Beyonce Is Yemoja In 'Spirit Music Video'

5 Ways Beyonce Channelled Yoruba Goddess Yemoja In Spirit Music Video For The Lion King

When it comes to artistic and stunning visuals, no one does it better than Beyonce’ herself.

For the Spirit music video soundtrack for The Lion King 2019, Beyonce went all out to give us stunning visuals. From the all-black dancers, outfits, scenery, and dance move even down to the makeup, we’re in awe!

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The River Stills

You probably caught this one yourself: Yemoja is a river deity, and the video gives us several stills of the singer in the water, including one where she has her arms raised before a waterfall.

The Tree of Life

We know Yemoja is said to cure infertility in women, giving life and governing everything from conception to childbirth, and parenting to child safety.

Beyoncé stands before the tree, her children flanking her. Which leads us to –

Motherhood

Yemoja is the mother of the sea children, and in “Spirit” we not only find Beyoncé with her daughter Blue Ivy, we also find her mothering others.

The Cowries

Cowrie shells, one of Yemoja’s many symbols (there’s also the white cloth), represents Yemoja’s wealth, and in the “Spirit” video, we find Beyoncé donning a white gown adorned with cowrie shells.

She stands before the tree of life (wrapped in white) in this regalia, looking straight at all of us.

The Mermaid Symbolism

Then there’s all the mermaid symbolism (Yemoja is depicted as a mermaid) in the video, including when she stands before the waterfall inside the river.

Beyoncé has over and over paid homage to African deities (remember the one to Osun in her Grammy performance? Or all of the Lemonade video with its very many references). It’s great to see her continuing in the tradition, especially in a song as spiritually charged as “Spirit.”