Who doesn't love mermaids! Rain Frances has picked the perfect theme for this week's Thursday Art Date and I'm in, baby, all in!
I bought this handcrafted terra cotta mermaid on the island of Cozumel off the Mexican coast when I was there in the past. I featured her a couple of months ago in my January Full Moon Altar blog post dedicated to the Mermaid Goddess Yemaya.
Originally an oceanic creator goddess of the Yoruba people in West Africa, the slave trade resulted in Yemaya's transformation into a Caribbean and Brazilian deity. Because her enslaved people were punished in the New World for practising their own culture and spirituality, Yemaya's worship became "coded" for people's own safety and protection. In the secretly-practised Santeria and Voudou religions, Yemaya was always depicted as a mermaid because that was a familiar European symbol which raised no suspicions among the white overlords.
In time, Yemaya's name became simply "The Mermaid" in English-speaking colonies or "La Sirène" in French-speaking ones. She was an Undercover Goddess operating beneath the radar of an oppressive and racist colonial system.
I made this art collage of Yemaya in 2008 to illustrate the beautiful Yoruba chant Yemaya Assessu, a favourite song which we sang often at my Women's Drumming and Goddess Chanting Circle. Reflecting the original oceanic nature of Yemaya, its simple words express the River's longing to unite with its ultimate home, the Sea.
Yemaya assessu
assessu Yemaya
Yemaya olodo
olodo Yemaya
Deva Premal sings an exquisitely beautiful version of this chant in the following video, which also conveys the words' deep spiritual significance.
[Photo #1 © Debra She Who Seeks, January 2022; Art and Photo #2 © Debra She Who Seeks, 2008 and March 2022, respectively]
45 comments:
Love mermaids. And love Santeria.
Sincretism was the secret weapon of the enslaved in the Diaspora. Loved the video, too!
XOXO
Hello Debra, My favorite mermaids are the Fiji mermaids. Here is Harvard's specimen, which may or may not be the one that P.T. Barnum displayed in his museum.
https://youtu.be/MeK40LXEIO4
--Jim
That was a beautiful chant and loved the clip.Ive not met a mermaid I didn't like.
But I seem to always have a Full Moon alter up.
Really a lovely post. The collage is beautiful. Have a great day.
As usual, you are educating me about the Goddesses of the world. Well done.
Very cool ~ Your collage is beautiful!
Cute mermaid you got in Mexico! Lovely collage too.
Very interesting read about your mermaid Debra. Nice terracota mermaid. Happy you dropped by my blog today.
Much💜love
Loved the chant and the accompanying words! Beautiful!
Never thought I would learn about goddesses via a blogspot! Thanks for this, too!!
Thank you for the back story about mermaids and how a symbol traveled because of the enslavement of the followers. Tragic and brave story.
Beautiful chant and great mermaid. I’ve been thinking of doing a mermaid sculpture of my own, but I’ve thinking of a lot of things.
And the collage! I love the collage.
Mermaids are cool. Love the tale by Andersen, although it's a very sad one.
The song is hauntingly beautiful. Thank you for sharing!
Beautiful collage..Is she the reason it is raining today??I couldn't play the video..Will try on my phone..Enjoy your day!!
Yeah, I remember her. That mermaid is a memorable beauty.
The music is quite soothing, nice way to start a big work day. Thank you, dear.
I have a merman hanging outside on the patio. He has long yellow hair and looks like Cousin Ophelia with whiskers
We all love mermaids but reverse mermaids not so much
Oh Debra, I love your Mermaid and your collage. Thank you for telling us the story of Yemaya...I didn't know anything about that. And the video was wonderful! I loved learning about this and the song was beautiful!! ♥♥♥
How beautiful. One does not to understand the language, just feel the words.
That was a beautiful tune and the singer had a beautiful voice. I need to look it up and see if she has performed any other recorded youtubes.
My daughter looks like a mermaid.
Love,
Janie
Lovely history.
The Ocean as One, and the River rushing towards it. I like that!
They could try to steal our beliefs; but since they could never touch our imagination, they failed.
Love the mermaid and your wonderful collage.
Thank you for that bit of history. Learned a lot here about mermaids.
Hi Debra. What a wonderful piece of music you shared here. It's just beautiful. I bookmarked it to listen to again, so restful. Your collage is lovely and beautiful information here, too. Thanks so much for coming to visit me at Marmelade Gypsy.
Gorgeous collage!! That mermaid is a memorable beauty :)
Mermaids are beautiful and meaningful. The Yemaya Assessu is so peaceful.
What an eye-opening post! Your collage is amazing and I really enjoyed Deva Premal's version of the chant.
Maybe we're all undercover goddesses.
And I love your little cupid and his builder's bum.
Feather duster and fly swatter.
How lovely. The song gave me such a serene feeling. Thank you!
Your collage is beautiful. Such a good prompt from Rain!
I lost my interest when I learned that mermaids had to be virgins (maid, jungfru). Mermen on the other hand are devils, satyrs.
bautiful artwork from you.
I recognise that song. Maybe from my visit to Hawaii many years ago. A beautiful song. It makes you long to go back.
The music is beautiful as is the tale you tell of Yamaya ... Love learning the history of people and spiritual beings. Thank you for sharing your Mermaid and your knowledge :)
Andrea @ From the Sol
...I didn't know about the Mermaid Goddess Yemaya, thanks!
I like the trees in the second picture. 🙂
Gorgeous! I love when you share about these goddesses! And also learning about different spiritual beliefs.
Your terra cotta mermaid looks so beautiful, I love all the details. :) Also I loved learning the history behind the goddess, Yemaya. :D
-Quinley
Your collage is beautiful. Thank you for your background information. Unfortunately, I have to say that I haven't learned much about it so far. Thank you, new suggestions are always very good.
Thanks also for the beautiful mantra.
Good Sunday to you and many greetings from Viola
wow such a lovely story of yamaya mermaid ,i absolutely loved how nicely you shared this dear Debra ,being feminist i never get tired of such fascinating lore :)
thank you for soothing beautiful song ,loved it too !
I've always meant to do some more reading up on Yemaya. Thanks for sharing!
Your collage is beautiful, and I love the chant, I have saved it for those days when I need a bit of soothing.
love the mermaids.
The song, the collage, and the chant are lovely, Debra. You are so talented, my friend!
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