Palo Mayombe

The "rayados," those sworn into the Congo Reglas, as are the Lucumi [Yoruba] descendants and initiates in the cult of the Orishas, consider themselves united by a sacred bond of mystical kinship and, like them, speak and pray in their language.... A Mayombero friend of mine, his eyes filling with tears as he remembered the Congo mothers he had known in his childhood from the mill where he was born, sang for me the crib song that they were in the habit of singing to put their children to sleep:


Tata solele lembaka solembaka

Lune nene suati kuame

Munu sunga Nsambi lune lune.


Sleep, my little baby, so you can go to
heaven and give god--Nsambi--a cigar.
(Cabrera 1986b:121-22;my translation)


Kongo culture still resonates throughout the Caribbean. Many Cuban practitioners of the religion known as Palo Monte Mayombe (colloquially, Palo Monte or Palo) or Congo Reglas, among other names,(n1) refer to their homeland as Ngola (Ngola a Kiluanje, "the land between the lower Kwanza and the Dande"), from which derives the Europeanized "Angola."(n2) Through a detailed discussion of Palo Monte initiation, I will discuss the significance of some of the religion's Kongo-derived iconography and show how it finds expression in the work of three Cuban contemporary artists, particularly Jose Bedia, an initiated practitioner.


Nganga and Mpungus


Palo Monte is related to religious practices from the historical kingdom of Kongo in central Africa, and the language used by Cuban practitioners is heavily indebted to Ki-Kongo.(n3) It is intriguing to speculate on the origins of its Spanish name, for within the religion palo monte refers to "spirits embodied in the sticks in the forest." A palo is a segment of wood; monte is the forest or a rural area, where local rule is dominant. Palo also describes the sections of wood that form a palisade around a military outpost or rural stronghold. As such, the name of the religion reflects the reputation of people of Kongo descent in Cuba; they are rural, strong, and strong willed.(n4)


In Cuba, Kongo ancestor spirits are considered fierce, rebellious, and independent. The greatest power in the Palo Monte faith is Nsambi (Nzambi), and below him practitioners venerate mpungus, spirits of the ancestors and spirits of natural forces. In some cases an mpungu has a proper name, such as Nsasi or Sarabanda or Baluandd.(n5) This pantheon can be even more refined, for a named mpungu may have multiple aspects which also have proper names. For example, there are many different Sarabandas, each having a distinguishing modifier, such as the Sarabanda Tongalena.(n6)


Each mpungu can be known by four names: a name in the Palo Monte religion, a creole or Congo-Cuban name, a name in the Yoruba-based religion La Regla de Ocha (also known as Santeria and Lucumi), and a name in Cuban-Spanish (see Fig. 2). These are often used interchangeably, yet diacritically. In my own field experience, practitioners frequently used a Santeria name, because most visitors interested in Cuban religions are more familiar with Santeria terminology than any other. The orichas of Santeria have been part of the official national cultural agenda since the Triumph of the Revolution. J. Lorand Matory writes (1994:226):


Despite the numerical prominence of central African captives during the slave trade and the strength of their cultural influence throughout the diaspora, Oyo-Yoruba gods are the core of a "metalanguage", or lingua franca, according to which even religious groups consciously opposed to the Yoruba--such as Bahian Candomble Angola, Umbanda in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and Cuban Palo Mayombe--feel obliged to identify the beings they worship.


The essence of Palo Monte, however, can be condensed in the concept of nganga, the religion's central icon. In central Africa the nganga is a wise and powerful man who conducts religious rituals. In Cuba it is a receptacle, also called a prenda or cazuela (Sp.)(n7)--usually a clay container, a gourd, or a tripod iron cauldron, which is kept in the backyard, in a cellar, or in the monte under a tree. The most commonly depicted nganga is the iron pot, often resting on a tripod stand (Fig. 1), for Sarabanda (Fig. 3), the mpungu associated with things made of iron. Other Palo mpungus use distinct types of nganga. For example, Chola Wengue, Baluande, and Nsasi use differently shaped clay pots called tinaja (Sp.) (Fig. 4). Chola Wengue's is painted yellow or orange, Baluande's is blue, and Nsasi's is red. Another mpungu, Centella Ndoki, uses an nganga made from a gourd.


In service to Palo Monte, the initiate accumulates power through the objects he or she deposits in the nganga. These are many and varied. The eminent Cuban ethnographer Lydia Cabrera comments (1986b:126; my translation):


[The nganga] is spirit, a supernatural force, but it is also the name for the entire receptacle.., and the wrapping, a sack of Russian cloth...in which is deposited a skull and human bones, earth from the cemetery and from a grave, sticks, herbs, bowls, bones of birds and animals, and other items that make up an Nganga.... Moreover, the Nganga signifies the deceased.


The word nganga, then, can refer to the pot itself, the power of the pot, or the owner of the pot. It is a world in miniature, and when one is initiated into the final level in Palo, one receives a personal nganga. Thus, initiation makes nganga--both the priest and the pot.


Palo Monte belief, reflected to a large degree in the nganga's contents, is centered on assistance from ancestors and a relationship with the earth, one's land, one's home. According to Cabrera (1986b:125), "After Nsambi, Regla Conga believers venerate the souls of the ancestors, the dead, and the spirits of nature that live in trees and in rivers, and they [the believers] also make agreements with those spirits who live in the woods and in rivers..."


Jose Bedia, whose own initiation and art are discussed below, explained Palo this way (in Hanly 1994:52):


Palo teaches that there are spiritual forces within the natural world. Our lives depend on them. The religion offers ways to relate to those forces and bring their energy to play more directly in our lives. Prayer in Palo can be to go off alone to some natural place and leave a simple offering. Prayer can be collecting small bits of nature--particular roots or plants or stones or water or animals--and combining them in sacred recipes which release certain energy.


Initiation Preliminaries


At the core of Palo Monte iconography lie references to the mpungus and to the initiation process itself. While initiation can be discussed in many ways and to many ends, my purpose here is to demonstrate how it influences a recognizable aesthetic structure and a pictorial iconography.(n8) Many practitioners of La Regla de Ocha were first initiated into Palo Monte, as was Julian de las Nieves Cagnet, of Santiago de Cuba.(n9) This 104-year-old santero (initiate of Santeria, or La Regla de Ocha) offered this memory of his Palo Monte initiation (Del Caribe 1988:106-7; my translation):


When I was nine I was rayado, scratched at the four winds, in a cabildo on Calle Carniceria.(n10) I was with Pa Lorenzo, who was called Pa Guede in Santo;(n11) with his wife, the deceased Manga; with my grandfather, who was carabali;(n12) and my father, son of the "nacion." The floors were dirt and the rooms were lined so to be dark, because there was a secret that was being kept; it wasn't divulged like today .... My grandmother held a cauldron on my head and at each of my bare feet; on my legs they put a little box covered with a black handkerchief which had an animal which dragged itself [i.e., a snake(n13)]. They made four scratches on my arm, almost on the shoulder: three lengthwise off the little box so that the animal which drags itself would go up my body; but I was so terrified when I saw the little animal that I ran around yelling all over the cabildo, and the animal ended up going up Pa Lorenzo's leg.


