Beyonce took me to the river (an ode to lemonade)
April 23, 2016 Lemonade dropped, and changed my life.
“I am grateful to Beyonce for taking me to the water. No, she did not make me drink from it, and no she did not teach me to swim in its purifying sweetness... but she took me” -Juju Bae
I believe I was in my former partner’s room in 2016, cuddled up, probably eating snacks as the MacBook loaded the instant classic we all know as, Lemonade. I just remember pausing through each video like okay, WAYMENT, babe…let’s process this, at some moments teary-eyed, at every moment so happy to be alive at the same time as this art. A story of BLACK, of love, betrayal, wantin’ to fuck yo’ nigga up, forgiveness and freedom. An intimate musical synopsis so beautifully captured on film, that re-assured what we already knew; Beyonce is a living legend. But there was something so different about this project that hit me. It was like a loud whisper--like most Black folks are good at doing, but I wasn’t sure who was talking to me yet. It was something speaking to me so strong, but so soft, telling me to dig deeper. I heard it when I saw Bey in “Hold Up.” That yellow dress, the swinging of the bat while cackling in laughter, the waters spurting from the fire hydrant in what looked like Louisiana. I loved the song but that whisper got loud and I think other folks heard it too because the “think pieces” and the Facebook statuses were going OFF.
“Beyonce embodies the goddess Oshun in Lemonade!”
“Beyonce believes in the Orisha”
“She don’t believe in Jesus no more! Beyonce doing witchcraft!”
Everybody from the saints to aint’s had something to say about Beyonce’s religion, but at the time I didn’t know much about an Oshun or an Orisha. I heard a little something but never felt pulled one way or the other. I might have been leaning more towards the agnostic side during that time anyway, but that loud whisper turned into a clear voice telling me to keep looking, to keep swimming, every time I watched Lemonade. So I did.
I did my research. Who are the Orisha? Who is Oshun? Okay...the deity of love, beauty, inner work, fertility, a warrior. A river deity. The Orisha of attraction, her energy was so alluring I was emoji heart eyes all things Oshun. My spirit felt hot the more I read. I immersed myself in youtube videos of Orisha practitioners talking about their beliefs. I looked up what Ifa was. I bought books. I learned more of Oshun’s traits, she’s nothing to fuck with-- but so sweet when she’s sweet. I saw myself in this sweet water spirit. I felt like Oshun was calling me (don’t everybody???), so I kept searching, asking, and looking for more). I found a lot, but not enough, and was dissatisfied that my extent of understanding stopped at my computer screen.
It wasn’t until former bae and I attended a random poetry night in Chicago and a woman got on stage and performed a poem about Beyonce’s Lemonade and the Orisha! But the kicker was, she was draggin’ Bey! The poem was not favorable towards Lemonade and Beyonce’s depictions. This Black woman poet was offended by the popularizing of her traditions-- deeply bothered that Beyonce would portray Oshun so frivolously in a visual album about her cheating husband. As if Beyonce was an outsider to the tradition, with no right to portray the Orisha that way? Y’all, I was BOTHERED. Annoyed. And not even because I’m in the Beyhive (I am), but I was confused as to why Beyonce couldn’t incorporate a tradition that she may herself practice in her artwork. Simply, I hated the content of the poem, so I confronted her (lol). I wasn’t mean. I just thought it was a good space for us to talk, to pick her brain, to know why the Orisha being shown this way hurt her so deeply. And I sort of got it, the traditions being sacred touching the realm of the unsacred (pop culture). I understood, but... we mostly agreed to disagree. She was sweet though and understanding to me. I respected her. And eventually, she told me she belonged to the religion and an ile on the west side of Chicago. She wanted me to meet her godparents and get a reading from her Padrino (godfather).
I did...and the rest is HERSTORY.
Next you thing you know, he’s MY padrino too and she’s my damn godsister! Next thing you know I’m in all whites, working ceremonies, I’m learning Yoruba (and more Spanish), I’m receiving Orisha, and of course divination says, I’m a child of Oshun (I knew it!). So fast forward to 2021. I’m the host of A Little Juju Podcast, an audio resource for all things Black Spiritual Traditions and Religions. I’m interviewing elders and practitioners ranging from Ifa to Akan and Hoodoo. I have my own godparents and spiritual community. I am a student who shares my notes with the world via my work, classes, lectures, and writings. I conduct rituals for myself, my family, and my community. Elders that I respect, respect me. I now venerate many spirits, but the Orisha are an important pantheon in my life. I wouldn’t have looked into the world of the African Traditional Religion and sharing the story, if Beyonce didn't prompt me to see my reflection in the water.
Thank you, Beyonce. You never actually named that you were embodying Oshun in Lemonade, but you let us see for ourselves.
Now of course since Lemonade, Beyonce has name-dropped Orisha and ancestors in many ways. From Black Parade with my Oshun energyyyyy/ baby sister repping Yemaya!”, to Mood 4 Eva from Black is King “I am the Nala, sister of Naruba, Oshun, Queen Sheba, I am the mother”, I mean… she’s making it clear now! But this blog is to acknowledge the power of our culture and the power of Black women telling our spirit stories. I wrote this because I say jokingly “I’m a Beyonce witch.” Lemonade brought me closer to my ancestors and to a religion I virtually knew nothing about. I felt something through the reading of the Warsan Shire’s words in Denial that, to me, mirrored moments of initiatory rites. I felt Oshun through the transparency and the covert messages in the lyrics. The overt way that Daughters of the Dust seemingly inspired Lemonade and inspired me to go back and watch a groundbreaking movie with new eyes. Media can be a tool, a powerful one. The way it made me listen to my intuition and feel reconnected to my own ancestors and to Oshun who (in my opinion) used that energy of attraction to pull me and so many people in through a superstar. I am grateful to Beyonce for taking me to the water. No, she did not make me drink from it, and no she did not teach me to swim in its purifying sweetness...but she took me.
