Oya: Ifa and the Spirit of the Wind

Oya is the Spirit of the Wind in the West African religious tradition called "IFA." The word Oya is the name given to describe a complex convergence of Spiritual Forces that are key elements in the IFA concept of change. Those Spiritual Forces that form the foundation of Oya's role in the Spirit Realm relate to the movement between dynamics and form, as it exists throughout the Universe. According to IFA, dynamics and form represent the polarity between the forces of expansion and contraction. Together these forces create light and darkness, which in turn sustains and defines all that is. Accor4ding to IFA, it is the interaction between light and darkness that generates the physical universe and it is Oya who keeps this interaction in a constant state of flux and motion.… (more)