My explication of this testimony and expanded discussion of initiation are based on two firsthand experiences of initiation, Jose Bedia's in Havana in 1983 and Gladyse Gonzalez Bueno's in Santiago de Cuba, also in the early 1980s. I have also drawn on Gonzalez Bueno's numerous insights gained from her interviews with Palo practitioners (Gonzalez Bueno 1988).(n14) Bedia, after his own initiation, assisted Alberto Goicochea, his tata (the title given to one who has attained the highest level of initiation),(n15) during the initiation of other members of his casa-templo (Sp., house-temple).


Bedia's description of the initiation process commenced with this analogy: practitioners are members of the orchestra, each playing his or her part, and the tata is its conductor. Preparation for the initiation includes protecting the area around the casa-templo, in his own case a full square block. Bedia explained how, during a long period in the urban history of Cuba, these religious activities were subject to police harassment. In her interviews with initiates in the 1940s and '50s (1986a:15), Cabrera also indicates that it was important to safeguard the house from the police. During Bedia's youth in Havana (1959-1991),(n16) however, the casa-templo was to be protected more from spiritual contamination than political persecution.


Cabrera uses the word makutos (sing. nkuto) to refer to the small packets that are left at each corner of the block, while Bedia describes an nkuto as a small portable nganga (Fig. 5). This is not a contradiction but merely an amplification of the term's meaning. Masango (a type of nkuto), impermanent packets made from corn husks and containing earth from the four directions and from the principal nganga of the house, help protect the area. One initiate explained to Cabrera (1986a:15):


We take four corn husks and inside . of this packet [the masango] we put four kernels of corn and a little of the kimbisa [soil from the nganga?]. We tie it from the outside to the inside and knot it. We spit three times on top of the fundamento (nganga). The masango is passed 7 times over the top of a candle and 7 little mounds of fula [gunpowder] are put in front of the masango. The gunpowder is ignited. We spit three more times and the masango is pointed toward (carried to) the four corners.(n17)


In Bedia's experience, two members of the house are each given two small masango. They exit the house and run at breakneck speed, in opposite directions, around the block. Each of the four masango are dropped at the comers, and when the assistants meet each other during the run they must not look at one another or acknowledge the other's presence. At the house, their arrival is eagerly anticipated and a song is sung: Llego buen amigo (My good friend has arrived)/Llego buen amigo. They then enter the house and shake hands with everyone as the Palo phrase of greeting is repeated: Salaam malekum, salaam malekum.(n18) The special Palo handshake resembles the greeting used by many African Americans in the United States: each initiate's right thumbs are locked together, and as the palms meet both hands are rocked back and forth.(n19)


Another activity preceding the actual initiation is the initiate's bath or cleansing, the limpieza (Sp.) or omiero,(n20) for which various herbs are tom up and placed in the water. At the same time, assistants create a blessing for the house by drawing a firma (a signature, a composite name, a cosmogram; see examples in Thompson 1993:68-69) on the earth in front of the nganga. The creation of a firma, which resembles the veve of Haitian Vodou in form and function, is an essential, primary act in the ceremony. Without the firma, the mpungus do not have a path into the ceremony, and communication with them will not occur.


In working with his or her nganga the initiate also learns the firmas; it is an act of offering, an aesthetic act (Fig. 6). These signs are made up of caminos (Sp.), or "roads." Thus a particular firma becomes a vehicle for calling on the spirits or for communicating a sacred act. Firmas can also be combined to communicate more complex meanings. Each casa-templo has its own firma, which anyone initiated into that house may use. Each mpungu also has its own, which can be used when that spirit or its nganga is activated. Then there are personal firmas that should not be reproduced.(n21)


Before initiation or any other ceremony begins, firmas are drawn' on the ground around the room. Gunpowder placed at specific locations near the motifs is lit to awaken and activate the mpungus who will assist in the ceremony. Firmas drawn on the initiate's back and chest put the initiate at the center of the life force during the ceremony itself. These firmas often incorporate Kongo-derived references to the circling of the sun around the earth and to the Kalunga line, or the horizon line, the division between heaven and earth. As Robert Farris Thompson makes quite clear in his groundbreaking analysis of Kongo cosmograms, "[i]n Kongo there is scarcely an initiation or ritual transformation of the person from one level of existence to another that does not take its patterning from the circle of the sun about the earth" (Thompson & Cornet 1981:43).


Bedia first met Tata Alberto in 1976, but he was not initiated until 1983.(n22) In the interim he became increasingly interested in the African-based religions of Cuba. One of Bedia's closest friends in art school, Ricardo Rodriguez Brey, came from a family of practitioners, and through him he was introduced to many followers of La Regla de Ocha and Palo Monte. Bedia commented that at this point his relationship with these religions was "como una especie de curiosidad antropologica de mi propio pais" (like a kind of anthropological curiosity about my own country). By 1982 he was ready to learn more, and met with Tata Alberto to discuss his possible initiation.


In the requisite initial meetings the tata performed a consultation involving the tossing of four pieces of coconut shells. There are three main types of divination; the kind that is used is determined by the question being asked. In addition to coconut shells, one can use cowries or other ocean shells, and even gunpowder. This initial divination session determines if one is going to become an ngueyo, the first level of initiated participation in Palo, or a tara, the highest level. Bedia has achieved the rank of rata.


The name of the candidate's guiding spirit is also revealed, as is the list of ingredients that are required by the tara and the mpungu for the nganga. Because these are sometimes difficult to obtain, the next step in the initiation process can be delayed--for six months in Jose Bedia's case. Bedia received Sarabanda, and references to this spirit occur frequently in his installations, as I will discuss later.(n23)


As Sarabanda is associated with metals, its nganga might hold such things as a magnet, nails, a knife, pliers, razor blades, a horseshoe, and scissors. Bedia was told that he should try to include a pistol, to be guarded by the tara until all the other ingredients were assembled. Other Sarabanda ingredients are handcuffs (difficult to obtain in Cuba), which signify the potential of being locked up by the police, and a special kind of whistle used by Havana police. These items associated with violence help the initiate control his or her own aggression. Bedia commented that sometimes a lock is also included, a reminder of the oppression of slavery. Another Cuban artist, Ludvik Reginfo Perez, included many of these ingredients in his altar-assemblage in Figure 1.


Other practitioners have told me that "Jewish ngangas" are used when harm is intended.(n31) Robert Farris Thompson (1993:66-67) seems to confirm this when he comments that a crucifix in an nganga may refer to Nsambi ("Great Almighty God"); he also calls this assemblage "Nzambi Mpungu," a title indicating that good work is to be done. A leader of La Regla Kimbisa explained to Cabrera (1986a:5): "We are called 'Nkisi al Santo Cristo.' This crucifix that you can see and that inside has its own kind of power (su brujeria) accompanies us all the time .... Andres Petit was mayombero, but our mayombe is Christian, is good, is of god. Because of this we only do good deeds" (see this page, "La Regla Kimbisa").

