Oyá

The Orisha of wind, storm and change, and gatekeeper of the cemetery.

Oyá is the Orisha of wind, storms and sudden change. She is also linked with the gate of the cemetery and with the passage between life and death.

Oyá is a warrior and one of the few female orishas who goes into battle herself in the patakí, often at the side of Changó, to whom she is married. She commands the wind, the whirlwind and also lightning, and she is depicted with a horsetail flywhisk, the iruke, and sometimes a sword. Her number is nine and her colours are maroon or many-coloured, like the colours of the market, which also falls under her care. In Cuba she is connected with the Virgen de la Candelaria and with Santa Teresa.

As keeper of the cemetery gate Oyá accompanies the passage between life and death, and she stands in close connection with the egun. That is why she is connected not only with storm, but also with farewell and transformation: she clears away what is old, so that the new can come. A dream about a whirlwind, a market or a cemetery gate is read in that light.

In the Yoruba tradition Oyá is also the goddess of the Niger river, called Odò Oya in Yoruba. The patakí tell that she tasted the secret of Changó's fire and so gained lightning, and that she, unlike Changó, is not afraid of the dead. Those who know her call her one of the most powerful orishas: gentle as a breeze, fierce as a storm.

Dreams about storms, strong wind or cemeteries are sometimes linked with Oyá in Santería. The tradition reads such images as change already under way, and leaves the conclusion to divination.