Osun: The Source of All Life

Osun means source, from the word Orisun: the source of a river, a people, children, wealth, and life itself. She is the ever-renewing flow that sustains existence. As the elemental power of water, she makes life possible. Osun is the womb of creation, the birth canal, the curative force, and the giver of children.

She is the keeper of Erindinlogun: the sixteen cowrie shells of divination and the embodiment of feminine political power In one hand she carries a brass cooling fan, in the other a brass cutlass: a balance of compassion and strength.

In the Osun Festival invocation, the Oba declares, Only Osun can mold my Ori. Though Obatala shape the body and head, Osun brings the water without which no life can be formed. She is the life-giving element in the creation of humanity. Osun’s sacred work as a hair braider also honors Ori the spiritual head: weaving beauty and destiny.

Her sacred pot holds the items of her River, with another pot for Agbo, her healing water collected before others arrive, used for healing, fertility, protection, success, and blessings.

Water receives us into the world, carries us back to the spirit realm, bathes us, nourishes us, and never becomes our enemy. No one can live without it.
We praise Osun. Goddess/Orisa of the River, the source of water, the gift-giving mother, the one before whom kings bow. She is the warrior woman who blocks the road with floods, the fierce protector, the unshakable force. She is the mighty masquerade whose voice is like the trumpet of the elephant.

Osun reminds us that no ebo (sacrifice) can be complete without her blessing. She is Ewuji, the one before whom we kneel, for we are all born of women. Before we can be recognized as human beings, it is through the womb that we come into existence...SACRED ODU

Àṣẹ àṣeyọrí, àṣẹ ilera, àṣẹ ifẹ, àṣẹ alafia
May we manifest success, health, love, and peace,

Yeye Olosunde Aduke,
Priestess of the Healing Waters