What are the 7 African Powers? Explanation
In each religion there are important members that make up these. In the Yoruba religion there are 7 African powers that any initiate in Santeria should know about and even for those who specialize in these deities.
7 african powers
They represent the pillars of religion and each one of them encompasses different meanings and elements of nature. Most people go to these to make requests regarding their needs and concerns as they are very powerful entities that can help you.
History of the 7 African powers
These were created in order to be guides for the people who live in this world, they were created by Olofi and from these the Orishas were born. According to this religion, each living being has a purpose to do something or transmit the work that was being commissioned. But what can happen is that people deviate from their original purpose and these 7 African powers are in charge of getting people back on track.
Yoruba
This religion originated in a people in Africa, mostly in Nigeria and Benin. Yoruba was the name of the town, they believe that the creator of everything was Olodumare, who is nicknamed the supreme god, the one who sees everything. Since life is the one that flows through all of us and the Orishas.
In the Yoruba religion, everything began thanks to the Patakies, who transmit the information, culture and traditions of it. And one particularity is that it is oral, there are no sacred scriptures as such, only pure stories and stories that are passed from generation to generation.
They relate that when Olodumare visited each planet of the universe created by him one by one, to see if it was habitable, where there was fertility. And when it was the turn of the earth in it he saw that there was only water in it. There was no soil to plant. He described the planet as wet, he said it was just looking at it.
So I let a lot of time pass and in that I send a direct son of him, who is considered one of the 7 African powers, Obatala. To create the land in this world flooded by water. Which he achieves thanks to his divinities and his ingenuity as to what he can create with a piece of mollusk. In which it contained soil, animals and when it emptied its content into the earth it expanded to create mountains and territory. With the help of Olofi and Olorum.
Expansion of the Yoruba religion 7 African powers
This obtained more weight on those who practiced this religion. Because of the African slave trade to different parts of the world and they took refuge in religion to give them divine tranquility and fully heavenly morality as they faced the injustices and mistreatment of the slavers.
Since their beginnings as slaves they were oppressed in such a way that their beliefs were not accepted since at the time only the Christian religion was. They entered the different continents in a violent way with no opportunities at all to have a full life, the only thing left to them was their origins.
So that they did not take away what little they had and the dignity of preserving that, they devised mechanisms and processes to hide their religion. Syncretism was based on the perfect opportunity for African slaves, as they were forced not to practice their beliefs, what they did was hide their deities within the Christian religion. For example, Olofi hid it behind the name of God, since it shares similarities and virtues with him.
It should also be noted that each of the 7 African powers makes up what is commonly called the pantheon of the Yoruba religion. And it is colloquially speaking like Santeria. They play a definite role in religion and are related to aspects of nature or objects of nature. Like the sea, the land, the air, everything that surrounds us and is part of this world and many beyond. Of the entire universe.
Olofi in Santeria
It is considered the third manifestation of Olodumare, many Orishas are created from it, which in turn were considered that before being deities they were normal people who walked like anyone else on this earth. But that when they died they became saints.
Olofi along with Olorum and Olodumare, are the most divine beings that exist for santeros. These three are the main lineage of everything else created, it is believed that as they can be the beginning of everything alive, they can also be the ones that bring the end of everything that one knows.
As mentioned before on the part of syncretism, these divinities also had to hide. And the people of the religion passed them off in the Catholic religion as the holy trinity. Olofi, Olorum and Olodumare were the father, the son and the holy spirit.
Since Olofi is only a manifestation of Olodumare and unique in not being possible to establish contact with human beings. This had to resort to Orula with whom she has a connection that is considered unique.
Orula is the goddess of divination, a gift that was granted to her by Olofi. This deity is always in contact with human beings and as Olofi wanted to know the plans that they have prepared for the future, he turned to her that he only made known about her thanks to her divination board.
The Ashé granted to the Orishas: The formation of the 7 African powers
Thanks to the Patakies, it was learned that Olofi was responsible for sending each of the Orishas their Ashé. These are in charge of keeping everything in perfect balance, they are also the ones that constitute the fundamental energy that flows in all the Orishas, granting them a power in the elements that constitute the earth, as in people, in the world and in the universe.
This was before the deities began to walk the earth with us. So Obatala was called to train people with Olodumare’s creative breath of life. Also in this way I create the Orishas, and it is affirmed that Obatala is the father of all of them. In addition to being the one who has dominion over others, being his leader.
These deities before becoming saints go through an initiation ritual, which is called Kariosha and this granted the element to each of the 7 African powers: Yemaya corresponds to the seas, to Oshun the rivers of the whole world, to Shango represents the fire. And just like the other four of the seven main deities, something different corresponds to them depending on what Orula chose for them.
