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Oshun, or Ochun (pronounced ) in the Yoruba religion, is an Undergoddess who reigns over love, intimacy, beauty, wealth and diplomacy. She is worshipped also in Brazilian Candomblé Ketu, with the name spelled Oxum. She should not be confused, however, with a different Orisha of a similar name spelled "Osun," who is the protector of the Ori, or our heads and inner souls.

Ọṣhun is beneficent, generous and very kind. She does, however, have a horrific temper, one which she seldom ever loses but which causes untold destruction whenever she does. Oshun is said to have gone to a drum festival one day and to have fallen in love with the king-dancer Shango, Undergod of lightning & thunder. Since that day, Shango has been married to Oba, Oya, and Oshun, though Oshun is said to be considered his principal wife.

Santería

In Cuban Santería, Oshun (sometimes spelled Ochún or Ochun) is an Orisha of love, maternity and marriage. She has been syncretized with Our Lady of Charity (La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), Cuba's patroness. She is associated with the color yellow, metal brass , peacock feathers, mirrors, honey and anything of beauty, her principal day of the week is Saturday and the number she is associated with is 5.

In one of the stories featuring her, she is forced to become a prostitute to feed her children and the other Orishas subsequently removed her children from her home while she was away, apparently planning to use them as slaves. Oshun is then said to have gone mad with grief and to have worn the same white dress every day as a symbol of this madness; it eventually turned yellow. Aje'-Shaluga, another river Orisha, fell in love with her while she was washing the dress in a frenzied state one day. He gave her money and gems, which he collected from the bottom of the river he lived in. She used these items to liberate her children, and ultimately married her kindly benefactor.

Oshun has had many husbands. Different tales attribute husbands to her, including Erinle, Oshosi, Orisha Oko, and Aje'-Shaluga. She is also the sexual partner of Shango and Ogun at different points.

Her children include the Ibeji twins, Idowu, and Logun Ede.

The Importance of Oshun in Yoruba Culture

According to the Yoruba elders, Oshun is the "unseen mother present at every gathering", because Oshun is the Yoruba understanding of the cosmological forces of water, moisture, and attraction. Therefore, she is believed to be omnipresent and omnipotent. Her power is represented in another Yoruba proverb which reminds us that "no one is an enemy to water" and therefore everyone has need of and should respect and revere Oshun, as well as her followers.

Oshun is the force of harmony. Harmony which we see as beauty, feel as love, and experience as ecstasy. She, according to the ancients, was the only female Irunmole amongst the original 16 sent from the spirit realm to create the world. As such, she is revered as "Yeye" - the great mother of us all. When the male Irunmole attempted to subjegate Oshun due to her femaleness, she removed her divine energy (called ase by the Yoruba) from the project of creating the world and all subsequent efforts at creation were in vain. It was not until visiting with the Supreme Being, Olodumare, and begging for Osun's pardon (as advised by Olodumare) that the world could continue to be created. But not before Osun had given birth to a son. This son became Elegba, the great conduit of ase in the Universe, the eternal and infernal trickster.

Oshun is known as Iyalode, the "(explicitly female) chief of the market." She is also known as Laketi, she who has ears, because of how quickly and effectively she answers prayers. When she possesses her followers, she dances, flirts and then weeps- because no one can love her enough and the world is not as beautiful as she knows it could be.

Roads of Oshun in Lukumi

In Cuban Lukumi tradition, Oshun has many roads, or manifestations. Some of these include: Oshun Ibu Ikole -- Oshun the Vulture. This Oshun is associated with Witches (Aje), and her symbols are the vulture, and the mortar and pestle (both of which are symbols of witchcraft). In Cuba, her mythology says that this Oshun saved the world by flying the prayers of the dying world up to the Sun (Orun), where Olodumare lives. In West Africa, however, this myth is attributed to Yemoja. Oshun Ibu Anya -- Oshun of the Drums. This Oshun is the patron of dancing and the Anya drums. She is said to dance ceaselessly to forget her troubles. Oshun Ibu Yumu -- This Oshun is the eldest Oshun. She sits at the bottom of the river, knitting. Oshun Ibu D'Oko -- Oshun, the wife of Orisha Oko. This Oshun is pictured as a furrow to be plowed and a giant vulva, while her husband Orisha Oko is a farmer and pictured as a giant phallus. This is one of Oshun's most obviously procreative manifestations. Oshun Ololodi -- Oshun, the diviner. This Oshun is the wife of Orunmila, the Orisha of Ifá divination. Oshun Ibu Akuaro -- Oshun, the Quail. The children of this manifestation of Oshun are said to be very nervous people.

