Adelante= , Good Spirit: Spiritism and Ancestor

Venera= tion among Santería Practitioners

Mary Ann Clark

Rice University

Introduction=

= At one end of the room stands a small two-tiered table. The upper tier holds t= wo vases of flowers, mostly daisies and carnations with a couple of roses. On = the lower tier six clear glass tumblers stand in two rows of three, each tumble= r is filled to the brim with fresh clear water. Between the two rows of glasses stands a seventh glass. It too is filled with water but in addition a cruci= fix stands half-submerged in the water. Behind the water glasses a white “seven-day” candle burns. On the floor in front of this altar to the spirits, a gourd bowl rests on a white cloth. The bowl holds a handful = of flower petals floating in a milky white liquid. Chairs stand in a semi-circ= le around the altar; underneath some of the chairs are more tumblers of clear water.

= At one end of the circle cigars, a prayer book, a bottle of rum, a bottle labe= led Holy Water and containers of the white chalk called casc= aria surround one of the chairs. O= ther paraphernalia surrounds the other chairs: a tin can filled with thick dark coffee, a leather wine bag, a tambourine.

= The group assembles. Most are dressed in white; each carries a small drum, shak= er or other percussion instrument. The woman leading the ritual introduces it by proclaiming the purpose of this spiritual mass and reading from a prayer bo= ok. Then each member of the group moves forward to the altar, splashes some of = the milky liquid from the gourd bowl onto him- or herself throwing the excess toward the altar and rapping on the bottom tier of the table. Thus begins a spiritual mass as celebrated in a local Santería household.

Practitioners in the African-based religions known as Santerí= a or Orisha religion often say that the dead give birth to the deities. Among ot= her things, this saying suggests that religious practice begins with the venera= tion of one’s religious and blood ancestors. Santería practice comm= only encompasses several different traditions including the Egungun traditions of West African and the Spiritist traditi= ons of the Caribbean. In this paper I will describe these precedent traditions = and explore some of the ways contemporary practitioners have used them to devel= op their own techniques for speaking with the dead.

Ancestor Veneration=

= Ancestors are extremely important to the peoples of Western Africa. Among many West African peoples including the Yoruba, the ancestors are thought to continue= to be concerned about the lives of their descendents after their deaths. Ances= tors watch over their children and their children’s children rejoicing when things are going welling and unhappy when they are not. Because they contin= ue to live as invisible beings, Yoruba ancestors can provide guidance to their family members through dreams and divination and through the institution kn= own as Egungun. The Egungun are masquerade dancers = who visit the towns and villages during special ceremonies and festivals. Danci= ng through the streets they bless and chastise their descendants. The Egungun mask is full-body costu= me that conceals the identity of the dancer from observers. When an Egungun speaks, it is believed = to be the voice of their dead ancestor that listeners hear. The Egungun not only bless and coun= sel the people they also serve as an important part of Yoruba society. They are= the moral voice of the town that works to ensure that everyone from the youngest child to the king acts according to the moral and ethical code of the community. The Egungun masqueraders and their helpers belong to a secret society that constructs a= nd maintains the costumes and supports the dancers during their appearances. B= eing a member of the Egungun S= ociety is a great privilege reserved for the most highly respected members of the community.

We know from the historical record that there was a revival of the <= span style=3D'mso-bidi-font-style:italic'>Egungun Society in Cuba during = the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. However, several factors seem = to have worked against the continuation of the Egungun on the island. Constructing, maintaining and present= ing the Egungun masks is expe= nsive, requiring support from the most highly placed members of the society. In addition, since the ancestors and their human representatives were not part= of the colonial government that ruled the island, their words no longer had the authority they had had in their homeland. Consequently, the Egungun Society died out in Cub= a.

= Among the Yoruba in pre-colonial times (and often still today), the dead were bur= ied within the compounds of their families. Often a room or portion of a room a= bove the burial site was set aside as a shrine where one could honor the ancesto= rs. Just as many Americans today visit the cemeteries where their loved ones are buried and leave flowers and other tokens of respect, the Yoruba visit the family shrine. There they tell their ancestors about the doings of the fami= ly and leave small offerings, perhaps a plate of food, some palm wine or piece= s of kolonut.

= When the Yoruba were taken to the Americas they didn’t forget to continue = to honor their ancestors. Although they no longer buried their dead beneath th= eir homes, they often constructed small shrines in the house where they could continue to communicate with their loved ones. There they could leave plate= s of food, glasses of water or rum or other offerings. Because the dead were bur= ied in the earth, if not directly below the shrine, the offerings would be set = on the floor just as they had been back home. Even though the Egungun Society no longer perfo= rmed their community festivals and danced in the streets, people continued to bu= ild personal shrines for the family dead, the egun, in their homes.

