Book summary “Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens”: summary

Introduction

You often navigate a modern world that silences fierce wisdom, ancestral roots, and divine feminine power. You might feel disconnected from spiritual traditions that honor deep emotional currents, fierce protection, and earth-based magick. Lilith Dorsey reveals how African Traditional Religions and diaspora practices preserve potent spiritual technologies. You discover divine female forces that survived centuries of colonial oppression.

African traditional religions empower practitioners through divine feminine forces, ancestral reverence, and practical earth magick.

The book guides you through foundational cleansing, sacred altars, and specific deity pantheons. You learn about the sweet waters of Oshún, the maternal ocean of Yemaya, and the fierce transformation of Oya. The journey continues through primordial serpent spirits, historical Voodoo queens, and popular folk saints.

• How do you prepare your sacred space and cleanse your energy for ritual work?
• What offerings do powerful water goddesses and fierce weather deities demand?
• How do you honor ancestors and draw protection from historical Voodoo queens?

1. Foundations and Sacred Spaces

Proper initiation, rigorous physical and elemental cleansing, and ancestor reverence are essential prerequisites for working safely with African traditional religions.

African traditional religions emphasize women and female empowerment through cosmic forces that act as ancient warrior strengths and wise teachers. Over twelve million African people were forcibly shipped away from their homeland during the slave trade starting in the 1500s. Enslaved Africans used syncretism and secrecy to preserve their traditional religions under brutal colonial oppression. Practitioners blended African deities with Catholic saints, often using hollow saint statues to conceal sacred items underneath. They also used Christian psalms and prayers because the Bible was frequently the only book enslaved people were permitted to own.

The pataki of Oshún saving the world with her seductive dancing and sweet honey when male deities like Ogun and Chango failed illustrates this divine power.

Spiritual Houses and Teachers

Initiation and proper guidance from a godparent within a spiritual house are necessary to safely navigate African traditional religions. Guardian orishas are chosen for you through divination by multiple priests rather than selected by the individual. A woman spent years trying to separate herself from a Haitian Vodou house after completing ceremonies because she did not agree to all her promises.

To approach this path securely, you can follow these steps:

• Determine which form of African traditional religion or spiritual practice interests you.
• Respectfully find out what you can and consider getting a reading before demanding an initiation.
• Discuss the godparent's spiritual lineage and influences.
• Find out what commitments, rites, and financial requirements will be required of you.
• Establish how and when you communicate with your godparent or teacher.
• Ask prospective godparents about their positions on controversial topics such as animal sacrifice and homosexuality.
• Assess the prospective godparent's character for addictive behavior or community conflicts.

Cleansing and Elemental Workings

Physical cleanliness and specific cleaning products are the mandatory first step before setting up a working altar or sacred space. Clutter and uncleanliness attract negativity and disable spiritual efforts. Laundry bluing has been used for over a century to get things clean and free from negativity.

You can apply these cleaning agents in your practice:

• Physically cleanse your entire space using your favorite cleaning products.
• Use ammonia to connect with the energy of the wind and air element.
• Use bleach as a start-fresh cleaner for everything.
• Add vinegar to your wash water to avert and banish unwanted energy.
• Use laundry bluing to get things clean and free from pests and negativity.
• Change your cleaning methods from time to time to prevent negative energy from building up immunity.

A specific coconut bath can be used to spiritually cleanse an individual when feeling down or confused.

You can prepare this bath with exact amounts:

• Crack open 1 fresh coconut with milk inside with a hammer or other tool.
• Pour the fresh coconut milk out into a large bowl, discarding it if it smells foul or slimy.
• Add 1 gallon spring water to the coconut milk.
• Stand in your tub or shower and pour the liquid over your head.
• Rinsing off with cool water and repeat as often as necessary.

Ritual spaces must be spiritually cleansed using the five elemental forces of earth, air, water, fire, and spirit.