When I discussed this statement with Jose Bedia, he commented that many Palo people say that the crucifix Andres Petit used had a carved-out section, into which was placed special medicines. Bedia compared it to the carved-out stomach of a Kongo nkisi n'kondi figure in which special medicines are stored. According to his understanding, the crucifix had become an nkisi.

As one can see, the connotations of the cross in Palo are multiple and cannot be resolved at this writing. Perhaps it is wise to accept the explanation offered by Karen McCarthy Brown: that which is not baptized, that which is non-Christian, is "Jewish" (personal communication, March 1999). "Jewish" is a generic trope for anything non-Christian.

To return to the description of initiation, after the blindfold is removed and the initiate is faced with the mirror or the candle and crucifix, the ceremony is over. The initiate rises from a kneeling position and is greeted by the tata and his assistants, who welcome their new brother or sister with the special Palo handshake, saying: "Salaam malekum, malekum salaam."

Other important activities that are done communally ensure that the initiation is complete. These include sacrifices, cleansings through the use of animals, and the feeding of the nganga. When the nganga of the casa-templo is fed, so is the initiate's new nganga. After a few days the initiate takes it home, prepared to practice the religion at any place or time. Palo Monte is personal and portable.

Palo Monte and Contemporary Art

Palo Monte provides the basis and inspiration for artistic production in many ways. The following discussion focuses on the work of two artists who are are initiated practitioners and one who is not. In each case the art is distinct conceptually and stylistically.

Ludvik Reginfo Perez is a Palo Monte practitioner with no studio training in art. His altar-assemblages are primarily intended for private ritual and ceremony, although he also creates some paintings on cloth for sale. The altar-assemblage that I photographed in June 1988 (Fig. 1) is constructed according to the rules of his Palo lineage; at the same time it is a personal statement, the result of aesthetic inspiration activated by Palo belief.

This construction has several easily recognizable components. Reginfo Perez refers to it as "Nganga of Sarabanda with a banner for Nsasi." But because the naming of elements within Palo is so flexible, he sometimes calls it a banner for Siete Rayos (Seven Lightning Flashes). He understands that Siete Rayos (and Nsasi) are names that have a Regla de Ocha equivalent in Chango, who is associated with thunder and lightning, and calls the red banner behind the nganga "Nsasi/Siete Rayos" because the zigzag line refers to bolts of lightning. Palo altars are linked with the earth, as Palo is directly associated with the graveyard and the ancestors. The nganga, the altar's central focus, contains a human skull, a crucifix (discussed above), a cup, a glass, shells, stones, a candle, a knife blade, a sewn packet (the nkuto mentioned earlier), bones, and cut wooden sticks, the palos which embody the forest. Embedded in the earth between some of the palos are iron spikes, or railroad spikes, for Sarabanda. A red ribbon and an iron chain (also a reference to Sarabanda) encircle these elements and bind them together. The color red is often associated with Palo Monte in general. On the extreme right is a tall lungoa, a hooked stick, that helps pull the mpungus into a sacred space or into an nganga. Directly beneath the nganga is a construction resembling a snake ("the animal that dragged itself" in the initiation account by Julian de las Nieves Cagnet), and in front of it are seven shells, called chamalogos by Reginfo Perez, used in divination. A ceramic head to the right represents Nkuyu Nfinda, also known as Lucero Mundo, the guardian. On either side of the nganga are cane staffs, cana brava (Sp.), usually filled with herbal ingredients. Most of the objects in this altar-assemblage are charged; that is, they act as caminos to connect to the world of the ancestors.

Jose Bedia's artistic production is very different from Reginfo Perez's. Bedia is studio trained, holding the Cuban equivalent of an M.F.A. His work is intended to be exhibited internationally, and he participates in a transcultural dialogue with contemporary artists and their publics who wish to introduce religious-based art into the discussion of late-twentieth-century cultural hybridity. Bedia sees his work as having the potential to cut through national, class, and religious boundaries. He credits his coming to maturity in Cuba in the 1970s and '80s with underscoring the importance of these views.

Jose Bedia and his peers in Havana have become known as the Generation of the '80s; during that decade they graduated from art school and established an international reputation. To understand their work one must understand how their relationship to Cuban culture, both "high" and "popular," differed from that of the artists before them. As Bedia has pointed out, not only did many of his art-school friends come from the working class, but his closest friends all took an interest in the various "noninstitutionalized"(n32) religions of Cuba, particularly Palo Monte, Santeria, and Espiritismo. Their expression of this interest ranged from library research to discussions to visits to casa-temptos to actual initiation. As a tata, Bedia has reached the top level of Palo, while some of his colleagues have only gone as far as ngueyo, the first level, when one receives the cuts and an initiation necklace or bracelet but not an nganga (Fig. 8).

The title of Bedia's painting Nso Ndoki (Fig. 9) incorporates words which function in the hybrid language of Palo Monte. Nso is Congo-Cuban for nzo, which is Ki-Kongo for the Spanish casa (house). The Ki-Kongo word ndoki means "spirits of the dead"--ghosts. Nso Ndoki pays tribute to the casa-templo where Bedia was initiated, represented by the small model house with the red flag(n33) affixed to the painting and labeled "Casa para Dos" (House for Two).

The painting honors two mpungus associated with Bedia's personal practice of Palo Monte. Each mpungu in Palo Monte is associated with a tree or bush. On the left is a spiny Marabu bush, linked to Sarabanda, and in the left doorway is the tripod iron nganga for that mpungu. A chain is draped around the rim, and inside the container is a skull, a knife, railway spikes, and a lungoa. Similarly, a palm tree, the Palma Real, stands on the other side, where a doorway frames a clay nganga containing a seashell and two lungoa. The shell and the shape of the nganga indicate that it is dedicated to Baluande, also known as Madre de Agua (Mother of the Water).

Palo firmas are frequently incorporated into installations, sculptures, and paintings. They can communicate on two levels: as aesthetic drawings and as coded indicators of a special power or identity. As the former the firmas need not be sacred in and of themselves. Bedia claims that often those he uses in gallery installations are only "a little bit" sacred. Calling them "firmas caprichos," whimsical firmas, he emphasizes their aesthetic dimension rather than their religious connotations (interview, May 3, 1999).

Because firmas are reproduced in numerous publications, they have become available to many artists and graphic designers who are not initiated into Palo Monte. For example, a 1992 publication by Jorge and Isabel Castellanos replicates fifty-two firmas drawn under the supervision of informants by Lydia Cabrera in the 1950s.(n34) Comparison with other published firmas reveals that there may be variations in elements within each composite firma, but in general the entire image is recognizable.

