From Hierography to Ethnography and Back: Lydia Cabrera's Texts and the Written Tradition in Afro-Cuban Religions Author(s):

Erwan Dianteill and Martha Swearingen Source: The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 116, No. 461 (Summer, 2003), pp. 273-292 Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of American Folklore Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4137792 . Accessed: 13/04/2011 14:36
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ERWAN MARTHA

DIANTEILL

SWEARINGEN

From Hierographyto Ethnographyand Back: Textsand the WrittenTradition LydiaCabrera's in Afro-CubanReligions

Twocommon assumptionsabout Lydia Cabrera's ethnographicwork are that it is exclusivelythe resultoffieldworkand thatAfro-Cuban religionsare based on oral tradition. Evidence is provided in this paper to show that 1) Cabreraalso made use of early religioustexts as a primary source,and 2) that her work has served as an influence on the texts used in modern Afro-Cuban religiouspractices,such as the anonymous book Manual del Santero (1990). An analysis is provided of the way in which Cabreraincluded vernacularwritten sources in her work, and how her workin turn has becomea main sourcefor Santeria "hierography"-the writing about sacred things.
THE RELATIONSHIPBETWEEN LydiaCabrera's worksandAfro-Cuban hasbeen culture

studied from two different perspectives. Literarycritics have focused on the link between her tales and Cuban folklore. Cabrera suggested that her Cuentos Negros de Cuba-first published in French in 1936-included "simply" folktales she had collected in the Afro-Cuban community.' Fernando Ortiz, a famous Cuban historian and cultural anthropologist of the time, fostered this point of view.2 But Cabrera later revealed that some of the tales in her book were pure creations (Cabrera 1994:61), "Afro-Cuban style" short stories, while other tales were grounded in an authentic popular tradition. Yeteven in the latter case, Cabreratransformed oral narrations into tales written in a personal style, which differed from Cuban popular conversation and were actually closer in form to the European tradition of Perrault, Grimm, or Andersen. Cabrera is also praised by cultural anthropologists for her groundbreaking fieldwork on Afro-Cuban religions. In addition, she was the first to publish a general ethnography of African-derived religions in Cuba, based on lengthy fieldwork in the 1940s. Her book, El Monte (1954), remains a reference for all anthropologists interested in this topic. In 1906, Fernando Ortiz published the first study on this field of research (Los Negros Brujos), but it was deeply ethnocentric, with a criminologist
DIANTEILL is Associate ERWAN of Religion, EcoledesHautes Etudes Professor, Sociology en Science France Sociales, Paris, MARTHA SWEARINGEN is Associate andAfrican OralTraditions, Professor, Sociolinguistics Diaspora of theDistrict of Columbia, D.C. University Washington, Folklore Journal 116(461):273-292 ofAmerican @2003bytheBoard of Trustees of theUniversity of Illinois Copyright

