Mãe Ana de Ogum passed away last Thursday, January 8, in São Paulo. On her social media, Djamila Ribeiro paid tribute to the woman who inspired so many people through her teachings.

“Today, one of the greatest Ialorixás in Brazil, the remarkable Mãe Ana de Ogum, departed for Orun,” the Brazilian philosopher wrote, recalling the importance of the priestess to her personal journey and to the preservation of Candomblé in the country. (Orun refers to the spiritual realm in Yoruba cosmology.)

“Mãe Ana was a woman who opened many paths. She leaves behind an immense legacy of commitment to the sacred. She sustained a religious house, formed generations, welcomed people, and kept an ancestral tradition alive, even at a time when professing Candomblé meant facing even greater intolerance and persecution.”

It was through Mãe Ana that Djamila reconnected with Candomblé — a spiritual journey she recounts in the book Cartas para minha avó (Letters to My Grandmother). “It was through the axé of Ogum that Oxóssi could return home. Mãe Ana’s hands were a portal, care, and foundation for me and for so many other people.” (Axé refers to sacred life force; Ogum and Oxóssi are orixás.)

Born in Valença, in the state of Bahia, on January 7, 1944, Ana Maria Araújo Santos moved to Salvador at the age of nine and, in the 1970s, began living in São Paulo. A filha de santo (initiated devotee) of Mãe Simplícia de Ogum, from the Casa de Oxumarê in Salvador, Mãe Ana lived alongside Candomblé from childhood and was initiated into the worship of the orixás on May 24, 1960, at the age of 16.

Matriarch of the Ojú Onírè terreiro and initiated at Ilê Axé Oxumarê — where she became a reference — Mãe Ana worked for decades, in Djamila’s words, “with firmness and discretion, like so many Black and religious leaders who keep traditions alive while facing erasure.”

In her tribute, Djamila made a point of sending her embrace to the Ojú Onírè family, especially her friend Flávia Monteiro, as well as to the Ilê Axé Oxumarê community. She also recalled that she honored Mãe Ana in her column in Folha de S. Paulo in 2023, noting that the artwork featured in the social media post was created by Aline Bispo, originally for the newspaper publication.

The farewell was accompanied by a sentence that summarizes the strength and trajectory of the Ialorixá: “Ogum opened the road, and Mãe Ana walked it with honor.”

 

Ver essa foto no Instagram

 

Um post compartilhado por Djamila Ribeiro (@djamilaribeiro1)

With information from the Alma Preta website