Oya: Rise of the Orishas

>>I recall an essay some years ago how comic-book superheroes are modernized gods, occasionally made literal.<<

At least one book has been written on that topic. It has some validity, although it doesn't apply to all gods or superheroes. But basically the underlying concept involves a sphere of influence (justice, love, etc.) and/or a theme of power (the elements such as fire, blades such as swords, etc.). Those can be mapped onto gods, heroes, or other figures. The Greek heroes were customarily demigods: either mortals raised toward divine power, or half-divine/half-mortal to begin with.

That brings us neatly back to the orishas, who begin as humans with an exceptional ability, then after their death, become spirits overseeing that same sphere of influence. Each of the main orishas is actually a collection of individual spirits with related abilities. The minor ones are eventually subsumed into the whole, while the more distinctive ones tend to retain their individuality.

When I write superheroes, as in Polychrome Heroics, I draw on multiple traditions for generating heroic figures that different cultures have used. So for example, Durganta is essentially a human avatar of the goddess Durga, with power bestowed via a divine mount (compare Utsaah to a totemic spirit or to a paladin's horse). Conversely Antimatter is more inspired by science, duality, and the idea of opposites.

I've been into that for years. Oya and Yemaya were the first patrons from that pantheon to express interest in them. (Yes, I know, it's supposed to be strictly one head to a customer in that tradition. They wanted to share me. I didn't want to argue with two goddesses.) Later on, Papa Legba and Baron Samedi/Ghede showed occasional interest. I guess sooner or later everybody wants a ride on the pony.

More recently I've become intrigued with Odinani, the Igbo sacred science out of Nigeria.

>> ^.^ Some horses are just better than others about that, you know? <<

*LAUGH* Too true.

>> I know that I still have a number of gods who would like my help with their work, though I'm too focused on my own repairs to do more than send a little energy much of the time. <<

Yeah, from all the various pantheons, they add up. The number of my regulars is more manageable though.