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perspective, and was based mainly on police reports and newspaper articles.3There are other researchersinfluenced by Cabrera'sworks, scholars who specifically cite El Monte as a resource. Migene Gonzalez Wippler was the first to attempt to write about the Santeria tradition in English; in her book on Santeria, GonzailezWippler (1973) expresses gratitude to Cabrera.Similarly,Isabel Castellaflos freely acknowledges the debt she owes Cabrerain her linguistic and cultural examination of Afro-Cuban life, particularlywith regard to the use of her texts to examine Bozal, the speech of African slaves.4In El Monte, Cabrerafully described the major Afro-Cuban religions: the Regla de Ocha (commonly known as Santeria) and the Ifi cult, which are both derived from traditional Yorubareligion; and Palo Monte, which originated in Central Africa.5 Both the literary and anthropological perspectives on Cabrera'swork assume that she wrote about mainly oral, practical religions with only an "embryonic" written tradition. She is credited by literary critics for having transformed Afro-Cuban oral narratives into literature, that is, written works of art, while anthropologists rely on her accounts of oral information collected during interviews with santeros, babalaos, or paleros, and on her descriptions of religious ceremonies. She is seen as providing the sole written analysis, while Afro-Cuban believers seem to be confined to orality and ritual practice. This division of ethnographic work between a "writing anthropologist" and a "practicingbeliever"is not, and never has been, accurate in the case of Cabrera'swork on Afro-Cuban religions. First,there was a genuine Afro-Cuban tradition of religious writing before the publication of El Monte. Cabreraknew those texts and used them in addition to interviews and descriptions of rituals. Second, her own work is used today by Afro-Cuban religious specialists in Havana. Some have even transformed the relevant parts of her ethnography into "hierography,"that is, into prescriptive religious texts. In other words, Cabrera'swork was influenced by a tradition alreadyfixed in written texts by the santeros and the babalaos themselves. Moreover, her own work has been reappropriatedby practitioners as a source of religious information. Clearly, Afro-Cuban religious specialists must also be considered as actively literate participants, able to read and write from their own perspective. There is a dialectical relationship between Afro-Cuban religious writing and Cabrera'swork; she used a religious writing tradition that has now internalized her own ethnography.6 Focusing on Cabrera'sethnographic works that deal with Reglade Ocha (Santeria),7 we provide some examples of the use of Afro-Cuban written texts in her work and carefullyexamine an anonymous handbook found recently in Havana, which shows striking similarities with Cabrera'sEl Monte. This Santeria manual, entitled Manual del Santero,is derived from El Monte. It illustrates how ethnography was transformed into hierography in this particular case. The Use of Santeria Booklets Before the Exile The relationship between Cabrera'sethnography and primary Afro-Cuban written sources is paradoxical. Cabrera claims in her prefaces to have written only what she heard and saw (and not what she read), yet one can find explicit references to

Dianteill &Swearingen, Cabrera's Texts andtheWritten Tradition

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religious written material in her four books about Santeria. In El Monte Cabrera as-

sertsthatherpurposewasto givespecialists accessto the "livingdocuments" she had

found in Cuba and that "she wanted the old people [she] knew ... to be heard with-

out intermediaries, exactlyas they spoketo [her],"that "[she]limited herselfwith

rigor to write with absolute objectivity and without prejudice what [she] had heard and what [she] had seen" (1954:7, 8, 10). In the preface to Cabrera'sYemayd y Ochuin, Rosario Hiriart quotes Cabrera,who wrote that African folklore in Cuba has been "transmitted orally from generation to generation for centuries of slave trade" (1980a [1974]:ii). Regarding her role as an ethnographer in Koeko Iyawd, Cabrera maintained that "the value of this book for believers, scholars or ... curious people, is grounded in the fact that we are very careful in not altering the thought, the concepts, the sensibility, the way of the people who talk to us" (1980b:3). Her role as a writer was even acknowledged by Salak6, one of her informants who used to call her obini lewi, in Lucumi, the "woman with a sheet of paper" (48).8 Moreover,she justifies such work by saying,
Desgraciadamente la tradici6n oral se pierde y vale la pena de trasladar al papel las ensefianzas de los viejos para los que que quieran saber, y para los incautos que caen en manos de charlatanes y explotadores que les piden sumas exageradas para Asentarlos, la mayoria de las veces sin necesidad.

(6)
[Unfortunately, the oral tradition is disappearing and it is worth transcribing on paper the teachings of the elders for the ones who will want to learn, and for rash people who are preyed upon by charlatans and exploiters who ask them for fantastic amounts of money in order to initiate them, usually unnecessarily.]9

This suggests that santeros are confined to a purely oral world of religious practices, and that Cabreraconsidered herself to be a witness of an endangered tradition. Nevertheless, she sometimes mentioned primary written sources that she used, usually introducing them as minor resources for her work. The first mention of written material in her works can be found in El Monte. Some are related to peripheral texts used by santeros but are not directly related to the worship of the Orishas. For example, Sandoval, one of her informants, provided her with prayers to the Magnet Stone, "which are sold in the streets and at the market place" (1954:144). Another informant, named J.A.C.,"owns the booklet (cartilla) of Alan Kirdec," a reference for spiritualists (299). Cabrera also cites European, especially Spanish, books of witchcraft, like the Book of San Ciprian,which were used by santeros and paleros as an additional source of magical recipes (374). These works clearly indicate that Afro-Cuban practitioners were able to read texts from other traditions and to incorporate them into their religious practice. Much more significant are the references to the writing ability of the practitioners, because they contradict the idea of Santeriabeing only an oral tradition. Cabrerafirst mentioned the existence of Afro-Cuban manuscripts on the Abakui secret society recreated in Cuba by slaves from Calabar,in present-day southeastern Nigeria. She explicitly used these texts, which she called "sacredbooks," as a source for her account of the central myth of this secret association (280-81). She also referredto notebooks

