Oya - Connection To Other Orishas

Connection To Other Orishas

She is closely associated with many Orishas, but most especially Chango, Oggun, Oba (Obba), Yewá/Euá and Ochún/Oxum. Oya is believed to have been Shango's favorite wife. She is also called "the one who puts on pants to go to war" and "the one who grows a beard to go to war".

As the deity of the wind, Oya manifests in Creation in the forms of sudden and drastic change, strong storms, and the flash of the marketplace. Her representation of natural disasters and death is not as arbitrary as it may seem, these factors often serving as a means of creation for her.

Oya is said to have a sister named Ayao who is received by some of her initiates. The ritual and existence of Ayao is questionable, and it is hard to trace her origins outside of the Lukumi system. Ayao is mentioned in books by Lydia Cabrera and surfaced in the United States in the mid-nineties (1994–1995).