Iansan

Iansan

Lady of the Winds,
your sword broke the night in two,
stretching the pagan clouds
over the dissolute sky.

Iansan is spinning her red skirt,
Iansan is whipping the universe with her long hair.

Tempests sail,
bleeding lightning bolts blossom,
a hurricane creeps across their empty crystal hours,
shattering it in minutes and seconds.
I admire you scattering the stars.

Eparre Iansan!
Odara Iabany!

I see your strength piercing the horizon
as they turn their heads to contemplate
your tornadoes mocking their doubting hearts.
I see you were clad in iron
when the rain greeted the Orishas.

Queen of Everything,
you clear their tumultuous sky
with your fiery liquid eyes.
Queen of the Bolts,
They are the sons and daughters of Iansan:
don't cry for them, don't cry for me.

Eparre My Lady!
Raise your hands and change their unwritten fate
for chaos is never the end:
they are here to obey and serve you.
They are here to understand you are the woman
who walks between worlds.

Lady of the Winds,
dance as your fire burns the sun.
Nigeria is calling you.
I am calling you:
Odoya Matamba!

The weather is dreaming.
Your butterflies embellished my disheveled hair.
The weather is fine:
Iansan is here and her path goes where her heart is.

Eparre Mother,
ride the fire and guide them
across the Chthonic world
for you are what the Gods conceived
when the rain sang a lullaby.

Karla Bardanza
For CGP

Iansan or Oya is the Goddess of Transformation, The Lady of Storms, Thunder, Lightning, Tornadoes, Winds, Rainstorms and Hurricanes.

Eparre is how you greet Iansan.
Odara= beautiful in Yoruba
Matamba = Iansan

Name: Oya, Iansan
Day: Wednesday
Colors: Red, Maroon, Black
Objects/energy embodied in: Wind, Tornadoes, Storms, Brooms, Graveyards, The Market Place
Offering: Eggplant
Goddess Energy: Radical Transformation, Death
Herbs: Myrrh
Spiritual Qualities: Release, Surrender, Dying to the old to embrace the new

An Orisha (also spelled Orisa or Orixa) is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system. (Olodumare is also known by various other names including Olorun, Eledumare, Eleda and Olofin-Orun). This religion has found its way throughout the world and is now expressed in practices as varied as Candomble, Lucumi, Santeria, Shango in Trinidad, Anago and Oyotunji, as well as in some aspects of Umbanda, Winti, Obeah, Vodun and a host of others. These varieties or spiritual lineages as they are called are practiced throughout areas of Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, Togo, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the United States, Uruguay, Argentina and Venezuela among others. As interest in African indigenous religions (spiritual systems) grows, Orisha communities and lineages can be found in parts of Europe and Asia as well. While estimates may vary, some scholars believe that there could be more than 100 million adherents of this spiritual tradition worldwide.(Wikipedia)

This poem was written as I listened to this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjf4olu7TSg