The Cuban critic and curator Gerardo Mosquera (1992) wrote an article concerning the "African element" in the work of Cuba's best-known twentieth-century artist, Wifredo Lam (1902-82), after his return to the island in 1942. Mosquera underscores the difference between appropriating from a religion and using elements from one's own religious experience. He notes that while Lam's work represents a "pioneering primitivism," some artists of the Generation of the '80s have gone beyond this to create work with religious and African elements that come from the "interior of experience" and thus cannot be categorized as primitivist. Mosquera dedicated his article to Jose Bedia, one of the most important of the artists to gain international recognition during the 1980s.

There are various ways to train initiates to render firmas. Many tatas teach from a ledger-type notebook filled with hand-drawn images. When I interviewed Ludvik Reginfo Perez about his panos (drawings on cloth) that consist entirely of firmas, he indicated that he had learned them by studying such a notebook (Santiago de Cuba, Mar. 29, 1988). Bedia, on the other hand, recounted how he arrived one day at the casa-templo when Tata Alberto was constructing a complicated firma. Bedia sat in a corner quietly watching, until finally Tata turned around and simply said, "Help me." Bedia did so for the next hour. This lesson was part of his apprenticeship.

Often there is a fine line between the sacred and the secular. As Reginfo Perez deconstructed his compositions for me, he made it clear that sometimes the firmas he uses in his panos that are made for sale (e.g., Fig. 6) are not to be "translated." Even within an ostensibly sacred composition, interpretations may vary. Reginfo Perez gave the name adornos, or decorations, to his nonsacred firmas. In the composition in Figure 10, none of the firmas contain references to either mpungus or acts within Palo. In other panos, some firmas can be understood as referents while others cannot. The sun, moon, and clouds above the center of the composition in Figure 11 are drawn depictions, not firmas per se. Below them Reginfo Perez has combined other such illustrations with firmas. The white arrow-like rays refer to Nsasi, who is sometimes referred to as lightning. He identifies the adjacent large circle intersected by various arrow-like lines as part of a "firma de trabajo"--a firma that describes a special work to be done in the forest. To the right are drawings of an nganga placed on a small fire, a carabela (a skull, representing dead "brothers") on a taburete (stool) and some ceibas, the trees that figure in initiation rituals. The skull rests on a small chair or stool for spirits to sit on that is placed in a sacred environment. A Palo spirit manifests itself through whatever is on the chair. Then, at the lowest register, are five firma-like adornos, placed there to anchor the composition.

Many noninitiated members of the Generation of the '80s reference Afro-Cuban religions in their work, though in variable forms. For example, Marta Maria Perez Bravo is not initiated but nonetheless uses firmas in her constructed photographs to reference and deconstruct the power of religion in a person's (particularly a woman's) life. In No One Unites Us (Fig. 12) she has created a three-dimensional firma, placing it over her head rather than on her body or on the floor or wall of a sacred space. The firma references Mama Chola, who is particularly important in La Regla Kimbisa. Mama Chola is cross-referenced with the oricha Ochu, a beautiful woman who is associated with sweet water, honey, and love. Combining the firma's referent with the title of this piece enables the viewer to participate in Perez Bravo's deconstructivist strategies.

A configuration reminiscent of the "four moments of the sun," a cosmo-gram central to Kongo and Kongo-based philosophy, appears in another piece by Perez Bravo, Macuto (Fig. 13). Here it locates the source of power on her body, with the firma placed on her chest, as it would be in initiation. Robert Farris Thompson reminds us: "[T]he sign of the four moments of the sun is the Kongo emblem of spiritual continuity and renaissance par excellence" (Thompson & Comet 1981:28). Perez Bravo's feminist construction accumulates additional power with the sacred bundle she holds in her hands. This bundle, the macuto (nkuto), is a small portable nganga comprising twin dolls, reminding the viewer of woman's maternal power. As in many of her other pieces, these dolls also recall the artist's own twin daughters.

Jose Bedia uses the practice and iconography of Palo Monte to construct a semantic constant in his work. Most of his pieces include the nganga in addition to other elements. The 1984 drawing Sarabanda (Fig. 8), for instance, is autobiographical, for it references some of the attributes of Sarabanda that the artist received at his initiation, like the chain strung with miniature iron implements. The figure holds knives and a hammer, while at his feet rest an anvil and a Sarabanda nganga.

Bedia's installation Kakuisa el Songe (Fig. 3) contains both a public and a private altar. The private one (at left) is covered with a black cloth, but it is attached to its public counterpart with a chain. Ideally an nganga is placed in a sacred place outside, on the earth, but in more urban areas it is often housed in a special room with a dirt floor. This altar-nganga is embedded in earth that Bedia moved into the gallery.

Kakuisa is Congo-Cuban for flight or the ability to fly; el Songe is Congo-Cuban for el hierro (Sp.), which means iron. Bedia's work is made from a six-cylinder car engine, an allusion to power and energy. In the holes for the pistons the artist placed his palos, which in this piece take the form of the hooked lungoa. The altar is dedicated to Sarabanda, who presides over all things metal and most means of transportation. Continuing this theme, Bedia drew a large figure on the wall. It is the spirit of Sarabanda emerging from his nganga. Bedia put propellers at the crooks of the figure's arms, which he sees as highways. Attached to each arm is a small truck. Bedia is calling attention to the presence of spirits in the industrialized world. They exist side by side. "I am interested in connotations here. Like a toy plane being confused with wings or with birds. And religion...like in religion something else is in control." Here Bedia conflates at least two types of power, the industrial and the spiritual.

A discussion of Bedia's participation in the exhibition "Magiciens de la terre" (Centre Pompidou, Paris, 1989) underscores the innumerable ways in which the artist incorporates his religious belief into his art, at the same time challenging the museum world and the art public to come to terms with cultural hybridity and spiritual inspiration. For him, art is a form of diplomatic activity that unites diverse peoples. Bedia and members of the participating international group of religious artists wanted to consecrate their installations before the exhibition opened to the public. The curators were horrified when they put in requests for chickens to be sacrificed, or explained that they were going to use chicken blood to activate certain parts of the installations. According to Bedia, many of the artists assisted each other in these special ceremonies, especially when they realized how similar they were. Even some of the museum guards and janitorial staff (all immigrants from Third World countries) joined in.

In the official video made during the installation of the show, the curators were sure to include Cyprien Tokoudagba, from Benin, singing praise songs and sacrificing a chicken. I cannot help but wonder at their motivation. The religious artists were exoticized and therefore marginalized, directly contradicting the stated curatorial goals. No European or Euro-American artist is included in the video except for Richard Long, who is not interviewed. Yet a Euro-Cuban artist, Jose Bedia, is, because he is also an artist who works from a religious base.