These elemental methods clear your sacred area:

• Use earth by burning herbs on charcoal, adding small amounts of herbs to candles, adding herbs to ritual water, placing protective crystals like black tourmaline or jet on the altar, setting up crystal grids, or including a live protective plant like basil, aloe, or a peace lily.
• Use air by burning incense, a smudge stick, or palo santo, paying special attention to corners, doors, windows, and thresholds.
• Use water by preparing ritual floor washes and baths combining sacred waters with essential oils and herbal infusions, stirring and washing in a counterclockwise direction to remove unwanted energies.
• Use fire by burning anointed candles or adding essential oils and written petitions to a fireplace.
• Use spirit by blessing the space with a ritual wand or personal power tools.

Honoring direct ancestors through dedicated altars and bottle trees secures their ongoing protection and assistance.

You can connect with ancestors through these actions:

• Set up an ancestor shrine or boveda including photos of those who have crossed over along with their favorite items, a glass of water, and a devotional candle.
• Use a yes/no divination system such as dowsing rods, tarot cards, or a pendulum to determine who to include if adopted or uncertain.
• Make a bottle tree by placing clean and empty clear, green, or blue bottles over the branches of a bare dead tree or the younger, more flexible branches of a living tree.

Personal breath and trusted divination tools can be used to charge ritual items and connect with goddess energies.

You can charge your magical tools directly:

• Use your breath to charge magical oils or items you have created by offering a sincere, humble sigh or breath.
• Choose an oracle or tarot deck to understand how goddesses operate in your life, using a card for meditation, altar focal point, or placing it under your pillow.
• Consecrate a new tarot deck by leaving it on your working altar or shrine overnight or sharing a meal with it before its first use.
• Charge a pendulum or dowsing rods by wrapping them in natural fabric overnight with power crystals or herbs for divination.

2. Oshún and Yemaya

Oshún and Yemaya embody the divine feminine power of sweet waters, beauty, love, maternal ocean protection, and profound resilience.

Oshún Identity and Rituals

Oshún is an international orisha representing beauty, love, money, fertility, honey, and gold, embodying the sweet river and the amniotic fluid of the world. She is worshiped across traditions like Ifa, Lucumi, and Candomble, with 13 percent of Cuba's population of eleven million currently practicing La Regla Lucumi. Women are generally seen as her daughters, while specific initiates are designated as Omo Oshún through divination and ceremony with priests.

In a sacred story, Oshún successfully mesmerized a group of powerful menstruating witches with her sensual dances after physical warriors like Ogun failed. Another pataki illustrates how her secret name was discovered by Eleggua to help his friend Orunmila win her hand in marriage. Oshún attracted endless suitors to her mother Yemaya's house, ruining crops and space, until her mother demanded they learn her secret name.

Eleggua disguised himself as a young child and an old homeless man sleeping on the doorstep for many nights before hearing the name Oshún. In a third foundational pataki, Oshún transformed into a vulture to bring food to the starving creator Olofi, earning the right to be crowned queen after securing food from the farmer orisha Oko. When humans became lazy and a famine spread, Oshún flew to the sky to help Olofi, who directed her to Oko on her return down to earth to gather harvest for the people.

Oshún is traditionally syncretized with Nuestra Senora de la Caridad del Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba, due to historical secrecy and her association with water and charity. The associated Catholic image includes a boat at the feet of the Virgin, linked to a legend of three men named Juan saved from a severe storm at sea in the 1600s. She is also recognized globally through cultural figures and pop icons, such as in the 2015 year of Pope Francis visit to Cuba and when music icon Beyoncé incorporated Oshún imagery in her performances.

You can perform ritual baths using specific waters and oils to surround yourself with the Ashe of Oshún, followed by an outdoor offering:

• Combine 1/2 gallon spring water, 1 cup river water, 3 drops rose absolute or 1 cup rose water, 3 drops sunflower oil, 3 drops cinnamon oil, and 3 drops orange blossom oil in a large white white bowl.
• Stir clockwise with a wooden spoon.
• Reserve a small amount which you will take to the nearest river after the bath is done, and leave it as an offering along with five coins.
• Pour the mixture into the bath or a large tub when ready.
• Soak in the magickal water for 10 minutes.
• Dispose of the water down the drain or pour it out onto the earth when done.