Eleggua
He is the favorite for many of those who are initiated in the religion, in addition to being the favorites among all the Orishas, he is in charge of eliminating the impediments in life and he has his reason for being that way, perhaps it is because of his personality. that characterizes him, his courage or perhaps because he is a deity to be admired.
The legend or patakies tells about him, that Eleggua was born as a result of the relationship between Obatala and Yemaya, he was not the only one born of this couple, Ozun and Ogun were also created. Of all his sons, Ozun was the eldest and while he was growing up, he experienced a fervent and immoral attraction towards his mother, Yemaya, who stayed at home taking care of his children while Obatala left his hunt to work. He was so sick that he devised plans so that everything would take place without Obatala’s father’s knowledge.
Eleggua, aware of this, was looking for ways to prevent her brother from raping her mother. Ozun realizing his brother’s actions to avoid his intentions. She sentenced him unjustly, leaving him many times without food or liquids. So everything that was supposed to be for Eleggua, Ozun gave it to Ogun in addition to giving him alcohol to keep him drunk without a lucid state so he wouldn’t expose him against his father.
Eleggua, tired of all these injustices, decided to wait for his father at the exact point where four paths diverged. Obatala was surprised to find his son there and an Eleggua told him everything that was happening in his house, with his brothers and what the eldest wanted to do with his mother while he was gone, to prevent the misfortune from happening.
Obatala rushed home to see that what Eleggua told him was true. What he found when he opened the door of his house was his son Ogun with a belly very full of food and fast asleep due to the effects of drunkenness. And his eldest son in the process of raping his mother, Yemaya.
For Eleggua’s courage, Obatala blessed him that he would always eat first. In addition to choosing him to be the patron of the crossroads. He punished his other two children and unfairly Yemaya, that if he had another son he would kill him.
Obatala kept his promise in a state of madness when Yemaya had another son, Orumila, he left him to die to his fate. But Eleggua went to visit him every day bringing him food and water so that he would not die. Time later Obatala has another son, Shango, who cures the problem he had in his head of anger. Obatala blaming himself for killing his son was going to enter another state of depression, until Eleggua confesses that he did not let his brother die.
Obatala again gave him the blessing that he would be the first in everything he chose and be the one who was always by his side. That’s why it’s the initiations in religion you always have to go through Eleggua because he is the one who chooses whether you enter or not.
It is also part of the Orishas who are fighters. Although he is related to a child because of what happened in his childhood, this is why respect should always be part of the ritual, because of the courage of his actions. This is why in syncretism he was associated and represented as Saint Francis of Padua or as the Holy Child of Atocha, so his festivity is June 13.
It is characterized by colors such as black and red, although sometimes they are combined with white. And the element of nature in which he is related can be the stones, since in these he hides.
obatala
This deity is related to being the father of all the other Orishas. And in addition to the people who inhabit this land. From treating serenity to life. A story or Patakies of Obatala is that he was sent to this earth by Olofi to mold men with clay for his body. Obatala was not calm in doing only that, he wanted to do more or have more than just mold bodies. So he devised a plan. That when Olofi gave life to those bodies, he would hide to see how he did that.
Olofi who is not fooled by anything. Since he sees, hears and feels everything, I hope that Obatala comes one night to see how he made his majesty and punishing him gave him such a deep sleep that when he woke up he didn’t even know how he got there. Realizing that Olofi had already given life to the bodies because they were walking, breathing, in short, living by the grace of that divine being. He understood that he did not have to go where he was not called.
In syncretism, it is associated with the Virgen de las Mercedes and its celebration falls on September 24. Her color is white. And his element in nature is related to the mountains since it was his creation and they say that at the top of these, he lives there.
Yemaya
Along with Obatala, they are represented as the parents of the other Orishas. Since she in her womb gave life to those who make up the pantheon of Santeria. Mostly people turn to her for motherhood, her love and there is an interesting story or Patakies about the fertility of this goddess as well as her ingenuity.
It all starts when Olofin was very upset with the people of this planet because he had not given him the attention he deserves and even many had already forgotten him. So as punishment for his bad actions, he decided that the worst thing he could do to humans was to take away their water, the rain. In this way they had no way for their crops to bear fruit or for drinking water and when humans passed by, the other animals died of dehydration.
Orishas took action on the matter by realizing how many of the unfavorable eventualities that the world had adopted everything for Olofin and his anger. These met since they were in charge of protecting the stability and harmony of all that happened here. In this Shango proposed that the one indicated to go talk to Olofin so that the drought would end would be Yemaya.