Further reading

Miguel A. De La Torre, "Dancing with Ochún: Imagining How a Black Goddess Became White," in Aesthetics within Black Religion: Religious Thought and Life in Africa and the African Diaspora, Anthony Pinn, ed., Cambridge University Press, pages: 113-134.

Joseph M. Murphy, Mei-Mei Sanford, Osun Across the Waters : A Yoruba Goddess in African and the Americas

S. Solagbade Popoola, "Ikunle Abiyamo: It is on Bent Knees that I gave Birth" 2007. Asefin Media Publication

Dr. Diedre Badejo, "Oshun Seegesi: The Elegant Deity of Wealth, Power, and Femininity"

And Anacleta Rodriguez

Charles Spencer King,"Nature's Ancient Religion" ISBN 978-1440417337

References

Osun In Colours : A Pictorial History Of The River Goddess, Osun Osun - Sacred People and Sacred Places" The author is Kayode Afolabi

External links

OCHUN - Goddess of Love

Ifa Studies Podcast hosted by Awoyinfa Ifaloju

Ijo Alawoye.com Awo Ifaloju, Traditional Yorùbá site dedicated to teaching

OsunPriestess.com Yeye Siju Osunyemi, information about Osun and other Orisa, Yoruba culture and religion. Trips to Osogbo and the Osun Grove, blogs.

Ile Orunmila Oshun The temple of Oshun and Orunmila in the San Francisco Bay Area

GodChecker.com Lists of gods and goddesses from varying pantheons

Category:Brazilian mythology Category:Yoruba goddesses Category:Love and lust goddesses Category:Orisha Category:Santería

Ricardo Alonso González (May 9, 1928 – July 3, 1995), generally known as Richard "Pancho" Gonzales (or, less often, as Pancho Gonzalez) was an American tennis player. He was the World No. 1 professional tennis player for an unequalled eight years in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Largely self-taught, Gonzales was a successful amateur player in the late-1940s, twice winning the United States Championships. He is still widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game.

Semi-retirement

From 1951 to 1953, Gonzales was in semi-retirement. He bought the tennis shop at Exposition Park and ran that while playing in short tours and occasional professional tournaments throughout the world. In spite of his infrequent play (because first Riggs, then Kramer, as promoters of the pro tour, didn't want him as the headliner of their tours), he had nevertheless raised his game to a higher level than before and once again was winning most of his matches. Precise records of this time are difficult to locate but Gonzales asserts in his autobiography that after the decisive loss to Kramer in their 1949-1950 tour he then beat his old antagonist 11 times in their next 16 matches.

In the Southern Hemisphere summer of 1950-1951, Gonzales toured Australia and New Zealand with Dinny Pails, Frank Parker, and Don Budge. In December 1950, Pails won the short tour in New Zealand but in January and February 1951 Gonzales won a second and longer tour in Australia. Though Gonzales also won Wembley (where Kramer was not entered) in the fall of 1951, it is probable that both Kramer and Segura were marginally better players that year. In 1952, however, Gonzales reached the top level of the pros. In 1952 he entered five tournaments and captured four: the Philadelphia Inquirer Masters tournament, where he beat both Segura and Kramer twice in a double round-robin event ; Scarborough, England where he defeated Budge and Segura; Wembley, England again beating Segura and Kramer; Berlin, Germany where Segura and Budge lost again to him; and he was a finalist in the United States Professional Championships ("U.S. Pro") against Segura. In all, Gonzales beat Segura five matches out of six and Kramer three times in three matches. This was the first year that "Big Pancho" (Gonzales) dominated "Little Pancho" (Segura) in their head-to-head matches, and thereafter his superiority over Segura never wavered throughout their long careers.

