Product Description

"The essay "The Afro-Cuban Festival 'Day of the Kings'" by Fernando Ortiz, founder of Afro-Cuban studies, describes how, as in Brazil, Catholic priests and the colonial government as early as 1573 allowed and encouraged the African slaves to celebrate Epiphany, the Festival of the Three Kings...Free people joined in and the dances, music and costumes paraded by the various eyewitnesses demonstrate how early and how immense were the African contributions to what was to become the carnival of the African Diaspora.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1214409 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 156 pages

Review
"A collection of myths from the Yoruba branch of Afro-Cuban religions, the Spanish original of this book (1938) was a pioneer publication in the field. Lachatanere interviewed a practitioner of the most widespread Afro-Cuban religion; taking special care to maintain the oral style in the development of the stories, he reveals the freshness of the narrator's perspective as he outlines the cosmological fabric created by the encounter of the African people with the Catholic religion. The book includes stories of important deities, that will help the reader understand the conceptual world of the believers. Those interested in learning about Afro-Cuban music, art, and poetry will find in this translation an introductory manual to the language, certain foods used in ceremonies, and the role of divination and figures such as the trickster. Jorge Castellanos, a scholar who has published widely on the influence of African culture on Cuban society, provides an introduction that places the author's work in its social and cultural context. The volume includes a short glossary and a selection of songs and prayers dedicated to the deities. Summing up: Recommended. General readers." â O.B. Gonzalez, Loyola University for Choice Magazine

"Carnival in Santiago...here, with her (Bettelheim's) own two essays, the anthology really comes to life." -- African Arts

"Thirty-six illustrations from the original Spanish Ortiz edition and twenty-six field photographs by Judith Bettelheim...help immeasurably to bring these little-known secular rituals to life." -- New West Indian Guide

This invaluable anthology...is required reading for those interested in Cuba's history, religious forms, and popular culture. --Cuba Update

"Carnival in Santiago...here, with her (Bettelheim's) own two essays, the anthology really comes to life." -- African Arts

"Thirty-six illustrations from the original Spanish Ortiz edition and twenty-six field photographs by Judith Bettelheim...help immeasurably to bring these little-known secular rituals to life." -- New West Indian Guide

This invaluable anthology...is required reading for those interested in Cuba's history, religious forms, and popular culture. -- Cuba Update

About the Author
About Judith Bettelheim: Judith Bettelheim, San Francisco State University, is the co-author of Cuban Festival Arts and numerous scholarly articles.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The River :The hordes of men advanced deep into the impenetrable forest, savagely tearing down the dense trees, trampling the green grass that grew on the paths and pulling up by the roots the slender bushes that blocked their destructive impulse. They built roads. Narrow paths carpeted with fallen leaves appeared that gave way to wide roads skirting the high and inaccessible mountains that rose to meet their natural ceiling: the sky. In this way man created his communication routes and extended the boundaries of the villages, establishing new links and taking possession of more and more of the forest's jealously guarded secrets. In the wildest and densest part of the forest where the harshness of the terrain curbed man's audacity, the river flowed, majestic and menacing. From the highest plateaus it could be seen meandering through the mountains like a silvery monster that moves forward sluggishly. But when the distance was covered in a determined effort, the river, seen from nearby, revealed all its fury, its choppy water, its raging eddies rising, writhing like a wounded serpent rippling its back in the throes of death. The river roared lugubriously, a thunderous and menacing sound. Even the bravest hearts were filled with awe, and no one dared risk the dangerous undertaking of conquering the current. When all the others had left, convinced that any attempt to conquer the river would be fruitless, Agayú Solá, a farmer who was elderly but as strong and vigorous as a young warrior and irascible and hardworking, stood beside it looking at it defiantly. After thinking for a moment, he took his sharp axe and began to cut down a huge tree. Its trunk was so wide that it could not comfortably be encircled by the arms of five people. When he had finally felled it, he stripped away the branches with his battle machete. He made a bonfire whose sputtering flames rose, illuminating the sky with its bright sparks. Then he let a slow fire bore through the resinous trunk of the felled tree while he shaped the wood until he had fashioned a crude boat. He made two powerful oars out of the same wood. When he considered his work done, he put some provisions in his boat and set out on his adventure. He rowed, cutting through the current, beating it tirelessly with his oars. The river put up a resistance equal to that of a thousand animals pulling in the same direction. But Agayú Solá cut through the river in his small boat. All his muscles flexed, and the veins on his neck stood out, his chest expanding and contracting like an accordion. The oars hit the water, thwack, thwack, thwack. The river raged furiously, rrr rrr. Rocking wildly, the boat moved forward. Agayú inched forward. Every inch gained was one less opportunity for the river to swallow him and his boat. The daring boatman rowed more swiftly though the current that gradually became less strong. Once he had covered half the distance, Agayú gathered strength and, with odd movements, he broke through the current, making the boat move forward rapidly until it reached the opposite bank of the river. He leaped ashore and, rubbing his hands together, said: "I have conquered you; now I will finish you off." Without pausing for breath, he climbed into the boat again and crossed the river, this time with much less effort than in the first contest. Agayú Solá did this ten times until he turned the river into a calm, quiet stream on which the boat glided slowly and smoothly. Thanks to Agayú's efforts, contact was established between the villages that had the river as their boundary. In return for his achievement, anyone who wanted to cross over to the other side had to pay a fee to the farmer who had become a boatman. He also became a wealthy man. One day a woman arrived on the riverbank. Dressed in a voluminous coarse woollen cloth, she had a beautiful face and good manners. She climbed into the boat, indicating to the boatman that he should take her to the other side. When he saw her distinguished appearance, Agayú thought it prudent not to mention the fee for his work. Settling her comfortably in his boat, he began to row. When they reached the bank, the woman jumped up and began patiently arranging the folds of her skirt, scarcely looking at the boatman. This gave Agayú an opportunity to claim his payment. "Omordé, pay me the fee." The woman responded by taking off her dress and lying down on the grass. Agayú, seeing her thus, mounted her, and they had sexual intercourse. Afterwards the woman said: "You have had the great honor of sleeping with Obatalá." And she disappeared, leaving the boatman bewildered. And that was that.

