Goddess Aja

Aja is a West African woodland goddess. 

• Aja is revered as a wise lady and healer across Nigeria and the New World Yoruba culture. 

• She is in charge of woods, woodlands, and the therapeutic plants that grow there. 

• Her disciples learn herb knowledge from her, guaranteeing their bodily and spiritual well-being.

Aja, Herbs, And Ritual Offerings

When supernatural entities accept or reject ceremonial offerings, Osun and the Aje play a significant role. 

When acknowledged, they strengthen and support herbal remedies; if not, they undermine their effectiveness and that of the ceremonial components. 

Animals like ign (vultures) and aja (dogs), who eat the sacrificial sacrifices, are inspired by Aje. Consequently, they are revered by the babalawo and Eleerindınlogun. 

 Additionally, Chief Mrs. Elsoj made it clear that due to their close connection to and involvement with Osun, the Aje's leader, the Eleerindınlogun, herbs and roots are easily accessible to them as a result. 

So, unlike diviners in other systems who must first pay particular devotion to the Aje in order for the elements to be effective, they are given the ability to employ ritual and herbal components at whim. 

Before extracting herbs or roots for ritual preparation, they chant a number of praises to the Iyami and ask for their assistance. 

The standing of Aje and Osun among them is agreed upon by every single one of my sources. 

In the words of Ifa priest of Babalawo Oyegbad, this is summarized: 

Aje, often referred to as Iyami, are strong as such that the cosmos has been entrusted to their protection by Olodumare. 

They now have control and authority over its business thanks to him. The cosmos is firmly held together by them. They continue to keep the planet in order. 

Osun is not only one of them; she is also their leader. In addition, Osun's function is essential in restoring harmony to any tense relationship. 

Osun's standing among the spiritual beings explains why her influence over ritual procedures is crucial to the deity's plan for resolving disputes and crises. 

The effectiveness of the ceremonial sacrifices suggested by diviners may be achieved by communication with all spiritual beings.

Therefore, it is said that Osun, the head of the Aje, has the mystic ability to restrain or remove the violent acts of other deities as well as human potential and prosperity.

Legends, Belief And Folklore Associated with Goddess Aja.

Aja is an Orisha in Yoruba mythology, patron of the forest, its animals, and herbal healers, whom she taught their craft. 

• Aja may also refer to a "wild wind" in Yoruba. 

• If someone gets taken away by aja and later returns, it is said that he would become a strong "jujuman" (or babalawo). 

• The voyage is said to last anywhere from 7 to 3 months, and the individual who is carried is said to have gone to the country of the dead or heaven (Orun)."  

• She is a botanist who knows all there is to know about plants and is a master of potions and healing herbs. She taught this art to the Yoruba people, who continue to perform it now. 

In Yoruba folklore and consequently in Santerian religious practice, Aja is a great healer. 

• She is considered to be the spirit who taught all other healers how to do their jobs. 

• She is a strong Orisha, and it is said that if she takes you away but lets you return after a few days, you will be bestowed with her magical abilities. 

• A. B. Ellis said in Yoruba-Speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa, published in 1894, that

  "Aja, whose name seems to mean "wild vine," whisks strangers away into the woods and educates them about the therapeutic powers of plants, but she never hurts them. 

Aja is humanoid in appearance, although she is short, standing between one and two feet tall. 

Women utilize the aja vine to treat enflamed breasts."  

Aja is one of the most elusive Earth Gods and Goddesses since she chooses to show herself to humanity rather than hurt or fear them.

Worshiping Aja is much rarer in the West, but it shouldn't matter since Aja symbolizes a global value of environmental care and preservation, regardless of religion or spiritual calling.

Aja safeguards the woods, which are home to trees that provide oxygen and filter the air and water for all living creatures. 

There would be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere if trees were not safeguarding humans, and there would be no barrier to limit the speed of an already fast changing climate.

Among the Nigerian Goddesses and Gods, Orisha is immensely popular. 

Goddess Aja is the spirit of the forest and the animals that live there, as well as domestic healers. 

Goddess Aja much like Goddess Diana of Europe  and Goddess Korravai of India is a woodland goddess, and also a goddess of animals.

Goddess Aja always teaches us understanding empathy for the natural world, and a well-balanced empathy is the preventive strategy that prevents environmental degradation, destruction, and ecological anguish. 

Thus Goddess Aja and Her true healing begins to unfold naturally and inevitably.

~Kiran Atma

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Who Is Goddess Aja?