You can also craft magickal oils utilizing herbs and a money cowrie shell to be consecrated under the sun and moon on Tuesday and Saturday ritual days to attract financial success:

• Assemble all ingredients on your ritual table or altar.
• Add 1 ounce sweet almond oil to the large-mouth mason jar.
• Add 1 money cowrie shell, a pinch of dried cinquefoil, and a pinch of dried patchouli.
• Add 5 drops amber oil, 5 drops orange oil, and 5 drops sunflower oil.
• Shake well as you focus on money and abundance coming to you.
• Place the oil in an undisturbed place outside or on your windowsill and leave it there for 24 hours to allow sun and moon rays to bless and consecrate it.

Yemaya and Ocean Love

Yemaya is the ocean orisha of maternal love, fluidity, and protection, closely linked to the ocean waves and possessing a legendary bond with her sister Oshún. Celebrated on September 7 feast day or December 31 Candomble celebrations depending on tradition, Yemaya rules the foaming sea waves while her companion Olokun rules the depths. A pataki describes how Yemaya turned Oshún's faded yellow dress to gold and provided half her hair as a wig when Oshún lost her wealth and hair during a war.

When Oshún suffered in exile with a ruined white dress and hair loss, Yemaya declared her dress gold, gave her sea coral, and fashioned a wig from her own hair.

You can make a peace gris-gris bag containing calming herbs, salt, and oils to carry in your left pocket or place under a pillow to navigate tumultuous situations:

• Gather all ingredients on your ritual altar or shrine.
• Add 2 tablespoons dried shredded coconut, 1 tablespoon dried basil, 1 tablespoon dried lavender flowers, and 1 tablespoon sea salt in a small bowl.
• Mix well, stirring in a counterclockwise direction.
• Add 7 drops lemon oil and 7 drops myrrh oil and stir again.
• Pour the mixture into a small, blue natural fiber bag and tie shut.

3. Oya, Nana Buruku, Mami Wata, and Erzulie

Fierce weather orishas, ancient protectors, wealthy water spirits, and multifaceted Haitian loas provide deep transformation and passionate love.

Winds, Ancestors, and Wealth

Oya is the fierce orisha of the wind, change, and severe weather who operates as a shape-shifter and guards the realm of the dead. She is associated with tornadoes, hurricanes, and lightning strikes. She holds sacred authority over the Niger River, the marketplace, and the cemetery gates. Her multifaceted nature allows her to travel between the living and the dead, and she is famously depicted wielding a whip, machete, or twin swords while wearing a nine-colored rainbow skirt.

Civil rights activist Dick Gregory spoke of the HER-icane, a massive wind force starting in Africa and carrying its anger to the New World, mirroring Oya's energy.

You can create an Oya floor wash for cleansing and transformation:

• Gather rainwater, spring water, cypress oil, sandalwood oil, and marigolds for an Oya floor wash.
• Combine the waters and oils in a bowl, add flowers individually, and stir counterclockwise nine times.
• Strain into a jar, add one cup to regular wash water, and pour the used water at the nearest crossroads while leaving windows open.

Nana Buruku is one of the most ancient and fierce protector orishas of women, associated with healing, herbalism, and a strict taboo against metal. Worshiped across Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and within New Orleans Voodoo and Candomble, Nana Buruku represents deep ancestral wisdom and peaceful resolution. Due to a foundational pataki involving the orisha Ogun where she transformed into a snake, her devotees observe a strict taboo against using any metal tools or knives when honoring her.

In a traditional pataki, Nana Buruku transformed into a large snake to terrify Ogun when he hunted a deer in a bamboo grove, leading to the permanent metal taboo.

You can release negativity with a Nana Buruku ritual bath:

• Pour dried black-eyed peas onto a ceramic or glass plate and place a Nana Buruku candle on top.
• Cover the beans with spring water and light the candle.
• Place popcorn in the bathtub and sit inside to focus on releasing negativity and illness before disposing of the popcorn in nature.

