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![Saltwater & Sacred Things
There are moments when the Orisha remind us that the sacred does not always arrive through ceremony. Sometimes, it comes disguised as a stranger in the water.
One night, I found myself in a pool, having a spiritual conversation with a beautiful black woman I had never met. She asked me if I knew how to float… I told her no but I am a swimmer. She said, “Let me teach you.”
Laid back in the water… She told me to trust the water.
…. Trust the water….something about those words stayed with me.
As a son of Oshun, I know that water carries a language of its own. But in that moment, I thought of Yemayá, Mother of the Ocean, the great mother whose waters hold, nourish, and remind us that we are never as alone as we think. Yemayá had found a way to meet me there, through a woman whose name I may never remember, but whose lesson I will never forget. Then another woman came along. She helped hold me up, too. She spoke life into me and reminded me to trust myself. And there it was. Two strangers, offering me something far greater than a swimming lesson. One taught me to trust the water. The other reminded me to trust the person in it.
This is one of the many ways the Orisha work in our lives. Not every encounter needs to be explained, and not every blessing announces itself. Sometimes, the divine speaks through the hands that keep us afloat, the voices that restore our courage, and the strangers who arrive at just the right moment. The water was never asking me to know how to float. It was asking me to trust.
Trust what holds you. Trust what guides you. Trust the spirit within you. Because sometimes, before we learn how to swim, we must first learn that we are worthy of being held.
Modupẹ́ Yemayá. Modupẹ́ Oshun. For the waters that hold me, the hands that steady me, and the unseen love that continues to find me.
[All photos taken on @apple #iphone] by @dariusvoncel](https://scontent-ord5-2.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/869028293_18656112328037464_7152906271468015058_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_s640x640_tt6&_nc_cat=110&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=IeE9FYQll1oQ7kNvwEVrNDK&_nc_oc=AdrdUdwJEBDxXhhba4zRFS3AAfUAOaH901gA2RRrpDOUiK5_kzmFLcOhm44_Pbs6jbAZ5h_z4gixIZNCO4_0DJPH&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.cdninstagram.com&_nc_gid=mCAaHfvvZtLplEoI4XoX6Q&_nc_ss=70580&oh=00_AQTx_7I46BIqtsZ54LrU-a95XOEjmvvm6p6B-7Fq3nsSXg&oe=6AEF30A1)
