🌺 Honoring Obba – Feast Day of the Devoted Warrior
Today, we honor Obba, the Orisha of loyalty, wisdom, endurance, and sacred sacrifice. She is a beautiful, delicate, and powerful Orisha, closely tied to the establishment and preservation of home and family. Obba is seen as a protector of women and children, particularly within the domestic sphere, where her energy nurtures, guards, and teaches.
Too often, Obba is remembered only for her heartbreak. But her story is not one of weakness. It is one of transformation, resilience, and the kind of sacred love that births power.
💔 The Story of Obba: Devotion, Betrayal, and Becoming
Obba was once the devoted wife of Chango. Wanting to please him, she was misled by another Orisha and—out of love—sacrificed part of herself. When Shango discovered what she had done, he rejected her.
Heartbroken, Obba did not wither. She left. She disappeared into the forest, where she transformed herself into something greater: a warrior, a healer, and a mother of spiritual strength.
Obba teaches us that rejection is not the end—it is a redirection to our deeper becoming.
Her story is also interpreted as a lesson in maintaining one's individuality within a relationship. Even in love, one must not abandon the fullness of who they are. She teaches the sacred balance between devotion and selfhood.
She is the Orisha of women who have been cast aside, of those who have given everything and been told they are too much or not enough. She is the patroness of emotional wisdom, spiritual discipline, and the sacred right to walk away from what no longer honors you.
🕯️ Obba's Deeper Role: Priestess, Guardian, Initiator
Obba is a master of mystical study, ritual, and devotion. She governs the home, but she is not just a domestic figure—she is a spiritual general. A priestess in full authority. A guardian of those walking the sacred path of initiation.
She teaches:
- That loyalty must not cost you your soul
- That knowledge is a lifelong devotion
- That love is not proved through suffering—it is proved through truth
Obba is called upon in times of grief, betrayal, and spiritual fatigue, but also in rites of passage, ceremonial learning, and as a protector for women, wives, and mothers.
She also has a powerful connection to the cemetery, particularly in areas that are quiet and sacred. While she is not a Gede or spirit of death in the traditional sense, she is known to walk between realms in times of mourning or transformation. She tends the emotional grief that lingers near the grave, offering strength to those who must continue on. In some lineages, she watches over women who died in sorrow or were wronged, bringing justice and peace.
Obba's children are known for their courage, and their ability to face defeats and obstacles with great determination. They are warriors, just like their mother—resilient, spiritually disciplined, and unwilling to remain broken.
🌸 Symbols & Offerings for Obba
- Colors: Pink, red, yellow, and brown
- Symbols: Head wrap, books, blades, hearth
- Offerings: Cool water, flowers, sweet things, cooked white corn, rice, beans, candles
- Altars: Often placed near the hearth or in places of quiet reverence
- Syncretized with: Saint Catherine of Siena – another woman of deep devotion and spiritual discipline
🕯️ A Prayer for Obba
Obba, mother of the wounded heart,
Priestess of the sacred vow,
Teach me to love myself the way you loved beyond yourself.
Grant me wisdom in devotion, strength in rejection,
And the courage to rise, even when I’ve been broken.
Walk with me through this forest of becoming.
Wrap your cloth around my spirit.
And lead me home to myself.
🌿 Final Reflection
Obba is not weakness. She is the warrior that heartbreak forged. She is every woman who has sat in silence, rebuilt herself, and returned wiser.
On her feast day, we don’t just remember her sacrifice—we celebrate her transformation. We honor the parts of ourselves that are still healing—and the power that healing becomes.
Maferefun Obba.
You are seen. You are honored. You are loved.
—
With reverence,
Mambo Jae Ashé | www.thehouseofashe.com