She is Coming

First off, I didn't post a card yesterday. I remembered, and I intended to come in here at some point and draw a card. I also thought I'd post something witty and insightful. For some reason, it just didn't happen. So I'll be posting 2 cards today.

1. Butterfly. This is a beautiful card and I don't think I've drawn it before. Yay for butterflies!
2. Sloth. The card says, consider the smallness of your needs and treasure what you possess. So both our cards are about happiness. Which is good because a Dark Goddess is here.

Dark Goddess are very misunderstood. Their energy is heavy and intense. They can be scary to the nth degree. But that doesn't mean they are evil. I prefer to see them as strong-willed women who are unconcerned with what others may think of them.

The Goddess elbowing Her way into my life is Oya, Queen of Cemeteries, Queen of the Marketplace, Goddess of Storms, the Winds of Change Herself. Oya is the sister of Oshun, who I've worked with in the past. There is a 3rd sister, so I expect Her to show up next. (Go look it up, I'm not doing all the work for you)

I found out it was Oya hanging around while reading Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison. Please go read this book and turn your magickal thinking around.

Morrison talks about Oya in the section on gathering graveyard dirt. I was intrigued, and thinking about my cemetery project, I decided this would be a good goddess to work with. And since I just opened an Etsy shop, She might could help in that area too.

I began researching Oya on the Internet. There's conflicting information about Her. It seems to me that She rules what She wants to when She wants to do it. A few sources state that this African goddess is white with either red or blonde hair and that She probably is another version of St. Bride/Brighid. However, all the pictures I found were of black women. I think She is probably the same kind of energy, so the two are probably interchangeable. Each is both a water and a fire goddess. But I think African goddess are black and British goddess are white.

Oya is one of the 3 sister-wives of Chango. Some sources say She gave Him power over storms and other sources say He gave Her power of storms. Think they both have it because it takes both male and female energy to make a storm.

I work in ways deep
ever present
always moving
I work in ways dramatic
with thunder and lightning
sweeping and uprooting
I work in ways subtle
pushing and prodding
wearing and tearing
I swirl you and twirl you
I splatter you and scatter you
I shock you and rock you
I clear the way for what is to come
I can be slight or stupendous
brief or long lasting
uprooting or uprising
What I can't be is ignored

So how do I know She has come to call? Lots of little things. Her signs are everywhere in my life right now. I kept finding bones, I have a desire to explore cemeteries, I'm trying to increase my income, and it storms all the time. This goddess also is connected with beautiful cloth- and I'm dyeing fabric. If a fabric is pretty enough I consider it art all by itself.

If you want to work with Oya I must caution you on 3 things: things work best when a goddess chooses you, African gods will either help you or they won't, Oya is the goddess of change. You won't be the same afterward.