Invocation of the Two Marine Goddess Mothers

One mother is the river. One mother is the sea. Nothing the river carries is ever lost in her.

This is a complete, researched book of the two great water mothers of the Yorùbá — Òṣun and Yemọja — written for people who want to work with them honestly.

Every prayer is given in Yorùbá first, with the English underneath, so you can say the words in the language they were made in and know exactly what you are saying.

INSIDE THIS BOOK

- EIGHTY NAMES — forty of Yemọja, forty of Òṣun, each on its own page with its meaning, its oríkì in Yorùbá and English, what to bring, what to call it for, and what never to do with it.

- EVERY ORÍKÌ AND ỌFỌ̀ IN YORÙBÁ — with a full chapter on the three tones and the dotted letters, so a reader who does not speak Yorùbá can still say them properly.

- THE SIXTEEN ODÙ MÉJÌ — drawn as they are marked on the ọpọ́n Ifá, each read for the two mothers.

- FORTY-FIVE WORKINGS — forty-five real troubles, one to a page: children, love, money, work, health, protection, justice, grief and starting again. Each gives the road to call, the time, the offering, the word of power, and a ruled page to write down what happened.

- THE MASTER RITE IN TEN STEPS — from cool water at the door for Èṣù to the close, so that every name and every working runs on one framework you learn once.

- THE FULL APPARATUS — the alphabet and tones, the long oríkì for each mother, the shrine list, a prayer index, a glossary, a record book, a safety checklist, the festival calendar, and the sources.

HONEST ABOUT WHAT IT IS

Where a praise-name is traditional and widely recited it is marked. Everything unmarked is composed for this book in the correct Yorùbá pattern, and the book says so plainly rather than letting you assume otherwise. Diaspora material from Cuba, Brazil and Haiti is labelled as such.

WHAT IS NOT IN IT

No curses. No love-binding. No initiation secrets — nothing belonging to a priesthood is given away, because a printed page cannot initiate anybody. No animal sacrifice: the historical rites are described because the history is real, but everything instructed here uses cool water, honey, oranges, white cloth and clean hands.

SAFETY IS NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT

Every rite in this book is performed from the bank — never in the water. The safety chapter is compulsory reading and the rule runs through all forty-five workings: daylight, never alone, nothing plastic left behind, and go to the doctor, the lawyer or the police when that is what the situation needs.

Printed in classic black and white, with eighty hand-drawn seals, thirty plates and a contents page you can actually use.

For anyone who wants the river and the sea — properly, respectfully, and in the language of the mothers themselves.