Oshún Orisha 7 Day Glass Candle
She Is the River. She Is the Honey. She Is the Gold. She Is the Force That Makes Everything Want to Live.
There is a story told in the Lucumí tradition about the time the world was dying. The earth had gone dry. The crops had failed. The people were suffering. The male Orishas had tried everything their force, their iron, their thunder, their wisdom and nothing had worked. Finally, they went to Oshún. She laughed. She picked up her skirts and she danced down to the river, and the waters rose, and the earth was green again, and the people lived.
That is Oshún. Not the force that destroys obstacles. Not the wisdom that reads destiny. Not the thunder that strikes the unjust. The force that makes everything want to live the sweetness, the beauty, the irresistible pull of love and pleasure and abundance that is, in the end, more powerful than any of the rest of it. You can fight iron with iron. You cannot fight honey with anything. It simply is what it is, and everything comes to it eventually.
She is the river, the fresh water that gives life, that flows around every obstacle, that finds its way to the sea no matter what stands in its path. She is the honey sweet, golden, healing, the offering that must be tasted before it is given because Oshún was once poisoned and she will not accept anything that has not been proven safe. She is the gold the color of the sun on the water, of wealth that flows like a river, of beauty that catches the light and holds it. She is the dance, the five brass bracelets on her wrists, the yellow skirts, the fan, the mirror, the movement that is prayer made visible.
Her Catholic face is La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre Our Lady of Charity, the patron of Cuba, the golden Madonna who appeared on the waters of the Bay of Nipe to three fishermen in a storm and has been loved with extraordinary devotion ever since. Her number is five. Her colors are yellow and gold. Her day is Saturday. Her offerings are honey — always taste it first before placing it on her altar, always — oranges, cinnamon, pumpkin, and gold.
The Oshún Orisha 7 Day Glass Candle carries her sweet, golden, life-giving, love-drawing energy through seven full days of burning.
Oshún’s Domains
- Love and romance — the supreme Orisha of love; petitioned for attracting love, deepening relationships, and drawing a specific person
- Fertility and pregnancy — she governs the fresh waters of the womb; petitioned for conception and healthy pregnancy
- Beauty and sensuality — petitioned for physical beauty, attractiveness, and the power to captivate and enchant
- Money and gold — petitioned for financial abundance and the sweet, steady flow of wealth
- Sweetness and pleasure — all the good things of life: joy, delight, abundance, the honey of existence
- Healing of the reproductive system and lower abdomen — she governs the fresh waters of the body
- Diplomacy and conflict resolution through sweetness — she softens what is hard and sweetens what is bitter
- Rivers and fresh water — petitioned for the blessing of water and those who live near or work with it
How to Work This Candle
Come to Oshún with sweetness — she responds to sweetness in every form. Do not approach her with anger or bitterness; if you are carrying those things, cleanse yourself first and come to her when you are ready to be soft. Write your petition naming what you need her to bring: the love, the fertility, the beauty, the money, the healing, the sweetness that has been missing. Be specific and be warm — she loves to be flattered, loves to be told she is beautiful, loves to be approached with the energy of someone who genuinely delights in her. Place the petition beneath the candle. Before you place honey on her altar, taste it first — this is not optional, it is protocol, and it honors the story of why she requires it. Dress the top of the glass with Oshún oil or a sweet, golden oil — honey, orange blossom, cinnamon, or a love-drawing blend that smells like the river in summer. Her colors are yellow and gold; dress her altar in those colors with five of her offerings arranged with care. Her number is five. Light the candle on a Saturday, her day. Greet her: Ori Ye Ye O! Oshún Olodí! Praise to the sweet mother of the waters. She is already smiling. She was smiling before you lit the candle. She will give you what you need.
Each candle is approximately 8 inches tall and burns for up to 7 days. Sold as a curio only.