Mami Wata is an ancient mermaid deity embodying all healing waters, wealth, conception, and the domain of divination. Portrayed with the body of a woman and the tail of a fish or reptile, Mami Wata bridges nature and culture, governing physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial healing. Her devotees are blessed with abundance and opportunity. She is closely tied to all forms of divination, including tarot, astrology, numerology, and clairvoyance.

The author participated in a powerful Mami Wata ceremony with priestess Miriam and the Dragon Ritual Drummers on a beach by a lake.

Erzulie and Haitian Arts

Erzulie is a multifaceted Haitian loa of love, passion, and fierce protection with distinct avatars like Freda and Danto. Erzulie manifests in numerous forms, each carrying intense emotional and spiritual weight. Erzulie Freda Dahomey is the refined spirit of romantic love, pink colors, and world-weary tears, while Erzulie Danto is a stern mother, warrior, and protector of women and the marginalized associated with red, blue, and gold.

Legend states that Erzulie Danto sustained seven stabs during the Haitian revolution and had her tongue severed, which explains her strained language during possession trance.

Veves and ritual arts are living spiritual components of Haitian Vodou that provide sacred pathways for the divine. Veves are ritual ground drawings created using cornmeal, flour, or coffee around the center pole of a temple. They are activated with rum and Florida Water and are meant to be walked and danced on. Over time, these temporary ground symbols evolved into permanent metal sculptures created from recycled materials and intricate sequined spirit bottles.

Haitian artist Georges Liautaud began producing metal veve sculptures from the Iron Market in Port-au-Prince in the 1950s.

Devotees in African traditional and diasporic religions can enter into formal spirit marriages with specific deities to exchange lifelong protection and abundance. Known as Maryaj loa in Haitian Vodou or water marriages in Nigerian traditions, these sacred agreements involve intense devotion, specific weekly rituals, and sometimes physical wedding ceremonies with rings and licenses. While they bring profound guidance and blessings, breaking agreements or angering a spirit spouse can lead to severe life complications.

4. Creation, Priesthood, and Death

Primordial serpent loas, primal priestess initiations, and fierce spirits of the dead maintain cosmic balance and provide protective justice.

Creation and Water Deities

Damballa Wedo and Aida Wedo are primordial serpent loas representing cosmic balance, creation, and the rainbow of possibility after storms. Aida Wedo embodies hope, positive outlook, and infinite possibility. She is honored with white items painted in rainbow colors and is accompanied by her husband to signify universal balance.

The author performed a large public ceremony at a Pagan event for Aida Wedo where participants struggled to envision a life of great joy and success instead of despair.

You can invoke Aida Wedo with a specific ritual:

• Clean your sacred space with spring water and Florida Water
• Sing a song for Aida Wedo or play the rhythm of the Yanvalou
• Place a white cloth down and lay the rainbow cloth over it
• Place a white bowl in the center with a small amount of white flour
• Place the painted egg on the flour in the center of the bowl
• Place the white candle on the left and the rainbow candle on the right
• Remove white flowers from stems and place on the table
• Quiet your mind by turning off electronics
• Light the candles and meditate on your best dreams becoming reality

Ritual formulas and specialized offerings can be created to invoke Aida Wedo for truth, justice, and personal renewal. Specific botanical oils combined with a piece of white snakeskin create an oil used to find truth and personal breakthroughs during difficult times. You can mix this formula yourself:

• Combine 3 drops cinnamon oil, 3 drops galangal oil, 3 drops gardenia oil, 3 drops lime oil, and 13 drops sweet almond oil into a glass bottle with a small piece of white snakeskin
• Cover tightly and rub quickly between hands to charge
• Take a long, slow, deep breath and exhale onto the bottle

La Sirene rules over the sea and sacred sounds, serving as an initiator who introduces devotees to the mysteries of Vodou. Associated with conch shell music, whales, and the color blue, La Sirene draws individuals under the water to transform them, bestowing deep spiritual mastery. Master drummer Frisner Augustin featured a rhythm of the Parigol dance on the Drums of Vodou recording released in 1994 by La Troupe Makandal, which was founded in 1973. You can honor her directly:

