Ceremonies seeking peace amid U.S.-Cuba tensions
HAVANA (AP) — As tensions rise between the United States and Cuba and the island braces for more economic difficulties, priests and priestesses of the Afro-Cuban religion known as Santería held ceremonies on Sunday, offering gifts to deities and asking for peace.
Several leading figures in the Santería community prayed for what they described as “spiritual healing” of the Cuban people and for an end to the violence and conflicts they said were expected this year.
Prayers, Yoruba chanting and rituals in Havana
The ceremonies included prayers in ancient Yoruba, a language brought to the island by enslaved Africans and passed down orally, the report said. It also described a syncretism between African and Spanish traditions that helped shape Cuba’s Afro-Cuban identity.
Lázaro Cuesta, a priest who organized the ceremony in the courtyard of an old house, said: “We…believe that through sacrifices and prayers we can alleviate the impact of harmful issues.”
A year forecast tied to regional events
The article linked the Sunday ceremonies to predictions made earlier in January, when Cuban Santería priests known as babalawos used traditional divining methods on Jan. 2 to predict the possibility of war and violence that would affect Cuba and the world.
The report said that a day later, on Jan. 3, the United States struck Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and arrested then-President Nicolás Maduro, and that 32 Cuban soldiers from Maduro’s personal security detail died in the operation. It added that Venezuela is one of Cuba’s main political, ideological and commercial allies and said the developments shocked the island’s population.
It also described Cuba as facing a tightening of U.S. sanctions and noted that U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened the island.
Offerings, sacrifices and cleansing
As Yusmina Hernández, a 49-year-old homemaker who participated, said: “As religious people, we always try to distance ourselves from anything negative that comes into our lives.”
At the foot of a leafy mango tree swaying in the breeze, the report said a hen, a rooster and a dove were sacrificed. Around them, several dozen babalawos raised their voices in prayer, repeatedly asking Eggun, the deity of the ancestors, for permission to invoke his power and presence.
The article said priests and parishioners then moved to a large room in the house for a second part of the ceremony. Dressed in white, wearing necklaces and headdresses, they made their offering to Azowano, described as one of the forms Saint Lazarus takes in their religion.
Afterward, the report said several hundred people formed a single file, circled the basket, and were finally “cleansed” after being swept with two live chickens while attendees chanted in Yoruba.
“For the good of society”
Eraimy León, a 43-year-old babalawo, said: “This is being done for the good of society, so that there is no conflict or violence, so that there is harmony and health.”