Goddess, Orisha, Spirit- what is in a name?
Social Media has been the advent of stripping words of their true meaning and shifting into where they mean nothing to humans, but in the Spiritual world it is important to use the right station.
There is something about the word ‘Goddess’ that makes humans think it is a compliment.
That calling any female spirit there is a ‘Goddess’ will be met with a coquettish smile and a nod of thanks.
It won’t be.
Part of my joy of working with the various spirits is understanding the intricacies of them, how they feel and how they work. So what might seem like something small to you, can seem like a red flag to them.
It shows you haven’t done your research properly which will impact how they treat you.
It’s like your boyfriend always getting your job title wrong. I mean, is he even listening?
God Vs Orisha Vs Spirit
Gods and Goddesses fulfil specific roles within cosmology, or have done in the past. So whilst it seems like a compliment to call a Spirit a Goddess - it’s simply factually incorrect.
Spirits are closer to us than the Gods, and I find they can help us in ways the Gods can’t.
So, for example, to call Pomba Gira a Goddess is an insult to her. She doesn’t want to be a Goddess. She is incredibly proud of the work she does to aid our suffering and protect us from the evil in the world, which she would be unable to do in the same way if she was a Goddess.
Is she not enough as she is?
The Orishas
Some make the mistake of thinking that the word ‘Orisha’ is simply a Yoruba God - not true.
The Orisha, in my experience, are stand alone.
Their vibration is different from every pantheon of Gods I have worked with, and they are proud of their title. They are proud of who they are, so please, no more ‘Goddess Oshun’ - it’s just white washing and, again, factually incorrect.
Honestly, if you are working with the Orishas you must honour them.
Their culture, their history, their language - their people were and still are being obliterated, oppressed, exploited alongside their lands by white people - using a white term is plain rude.
As I said, one single word can tell a Spirit so much about who you are. Calling Ogun a ‘God’, is all he needs to know about you.
The term ‘Spirit’
Spirits are closer to earth, closer to the physical words and have anchors here that allows them to impact our surroundings and us far more acutely.
They walk beside us, not above us.
They understand our suffering (human ones more so) as they have felt it themselves and often been in similar positions. Many will have descendants walking the planet now - their great x20 Grandchildren.
Exu and Pomba Gira, Plant and Animal Spirits, the spirits of Palo Mayombe and Obeah, those who die and become Folk Saints, your Ancestors - all are happy to be referred to as ‘Spirits’.
When I refer to my Spiritual Team as ‘my Spirits’ I am referring to Gods, Orishas and technical Spirits - they are all find with this as they ARE all spirits, but not all Gods.
Make sense!?
To conclude
If you are working within a tradition don’t freestyle.
Or better yet, if you are working with a Spirit who is part of a tradition (but you cannot or don’t want to find a House) use the status used.
Erzuli is a Lwa.
Yemaya is an Orisha.
Venus is a Goddess.
I think the reason everyone is so quick to call every female spirit a goddess is because it’s seen as the best - when this is far from the truth.
They all have their necessary place in the worlds.
Gods and Goddesses are like the Kings and Queens of the universe - they take ages and if you are in trouble, you don’t ask them as they sit there and look pretty. EVERYONE wants their attention.
You go to the warriors.
Someone who acts and understands how the world works.
You go to the Spirits.
Honestly, even if you do ask the Gods and Goddesses, who do you think they ask to do the work for them….
Why not cut out the middle man?
~ The Hierophant