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Forinstance, sheacknowledged consulted thenotehaving bytheoneswhosellthem. a marketplace in Havana, of thePlaza delVapor, andthatof anold bookof a yerbero
in a secCabrera mentionedthe libretas de Santeria femalehealer(419,550). Finally,

of yerberos wherethe namesand uses of plantsandherbsarecatalogued (herbalists),

of coconut divination withfourpieces shell.Santeros describe this tionconcerning where of the fivedifferent in notebooks technique theywritethe meaning signsof a santero, withcorresponding to theorishas.'0 thanked thisoracle, Cabrera prayers
for lettingher consulthis notebook (386) and noted: Jos6IsabelSalazar,
han respondido CuandoGabinole ofrececoco y aguaa sus diosesy los que le acompafian akkuana, d1 de memoria continua con estosrezosquerepite cuidadosamente en unalibreta. Esta, y quetieneescritos de ampulosas en cuyaprimera elviejohatrazado conletrafirmey clara, sinuosidades decorativas, paigina [WhenGabinogives coconut and waterto his gods and when the ones who are presenthave said he goeson with thoseprayers he repeats in a "akkuana," by heart,andwhichhe had writtencarefully notebook.He has writtenin the firstpageof this notebook,with a clearand firm hand, a sinuous, decorative styleof writing,] Si estalibretase perdiese Como suelesuceder Suplicoal que la encuentre Que la sepadevolver. Y si no sabemi nombre Aquilo voy a poner: GabinoSandoval Herrera. [Shouldthis notebookget lost As can often happen I implorewhoevermightfind it So thatthey mightknowwho to returnit to Andif you do not knowmy name I will put it here: GabinoSandoval Herrera.] me la presta,daindome una pruebamais de su confianza, paraque aprendaestos rezosde memoria. Asumuerte,la libretavendri a parara mis manos.(384-85) [Helendsit to me,givingme another proofof his trust,in orderforme to learnthoseprayers by heart. Whenhe died,I inherited this notebook.]

because thatnot onlywerethe Thesequotesarestriking demonstrate theyclearly

santeros the artof writing(theshortpieceaboveis in rhyme literate, theyalsoenjoyed was also awareof theirworkin this respectbackin and italicized),and that Cabrera the 1950s.Thiskind of introductory poem does not belongto the Lucumitradition
per se, but to Spanish folk culture. Nevertheless, it was written on the first page of a Santerianotebook, which means that it has been absorbed into Afro-Cuban culture, as is also true of many other items of European origin, such as crucifixes and images of saints and the Virgin Mary. One of the most paradoxical statements about the written texts in Santeria can be found in Anag6, a work first published by Cabrerain 1957. This book is a collection of Hispanized Yorubawords and sentences still in use in Cuba;in the preface Cabrera

Dianteill & Swearingen, Cabrera'sTextsand the Written Tradition

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mentioned the existence of "a large number of handwritten or typed notebooks, which circulate from hand to hand, and which are the object of large-scale speculation by some santeros and people who sell religious objects"(1970:16). But she then also wrote that the majority of these texts were useless because they were usually badly written and not very reliable.However,she mentioned an exception-the notebook of Andrds Monz6n, "who was taught to read and write in an English mission in Nigeria, and transmitted samples of his knowledge in a libretaperfectly written." Nevertheless, for her, the best way to use this kind of material was to have it read by knowledgeable informants, who told her that "those notebooks were in disarray because they were only used to refresh the memory." Finally,she claims to have used "very rarely some libretas,always checking the words with the highest possible number of people" (17). In other words, she refused to consider written texts as "real"ethnographic sources. Forher,they could only be used as a means for obtaining the "livingdocument," which belonged exclusively to the oral world, in spite of the evidence of their growing importance in Santeria.