Although the Professional Lawn Tennis Association issued rankings at the end of 1952 in which they called Segura the World Pro No. 1, with Gonzales 2nd, the PLTA rankings were notoriously quirky — the year before, for instance, when Kramer had beaten Segura 64 matches to 28 (or 58-27 according to Kramer) in their championship tour, they had nevertheless ranked Segura as the World No. 1 player. A strong case can therefore be made that Gonzales was actually the World Pro No. 1 player for 1952 or, at the very least, shared that position with Segura.

At a professional event in 1951, the forehand drives of a number of players were electronically measured. Kramer was particularly known for his fine forehand, but Gonzales was recorded as hitting the fastest one, 112.88 mph, followed by Kramer at 107.8 and Welby Van Horn at 104. Since it was generally assumed at the time that Pancho Segura's two-handed forehand was the hardest in tennis, it is possible that he was not present at that event. In a 2005 interview, Ted Schroeder commented on Gonzales's intense demeanor both on and off the court, "We hardly ever spoke a civil word to one another, yet we were friends. He was a very prideful man, not proud, prideful. When you understood that, you understood him.

The rigors were not only physical ones. In the 1963 United States Professional Championship, which were held that year at the hallowed Forest Hills courts, Gonzales both dismayed and infuriated his colleagues by being the only player who was paid for his participation. Having learned by bitter experience about the exigencies of the pro tour, Gonzales had demanded, and received, $5,000 in advance for his appearance in the tournament. An out-of-shape, semi-retired Gonzales was beaten in the first round. Ken Rosewall eventually beat Rod Laver in the finals but neither of them collected a penny: the promoter had failed to meet his costs and couldn't pay any of the players.

Open tennis

Most of Gonzales's career as a professional fell before the start of the Open Era of tennis in 1968, and he was therefore ineligible to compete at the Grand Slam events between 1949 (when he turned pro) and 1967. As has been observed about other great players such as Rod Laver, Gonzales almost certainly would have won a number of additional Grand Slam titles had he been permitted to compete in those tournaments during that 18-year period. Jack Kramer, for instance, has speculated in an article about the theoretical champions of Forest Hills and Wimbledon that Gonzales would have won an additional 11 titles in those two tournaments alone.

The first major Open tournament was the French Championships in May 1968, when Gonzales had just turned 40. In spite of the fact that he had been semi-retired for a number of years and that the tournament was held on slow clay courts that penalize serve-and-volley players, Gonzales beat the 1967 defending champion Roy Emerson in the quarterfinals. He then lost in the semi-finals to Rod Laver. He lost in the third round of Wimbledon but later beat the second-seeded Tony Roche in the fourth round of the United States Open before losing an epic match to Holland's Tom Okker.

One of the greatest matches ever played

In 1969, however, it was Gonzales's turn to prevail in the longest match ever played till that time, one so long and arduous that it resulted in the advent of tie break scoring. As a 41-year-old at Wimbledon, Gonzales met the fine young amateur Charlie Pasarell, a Puerto Rican younger than Gonzales by 16 years who revered his opponent.

Pasarell won a titanic first set, 24-22, then with daylight fading, the 41-year-old Gonzalez argued that the match should be suspended. The referee didn't relent and thus the petulant Gonzalez virtually threw the second set, losing it 6-1. At the break, the referee agreed the players should stop. Gonzalez was booed as he walked off Centre Court.

The next day, the serves, the volleys and all the prowess that made Gonzales a fiery competitor surfaced with trademark vengeance. Pasarell, seeking to exploit Gonzalez's advanced years, tried to aim soft service returns at Gonzalez's feet and tire him with frequent lobs. Barked Gonzalez on a changeover, "Charlie, I know what you're doing – and it's not working!" Gonzalez rebounded to win three straight sets, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. In the fifth set, Gonzales won all seven match points that Pasarell had against him, twice coming back from 0-40 deficits, to walk off the court from the 5-hour, 12-minute epic.

