(Owner of the Sea) Yoruba (Nigeria)

In the Yoruba pantheon of deities (known as the orisa), the goddess of the sea, lived in a world of sea, marshes, and mist. (In some traditions, Olokun was male.) According to the Yoruba creation account, in the beginning, there was only the sky above, ruled by the Supreme God, Olorun, and the misty, watery domain below, ruled by Olokun. At that time Olokun was the only orisa who lived apart; all the other orisas lived in the heavens with Olorun. When Obatala, the second in command to Olorun, created dry land and people filled the world, Olokun became angry over the loss of so much of her domain. In a fit of rage, she sent a great flood that covered the land, drowning nearly all the world’s inhabitants.