For his "Magiciens" installation, Vive en la linea (He Lives on the Railroad Tracks) (Fig. 14a, b), Bedia drew on the wall a male figure lying on tracks supported by four constructed red-brick walls reminiscent of those that may demarcate sacred spaces within a casa-templo. This figure is both a self-portrait and a reference to Sarabanda, who incorporates the spirit of the Afro-Cubans who constructed Cuba's rail system. Remember that Bedia received Sarabanda at his initiation. Each of the three sections demarcated by the walls contains a reference to an mpungu drawn on the back wall: a male profile for Sarabanda, an emblem of the crossroads for Lucero Mundo, and a deer for Nkuyo Watariamba. And each section, like a miniature sacred space, contains an altar with an nganga, earth on the floor, and a bench with a firma drawn on top. (The bench here is like Reginfo Perez's painted taburete; it provides a resting place for mpungus.) Each nganga contains offerings and the remains of the sacrificial chickens.

Vive en la linea reflects the many ways Palo Monte belief can be incorporated into art. It also summarizes Bedia's particular aesthetic, a product of his Cuban religious training and his participation in the international art world. In this installation the artist challenged the latter to accept both his religiously inspired art and the requirements that it imposes on host institutions and the public. The coexistence of these two factors continues to make his work relevant and exciting. Bedia has demonstrated that his faith, Palo Monte, is simultaneously personal, public, and portable.

Each of these Cuban artists has been inspired by Palo Monte. The differences in their art suggest the range and depth of religious belief and of the reactions to it. At stake in this complex environment of artistic production is an issue that may rest outside the art or the religion itself, yet is inextricably tied to it. It is the insistence by most scholars and the global curatorial market in maintaining the boundaries between the "trained" and the "untrained" artist, between studio art and religious art. But Cuban society and religion are composed of complex, inseparable identities. In their own individual ways, all these artists reflect--and reflect upon--this cultural hybridity. Like the religion itself, the art intermingles the African and the European or Euro-American to produce a Cuban reality or, better yet, multiple Cuban realities. Together, Reginfo Perez, Bedia, and Perez Bravo are constructing a fluid communitas of nation, where religious signs create shifting signifiers, each understood differently, yet forming a shared foundation for aesthetic energy.

Today, students and scholars are finding postcolonial theory an enticing (re)solution to the dilemmas inherent in Caribbean cultural production. It is a given that Caribbean society and art are hybrid and syncretic, but this given arises from a complex play between discordant social and religious factors. While demonstrating a healthy respect for Palo Monte, the Cuban religious and studio artists discussed in this essay engage in sociocultural commentary that probes this tension as it is expressed in the practice of the religion, and it is this same tension that makes their work so powerful.

La Regla Kimbisa

The Kimbisa branch of Palo Monte (La Regla Kimbisa del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje) is noteworthy for its influence on contemporary Cuban scholarship and artistic practice. It was founded by Andres Facundo de los Dolores Petit, who, according to Jose Bedia, was one of the most important figures in Cuban cultural history. Petit was "everything...he was congo, lucumi, espiritist, and Catholic" (Cabrera 1986a:3; my translation); in other words, he was a follower of Palo Monte, Santeria, and Espiritismo, the religion introduced by Allan Kardec (a.k.a. Hyppolyte Leon Denizard Rivail), who published his influential Le livre des esprits (El libro de los espiritus) in 1857. Petit's example proved enormously important to Bedia and his artist associates in the 1970s and 1980s as they strove to integrate their lives with the culture of their own country.

In 1863 Petit, a mulatto, founded an Abakua potencia (lodge) especially for whites and mulattos. (Abakua is a brotherhood with roots in the Cross River area of Nigeria-Cameroon.) The freedom of certain hermanos esclavos (brothers who are slaves) was purchased through his efforts and those of members of his potencia. Petit believed that these activities could help end the prejudice against the Abakua and, because the potencias would be racially integrated, perhaps end religious persecution of Afro-Cubans.

According to Bedia, the Kimbisa branch is especially influenced by Catholicism, but nevertheless he thinks its importance in the twentieth-century development of Palo Monte itself is critical, especially as concerns official attitudes toward Palo. For Bedia, Petit set the standard for a socially and racially integrated practice of Afro-Cuban religions.

Bembé: The Rhythm of The Saints

A bembé is a party for the orishas. During a bembé the orishas are praised, saluted and entreated to join the party through mounting one of the priests(esses) in attendance. This is done through a confluence of the song, rhythm, and movement, all calling to the orisha in such a way that the orish will recognize themselves in the lyrics, rhythms and dances as they have been performed for them for perhaps thousands of years.


The rhythms play an important part of the equation and the drummers practice assiduously for years to be able to play the intricate rhythms correctly. This is important since the drums are actually speaking to the orishas as the Yoruba language is a tonal one and the drums are tuned in such a way as to play the tones of Yoruba speech. For this reason some rhythms are never played unless it is in religious context as it would offend the orisha. These rhythms are actually prayers to the deities with each orisha having its own rhythms associated with them.


Dance also becomes prayer in the religious context of a bembé. The movements of the dances are the same motions associated with the orishas for thousands of years. As with the rhythms played on the drums, each orisha has its own dances with Yemayá's dance emulating the motion of the waves, Ogún's chopping with his machete, Oshún's portraying her primping in front of her hand held mirror, etc. Therefore these movements become more danced prayers than what the Western European would refer to as dance.


Everything present at a bembé whether it is song, dance, rhythm or colors used, becomes part of an intricate fabric of prayer saluting, praising and calling to the orishas and asking them to be present.

Ebbo (Sacrifice)

Animal Sacrifice is just a small part of the much larger definition of ebó (sacrifice or offering) in the religion. There are many categories of ebó. There are offerings such as addimú which can include candles, fruits, candy, or any number of items or actions that may be appreciated by the deities or orishas in the religion. In divination, the orishas may ask for a favorite fruit or dish, or they may call for the person to heed advice given. At times they may ask that a person give up drinking or other practices that are unwise for that individual. They may request a person to wear certain jewelry, receive initiations or any number of other things. Or they may request an animal, usually a chicken or a dove, so the orisha will come to that person's aid. As a rule, animal sacrifice is called for only in major situations such as sickness or serious misfortune. Animals are also offered when a new priest is consecrated in service of her or his orisha during the birthing process of initiation. In every birth there is blood.


In our modern society we have become separated from the concept of death. Even our dead are embalmed and made up to appear living. When we purchase meat to eat or leather to wear it is pre-processed to remove the shopper from the fact that a life was taken in order that another may live. Meat wrapped in plastic with a little paper towel to soak up any blood that might remind the buyer of the fact of the animal's death. The buyer is also kept unaware of the circumstances surrounding the poor animals life and, of course, its death. When animals are killed in the slaughterhouse there is little respect or regard for that animal, the only matter of importance being that the animals are killed cheaply and in great quantity to supply an ever growing market. In other words, these animals too are sacrificed, though the only deity revered here is greed. We should also take into account that the poultry industry alone kills more animals in one day than the religion has sacrificed worldwide in the last several hundred years!


