Once there was a beautiful woman by the name of
Ye-ma-ya, who looked into the waters of the ocean. There She saw Her own
reflection and asked, "Who is that beautiful woman? I thought I was the
prettiest thing that the World had ever seen!"
And as She looked on that woman there came a
rumbling in Her belly and it grew and it grew until it exploded and
covered the land with lakes, rivers, and streams.
Yemaya looked into the water of the river and
there again She saw that woman and asked, "Who is that beautiful woman? I
thought that I was the prettiest thing that the World had ever seen!"
And again Her belly grew and it grew and grew till
it exploded and sprinkled the heavens with stars and a full moon.
Yemaya looked in the full moon, and again she
asked, "Who is that beautiful woman? I thought I was the prettiest thing
that the world had ever seen!"
And again Her belly grew, and it grew and it grew
until it exploded! And before Her stood thousands of beautiful woman.
Yemaya asked, "Who are you beautiful women? I
thought that I was the prettiest thing the world had ever seen!"
The women looked deep into the Eyes of Yemaya and
there they saw their own reflections.
So the women said to Yemaya, "You are! We're just
you!"
- Luisah Teish, from Jambalaya