Aja is an Orisha, a spirit that inhabits the forest and its creatures, as well as herbal healers. She would search her woodlands for medical plants and combine the herbs, roots, and other plant components to develop treatments for the ill.

Who is Africa's most powerful goddess?

In Yoruba religion, Oshun is known as the river orisha, or goddess, and is linked with water, cleanliness, fertility, love, and sensuality. She is one of the most powerful orishas, yet she, like other gods, exhibits human characteristics including vanity, envy, and spite.

What is the name of the African healer goddess?

In Yoruba folklore and consequently in Santerian religious practice, Aja is a great healer. She is considered to be the spirit who taught all other healers how to do their jobs. She is a strong Orisha, and it is said that if she takes you away but lets you return after a few days, you will be bestowed with her magical abilities.

What is the name of the African nature goddess?

Asase Yaa is regarded as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility, and the upholder of truth by the Akan people of West Africa.

Which dark goddess is the most powerful?

She's one of the most well-known and revered Orishas. Among the Yorùbá people, Oshun is a significant river god. Divinity, femininity, fertility, beauty, and love are all goddesses to her. She has a link to fate and divination.

What are the seven African superpowers?

Initiation into the Seven African Powers is another frequent initiation (Elegua, Obatala, Oggun, Chango, Yemaya, Oshun, and Orunmilla). Babalu-Aye is often substituted for Orunmilla by Cuban devotees. The Seven African Powers have been merged into a single eleke.

What exactly are orisha?

orisha, often written orixa or orisa, is a Yoruba deity who lives in southern Nigeria. The Edo of southern Nigeria, the Ewe of Ghana, Benin, and Togo, and the Fon of Benin all worship them (who refer to them as voduns).

What is the maximum number of orishas you can have?

According to Yoruba culture, there are 400 + 1 orisha, which is considered a holy number. According to some reports, the number is "as many as you can conceive of plus one more - an infinite number." Depending to the oral tradition, there are 400, 700, or 1,440 orisha.

References And Further Reading:

• Abiodun, Rowland. “Woman in Yoruba Religious Images.” African Languages and Cultures 2, no. 1 (1989): 1–18. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1771702.

• Olmsted, David L. “Comparative Notes on Yoruba and Lucumí.” Language 29, no. 2 (1953): 157–64. https://doi.org/10.2307/410168.

• Morton-Williams, Peter. “The Yoruba Ogboni Cult in [Uppercase Letter O with Vertical Line below]y[Lowercase Letter o with Vertical Line Below].” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 30, no. 4 (1960): 362–74. https://doi.org/10.2307/1157598.

• Drewal, Henry John. “Mami Wata: Arts for Water Spirits in Africa and Its Diasporas.” African Arts 41, no. 2 (2008): 60–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20447886.

• Dennett, R. E. “How the Yoruba Count (Continued).” Journal of the Royal African Society 17, no. 65 (1917): 60–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/715685.
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• Drewal, Henry John, John Pemberton, and Rowland Abiodun. “Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought.” African Arts 23, no. 1 (1989): 68–104. https://doi.org/10.2307/3336802.

• Majasan, J. A. “Folklore as an Instrument of Education among the Yoruba.” Folklore 80, no. 1 (1969): 41–59. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1259337.

• Yai, Ọlabiyi Babalọla. “In Praise of Metonymy: The Concepts of ‘Tradition’ and ‘Creativity’ in the Transmission of Yoruba Artistry over Time and Space.” Research in African Literatures 24, no. 4 (1993): 29–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3820251.

• Matory, J. Lorand. “Rival Empires: Islam and the Religions of Spirit Possession among the Ọ̀yọ́-Yorùbá.” American Ethnologist 21, no. 3 (1994): 495–515. http://www.jstor.org/stable/645918.

• Akínyemí, Akíntúndé. “Yorùbá Oral Literature: A Source of Indigenous Education for Children.” Journal of African Cultural Studies 16, no. 2 (2003): 161–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3559467.

• Falen, Douglas J. “Vodún, Spiritual Insecurity, and Religious Importation in Benin.” Journal of Religion in Africa 46, no. 4 (2016): 453–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26358824.

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Mielikki Or Annikki Or Anna

 

Mielikki, also known as Annikki or Anna, is a Finnish goddess of hunting.

Mielikki, a legendary huntress and animal protector, commands the woods and woodlands.

She looks after grazing animals and helps people who are lost in the woods.

The bear is her totem animal.

