Yemanja - Queen of the Oceans

February 2nd - Festival of Yemanj�

Built on a peninsula, surrounded by sea, land of fishermen, seascapes of sailboats, Bahia has a queen: Yemanja, mistress of the waters, powerful Candomble orisha, siren of the five names: Janaina, Yna�, Iy�, Queen of Aiok�. She reigns over this watery empire, the sea, the lakes and rivers, commands the winds, unties the tempests. Mother and wife of fishermen, their greatest love, their impossible desire. "It is sweet to die in the sea, in the green waves of the sea,"� sing the masters of the sailboats, thinking of Janaina of the long, perfumed tresses and shipwreck eyes. She came from Africa to the Bay of All Saints in the wake of the slave ships, in the groans of the blacks. She made her home here for eternity.
--Jorge Amado, Bahia de Todos os Santos
Translated by Sabrina Gledhill