On the other hand, when an animal is sacrificed in La Regla Lucumí it is first and foremost done with respect. respect for the orisha being offered this life and respect for the little bird whose life is taken in order that we may live better. The animal must be well cared for because it is the property of the orisha. In fact, sometimes the orisha will state that the animal must not die but live with the person, and the orisha expects that animal to be well cared for and pampered as theirs.


At the beginning of the sacrifice, when the animal is brought forward, there is a song and action that we perform in acknowledgement that one day our lives will be taken suddenly in much the same way as the animals. In this way, our religion differs little from the beliefs of the Native Americans. Here there is a respect for all life, and a respect for the death that must come to all, including ourselves.


Afterwards, if the animal wasn't used to cleanse a person of illness or misfortune, it is eaten by all the participants. If, on the other hand, it was used for a cleansing, the animal is taken to the place requested by the orisha to complete the offering. These animals cannot be eaten as we would be eating the sickness or misfortune that was removed from that person.


Whether the ebó is a simple apple or a little chicken, it should always be offered with both hands and an open heart.

How do I get initiated?

In La Regla Lucumí, initiation is a major undertaking and not to be taken lightly. When your are initiated you become a member of your Godparents’ Ilé or House. This makes you a member of an extended family known as your Godfamily. This includes Godparents, Grand Godparents, sisters and brothers. As part of the Godfamily it places both the Godparents and the Godchildren in a position of mutual responsibility. The Godchildren are expected to respect their Godparents and their authority as their elders in the religion and as your Godparents. Certain ritual observances are also included. The Godparents are responsible for the guidance and teaching of their Godchildren. And before anything happens we must get the approval of the Orishas. This exclusivity is not based on an attitude of superiority, but is instead based on the wishes of the Orishas and the continuity of the tradition as it has been practiced for ages. This is how we as Priests were taught by our Godparents and their Godparents before them.


We aren’t trying to scare you away, but we do want you to know what you’re getting into so you can make an informed decision.


OK, I understand. Now How Do I Get Initiated?


Well, first you will need to be seen with Ifá or with Elegba’s shells to see what the Orishas have to say regarding becoming initiated. You will find that there is little that we do in this religion without the permission and approval of the Orishas. As priestesses and Priests we are servants of the Orishas and it is the Orishas who call the shots. Sometimes, the Orishas will say no, sometimes they will say yes. It’s up to them. Sometimes a person is simply not ready at that time. Or perhaps another Ilé would be more suitable. And the Santera or santero must have the Orishas permission to perform the ceremony. Again it’s up to the Orishas.


The Ilekes or Necklaces (Collares in Spanish)


The Ilekes or necklaces are usually the first initiation in the religion. Receiving your Ilekes puts you under the protection and blessings of your Godparents’ Orishas and makes you a part of their Ilé or Orisha House. The Ilekes are sacred and are the banners of the Orishas and act as a sign of the Orishas presence and protection. The preparations usually take several days to a week as several complex ceremonies are involved. The ceremony of receiving your ilekes itself takes several hours as it is made up of several rituals, and the new initiate should be prepared to ‘make a day of it’ as they will be expected to go home and rest for the remainder of the evening. In many ways this ceremony is an equivalent to the ceremony of Baptism practiced by some religions. It is the ceremonial entrance into our religion and into a new life as a follower of the Orishas. Only Santeras and Santeros can perform this ceremony and this ceremony cannot be performed by Babalawos.

FAQ Lucumi

FAQ LUCUMI SANTERIA

1.GENERAL QUESTIONS FROM OUTSIDERS/NEWCOMERS ABOUT LUKUMI (Santeria)

a. What is Lucumi?

Lukumi (often spelled Lucumi), popularly known as Santeria, or La Regla de Ocha is a religious system brought to the New World island of Cuba by Yoruba slaves from Africa in the area that is now Nigeria .

b. Where did Lucumi come from?

The roots of Lukumi are from the Yoruba speaking peoples of West Africa - who had various sub-ethnic groups. Lukumi evolved out of contact between enslaved Africans brought to Cuba with other African ethnic groups, and the diffusion of the Roman Catholic rituals of the slaveholders. This process is often referred to as syncretism. Elements of contact with surviving indigenous Caribs, and with Chinese indentured labor on the island also affected Lukumi ritual practices.

c. What is Santeria?

A popular name for the New World African based religion, Lukumi or La Regla de Ocha, which has incorporated elements of Catholic worship. Orisha are often popularly referred to as "saints", however - Shango is not Saint Barbara, nor is Babaluaye Saint Lazarus.

d. Why do you call your religion "santeria" and yourselves "santera/santeros" if you don't worship saints?

Since slaves In Cuba were not allowed to practice their religions openly, and slaves were also baptized Catholic by their Spaniard enslavers, the practice of Yoruba religion had to incorporate elements of Catholicism in order to survive. Over time - descendants of Africans in Cuba continued to practice Catholicism - but to also continued their earlier beliefs. There was diffusion of Catholicism into Yoruba belief. Slaves were allowed to join societies called Cabildos, which were devoted to specific saints. Members of the Cabildos paraded - and formed groups ostensibly devoted to the Catholic images, while still practicing as priests in the older Yoruba tradition. These Lukumi priests, as a result, were called “santeros”.

e. What/who are the Orisha?

Orisha are deified ancestors - symbolic of both natural forces and energies who stand between the living and the Creator (Olodumare) in Yoruba belief. Their energies directly interact with humans, since Olodumare is distant and removed from human affairs.

f. What are Egun?

Lineal ancestral spirits. All ceremonies and rituals in the Lukumi religion begin with paying homage to one’s ancestors.

g. Why is your religion secret?

Because it was repressed under slavery, its adherents arrested and persecuted, open worship was impossible both during enslavement and after emancipation. Due to the ethnocentrism and racism of practitioners of mainstream religions who did not recognize African systems of belief as religions, and to their attitudes towards animal sacrifice as part of ritual, Lukumi was banned.

When the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah won a Supreme court case in 1993, it opened the doors for Lukumi worshippers to begin to practice openly in the United States . There is still a level or fear and paranoia - heightened by media sensationalism, misinformation, and local ordinances that restrict Lukumi worshippers from openly declaring their faith and exercising their right to worship. As more scholarly books are published, as Lukumi’s become more pro-active, this situation is changing. The Internet has played a major role in this process.

h. How do I deal with a Lukumi practitioner as an employer, co-worker, teacher, health practitioner, corrections officer?

The same way you would deal with people of other faiths - with respect. If they are wearing bead necklaces - refrain from touching them. If they have their heads covered - respect that the same way you would respect the yarmulke of a Jewish person, the turban of a Sikh or the kufi of a Muslim.

2. QUESTIONS ABOUT LUKUMI AS A BELIEF SYSTEM AND IN RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER RELIGIONS/FAITHS

a. Do you believe in God?