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Ardwinna

Ardwinna is a Celtic woodland deity. Ardwinna, a forest deity of the hunt, is linked to the Roman goddess Diana. 

• She provides mankind with animal flesh and teaches respect for the woods and the life that exists inside them. 

• Any animal slain within her realm must pay a tribute. 

• Ardwinna is often portrayed riding a wild boar through the woods.

~Kiran Atma

You may also want to discover and learn more about Female Divinities of the Roman empire here.

Goddess Flidais

The Goddess of the woods of Ireland.

Flidais travels through the woods on a deer-drawn chariot.

She is a sexually strong goddess who seduces powerful masculine mortals.

In Ireland She is worshipped as a fertility goddess with many offspring, and her cow, which delivers milk to 300 people, provides plenty and sustenance.

Her hair is portrayed as long and luscious.

~Kiran Atma

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Lady of Beasts

 

Lady of Beasts is a Middle Eastern animal deity.

In several cultures, the title "Lady of Beasts" is applied to a number of deities.

She is most well-known in the Middle East, with a reach that includes Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

She is the universe's life-giving power, governing over natural woods, jungles, and the creatures that live there.

Her presence is supposed to benefit the reproduction of all women and animals, since she is a birth and fertility goddess.

Generally, Lady of Beasts is represented as a pregnant lady surrounded by wild creatures.

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Atira

Atira is a Native American soil deity. Atira was revered as Earth Mother by the Pawnees of North America. 

• Her people prioritized hunting above farming since they considered cultivation and plowing to be an insult to her. 

• Atira is the Sacred Mother of All Life, and she is most powerful in the wild fields and woods.

Goddess Artemis

Artemis is the Greek goddess of hunting. 

• Artemis, the Olympian goddess of the wilderness and ruler of woods, woodlands, and wild animals, was created by Zeus. 

• Artemis, often known as the goddess of childbirth, is the guardian of young girls until they reach marriageable age. 

• She is the embodiment of independence and self-reliance, as well as the protector of the vulnerable and mistreated, as the Virgin Huntress. 

• Artemis is typically portrayed as a young lady with a bow and arrow in her hands. Her holy animals include deer, bears, and cypress trees.

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Artio

Artio is a Celtic goddess of nature. Artio, the hunt goddess, is in charge of woods, fertility, and wild animals. 

• She has the power of plenty, reviving the fields after the harvest. 

• Her name means "bear," and she holds the female bear in high regard. 

• Artio is also seen as a shamanistic goddess as a result of this connection, leading her devotees through the dark side of life in order to embrace the light.

Goddess Hecate

 

Hecate is a Greek witch deity.

Hecate is the Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess, and along with Persephone and Demeter, she forms the triad; yet, she also seems to have three faces.

She is known as the "Queen of Ghosts" because she holds control over heaven, earth, and the underworld.

She protects spirits from injury and mischief in her role as the spiritworld's protector.

Hecate is most typically connected with the crossroads, a site of spiritual insight and dark intuitive witchcraft.

She was once a goddess of the woods and childbirth.

Hecate, the supreme sorceress and diviner, teaches her followers the Witch's way and leads the seeker to the unconscious mind's depths.

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Bereginy

Slavic nature deities, the Bereginy. 

The Bereginy are the female spirits of the woods and nature. 

• They work wonders in the wild and untamed, as well as promoting fertility. 

• They have control over both land and sea, and they govern the shorelines. 

Goddesses Of The Earth

 

The most common symbol for goddesses is the earth, although it can be argued that the symbolism goes the other way around: that goddesses symbolize earth, both as soil and as planet. 

Whichever came first, the connection of goddess and earth is found through out the world. 

It is not, however, invariable. The binary opposition of male/sky and female/earth is sometimes reversed. 

Earth gods are found in some cultures, often asso ciated with sky goddesses, a subject that has not been sufficiently studied to determine its frequency. 

Despite exceptions, however, earth and goddess are connected in many cultures, so much so that goddesses whose symbolism was originally other evolve into earth goddesses over time. 

In some cases, however, writers unthinkingly and inap propriately use the term ‘‘earth goddess or ‘‘earth mother where the divinity in question is a celestial or cosmic figure. 

Earth goddesses are often described as creating the earth (see also Creatrix, below); such goddesses can be described as self-creating. 

In Korea, MaGo created the world by singing, while in Greece, the earth goddess Eurynome created the universe through dance. 

Some earth goddesses do not create the land but populate it by creating humans and animals. 

African Butan was the first creation of the double-sexed primary god. 

