#BlackHistoryMonth Fact And #BlackGirlMagic in One: The Spiritual Symbolism Behind Beyonce’s Water Maternity Shoot Explained

Since announcing her pregnancy yesterday (See HERE and HERE) the internet can’t seem to stop talking about Beyonce and the impending birth of her twins.

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One facebook user, however, provided us with a deeper explanation for Beyonce’s water maternity shoot, and this one picture in particular:

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“So I have another #BlackHistoryMonth project that I’m going to be doing online this year, but in light of Beyoncé releasing this image of her dressed as the orisha Oshun giving birth the orisha Ibeji, the first twins, I think it’s a perfect time to give a quick history lesson on the African spirituality Yoruba.

First, Yoruba is a polytheistic religion, meaning there are multiple “gods” in the religion, not just one. The gods in Yoruba are called Orisha, and Orisha are spirits that represent specific manifestations of the divine. Each Orisha have their own origin story, many of them were always spirits while others were real people who lived their lives in such a way that upon death they were regarded as Orisha. Which orisha were real people is not known, but for the sake of this history lesson, we will assume that Oshun and Ibeji were real people.

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Oshun is the orisha of love and rivers. She is often depicted as a happy woman in a yellow dress, surrounded by water. She was in love with the orisha of thunder, Shango, who was in a polygamous marriage with her sister the orisha Oya. Oshun was a woman who truly valued love and happiness and would give of herself infinitely to see others happy, but she often never felt like others would do the same for her. When she felt particularly hurt by others, she was known to destroy entire villages in a mad rage. Even while on her rampages however, Oshun was still always known to be smiling and laughing as she destroyed everything in her path.

Quick side note: As many already know, this isn’t Beyonce’s first time depicting Oshun. In her video “Hold Up” she was a modern day representation of Oshun as she happily strolled through a neighborhood beating things with her baseball bat, Hotsauce. It’s safe to say she definitely identifies with this orisha the most.

When Oshun got pregnant by Shango, she gave birth to the first twins in history, Taewo and Kehinde. Taewo and Kehinde shared the same soul and as orisha, they are known as one spirit, the Orisha of the Twins, Ibeji.

That’s all I got for today, but I’d recommend anyone interested to actually look up Oshun and Ibeji’s full story. They’re both actually really interesting. And remember black Americans, most of our ancestors were stolen from parts of west Africa where Yoruba was the primary religion. These stories are as much a part of your black history story as anything they teach in the American school system.

That’s all.
Congratulations Beyoncé1f496?1f496?1f496? Read the full post HERE

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