laughing sensuality.

Beyonce represents an aspect of myself I hold back on expressing at times due to fear of derogatory labels women receive from men and women when they are comfortable in their feminine aura and energy. Women can feel threatened by it because they do not exude this level of confidence themselves. This is something I am consciously working through to accept, embrace and own in my totality. I’m exploring various ways of invoking my goddesses, whether this is in taking a dance class, or taking a cooking class, or a pottery making class that allows me to FEEL and be totally present with the feminine energy I embody in and around me.  Technically, I could learn to RELAX! These are some of my personal goals as I evolve into becoming the woman I desire to be both inside and out.

 

The pathway to sensual liberation is feeling comfortable in your own skin, comfortable enough to express and access power through your physical form, comfortable enough with your own nakedness. Oshun revels in the feel of Her body. She is fluid, like water; she loves to swim, dance, writhe naked and bathe naked. She’s fond of finer things and nice jewelry and loves the feeling of jewelry jangling on Her body. Oshun gets turned on by Her own image and loves to gaze at herself in the mirror. It is said She wears a mirror on Her belt so She can admire herself! If you are daring enough to explore your own body with the intention to love and appreciate it, let Oshun be your guide. source

 

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