Yes we believe in a Creator who we call Olodumare.

b. Do you believe in the Devil?

No. Yoruba belief has no oppositional set up - good versus evil, God versus a Devil. One strives to develop good character and good works during your lifetime. There are concepts of negative energies however - most generated by human foibles.

c. Do you have a Church or place to worship?

Lucumi practitioners have shrines and altars in their own homes, but come together for group worship in a variety of locations for specific events. This is one of the main differences between Lukumi and Candomble of Brazil - a sister worship system, where there are terreiros or houses of worship.

d. Do you have a religious text like the Bible or Koran?

Yes - but it was orally transmitted until recently. This corpus of knowledge includes Odu Ifa and patakis (moral parables)

e. Where can I find / read your sacred text? Who wrote it?

There are numerous ethnographic texts compiling portions of Odu Ifa, prayers (Oriki) and patakis (parables) as well as the body of religious ceremonial songs and drum patterns which are prayer as well. No one text exists with the entire corpus since it is still oral and passed down from teachers to students.

f. Is Lukumi/Santeria a cult?

No. “Cult” is a pejorative term. Lukumi is a religion. It has over 20 million adherents in the New World when you include the branches in Brazil .

g. Isn't Lukumi/Santeria voodoo?

No. Voudou or Vodoun is an West African religion brought to the New World by the Fon people of Dahomey , and though they have similarities they are different in genesis.

h. What's the difference between Lukumi and Espiritismo?

They are completely different systems of belief. Lucumi is a religion, Espiritismo is the practice of mediumship, dealing with the dead and guardian spirits - based on French spiritism which became popularized in the New World in the early 1900’s, particularly in Puerto Rico. In the 1940’s and 1950’s some practitioners of Espiritismo also became Santeros - and have grafted the two practices together.

i. Is Lukumi a Pagan religion and if not what makes Lukumi different?

If you define Pagan as a pan-theistic folk tradition, then no - because Lukumi Yoruba belief is mono-theistic and urban.

j. Isn't Santeria/Lukumi brujeria(witchcraft)?

No. Brujeria or witchcraft is the practice of contagious and/or sympathetic magic.

Lucumi prayer - like all world religions seeks the intercession of the divine.

k. Isn't the religion purer in Africa ?

No. In Africa the religion has also been influenced by Islam and Christianity - and the decimation of the slave trade took a heavy toll on African adherents. A better way to phrase this is that both African and New World traditions are not static and change to adjust to variances in history, and contemporary socio-political conditions.

l. Who is the symbolic or de facto leader of your religion, i.e. - Pope, Dalai Lama, Archbishop, Ayatollah, etc.?

There is no one leader. The Lukumi system is organized around “iles” (houses of worshippers) or “ramas” (lineages of worshippers) and since the religion is hierarchical - the leaders are elders, or those with elder status from the various ramas or iles.

m. What are the "unchanging truths" of your religion?

Reverence for the ancestors.

Each person is born with an Ori (or destiny) that they have chosen.

Belief that there are mediators between oneself and Olodumare (the Creator), called Orisha.

n. How old is your religion? Who founded it?

This question is debatable -many archeologists and historians have asserted that the Yoruba migrated to what is now Nigeria around 1000 C.E. The greatest influx of Yoruba slaves arrived in Cuba by the mid to late 1800’s so Lukumi as it is practiced today has ancient roots with modern New World modifications.

o. How many followers do you have, worldwide?

Estimates range from 15 million to 40 million world wide. Figures in the US are debatable - since there are still many religionists who will not admit openly to their practice, due to prejudice and legal suppression.

p. Where can I go to find out more information?

See book lists and suggested reading posts google group alt.religion.orisha

There are many more books available these days, and many online forums where one can talk with priests and practitioners. A word to the wise - some of the books currently on the market are full of errors, some of the websites are run by charlatans. This is a religion that requires a relationship to teachers and guides. It's not "do-it-yourself", in either practice or initiation.

3. QUESTIONS ABOUT LUKUMI STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

a. What is a rama?

A lineage of priests - dating back to one common initiated ancestor

b. What is an ile?

A group of related priests, and godchildren (initiated and uninitiated) who come together to pray, to learn, and to perform ceremonies.

c. What is the relationship between Babalawos and Santeros?

Babalawos are diviners and herbalists who are priests of Orumila/Ifa who do not become possessed by Orisha and play a meditating role in Lucumi practice.

Some houses (iles) in Lucumi have a close working relationship with Babalawos and others do not.

d. What are the different levels in the religion?

Oluwo - A Babalawo (priest of Ifa) who has also been initiated to a specific Orisha

Oba/Oriate A priest highly trained in cowry shell divination who also functions as a Master of ceremonies for ritual

Iyalorishas and Babalorishas - priests who have initiated godchildren

Oloshas - priests who have not initiated godchildren

Omo Aña - A fraternity of male priests dedicated to playing the sacred Aña drums (fundamento bata)

Akpwon - an expert in ritual songs who leads the singing in ritual drumming and ceremonies

Iyawos - initiates in their first year (see Iyawo section)

Aborisha (sometimes called aleyos) non- priest members of an ile

e. What tasks do people in the religion do, or skills do they learn/utilize?

The Lucumi community is extremely diverse, and since the religion is not practiced in isolation, the community requires a variety of skills.

Crafting of articles for initiations or other functions:

Clothing makers, Throne/altar builders, Potters, Blacksmiths/iron workers - Woodworkers and carvers, mask makers Silver and goldsmiths

The Kitchen: Cooks who are skilled in preparing foods presented to Orisha as well as cooking for large numbers of people. Pluckers, pot scrubbers, coconut openers, peelers, shredders and graters (kitchen prep)

Musicians: singers, drummers, shekere and bell/hoe players.

Scholars, historians. writers, & illustrators

Herbalists and botanists: Herbalists in Lukumi are called "osainistas", they work with the Orisha Osain, and have a knowledge of herbs used for healing and cleansings.

Diviners: There are several different divination systems within Lukumi. The simplest is done with Obi (coconut). Experienced diviners use dillogun (shells) or if they are Ifa priests, they use ikin (kola nut)

4. IYAWOS - BRIDES OF THE ORISHA

a. What is a Iyawo?

A recently initiated priest. Iyawo means “bride of the Orisha”

b. Why is he/she wearing all white ?

For the first year Iyawos are spiritually vulnerable and wear white to repel negativity, as a symbol of purity and to bear witness to the community at large that they have been initiated to the priesthood.

c. Why can’t Iyawos take pictures?

They are to avoid all manifestations of vanity. This includes avoiding looking in mirrors for a specific part of the Iyawo year. Make-up, and perfumes are also forbidden during the year in white.

d. Why can’t I touch a Iyawo?

Because they pick up other peoples’ energy.

e. Why are they eating on the floor?

