Oya: In Praise of an African Goddess

This book gives a concisive overview of the orisha Oya. I found it detail oriented and it gave me a deeper view into the role Oya plays in the daily life of her initiates. I just recently found out that Oya sits on my head and this book was/is a great guide in finding out her origins. I plan on being initiated as a priestess of Oya in the future, and this was a good purchase. I thought that it was going to be a muddled version of her creation and lots of lofty speculation. Needless to say that I was pleased with Mrs. Gleason's interpretation of a powerful and much revered orisha.

"Oya: In Praise of an African Goddess" is a well researched thoughtful and spiritual guide to the angelic force, orisha Oya. Judith Gleason presents an in depth analysis of Oya's abilities to quickly transform weather, produce tornadoes and violent storms. The illustrations bring both the scientific and the emotional aspects of Oya brilliantly to life. It would seem to be a challenging job to dedicate an entire book to one single orisha but Judith Gleason does it with great passion. "Oya: In Praise of an African Goddess" is highly recommended for students, practitioners and those curious about Ifa.

This is the best book written on the matter of the goddess Oya. I am an Oya priestess and I have not only found this book to be very illustrative, it contains prayers, patakis, and a totally different version of the "Oya" then the one the western world has attempted to illustrate. The author is very well informed and the context is well written. However, I would have given it a higher rating should the author not have gone into the lengthy discussion of Oya's role in the winds and atmosphere. Although the author's information on the matter is quite good and informative, I would have liked to have seen more context on the works, principals and patakis of Oya than a lengthy discussion on her role in the winds and atmosphere. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book to any Oya priest/ess or follower , student, or practicioner of the Yoruba religion.