Yemaya was going with the purpose that he will forgive all the faults of human beings. So that’s why she started an arduous journey that led her to a mountain where Olofin’s kingdom was. But they weren’t easy paths, it was all uphill, where she took weeks to climb and when she did, she was thirsty from the constant work of climbing that hill. As she was so thirsty, she could only make it to the gardens where she stopped to drink water from a well that was completely dirty.
In all this time Olofin, went to fulfill every morning a routine that for nothing in the world nobody disturbed him. In that while he was walking through his gardens he saw a subject infiltrating his harmonium. He was furious that anyone would deign to be so bold. At that he wanted to approach to see who was cunning enough to dare to enter his kingdom without his consent.
What he saw left him impressed. He saw Yemaya deeply desperate and anxious drinking from the water of that well. He felt so bad about himself and an enormous mercy came over him when he saw Yemaya in that state. So he told her to stop lying on the floor drinking that dirty water. And he took pity on the other human beings who were on earth dying as she was. Thanks to what she did, he promised her that the water would be sent back to earth. But not in a hurry so there would be no riots.
This goddess in syncretism is associated with the Virgin of the rule, this virgin is of Cuban origin. This goddess is celebrated on February 2 and September 7. All of it is related to the powers of the sea and foam. Her color is blue.
Oshun
It is characterized by taking the presence of women to the corners of the universe and this if it is possible that they have limits. She is flocked to for her love and her fortunes. She is full of passion, freedom in terms of femininity. As well as her characteristics that make her a very sensual goddess with a beauty that no one can compare to.
Of the 7 African powers , Oshun was the only one allowed to visit Orula. The latter was in a place where no one else was allowed to go. This was because Oshun was extremely trustworthy and she would never do anything to break her loyalty to the other deity.
Thanks to these acknowledgments she could ask Orula for the well-being of the people on earth, so that they would never be unprotected as well as her children. With whom she had with another powerful Shango deity, with whom they had little Orishas and twins. She is credited with many more miracles bestowed upon humanity for her love for us.
In syncretism it is associated with the Virgin of Charity of Copper. Her festival falls on September 8. She is related to fresh waters, as well as rivers and ponds. Her colors can be many but the one that predominates is yellow.
hey
She owns the comments. She protector of those who rest her spirits. As well as making sure they are taken safely to their graves. She has a legend or Patakies that she shows why she bought this place from her.
Those were very distant times somewhere in Africa. There was a village, where three people who were united by the strongest ties lived happily. The Brotherhood. These were Yemaya, Oshun and Oya who were in a very unfortunate state of poverty but that did not prevent them from living their lives freely.
To support themselves they fished in the seas, in the rivers and sold the beautiful stones that were obtained as well as what they hunted. Yemaya was the oldest, Oshun was the middle one, and the smallest of all was Oya, who used to run and play on the banks of the rivers where they visited, always inventing new pranks. There were no limits to the love that the three of them felt.
One day in the village they were attacked by some from a different village because there were always problems or resentments between them. Oya was alone in her house, while Oshun was swimming in the river and Yemaya was far away in the depths of the sea to be able to do anything. In this way they were able to take Oya as a captive.
As soon as Oshun arrived in town, she knew that something very bad had happened. For this reason, she went to look for Oya when she realized that they had kidnapped her. She almost died of depression because of her sister. But he quickly found out that there was a reward for her and began little by little to collect the money they asked for. In that of what he earned he was getting copper coins for each job he did hunting in the river or with the stones. He collected the ransom money but the chief of the other village who had attacked them wanted Oshun too much and this is why he doubled the value of Oya’s ransom money.
He took advantage of the poverty that the sisters had in his favor and offered Oshun a deal despite the fact that she was devastated by the change in the situation. He proposed that she give him her virginity in exchange for her sister. She didn’t even hesitate to accept such an indecent proposal, all in order to save her dear sister from her vile captors.
After that Oshun and Oya returned to their village where Yemaya was, who arrived as fast as she could to bury what had happened. When she found out about Oshun’s sacrifice for her courage and so that Oya would never forget what her sister had done for her, she stamped from her arms to her head with pure gold coins. copper.
A lot of things happened while Oya was kidnapped. Olofi with his great power and dominion over the rest of things, gave Yemaya the seas, Oshun the rivers and the only one who had been left out was Oya, therefore he had nothing in the name of the. And again Oshun had to intervene before Olofi so that Oya is not the only one who did not obtain some earthly divinity.
Olofi, thinking so much that giving to Oya, obtained the only thing that had not yet been delivered. The place where souls slept, the cemetery. This deity loved the position they were giving him and he accepted.
