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I hope that you can find in my Ile
Oñi Tolu
in my Website,
and in my Readings
the Faith,
The True Guidance,
and the Family that you are looking for,
Ase o!
Santería is a system of beliefs that merge the Yoruba religion (brought to the New World by slaves imported to the Caribbean to work the sugar plantations) with Roman Catholic and Native Indian traditions. These slaves carried with them various religious traditions, including a trance for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice and sacred drumming. In Cuba, this religious tradition has evolved into what we now recognize as Santería. In 2001, there were an estimated 22,000 practitioners in the US alone, but the number may be higher as some practitioners may be reluctant to disclose their religion on a government census or to an academic researcher. Im a fully committed priest of Ochun, and thru the years I had helped with their everyday problems. Many that I have help are Black Hispanic and Caribbean descent but as the religion moves out of the inner cities and into the suburbs, a growing number of African-American and European-American heritage will continue to grow. The traditional Lukumi religion and its Santería counterpart can be found in many parts of the world today, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and even the United States, which was mainly the result of Puerto Rican migration. A very similar religion called Candomblé is practiced in Brazil, along with a rich variety of other Afro-American religions.
Tarot Readings and Shell Divination

A prayer (moyugba) for Oshun
Ochún moriyeyeo obiñrí oro abebe
oún ní kolala ke, Iya mí koyuo
son Yéyé kari, guañarí gañasí
ogale guase Aña. Agó.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

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.


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1 comment:

  1. GodMakerScribeOctober 8, 2015 at 12:15 PM

    Nsala Malekum. Can you please provide a contact email so I may write to you to inquire about presentation to nganga? I attended a misa at your house a few years ago but was never able to reestablish contact with you until I found the website today.

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