Obba
| Colours | Yellow and pink |
|---|---|
| numbers | 9 |
Obba (Brasil .: Obá ) is in the religion of the Yoruba and in the Brazilian religion Candomblé a warlike water goddess, an Orisha or Orixá (goddess).
In Africa
In Africa she is the orisha of sea trade. She is the goddess of the Oba River.
Legends
The legends tell that Obá is involved in conflicted situations of jealousy, rape, and humiliation.
The legend Obá is raped by Ogum / Obá é possuída por Ogum tells of Obá as a warrior goddess who challenges the brave warrior Ogum to battle. However, Ogum prepared for this dispute with an offering so that Obá has to lose. When she falls, he rips her clothes off, rapes her and becomes her first husband. Xangô later robs her of Ogum.
The legend Obá cuts off her ear because of Oxum / Obá corta a orelha induida por Oxum reports of a jealous conflict with Oxum, who, like her, is married to Xangô. Oxum was the preferred wife of Xangô. In order to win his love, Obá followed the advice of his rival, cut off his ear and mixed it with Xangô's food. When he noticed this, he became very angry and dismissed both of them. Out of desperation, they turned into rivers that flow together in wild rapids, symbolizing the rivalry between the two goddesses.
The legend Obá provokes the death of the horse of Xangô / Obá provoca a morte do cavalo de Xangô tells of the marriage of Obá and Xangô in Cossô. Since Xangô liked to conquer countries and women, he married Oiá / Iansã and Oxum shortly afterwards. All three women fight for the love of Xangô. Obá gives him a white horse, but he stayed away fighting with his second wife Oiá for a long time. Obá took the advice from the oracle to sacrifice a horse's tail. Oxum not only cut off the tuft, but also the entire tail of the horse, so that it died of bleeding. When Xangô returned from the war, he saw only the tuft of hair of his beloved horse and then expelled Obá.
Obá is the daughter of Iemanjá and Oxalá . She is married to Xangô . However, she is also Oxum's sister .
symbol
The day dedicated to her is Wednesday. Its colors are red, its elements fire and restless water. Her symbols are a sword made of copper and a bow and arrow. She is greeted with "Obá Siré!"
Appearance
Like Euá , Obá combines water quality and combative elements in himself, but goes beyond that, so that its elements are both water and fire. That is why her color is red. While Euá is exclusively female, Obá, on the other hand, most of all water goddesses has something masculine about her. Like Oxum , it also manifests in waterfalls and rivers. While in the belief of the Candomblé it is the restless water, Oxum is the calm water.
Those consecrated to her, the so-called filhas- and filhos-de-santo, are women with a strong temperament, possessive, loyal, bitter, jealous and disappointed in life. Her psychological archetype is that of women who are aware of their strength, which they fight for in a social context. She measures herself against every man except the man in her heart. When she loves, her own self disappears. Obá overcomes the agony of living without being loved. In everyday life they therefore show their inferiority complexes by often showing themselves to be silent and inflexible, although their life drive is that of love. Your aggressiveness stems from defensive behavior. Many of them are very successful in their careers or in their professional life out of disappointed love.
Since she is a great goddess, she is greeted as Iyá Agbá and is directly related to the witches, the Iá Mi Oxorongá.
In the Candomblé faith, she is the protector of the family.
literature
- Cossard, Gisèle Omindarewá ([2006,] 2008): Awô. O mistério dos Orixás. Rio de Janeiro: Pallas.
- Prandi, Reginaldo (2001): Obá. In: Mitologia dos Orixás. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, pp. 312-317.
Web links
- Candomblé - O Mundo dos Orixás, accessed November 28, 2012.
- Dr. Hans Gerald Hödl, lecture from 2003: African Religions II - Introduction to the religion of the Yorùbá ( Memento from March 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, 1.9 MB)
- Thomas Altmann ( Memento from July 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), article from 2004: Yoruba-Religion (Lukumí) ( Memento from July 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and many links Concerning Afro-Caribbean Religion, Santería and Batá Drumming ( Memento of March 10, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (October 2004)