ORIXÁS SONGBOOK
For the past several years I have been translating a song cycle for the Orixás, the great pantheon of Afro-Brazilian deities that embody the forces of nature. Born in Brazil from the meeting of African archetypes, indigenous cosmologies and Judeo-Christian beliefs, they are invocations and portals that open a doorway of understanding and reconnection to the spirits of the rivers, mountains, forests, oceans and all creation.
For over 15 years these songs for the Orixás have been powerful teachers for me. Unfolding in beautiful pools of devotion and celebration, they are part of a river of folk music that have guided my own path of activism and protecting the Sacred and this beautiful living Earth we all call home.
The Song Cycle translations are a work in progress. For now, I am sharing them mostly on Patreon. You can join for free and you will get more intimate and regular updates than via email. I like the non-anonymous interactions on Patreon and the song community of friends and extended family that it has become.
Oxalá is the father. Force of the sun, the clear light of love, a white mantle of faith. It is "he who gave to us the moon, which lights up all Umbanda and the Orixás". Creator of humans from the clay of the Earth, creator of the moon and the whole world.
Yansã comes with her winds to clear and clean and announce a new day of peace, love and happiness. Beautiful, powerful golden haired warrior queen of the lightning and storms, blowing through, scouring and sometimes destroying to make way for the new. Always in the service of life, of bringing forth the change that is needed.
Xangô is the warrior king of the mountains and thunder - the Lord of Divine Justice who carries a great stone hammer. He is syncretized with Saint John the Baptist. The waterfall is his city of light, and he is the rock that holds up the waters of Oxum, so that she can fall with her grace and majesty, bringing healing and purification.
Pomba Gira is the feminine aspect of Exu, in the line of the Povo da Rua, or People of the Street. Exu is Guardian of the night who lives at the crossroads and guards the gates of the softest places of the heart. Exú and Pomba Gira carry the energies of the liminal spaces and their realm is the full moon nights of the streets and roadways.
Yemanjá is the mother of us all, the part of the ocean that the sunlight penetrates. The ocean of our emotions, our womb, Queen of the Mermaids, the crescent moon crown, pearls falling from her hands. Majestic, beautiful mother of comfort and warm embrace of sea foam, silver moonlight and the rocking of the waves.
Jurema is the queen of the forest. She is the huntress, a spirit that was born into the pantheon of the Orixás from the soil of Brazil. She carries the force of the jungle, the mystery of the leaves that heal and the arrows that can kill – a warrior queen of breathtaking power and beauty.
Oxóssi, comes from the East. He is the hunter. Guardian of the forest. His aim true, swift and elegant. The moonlight as it breaks over the mountains, unveiling a beautiful deep green spirit of protection and faith So quiet your mind and steady your aim as we walk this path of faith and true protection together in the moonlight.
A collection of songs for smudging with sacred herbs – cleansing the air and clearing negativity from one's mind, home, environment or spirit. "Across the waves of the sea, take evil that oh here might be.,... "
Oxum is the golden queen of princesses, intoxicating honey of abundance. Force of love and purification, beauty and sweetness, Oxum carries the energy of the sweet water whose altar is found at the waterfall.
Ogum is s the force of the new moon and new pathways. The general of the battalions of heaven, he rides his white horse with his seven swords of protection guarding the perimeter of heaven. He works in in the line of divine law and order. His realm is the open fields of agriculture, metal, forging, alchemical, determined will of manifesting and confronting challenges.
Oxumaré is the rainbow serpent of transformation. He is the one who lives in the rainbow mists of the waterfall, his shining crystal beauty a dazzling kaleidoscope of what is possible. From the storms, winds and thunders, he emerges in the light of the sun – the path of hope in the unity of colors.
Mestre Raimundo Irineu Serra was a Brazilian spiritual leader who founded the Santo Daime tradition.