The final score was an improbable 22-24, 1–6, 16-14, 6–3, 11-9. Gonzales went on to the fourth round of the championship, where he was beaten in four sets by Arthur Ashe. The match with Pasarell, however, is still remembered as one of the highlights in the history of tennis and has been called one of "The Ten Greatest Matches of the Open Era" in the November/December 2003 issue of TENNIS magazine.

For decades Gonzáles had made $75,000 a year from an endorsement contract with Spalding for racquets and balls but was unable to get along with the company personnel. Finally, in 1981, after nearly 30 years, Spalding refused to renew the contract. He had also been the Tennis Director and Tournament Director at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip for 16 years, another lucrative job. In 1985, he was fired after refusing to give playing lessons to the wife of his boss. As S. L. Price wrote about Gonzáles in a 2002 Sports Illustrated article, "There was no more perfect match than Pancho and Vegas: both dark and disreputable, both hard and mean and impossible to ignore."

Gonzáles married and divorced six times and had seven children: he wed his childhood sweetheart, Henrietta Pedrin, on March 23, 1948; they had three children. He married actress (and Miss Rheingold of 1958) Madelyn Darrow twice; they had three children including twin girls. He married his dental hygienist, Betty, in Beverly Hills and had one daughter. His last wife, Rita, is the sister of Andre Agassi. According to Price's article, Rita's father, Mike Agassi, a 1952 Olympian on the Iranian boxing team who had become a successful casino greeter in Las Vegas, hated Gonzáles so much that he considered having him killed. Gonzáles had coached the young Rita until she had rebelled against her father's 5,000-balls-a-day-regimen and first moved in with, then married, on 31 March 1984, the much older Gonzáles. Years before, Mike Agassi, already a tennis fanatic, had once served as a linesman for one of Gonzáles's professional matches in Chicago. Gonzáles had upbraided Agassi so severely for perceived miscalls that Agassi had walked away and gone to sit in the stands.

Kramer says that "Gonzales never seemed to get along with his various wives, although this never stopped him from getting married... Segura once said, 'You know, the nicest thing Gorgo ever says to his wives is "Shut up". Gonzáles died of cancer in Las Vegas on July 3, 1995, in poverty and almost friendless, estranged from his ex-wives and children except for Rita and their son, Skylar, and daughter, Jeanna Lynn. Andre Agassi paid for his funeral.

Place among the all-time great tennis players

For about 14 years from around 1920 to 1934, Bill Tilden was generally considered the greatest player of all time. From 1934 through 1967, during the Golden Age of Tennis, when Vines, Perry, Budge, Riggs, Kramer, Gonzales, Segura, Sedgman, Trabert, Hoad, Rosewall, and Laver were the top tier players, Gonzales was considered the best of this period. Since 1968, with the first Grand Slam of the Open Era at the French Open, Champions such as Rod Laver, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer have been considered by their contemporaries to be greater players than Tilden or Gonzales.

Many people connected with the game, however, consider Gonzales to be the best male player in tennis history, because he was the World No. 1 tennis player for eight years — the status of a few of the earlier years is still unclear. He was possibly No.1 in 1952, but then was probably the World No.1 for seven consecutive years, 1954 through 1960. In the article World number one male tennis player rankings Bill Tilden with Rod Laver are the next closest to Gonzales with seven No.1 ratings, followed by Pete Sampras and Ken Rosewall with six each. Pancho Segura, who played, and frequently beat, all of the great players from the 1930s through the 1960s has said that he believes that Gonzales was the best player of all time. Lew Hoad and Allen Fox agree with this assessment. In a 1972 article about an imaginary tournament among the all-time greats, Gene Scott had the fourth-seeded Gonzales upsetting Bill Tilden in the semi-finals and then using his serve to beat Rod Laver in the finals.