She then populated the world without need of mate. 

Earth goddesses often create vegetation from their bodies, the rich soil. 

Because humans and animals require vegetation to survive, earth goddesses are envisioned as benevolent and generous. 

In some cases, the connection between earth and nourish ment is made clear, as with Indian Basmoti who created rice by vomiting it forth. 

This generosity can be seen in the name of the early Greek earth goddess Pandora, ‘‘all giver, or Danish Gefjion, ‘‘gift (see Scandinavia). 

Such images tend to come from cultures that practice agriculture. 

Where people live from fishing and hunting, the goddess of abundance is more typically connected with wildlife (see Animals, below). 

Many earth goddesses are described as maternal forces, providing for the creatures of earth as a good mother provides for her children. 

Some myths put special emphasis on the maternal feelings of the goddess, as in the Greek story of Demeter and her lost daughter Persephone. 

Baltic Zˇ emyna appeared at the birth of every child, and Sibe rian Umay (see Circumpolar, Umaj) was the placenta that feeds the fetus as the earth feeds its creatures. 

Other myths connect goddesses of earth with human fecundity. 

Estonian Ma-Emma (see Finno-Ugric) was the fertile, endlessly pregnant earth, and as such controlled the wombs of young women, permitting them to bear children suc cessfully. 

The Roman earth goddess Anna Perenna responded to the sexual activities of humans by growing more fertile. 

Goddesses like Scandinavian Fulla and Roman Ops, from whose names the En glish words ‘‘full and ‘‘opulent derive, represent both bountiful vegetation and the abundant life expressed in human procreation. 

African goddess Aje was similarly con nected with abundance of all sorts, including food, money, and beloved children. 

She created the soil that bears crops by scratching at it in primordial times, when it was hard as rock and she wore the body of a chicken. 

Hindu Laks˛mı, often represented by coins and bills, began as an earth goddess whose abundance created monetary wealth. 

As an esoteric symbol, she represents spiritual wealth as well. 

The earth has rarely been seen as a solitary divinity. 

Rather, she is envisioned as part of a divine family that includes gods as well as other goddesses. 

At times, the earth was part of a family headed by the maternal sun, as with Finno-Ugric earth goddess Mu kilˇsin-Mumi, whose sister was the sun, or Baltic Z˘ emyna, who was the suns daugh ter. 

In other cases, we find the earth as mother of a clan that includes goddesses of cul ture and of food; the Pawnee earth divinity was Atira (see Native American), whose daughter was the corn goddess. 

Often, the earth mother was the mate of a sky god. 

In Polynesia, the earth goddess Papa lay in perpetual intercourse with her sky husband and had to be forcibly sepa rated from him in order for other life to emerge. 

In Greek myth, earth mother Gaia birthed many children after mating with the sky god but finally grew weary of his end less sexual demands. 

She convinced one of her sons to castrate him, thus ending their endless embrace, after which she gave birth parthenogenetically. 

The Zun˜i goddess Awitelin Tsita lay in continual intercourse with the sky until she conceived the human race. 

Her husband, the sky, solicitously attended upon Maka of the Lakota as she cre ated humanity (see Native American for both). 

Although typically the earth goddess hungered for intercourse, a few earth god desses were unwilling sexual partners. 

Hindu Tarı (see India) refused the solicitations of the sun god, whereupon he created human women to serve his sexual needs. 

Even when the goddess is energetically sexual, many myths describe tensions among the divine family, with the earth mother siding with her children against her spouse. 

The earth goddess is never described in fearsome or negative terms, although she can be seen as a strict keeper of order, as was the case with Greek Themis, who represented the force of law. 

Judgmental goddesses sustain the natural laws and punish those who break them. 

Such goddesses could be punitive, as when the Mongol earth goddess Etugen brought about earthquakes to purify the land of peoples wrongdoing. 

Hindu P rthivi (see India) also showed her displeasure at human failing by shaking fiercely, as did South American Pachamama. 

Because earth goddesses serve as all-seeing witnesses to what transpires on their surface, people turned to them when oaths were required. 

Slavic people held a handful of soil while swearing by Zˇ emyna (see Slavic), and Romans pointed downward toward the earth goddess Tellus when they made a pledge. 

African Ala was a force of social order, for she witnessed all promises and knew instantly when one was bro ken because there was nowhere on earth where one could hide from her. 

Also in Africa, followers of Oddudua devote themselves to maintenance of social order. 

