OBA

Obá, First Wife of Shango

Oba is the orisha of the river Oba, whose source springs near Igbon, in Yoruba country, in present-day Nigeria. The first and most ancient wife of Shango, the orisha of thunder, she embodies conjugal fidelity, the stability of the home and love carried to the point of sacrifice. Her most famous myth tells of her rivalry with Oshun: jealous of her co-wife's ascendancy over Shango, Oba asked her for her secret. Oshun, mocking, made her believe that she had once cut off a piece of her ear to cook it in the king's dish. Oba sliced off her ear and served it to Shango, who pushed the dish away in horror and cast her out. Mad with grief, she collapsed and became a river. At the confluence of the Oba and the Oshun, the waters form tumultuous rapids in which the Yoruba tradition sees the eternal rivalry of the two wives. Her cult crossed the Atlantic: Obá is honoured in Brazilian candomblé and Cuban santería, often represented veiling her mutilated ear, and syncretised with Saint Catherine of Siena. Guardian of commitments and protector of betrayed women, Oba teaches a bitter and dignified lesson: a love that demands self-mutilation is not a love that saves.