* Mary Edmonia Wildfire Lewis (July 1844 - September 1907) was an American sculptor of Afro Caribbean and Native American (Mississauga (Ojibwa)) descent. There are many uncertain facts, speculation and myths about Lewis some apparently her own creations. Moving to Rome in 1865, she became a distinctive figure in Roman society. Her work is known for incorporating themes relating to black and indigenous peoples of the Americas into Neoclassical-style sculpture. In 1901 she moved to London, settling first at 4a Earls Court Road, then moving to 154 Blythe Road in Brook Green, a terraced four-storey townhouse near Olympia. That is the time when some daydreamers imagine her visiting Cornwall to listen to the ancestors.
** Yemaya - Yemonja, also spelled Yemoja or Yemaja, is a Yoruba deity celebrated as the giver of life and the metaphysical mother of all Orisha (deities) within the Yoruba spiritual pantheon. Yemonja’s name is derived from the Yoruba words Yeye or Iya (“mother”), omo (“child/children”), and eja (“fish”) and thus literally means “Mother whose children are the fish. (Patricia E. Canson, Encyclopedia of African Religion,2009). The number 7 belongs to her, representing the seven seas; the colours blue and white, pearls, silver, peacock feather, conch shells, and doves, seaweed and white flowers. She helps in matters of self-love, fertility, emotional wounds, trauma, and healing work. Like the sea she can be calm but also tempestuous. If you disrespect her terrain, or hurt one of her children, her anger will rise. Wielding a broad blade, she’s known to manifest in the form of a tidal wave and "bathe in the blood of her enemies". Eventually, priestesses of Santería slowly syncretized Yemaya with the image of Mother Mary. Radiantly rising from the sea, her dark skin shines under the moon.
