Legend has it that Oxalá took a trip to Oyó, to participate in a tribute to Xangô. During his trip, Exu played tricks on him that forced him to bathe and change clothes 3 times. At the end of the trip, he was arrested by mistake and spent 7 years in prison. During this period, the kingdom experienced the deepest drought and many diseases ravaged its inhabitants. When this unjust imprisonment was revoked, Oxalá was bathed and revered by all the other Orixás and a new era of prosperity returned to the kingdom of Oyó.

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That is why, nowadays, the main rituals of the festival in honor of Oxalá involve washing the stairs of a church and invigorating baths with scented water for all people who want to participate. A pleasant scent spreads through the air.

 

As the primordial source of life, water is used as a form of purification, a mark of cleansing the past and an opportunity for a “clean” fresh start.

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Everyone wears white, the color of Oxalá. And also the color of purity, of the New Year that is being celebrated at this party.

 

The time to celebrate Oxalá is also the time to celebrate the opportunities to start over, from the beginning of a new cycle that presents itself “blank” for everyone to write their own story.​