Greek Demeter was known as the lawgiver (‘‘Thesmophoros), for she created the order of the ideal human society as she did for the rest of nature. 

The connection between earth and human society can be detected in the name of the Scandinavian earth goddess Fjo¨rgynn, from which we derive both the words ‘‘earth and ‘‘hearth. 

Just as she could see anything that happened on her surface, the earth goddess could see into the future. 

Thus she represented the force of destiny. 

Iranian A rmaiti (see Eastern Mediterranean) ruled both reproduction and fate, which in many cultures were seen as inextricably linked. 

As the overseer of birth, the goddess was in the position to know the fate of each newborn. 

Just as often, earth goddesses are connected to death, especially in cultures where the dead were entombed within the earth; the dark skin of Russian Mokosh (see Slavic) was not only the color of fertility but of the endless night of death. 

The earth goddess was literally the earth beneath our feet. 

Siberian Mou-Njami had soil for skin and green grass for hair. 

In that culture, digging into the earth was forbid den, because to do so would be to injure the goddess. 

Southeast Asian Ponniyamman is depicted as a rock head, sitting on the earth, which forms her body. 

Some goddesses occupy specific and delimited areas of land—for example, mountains. 

One of the worlds most famous peaks is named for the Hindu goddess Annapur˛na (see India). 

Sometimes a single peak is designated as the embodiment or residence of the goddess, as in the Irish triad Bandba, Fodla, and E riu, or the Native American goddess Tacoma of the mountain that bears her name. 

In other cases, goddesses occupied entire mountain ranges, such as Celtic Echtghe, after whom low hills in County Clare are named. 

Occasionally the goddesss mountain is an imaginary one; Xiwang Mu of China was envisioned as occupying the supernatural Jade Mountain. 

Volcanoes were commonly imagined as goddesses, but connected with fire rather than earth (see Fire, below). 

Goddesses inhabited and embodied forests. 

Because these forests were important sources of wild food, Celtic Ardwinna and Greek Artemis were connected with hunt ing, while Finno-Ugric Vir-Azer-Ava was associated with foraging for berries and mushrooms. 

But dense forests could also be dangerous. 

Thus threatening figures were described as ready to kidnap people who lost their way in the woods, like the Scandi navian Skogsnufvar (see Buschfrauen) who froze people to death for wandering in her domain. 

Mountain and forest goddesses can be seen as specialized forms of the earth goddess. 

Another category was the territorial goddess who represents not the entire planet but the region occupied by a single group. 

The alternative name of the Roman Tellus was Italia, a name also given to the long mountainous peninsula she ruled. 

In India, multiple goddesses called by the generic Gramadevata represent the land on which a villages people depended. 

In Ireland, land goddesses often appear as god desses of the watershed, showing the necessary connection of earth and water for fer tility (see Celtic Aveta, Sequana, Berba, Boand, Sınann). 

Given the frequency of association of goddess and earth, it is not uncommon to find earth goddesses also iden tified as goddesses of water, abundance, and creation. 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddess Baba Yaga

  

Baba Yaga is a Russian hagiography deity. Baba Yaga is the old Witch, the Mistress of Magick who dwells deep inside the woods in Slavic nations. 

• She is the guardian of knowledge and controls the souls of the dead. 

• She is both feared and adored. 

• Baba Yaga is the guide to the dark side of the psyche, imparting the lessons required for development and expansion as the embodiment of the untamable. 

• She is usually shown as an elderly hag riding through the air on a mortar, with the pestle serving as an oar. 

• She has complete power over time and the elements, and she can answer any question posed by those who are courageous enough to ask it. 

~Kiran Atma

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Goddess Diana

 

 

Diana is the Earthly and Eternal embodiment of the Queen of the Witches in Rome.

Diana is the free-spirited huntress, virgin of the woods and forests, and protector of all things wild and free.

She is a moon goddess who is revered for her amazing beauty, magical abilities, and protection of women who practice magick.

She is the patroness of slaves and the impoverished, as well as the guardian of wild and tamed animals.

Diana, who is often portrayed with a bow and arrow and accompanied by animals, is quick to get enraged when she is wronged.

Her yearly celebration takes place on August 13th, and she is believed to safeguard the crop from approaching storms.

Diana's Greek counterpart is Artemis.

~ Kiran Atma

Goddess Yama No Kami

 

Yama No Kami is a Japanese hunt goddess.

Yama No Kami is the mother of seasonal time and the guardian of women.

She is the ruler of the mountains and woods, and hunters revere her for providing them with game.

~Kiran Atma

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