Customer Reviews

Afro-Cuban Myths
This book deals with the myths of the orishas. Since it was published in
1938 under the title Oh, Mío Yemayá!, it has become a classic in the
field. It was the first attempt in Cuba to gather a sizeable sample of
the numerous patakíes or myths characteristic of the Regla de Ocha or
Santería, the most widespread of the Afro-Cuban religions practiced on
the island. The author had to overcome prejudice that considered the
religion and its associated literature undeserving of intellectual
attention and at the same time penetrate the secrecy in which black
believers cloaked their beliefs and practices, fearful-with good
reason-of attracting disdain, desecration, and persecution.

About Romulo Lachatañere:
The author (1909-1952) was the first Afro-Cuban intellectual to write extensively on Afro-Cuban religious practices. Together with Fernando Ortiz and Lydia Cabrera, he was the founder of Afro-Cuban research and made it part of the Cuban heritage. His main works offer a description of Santeria and fall somewhere between ethnology and literature. Since its publication in 1938 under the title "Oh, mio yemayá," this book has become a classic in its field. The book is illustrated by Siegfried Kaden, Instituto Superior de las Artes Plásticas, Havana.

About Siegfried Kaden:
Paiter and bookdesigner living in Havana, Cuba and Munich, Germany. He illustrated this book and Cuba Legends by Salvadore Bueno.
Hardcover Info:
ISBN 1-55876-317-1
180pp
$49.95

Paperback Info:
ISBN 1-55876-318-X
180pp
$24.95

A collection of myths and tales first published in 1938 under the title "Oh, Mio Yemaya!
The late Romula Lachatanere (1909-1952) was the first Afro-Cuban intellectual to write extensively on Afro-Cuban religious practices. Afro-Cuban Myths: Yemaya And Other Orishas is a collection of myths and tales first published in 1938 under the title "Oh, Mio Yemaya!". The first book to collect a sizeable sample of Cuban myths characteristic of the most widespread Afro-Cuban religion, Regla de Ocha, also known as Santeria, Afro-Cuban Myths is both exciting to read and thought-provoking in its responses to fundamental questions of popular theology and philosophy. Most of the myths are quite brief. Although they are no more graphic or gruesome than uncensored Greek and Roman myths, these uncensored Afro-Cuban fables (just like original Greek, Roman, and many other myths) are emphatically for mature readers only. Afro-Cuban myths includes stories of taboo subjects such as a son submitting to the incest of his mother, and tragic tales such as a wife who sacrifices her ears for her husband yet is then rejected for compromising her beauty. The black-and-white illustrations perfectly complement this recommended addition to mythology shelves.