• Cover a clean ritual space with a blue cloth
• Place the veve or image of La Sirene in the center with a blue candle on top
• Arrange offerings around the table and light the candle

Initiation and Spirits of the Dead

Ayizan is the primal priestess loa who presides over temple initiations, herbal magic, and the marketplace. Ayizan protects mambos and guides the lavé tet baptism ceremony, bridging the physical and spiritual worlds with deep maternal wisdom and quiet authority. The Haitian musical group RAM featured a song for Ayizan on their album RAM II: Puritan Vodou released in 1997. You can connect with her through this practice:

• Place a white cloth on the ritual space
• Draw the veve for Ayizan in white flour or parchment paper
• Arrange palm fronds and place a white candle on top
• Place a yam in front of the candle
• Play music for Ayizan and light the candle
• Add a small pinch of peppermint or tea to the melting wax and sprinkle the rest over the yam
• Allow the candle to burn down and return biodegradable remains to a large tree

Annie Christmas is a legendary New Orleans folk figure and New-World loa embodying immense physical strength and protective justice. Standing 7 feet tall and weighing 250 pounds with dark skin, she fought local bullies, added pearls to her necklace for each victory, and saved people from drowning on the Mississippi River. She rescued hundreds of people from a sinking steamboat during a raging storm on the Mississippi River using her unmatched skill and strength. You can work with her energy using a simple charm:

• Place iron filings, 1 tablespoon rue, 1 tablespoon guinea pepper, and 1 pearl into a small natural cloth bag and tie it shut
• Throw the bag gently in the air to bless it with invisible energy and catch it with both hands

Maman Brigitte is the fierce and humorous loa of the dead, honored as the first woman buried in each cemetery. Wife of Baron Samedi, she is depicted with a skeleton face and bridal gown, offering protection, healing justice, and guidance regarding life and mortality. At a ritual in Philadelphia hosted by a Haitian Vodou house, members of the hounfor became possessed by Maman Brigitte, dressed in furs, expensive jewelry, and sequins to offer blessings. You can honor the dead with this earth offering:

• Make a small circle of coffee on the earth
• Place cotton balls in the center of the circle
• Surround with small stones and build layer upon layer upwards into a cairn
• Place a small white candle in front of the cairn and light it while communicating disputes

The Celtic goddess Brigid shares deep historical and functional parallels with Maman Brigitte and represents fire, healing water, and prophecy. Brigid rules over sacred wells, the hearth, poetry, and healing, offering insights through ritual baths and divination spellwork across 15 sacred wells in Ireland, the Lughnasadh festival on August 1, and the Imbolc festival on February 2. Alejandro Jodorowsky advised a woman disconnected from her ancestors to cover herself with the dirt of her homeland, mirroring the deep reliance on ancestral connection found in Celtic and African traditions. You can prepare a sacred water bath using these steps:

• Pour a bowl of spring water onto the open earth outside and bring the empty bowl inside
• Fill the bowl with holy water, violet blossoms, chamomile blossoms, and fresh rosemary
• Raise the bowl high and lower it to touch the ground
• Pour the contents into a bottle with the remaining spring water
• Place outside on a windowsill for a full day to receive sun and moon rays before straining into a bath

5. Voodoo Queens and Folk Saints

Historical Voodoo queens, warrior leaders, and popular folk saints champion the marginalized and empower you with limitless spiritual force.

New Orleans Voodoo and Jamaican Resistance

Marie Laveau is the most famous Voodoo queen of New Orleans, known for her entrepreneurial skill, charity, and powerful spiritual legacy that persists today. Born in either 1794 or 1801, Laveau used her social circles as a hairdresser and her spiritual leadership to bridge races and classes. Her grave at St. Louis Cemetery Number One is a major pilgrimage site, and she is remembered for championing the oppressed and performing open ceremonies at Congo Square, Bayou St. John, and Lake Pontchartrain. Witchdoctor Utu and the author performed a ceremony at her tomb and gained an audience when a tour guide incorrectly claimed Voodoo does not happen during the day.

