Yemaya, Oshun and Olokun

Name variants: Yemaya, Yemoja, Iemanja, Mami Wata (Pidgin/Creole Languages)

Yemaya is the orisha of the surface of the ocean. She is the other half of Olokun, sometimes a sister and sometimes a wife (sometimes, both deities are androgynous). While Olokun is the Keeper of Secrets and rules over the depths of the ocean, Yemaya presides over the surface waters. She has great power as the Earth cannot thrive without her.

Oshun is one of the youngest orishas and Yemaya's younger sister. Legend has it, that Oshun did not always rule the rivers of the world. She was created by the Olodumare because the world he had created was missing love and sweetness. However, because she represented these qualities, she was also the most beautiful orisha and was constantly pursued by other gods. One day, when she was being chased by Ogun, the warrior orisha, she fell in to a river and disappeared in a whirlpool. Yemaya took her under her protection and gave her dominion over all the Earth's rivers. As orishas that watch over all that is love, marriage and family, the sisters often work together: Oshun watches over love and sensuality and then passes on a task to her sister, the great mother, who protects the mother, child and ensures a safe birth.

 Lemonade by Beyonce 

Dique do Tororo