Oya is also recognized for being a fighter alongside Shango and Oggun. For her skills in battle as well as with the sword. Her syncretism is associated with the Virgen de la Candelaria and Santa Teresa de Jesús. Her feast day is October 1. She is related to storms or tempests as well as lightning. Its colors can be varied but the one that most characterizes it is red wine.
Shango
He is one of the most recognized within Santeria. He has power in those who come to face him or in his enemies. This deity is recognized by all for his qualities in terms of masculinity and strength, these traits also happen to be his sons just as strong.
He has multiple lovers or wives in the Yoruba religion. As with Oshun, Obba and Oya. Everyone knows that with Oshun she had some children that are represented by everyone as twins. These are little Orishas, these were involved in pranks that made her father intercede.
His syncretism was associated with Santa Bárbara. His feast day falls on December 4. He is related to justice and thunder, also as the owner of the drums, of the dances. His color is characterized by being red and white.
Ogun
He is a deity who has the constancy of strength and dedication. As well as hard work. He is associated with being the owner of the metals and what creates the chains. But he does not relate to these elements in vain since there is a story or Patakies of how it happened.
The origin of this story goes back to the union of Ororima and Tabutu. From this he had the birth of his son, who with the passage of time while he was developing, other people nicknamed him the “expert hunter” or Tobi Ode. He was so expert in what he did that he told the other Orishas that he could take them from the “hidden world” where they were to the land that was where everyone wanted to go.
They realized that while they followed the path that it gave them, it was completely sealed by undergrowth and trees so leafy that there was no way to pass them. No one knew how such a problem could be solved.
So Obatala offered that he could be the one to cut through the obstacles that stood in his way. He used one of his tools to get the job done but immediately doubled over from the effort required. Everyone already thought that from there no one could advance.
Everyone gave up except Oggun. From so much thinking about the solution, he came up with the mystery of iron and how it could be used as a tool. So he created a wrought-iron machete and began to chop down undergrowth and those big trees effortlessly. Only with perseverance. Achievement cuts everything in such a way that the path to earth was already clear. That is why the tools are blessed in his name.
He is part of the other deities who are warriors like Oya and Shango. Her syncretism is associated with Saint Peter. And her feast day is June 29. Mostly the people who turn to him are those who want to be able to get a job or some kind of protection. He is characterized by the color green.
Prayer to the 7 African powers
You who approach miracles to those who come to you. Make your presence. Oh mighty 7 African powers . That they are in charge of being the highest that exists in this world, since they coexist with the other saints that are known in this life.
I, who am your very humble servant, stand before you. Just imploring you to have mercy and compassion on my soul that only seeks the intervention of some or if possible of all of you. Since I know they are highly demanded by their loyal fans.
I also turn to our common God who takes care of everything. Please take care of and protect every creature, animal, living being or thing that is part of life on this earth. We beg you. I ask everyone who is below syncretism to intercede in my afflictions.
So that I never again have them present in my day to day. Neither that it torments me in my soul that only seeks peace nor in my earthly body that only wants tranquility. Take them away from my home and loved ones in the same way.
I hope that my request is heard since I do not consider it to be very demanding or that it costs much attention from God and from you my glorious saints. I beg you by the holy trinity. By the father, the son and the holy spirit. I know that I will receive the honor of having my prayers fulfilled with the favor of the saints.
Shango, I ask you to give me part of your power to scare away my enemies. Oshun, do not forsake me in my search for riches and find true love, so longed for. Yemaya, heed my pleas to be able to find a stable partner, that my family be harmonious and happy, that finally my wishes to be a mother come true. Obatala, get me what I have been asking you to live as it should, in peace with oneself and with tranquility for the rest.
Oggun, try not to leave me unemployed and give me protection with those who tempt me. Eleggua, do not put obstacles in my paths so desired, I beg you. Hey, listen to me and protect me when I need you. Orula, grant me the full knowledge to be able to find the necessary wisdom to continue my life. And last but not least, since for you everything makes sense, my dear Olofi. Intercede for us mortals who love you so much, bless us and free us from all evil and unnecessary burden. Amen.
Prayer for money and business prosperity to the 7 African powers
Today I go to the father, the son and the holy spirit. I need confirmation (Please enter your full name) to continue advancing in my sacred ritual that involves the 7 African powers , I know that you protect me from any evil. They are there when I need them. Especially in the moments when my soul and body are weakened by the circumstances of life. In addition to that I know that you are listening to me right now through my request (Please enter your request).
I am in a moment of life when I find myself in ruins. But I know that thanks to you you will get me out of here to have a new beginning. Happy, away from all the bad that once tormented my thoughts and actions. I trust you.
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