Yemoja is one of the deities associated with water bodies in Yoruba culture. While the Olokun is the divinity of the sea, and the Olosa is the divinity of the lagoon.
Yemoja is the goddess of rivers associated with the cradle of the Yoruba people and the religious practices that accompanied the emergence of the orisa.
Yemoja is a principal deity of the Yoruba since she gave birth to fourteen other orisas among who are Olokun and Oba (the first wife of Sango).
Yemoja is the mother of the sea and is believed to be very rich; cowry shells are the symbol of her riches. Like every other orisa associated with water bodies, she is very beautiful and a lover of fanciful things and ornaments.