Stock Photo - CUBA, TRINIDAD, 10.07.2009, A Santeria temple for the Goddess Yemaya. Yemaya is a mother goddess; patron deity of women, especially pregnant women; and the Ogun river. Her name is a contraction of Yoruba words: -Yeye emo eja- that mean -Mother whose children are like fish.- This represents the vastness of her motherhood, her fecundity and her reign over all living things. The Santeria religion has its roots in the Yoruba people of West Africa who came to Cuba as slaves, bringing their beliefs in Orishas (personal gods and goddesses) with them, but hiding this from the Spanish by incorporating their beliefs with the Catholic religion and its saints. - TRINIDAD, SANCTI SPIRITUS, CUBA, 10/07/2009