About the Book

The Divinity Odù and Ìyàmi Òṣòròngà are the highest forms of female power and Divine àṣẹ. They are the owners of a potent energy that can only be compared to that of the Supreme God Olódùmarè-Ọlóòrun and of Orisha Èṣù. No other Yorùbá deity has more power over procreation than the Divinity Odù and Ìyàmi Òṣòròngà. All Àjé women on Earth are their subordinates and make use of their intensely unique àṣẹ powers which was given to them by Olódùmarè-Ọlóòrun at the time of creation.

Given our times and the crises we face, the power of women and what they represent today is more evident than ever. This work reflects not only the power of the Divinity Odù, Ìyàmi Òṣòròngà, and Àjé but also their presence and influence in our daily lives; what they have represented in the past, in the present, and what they will continue to represent in the future.

The mythical aspect of the Divinity Odù, Ìyàmi Òṣòròngà, and Àjé has become a current topic of many books. In this work, the author included 40 Ìtàns to give the reader a small window into the mythical realm of these Powerful Divinities. Following the Ìtàns, there is a look into the Gèlédé Rituals and Societies of Western Nigeria and Kétu. It is followed by the topics of Àjé Sorceresses, examples of Oríkì Praises to Ìyàmi-Àjé-Ẹlẹyẹ and the Divinity Odù, Sacrifices, 236 Sacred Leaves, 15 Sacred Trees, 21 Sacred Birds, the Orishas and Ìyàmi-Àjé, the Odù-Ifá and Ìyàmi-Àjé, Òògùn: Yorùbá Magical Medicines, a few examples of Ìyàmi-Àjé Òògùn Works and Ọfò Incantations, Power and Rituals, Symbols, Names of Ìyàmi, Sacred Rivers, and The Hunting of Àjé by the malicious Atinga Society. Next, the reader will find two thematic Poems about Ìyàmi-Àjé-Ẹlẹyẹ and the Divinity Odù, as a form of salute and final reverence to Our Mothers. Following the poems, there is a review of the controversy of Ìyàmi-Àjé Initiations, Shrines, and Colors. The book closes with the Conclusion and a Selected Glossary of Yorùbá words and topics.

In Ìyàmi-Àjé Our Mothers: Owners of the Womb of the World, author Alex Cuoco shares forty stories of the powerful Yorùbá sorceresses Ìyàmi-Àjé, from how they created the world to how they continue to use their powers to benefit humanity.

Speaking directly to those descended from the peoples of West Africa, Cuoco shares what he learned from studying Yorùbá Indigenous and traditional religious cultures for forty-five years, including seventeen years living and traveling in West Africa and throughout the African continent.

He does this to combat the large amount of misleading information on the internet about the Ìyàmi-Àjé and to help readers understand the true nature of West African rituals and worship practices, based on his own firsthand experiences of them.