Bud Collins, the editor of the massive Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia, is guarded. He writes on page 673 that Gonzales was "probably as good as anyone who ever played the game, if not better." On page 693, however, he writes that Rod Laver would "be known as possibly the greatest player ever." And on page 749 he calls Bill Tilden "perhaps the greatest player of them all."

In 2005 a tennis historian who visited the International Tennis Hall of Fame interviewed several great Australian players who had toured against Gonzales. Who, they were asked, was the best player they had ever played against?

Mal Anderson named Gonzales, who "was very difficult since if you did get ahead, he had a way to upset you, and he could exploit your weaknesses fast. Though over the hill, he beat Rod [Laver] until Rod lifted his game." He added, "Lew Hoad, in his day was scary, though Gonzales was best day in and day out." Ashley Cooper also named Gonzales, whom "I never beat on the tour. But I did beat him a couple of times on clay where his serve wasn’t as good." Gonzales's frequent opponent Frank Sedgman said, "I played against probably the greatest of all time, Jack Kramer. He could put his serve on a dime and had a great first volley. The second best was Gonzales. I played him a lot — a great competitor — a great athlete."

Jack Kramer, on the other hand, who became a world-class player in 1940 and then beat Gonzales badly in the latter's first year as a professional, has stated that he believes that although Gonzales was better than either Laver or Sampras he was not as good as either Ellsworth Vines or Don Budge. Kramer, who had a long and frequently bitter relationship with Gonzales, rates him only as one of the four players who are second to Budge and Vines in his estimation. Kramer also, perhaps surprisingly, writes that Bobby Riggs would have beaten Gonzales on a regular basis.

Early in 1986 Inside Tennis, a magazine published in Northern California, devoted parts of four issues to a lengthy article called "Tournament of the Century", an imaginary tournament to determine the greatest of all time. They asked 37 tennis notables such as Kramer, Budge, Perry, and Riggs and observers such as Bud Collins to list the 10 greatest players in order.

Twenty-five players in all were named by the 37 experts in their lists of the 10 best. The magazine then ranked them in descending order by total number of points assigned. The top eight players in overall points, with their number of first-place votes, were: Rod Laver (9), John McEnroe (3), Don Budge (4), Jack Kramer (5), Björn Borg (6), Pancho Gonzales (1), Bill Tilden (6), and Lew Hoad (1). Gonzales was ranked the sixth-best player, with only Allan Fox casting a vote for him as the greatest of all time.

Performance timeline for major tournaments

As amateur player Pancho Gonzales won at least 17 singles titles, including 2 Grand Slam tournaments. As professional player he won at least 85 singles titles, including 12 Pro Slam tournaments; at the same time he was banned to compete in the Grand Slam events. During this professional period he won 7 times the World Pro Tour'. The Open Era arrived very late to Gonzales when he was in his early forties. Even at this advanced age he was able to win at least 11 singles titles. Overall Gonzales won at least 113 titles in his successful career in a span of 25 years.

Performance Timeline:

Notes

Sources

The Game, My 40 Years in Tennis (1979), Jack Kramer with Frank Deford (ISBN 0-399-12336-9)

The History of Professional Tennis (2003), Joe McCauley

Man with a Racket, The Autobiography of Pancho Gonzales, as Told to Cy Rice (1959)

Rich Hillway, tennis historian - Q&A; with the Aussies

The Tennis Book (1981), Edited by Michael Bartlett and Bob Gillen (ISBN 0-87795-344-9)

The Lone Wolf, by S. L. Price, Sports Illustrated, June 26, 2002

World of Tennis Yearbook 1971 (1971), by John Barrett, London

External links

International Tennis Hall of Fame profile

Category:American male tennis players Category:American sportspeople of Mexican descent Category:Deaths from stomach cancer Category:French Championships (tennis) champions Category:People from the Las Vegas metropolitan area Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Category:Tennis people from California Category:United States National champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Category:World No. 1 tennis players Category:1928 births Category:1995 deaths