You can honor her legacy with a ritual working:

• Spread a blue or purple cloth over your ritual space and sprinkle with holy water
• Place the image of Marie Laveau in the center
• Place a comb to the right and a mirror to the left of the image
• Place a single candle in front of the image, the mirror, and the comb, putting one drop of jasmine, lavender, and magnolia oil on top of each before lighting

Queen Nanny of Jamaica was a fierce warrior, a leader of the Windward Maroons, and an Obeah practitioner who fought successfully against colonial oppression. Born between 1865 and 1866, Nanny led campaigns from 1728 to 1740 that freed almost a thousand enslaved people in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. She utilized military tactics and traditional African Obeah magick, becoming a national hero and the only Jamaican woman titled Right Excellent. Legend says she owned a huge boiling cauldron near her camp that lured curious British soldiers close enough to fall in to their deaths.

Crossroads and Death Worship

Pomba Gira is a powerful, unashamed feminine orixa in Umbanda and Candomble associated with sexuality, the crossroads, and helping those with broken hearts. She is described as the wife of Exú and is depicted wearing red and black, often with a necklace of skulls, embodying total freedom and understanding for those who experience heartbreak or need protection against enemies. A group of strippers set up a backstage shrine to Pomba Gira Maria Padilha and credited her with granting them great wealth and success. She demands offerings both before and after workings.

Santa Muerte is a widely worshipped Mexican folk saint of death who champions the marginalized, oppressed, and those in dangerous pursuits. Operating outside the Catholic Church and denounced by authorities, Santa Muerte has an estimated twelve million global devotees worldwide. Different colored cloaks on her statues represent specific paths: red for love, white for healing, black for protection, gold for wealth, green for justice, and purple for spiritual development. She has gained significant popular media presence, making appearances in television shows like Breaking Bad and American Horror Story.

Conclusion

These diverse divine feminine forces fit together as an empowering web of ancestral strength and practical magic. You navigate life with greater resilience by connecting with the sweet waters of Oshún, the fierce protection of Oya, the maternal depth of Yemaya, and the legacy of historical Voodoo queens. This path requires profound respect, rigorous cleansing, and consistent ancestor reverence to ensure safe and transformative spiritual work.

1. Honor your ancestors daily through simple offerings of water, light, and quiet remembrance before seeking help from larger deities.
2. Maintain rigorous physical, emotional, and elemental cleanliness to prepare yourself for working with sacred energies.
3. Approach every tradition with humility, deep study, and proper cultural or spiritual initiation rather than mere curiosity.
4. Integrate earth magic, candle work, and herbal baths into your routine as practical tools for healing and empowerment.
5. Stand resilient in the face of injustice by channeling the fierce protective power of the divine feminine spirits.

10 Key Ideas

1. African traditional religions empower practitioners through divine feminine forces, ancestral reverence, and practical earth magick.
2. Physical cleanliness and specific cleaning products are the mandatory first step before setting up a working altar or sacred space.
3. Oshún is an international orisha representing beauty, love, money, fertility, honey, and gold, embodying the sweet river and the amniotic fluid of the world.
4. Yemaya is the ocean orisha of maternal love, fluidity, and protection, closely linked to the ocean waves and possessing a legendary bond with her sister Oshún.
5. Oya is the fierce orisha of the wind, change, and severe weather who operates as a shape-shifter and guards the realm of the dead.
6. Nana Buruku represents deep ancestral wisdom and peaceful resolution, and because of a foundational pataki involving Ogun where she transformed into a snake, her devotees observe a strict taboo against using any metal tools or knives when honoring her.
7. Mami Wata is an ancient mermaid deity embodying all healing waters, wealth, conception, and the domain of divination.
8. Erzulie is a multifaceted Haitian loa of love, passion, and fierce protection with distinct avatars like Freda and Danto.
9. Aida Wedo and Damballa Wedo are primordial serpent loas representing cosmic balance, creation, and the rainbow of possibility after storms.
10. Marie Laveau is the most famous Voodoo queen of New Orleans, known for her entrepreneurial skill, charity, and powerful spiritual legacy that persists today.