Check out this breathtaking video for Mia Doi Todd’s version of “Canto de Iemanjá,” one of the original Afro-Sambas by the great Brazilian songwriters Vinícius de Moraes and Baden Powell. The song appears on Mia’s new record “Cosmic Ocean Ship” and on the new “Red Hot + Rio2” compilation.

Iemanjá is the Orisha or Goddess of the Ocean in the Yoruba, Candomble, and Santeria traditions. She represents divine consciousness, healing unconditional love, feminine creativity and the essence of motherhood. The video pays homage to the rituals that take place in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil at the Praia de Iemanjá every year on February 2nd, her special saint’s day. Devotees bring flowers, watermelons and perfume for the Goddess and make altars for her on the beach. These offerings are then taken out to the Ocean with prayers and wishes alongside the statue of the Goddess in a small boat. The belief is that if the offerings are accepted by the Ocean and do not tumble back to shore, wishes will be granted.

Directed and edited by Grace Oh with choreography and dancing by Kimberly Miguel-Mullen and costumes by Mia Doi Todd, the video aims to capture the sacred essence of these rituals and celebrate the majesty and mystery of the Ocean which is currently so endangered by global warming and pollution. Shot in Baja California on the Pacific Ocean, the video is an outpouring of love, devotion, community and creativity, in honor of Iemanjá.