= In the meantime, another way of communicating with the dead was coming to the Caribbean. Espiritismo (Spiritism), the practices of speaking with the dead based on the work of Allan Kardec, was brought to Cu= ba in the 1950s. Kardec, who was born in France as H. Leon Denizard Rivail in = 1804 was trained as a scientist and mathematician. In 1850 he began to investiga= te the phenomenon of “table turning” that was sweeping though Euro= pe with the intention of discrediting it. Table turning involved a group of pe= ople who gathered around a table in an effort to communicate with disembodied spirits. When the spirits were present the table would move, sometimes rais= ing into the air or spinning rapidly. Although he was a natural skeptic, Rivail soon became convinced of the reality of this phenomenon and began a systemic investigation. As he would later say,

It i= s a most curious thing! My conversations with the invisible intelligences have completely revolutionized my ideas and convictions. The instructions thus transmitted constitute an entirely new theory of human life, duty, and dest= iny, that appears to me to be perfectly rational and coherent, admirably lucid a= nd consoling, and intensely interesting.[i]=

= After two years of investigation he decided, with the approval of the spirits, to write a book describing the information he had gathered from these conversations under the pen name Allan Kardec. Soon he was the center of an organization of mediums from around the world that were continuing and extending this research.

= Although originally embraced by the Cuban middle class who wanted scientific proofs = that the living could communicate with the dead, Kardec’s techniques soon evolved into four different systems of practice. Professor Armand Andres Bermudez calls these Scientific Spiritualism (Espiritismo de Mesa), Spiritualism of Charity (Espiritismo de Caridad), Spir= itualism of the Chain (Espiritismo de Cordon), and Mixe= d or Crossed Spiritualism (Esp= iritismo Cruzado)[ii]<= /a>. In developing a form of Spir= itism that mixed Kardec’s techniques with elements from Yoruba and Bantu religious practices, Afro-Cubans created their own methods for speaking with the dead. Through these rituals they were able to communicate with elevated spirits who they believe had the power to aid them on their spiritual journ= ey.

= Although not all contemporary practitioners of Orisha religions participate in Spiritism, many find that these ceremonies form a natural complement to Ori= sha rituals. In many communities, participating in Spiritism misas or spiritual masses and developing their aptitudes as spirit mediums forms a natural introduction a= nd training for the rituals of Santería particularly the rituals of possession trance.

= American Orisha devotees maintain several traditions for communicating with their ancestors and other spirits that can be traced back to traditions developed= in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Cuba. In addition, some communities = have reestablished the Egungun ceremonies that didn’t survive in Cuba. From the Yoruba tradition of maintaining ancestor shrines in their homes, contemporary Americans setup a= nd maintain egun shrines whe= re they can honor their ancestors. Although it is a separate tradition, many santeros are also practitioners of the Kongo-based tradition of Palo Monte, which provides another way for them to communicate and work with the spirit= s of the dead. From Kardecian Spiritism they have adapted the white table ritual= to a home shrine known as a boveda<= /span> where they can connect with their spirit guides and helpers. In addition, m= any participate in the Misa <= /span>Espiritual where they can both develop their mediumistic skills and work with experienced mediums to communicate with these spirits directly. T= he rest of this paper will be a discussion specifically of the Spiritist traditions of the home shrine, the boveda and the Misa Espiritual. =

The Boveda

= Although most of the Spiritist literature only speaks of the group rituals, many Spiritist practitioners, called = espiritistas, set up a Spiritist shrine, known as a boveda in= their homes. The shrine modeled after the altar table used in the misa blanca, or white mass of t= he Espiritismo de Mesa, consists of glasses of water, a white candle, and a rosary or cross which are placed together on a table or bureau covered with a white cloth. Generally there i= s an odd number of water glasses, five, seven or nine (all of which are signific= ant numbers for santero-espiritistas). However, many espiritistas = place a glass of water for each of their spirit guides and guardians. Some people will also include glasses of water for their ancestral dead although Kardec himself discouraged his followers from attempting to contact their recently dead family members and many people feel that the egun shrine is a more appropriate venue for such communicati= on. In general, natural materials, for example wood and glass rather than plast= ic, is preferred for these items because they are seen as closer to the natural world. Although fresh flowers may be included on a boveda for special occasions, many people include a bouquet = of artificial flowers on their altars. Other tokens representative of or reque= sted by the spirits may also be included on the display including statuettes, do= lls, perfumes, cups, bowls and the like. Although a strict Kardecian view of the spirit world suggests that material offerings are not appropriate since spi= rits exist on a non-material plane, many santeros leave coffee, rum, cigars, and food offerings on their bovedas<= /span>.