The Iyawo is considered to be a baby - since initiation is considered to be the “birth” of a new priest. Consequently Iyawos sit on the floor, are waited upon and do not eat with a knife or fork - only using a spoon or fingers.

f. If I'm married, do I have to give up sex with my partner during my Iyawo year?

No.

g. What taboos do you have to observe during your Iyawo year?

They vary depending upon the specific divination received during initiation. Iyawos do not drink alcoholic beverages, try to avoid being out at night (unless their job requires it) and wear white clothing. Other prohibitions are specific to Odu.

f. What do I do if my job has problems with me dressing in white?

Discuss this with your godparents. Most Iyawos who hold jobs that require a uniform wear the uniform, but change into whites as soon as they get home from work

5. QUESTIONS ABOUT LUKUMI PRACTICE

a. What taboos are practiced in Lukumi?

Taboos in Lukumi come from a variety of sources - some are cultural (influenced by African retentions or diffused into Lukumi from Catholicism), some are related to an Odu of divination received by a specific person, others are gender related, and a few are universal.

Few Lukumi will ever dress completely in black clothing - since black attracts negativity.

Cremation is a burial taboo

Women don’t play Aña fundamento drums

There are numerous food taboos - some related to food that are served to Orisha (like no salt in food for Obatala) and others related to Odu (example - not eating hot spicy foods)

b. Why do you have taboos?

Because everything is a way of increasing or decreasing ache - and Odu can indicate things that will be detrimental to your ache, just as it can indicate things that will enhance your ache

c. What is ache?

Ache is a Yoruba concept for power and divine grace

d. Why do you sacrifice animals?

The ritual sacrifice of animals, though important, has been blown out of proportion by the media, and is not the main focus of Lukumi ceremonies. The animals are consecrated offerings, made sacred for communal meals, which are shared with the ancestors and Orisha. This is similar to Jewish kosher meat (ritually slaughtered) or Islamic halal meats.

e. Do you sacrifice people?

No.

f. What is possession?

Possession is a state of being in which the conscious self is suppressed in order to allow for the entry of the divine.

Some priests and even non-initiates may become possessed, but it is not a requirement for initiation. Possession takes place to allow direct communication between Orisha and worshippers. A person who has the demonstrated capacity to be possessed is called a “horse”(caballo), mount or “subidor”.

g. Why do you burn candles?

A candle is a prayer in light - and represents the presence of the divine. We light them to open ritual Orisha spaces and for the ancestors.

h. Why must women wear skirts?

There are traditional gender roles in the religion. Female Orishas are portrayed in skirts and male Orishas in pants and this tradition has been continued, even though in secular settings priests are free to wear what they choose, out of respect for the tradition, we honor the ancestral dress code.

i. Why do you wear beads, (elekes, collares)? What do the beads mean?

The multi-colored bead necklaces represent the energies of the Orishas, and are consecrated. They provide spiritual protection for the wearer - and also serve to identify co-religionists

j. Do you have to wear those bracelets?

The bracelets (ides or manillas) are like the beads (elekes) - they represent different Orishas and are consecrated.

k. Why can't I touch your necklaces (elekes)?

Because they are sacred.

l. How do you talk or pray to Orishas?

We say many types of prayers, called Oriki and for us song is also prayer as is dance.

m. Can Orishas understand me if I speak English?

Orishas understand the language of the heart.

6. DIVINATION/READINGS

a. What is Lukumi divination?

Lukumi’s use three types of divination; merindilogun (16 cowry shells), divination with Obi coconut , and Babalawos divine with palm nuts (ikin) and the divining chain (okuele).

b. What is the difference between get a reading from a Santero, Italero (Oriate), and a reading from a Babalawo?

Santeros and Italeros use 16 cowries. There are some Odu that can only be read/interpreted by Babalawos using ikin (palm nuts) or the divining chain.

c. Do I have to join to get a reading?

No. Diviners see clients who are not Aborisha.

d. How do I select a person to give me a reading?

Try to get a referral from someone with experience in the religion who can recommend a qualified diviner.

e. What does it cost?

The cost varies - usually a preliminary 16 cowry reading is 21 dollars (East coast), 50 dollars (west coast). Babalawo’s readings may be more costly.

f. What is ebo?

Ebo is an offering to the Orishas -it may be cooked food, flowers, fruits, or an animal. Ebos are usually marked in a divination session.

g. Why do I have to do an ebo?

You don’t HAVE to do anything - but if you have gone to a reading and received advice on how to rectify a situation,, and an ebo is marked - why not complete the process?

h. Who will do one for me if I’m not a member?

The person who marked the Ebo for you

i. How do I find out my guardian Orisha?

Unless you are planning to become a member, the Orisha who is your guardian is Obatala - the owner of all heads. Once you have joined, and found godparents, when it is deemed necessary your guardian Orisha is determined by divination, either with cowry shells, or by Babalawos in a session called a “plante”.

7. QUESTIONS ABOUT JOINING THE LUKUMI FAITH

a. Who can join? Can only Hispanics and African-Americans join?

Depending on the ile - some are predominantly African-American or Afro-Caribbean, others predominantly Spanish speaking - but many iles these days are multi-cultural.

b. Do I have to speak/learn Spanish?

It helps to learn some Spanish if you are going to participate in the larger community.

c. Do I have to speak/learn Yoruba?

No. You will learn to speak some Lukumi, because many aspects of the liturgy and ritual are in Lukumi/Yoruba dialect, as are all the songs. There are practitioners who have learned Yoruba, as spoken in Nigeria - but Orishas understand all languages.

Orisha

Orisha


The Lucumi Yoruba believe in one Higher Power.
They call him Olodumare.
They believe that each person
has a Guardian Angel called an "Orisha".
Orisha are aspects of the Supreme Being
that are manifested as forces of nature.


When Yoruba slaves were brought to the New World
they brought their beliefs with them.
This belief system is known as Lukumi in Cuba,
and Puerto Rico, though it is often
referred to as "Santeria".
These beliefs are known as Candomble in Brazil,
and Shango Baptist in Trinidad.

The Warriors.

Elegua, Ogun, Ochosi, and Osun,
are called "The Warriors" by the Lucumi


Ogun is the Orisha of iron and metals.
He is responsible for all things mechanical.
Many people think of Ogun only in terms of weapons of
war, because he is a fierce warrior. But Ogun also
makes implements for farming and medicine;
like the hoe, and the surgeon's scalpel.
His symbol is the knife.
His number in some Lucumi houses is 7, others use 3.
His colors are green and black.
His feast day is June 29th.



Ochosi is the Hunter, and is symbolized
by a bow and arrow. He is the Orisha who metes out
Justice, and is sometimes referred to as the
"the Messenger of Obatala".
All hunting birds like hawks, eagles, and falcons are his.
His colors are blue and gold, or green and blue
His feast day is April 23rd
His number is 7


Osun is the staff of Osanyin, who is the Orisha
of herbs and herbal healing.
He lives in the forest, and does not speak.
He is represented standing on one leg.



Medium Salome