Yemayá is the Orisha of the sea and the mother of all Orishas. She governs the saltwater ocean and all living things within it. As mother, she is nurturing, protective — and when angered, devastating.
Yemayá combines the vastness and power of the ocean with the warmth of a mother. She can be gentle as a calm sea or terrifying as a storm surge. Her home, Regla — a town across the bay from Havana — is one of the most important religious sites in Cuban Afro-Cuban tradition.
In recordings the toque for Yemayá is called Yakotá (among others by Abbilona and Lázaro Ros). The furius.ca toque database also lists Alaró, Omolode and Tani iboya; Proyecto Orunmila's Lucumí dictionary calls Aláro a salutation to Yemayá.
Names such as Okute and Asesú, sometimes given as toques, are paths (caminos) of Yemayá. EcuRed lists 26 of them, including Asesu, Okute and Ibu Alaro. Note that a toque itself also consists of sections that santeros call caminos; each section is believed to represent a different avatar of the orisha.
Yemayá's ceremonies are often held near the ocean or any large body of water. Her celebration on September 7 in Regla is one of the largest Afro-Cuban religious events in Cuba, drawing thousands of devotees.
According to EcuRed, Yemayá arrives laughing loudly when she comes down, and starts to spin "like a whirlpool". The other dancers form a circle around her and move like waves that grow ever faster.