Imbolc, Candlemas,
and Oya:
The Whirlwind in the
Thorn Tree
“And I heard as it were the voice of thunder:
*****
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree.
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks.”
--Johnny Cash, “The Man Comes Around”
It might
not be a “man” who “comes around” and takes names and kicks ass. It might be
Oya. She’s got a lot to do this year, oh man, oh man. Oya is the African face
of Imbolc, the Candlemas orisha who whips the winds of February, the winds that
cut me like a knife. But I’m an Aquarius, an air sign, so I’m supposed to like
wind or something. I don’t. Never have, never will. But I do like a good fire.
And Oya is all about the flame.
Do some
reading up on her. I have some stuff below that I’m suggesting you look at, and
I’m also suggesting you listen to that Johnny Cash song on YouTube. It’s an
apocalyptic song, a song about Death and what comes after. Oya is death. The
story of her getting tricked into owning the cemetery? Nonsense. She owns it
because as a warrior she IS death. What do you think warriors do? Stop a minute
and think about it.
Now, I did
say I was going to speak about Imbolc. If you want to know about Brigid and her
connection with Imbolc and Candlemas, read the previous blog. So, on Candlemas,
we have Groundhog Day in the U.S.,
the last vestige of European pagan Imbolc in mainstream America. Like
Punxatawny Phil and many other municipal groundhogs around the country, he is
called upon to predict the weather by annoying the crap out of him, taking him
from his comfy, warm burrow, and making him squint into the light of a February
morning so some city fathers can see whether spring will come early or not.
It’s a publicity stunt, but it hearkens back to ye olde Europa where I believe
it was a hedgehog that predicted when winter would end. So, if the groundhog or
hedgehog sees his shadow, it’s six more weeks of winter. If not, then spring
will come early. This is a big deal to people in cold climates, and most of Europe has a cold climate compared to sunny SoCal where I
live, so it makes sense.
We have a
little publicity stunt of our own: Palos Verdes Pancho, a plush groundhog toy
that was offered one year at Build-A-Bear. I had him built myself and asked for
a Spanish-speaking voicebox. This morning he did not see his shadow. I guess
that means spring will come early in SoCal. We’ll see. So that’s it for Imbolc
but for the ewe’s milk cheese.
And I’m
ignoring all the white-light stuff online. Nuh-huh. Not this time. I’m not
begging Oya to help me cope with change, but you can if you want to, because
that’s one of the things Oya is good for. Now, asking her to change things—go
ahead. Just be prepared for what happens next.
Don’t burn
incense for her. She doesn’t like smoke, but she does like flame. I illuminate
candles for her—meaning that I decorate them with sparkly things. I also anoint
her candles, and offer her things that she likes. I have an amethyst—Aquarius’
birthstone—and a labradorite stone on her altar. I have rosemary, mint, and
lavender in a vase—she like strong, sweet-smelling things. The rosemary this
year is blooming like I’ve never seen it bloom before.
I’ve been
too busy trying to save what little amount of employment I have left to fully
prepare for this holiday, so I didn’t have a chance to get to the store to buy
nine of those little Asian eggplants, but if you do, put them in a basket along
with nine pennies and put it on her altar. If you can’t get them, one big
eggplant will do. That’s what I’ve got. Some people make a little skirt for it
from construction paper in burgundy or purple. Burn a lot of candles. You can
always order an Oya candle from Rev. Dee’s Apothecary. Burn purple, wine, dark
blue, dark green, brown, or white candles or a mix of all of those. Just light
‘em up. If you must burn incense, do so in another room, and burn a cinnamon or
coconut incense for Elegua. You need to light his candle first, of course; you
always light his candle first before working with any other orisha.
Write your
own words to say to her, or speak off the cuff. Don’t be afraid to speak or
write strongly—she would! She’s also good for employment, for in the New World she’s seen as the patron orisha of career
women. If you’ve read The Dark Archetype,
and you should, you’d know that and you’d see a wonderful career-boosting
ritual. So I’d suggest that, if nothing else, you implore her to get you a job
if you want one or help you keep the one(s) you already have.
To get you started on your own
ritual, here are a few words I borrowed from one of the websites below and
tweaked a little; you can start with this if you wish:
Although it is now dark, I
come seeking light.
In the dead of winter, I come seeking life.
I call upon fire, that melts the snow and
warms the hearth.
I call upon fire, that brings the light and makes new life.
I call upon fire to purify me with its flames.
Before I
finish my altar and light my candle, I’m going to make her a special drink: a
Cosmopolitan! I knew that she preferred red wine rather than the standard rum
that most orishas like, but I didn’t know she liked Cosmos. I’ll post a few
standard recipes below along with my suggestions for further study.
Change.
Wind. Fire. Thorns. Rending. Blood.
You’d think
it was Lupercalia or something!
Oh,
wait…that’s the next blog.
Recipes for Cosmopolitans:
Cosmo #1: 1 (1.5 fluid ounce)
jigger vodka; ½ oz Cointreau; 1 tsp. lime juice; 2 oz cranberry
juice..
Cosmo #2: 2 oz vodka; ½ oz triple sec; 1 ½ tbsp. cranberry juice; ¼
oz lime juice.
Cosmo #3: 1 1/2 oz lemon vodka;1 oz Cointreau; 1 oz cranberry
juice; 2 tsp. lime juice.
All Cosmos should be shaken well
with ice and strained into a martini class. Garnish with lime peel, orange
peel, or an orange slice.
References and for further study:
Cash, Johnny. “The Man Comes Around.”
Dumars, Denise and Lori Nyx. The Dark Archetype.
Gleason, Judith. Oya:
In Praise of an African Goddess.
Heathwitch. “Oya, Lady of Storms,” http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/oya-storms/Oya.html
“Origin of Groundhog Day.” http://landscaping.about.com/cs/pestcontrol/a/groundhog_day_4.htm
“Oya,” Santeria
Church of the Orishas. http://santeriachurch.org/the-orishas/oya/