= When it is first set up and periodically when it needs to be refreshed, the boveda is sprinkled with Holy W= ater from a Catholic Church and Flori= da Water a kind of cologne commonly available in botanicas and markets serving the Hispanic community. As sit= es of communications between the physical and spiritual worlds, the boveda is used by espiritistas to pray and meditate in an eff= ort to maintain connections with their spirit guides.

One of the rituals commonly performed at the boveda is a series of prayers for the recently dead. In line with Catholic theology is it believed that the prayers of the living can sm= ooth the path of the dead as they make their way to God to receive His final judgment. Every evening for nine days the espiritista places a glass of cool fresh = water and burns a white, unscented candle in front of the boveda while praying that the spirit may receive light, spiritual elevation and clarity. The first evening the water and candle are placed on the floor in front of the boveda. On each subsequent evening the water and candle are raised slightly higher = by placing them on short stools, piles of books or the like. On the final day,= the water and candle should be on bookcase or cabinet above the head of the espiritista. Nine is a signific= ant number in both Yoruba and Catholic practice. Among the Yoruba nine is the number associated with the Orisha Oya who, among other attributes, is the o= wner of the cemetery who rules the spirits of the dead. Among Catholics a novena is a special nine-day pr= ayer cycle based on Greek and Roman mortuary customs. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, novenas = may be conducted for any number of reasons, including prayers for the dead.= = [iii]

= This is only one of many private rituals that may be conducted by the espiritista in front of this sh= rine. Because it is a home altar, the rituals and prayers performed by the owner = of the shrine are only limited by the desires of the espiritista and his or her spirit guides. =

The Misa Esp= iritual

= Although many followers of Kardec’s Spiritist system construct bovedas in their homes in order= to have a site for interaction with their spirit guides and helpers, many also participate in the ritual known as Misa Espiritual or the Spiritist Mass. The misa is a form of Espiritismo Cruzado that incorporates Yoruba and = Bantu (often called Kongo) elements into the Kardecian ceremony. The purpose of t= he ceremony is to raise both spirits and human beings to a higher spiritual le= vel through communication and interaction. During the ceremony spirits may spea= k to the assembled congregation through the bodies of experienced mediums in a t= ype of altered consciousness called possession trance. Mediums may also hear, s= ee or feel the presence of spirits.

= Before the ceremony begins an altar table is prepared with glasses of water, flowe= rs, and candles arranged on a white cloth. Rum, cigars, coffee, Florida Water and other things = that the spirit guides of the congregation enjoy are prepared and placed on the table. The participants sit in a semicircle in front of the table. After a special cleansing ceremony they begin the ritual by reading prayers from Kardec’s Book of Prayers, which is available in both English and Spanish versions. They may also add other songs and prayers, many of which have been passed down through Spirit= ist circles since the early-1900s. After praying and singing for some time, they will call upon the spirits to join them in the ritual.

= Although some of the members of any group participating in a misa are more experienced or skillful in spirit communication than others, at the misa everyone is considered equal. Anyone who hears, sees, feels or becomes possessed by a spirit is encouraged to declare it. Although some groups may follow a set format, often the m= isa is open-ended, guided by the desires and leadership of the spirits. The more experienced mediums will attempt to discern the true nature of the spirits participating in the misa, testing them to make sure the spirit is beneficial to the members and is not trying to trick them or disrupt the misa. Disruptive or unruly spirits are dismissed while benevolent spirits are encouraged to share in the proceedings. Often spirits mount or possess one = of the members so that is may speak and act more directly. These spirits may cleanse the human participants or give advice to individuals or to the congregation as a whole.

= The spirit guide or guardian of one of the participants might speak directly to= its human counterpart, giving advice or asking for offerings or tokens to be pl= aced on individual’s home boved= a. Many spirits enjoy being embodied, albeit temporarily, smoking the cigars a= nd drinking the rum or coffee or other drinks provided.

According to Espiritismo<= /span> philosophy, guardian spirits are spiritually elevated by this participation= in the mundane world and by the guidance they provide to the human participant= s. However, some spirits may attend the misa in an effort to be cleansed and released from lingering impurities. These impurities are thought to tie spirits to the physical world and prevent the= ir full release into the world of the dead. The healing activities performed by the elevated spirits on the living participants in the rituals as well as t= he healing provided by the living for these less elevated spirits are one way = that the ideals of Espritismo de Cari= dad are incorporated into this tradition.

= These traditions provide a way for contemporary practitioners to stay in communication with both their personal dead and with elevated spirits who a= re interested in guiding their spiritual development. Although some practition= ers of these traditions make a strong effort to maintain a separation between African and European practices, Espiritismo Cruzado provides a vehicle whereby both European and African methods and cosmological ideas ca= n be integrated, along with elements from other cultures, into a single system of practice that allows the living to speak to and interact with the dead.