The Useof SanteriaBooklets Afterthe Exile

Because of the Cuban Revolution, Cabreraleft Havanain 1960, taking her field notes with her. She first settled in Madrid and then Miami. The main part of her subsequent ethnographic work was based on information collected before her departure from Cuba. In her two works, Yemayd y Ochdn (1980a[1974]) and KoekoIyaw6 (1980b), she relied more heavily on libretas she had brought with her in exile, probably because she no longer had access to the Santeria community in Cuba. She mentioned, for example, Sixto Samai,who wrote a libreta "in 1880, or perhaps before." Like Monz6n, Samaiwas educated in an English mission located in Sierra Leone, and his notebook was copied in Matanzasby his literatedisciples ( 1980a:179). Even if she cited her old informants who expressed their distrust for the libretas and favored oral transmission, she nevertheless-and for the first time in her works as far as we knowrevealed a glimpse of the abundance of information one can find in the notebooks:
Las reglas para consultar el Dilogtin, los nombres, rezos y explicaciones de los odu, los pataki, estos cada dia maisolvidados, la lista interminable de los eb6 que para evitar un mal pron6stico o en acci6n de gracias indica cada signo, aparecen consignados en libretas dificiles de entender por su mala redacci6n y exposici6n desordenada. (1980a[ 1974]:181) [The rules of the Dilogdn (divination with the cowry shells), the names, prayers and explanations of the odu (divination signs), the pataki (myths), which are more and more forgotten these days, the neverending list of eb6 that each odu indicates to avoid a bad omen or to thank the gods, all these data are recorded in notebooks difficult to read because of bad editing and disorganized exposition.]

It is obvious that the notebooks are not limited to the simple rules of divination with the coconut as one might have assumed from her accounts in El Monte. Even if they are complemented by oral information, the items found in the libretas are the main components of Yemayd y Ochin, and even more of Koekolyaw6. The latterbook is clearlyorganized as a manual for initiates,which is preciselythe function of a libreta.

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andthe interpretation of the signs, Withregard to the technique of the Dilogdin Nini (1980b:48), verbatim libretas of several informants: ananonyCabrera copied
mous Santerafrom Guanabacoa (65); AndresMonz6n (76), an anonymous "old old G" (92; 1980a[1974]:2,54-93). This chapteron divinationwith the cowriesis

informant whomshecalled "the olorisha" (initiate) (83);andanother anonymous onthesame fromilliterate informants, topiccollected completed byoralinformation
writtensourcesare suchas Calazan (93) (1980b:92-103).Identical (92) andLufando

in the chapter theYoruba usedextensively eb6 (144-61)."Concerning concerning who aYoruba usedbysanteros, Cabrera citedSixto Samai was lexicon (2), given again to 1898. Thislistof vocabulary, notebook prior vocabulary byhisSanteria godfather sources areclearly mentioned forsections aboutdivination If written technique, this is not the case in the aboutmyths. On and ritual chapter vocabulary, offerings, assumes thatthese are"part of thisenormous thecontrary, Cabrera pataki (myths)
and in this caseit is the one whichgoes with the divimine of orallucumiliterature, her description nationof dilogunor Ifi" (1980b: 102).12This statementcontradicts Thereasonsforthisareexplored below. is mentionedin this chapter pataki. regarding Myths and Literary Creation
Our claim is that this kind of text, focusing on the myths, is the one for which Cabrerawanted to have credit, both as a writer and a poet. She emphasized their oral origin and claimed the art of writing for herself. This allowed her to modify the original texts found in the libretas, which were not intended to be published and whose authors had no literary ambitions. In the libretas the myths are closely linked to divination signs. The oriatr or the babalao used them to give a sacred signification to the secular problem of the person who consults him.'3 From this perspective, the "style" has no importance compared to the narrativeitself. Cabrerathe ethnographer, on the other hand, was extremely sensitive to the stylistic characteristicsof the stories. In this regard, she had an esthetic ambition. That is why she did not cite the pataki verbatim; she wanted to rewrite them in her own way, even if she retained the basic plot. The example below illustrates her desire to give literary qualities to texts which, for her, lacked them:
Un pataki de Ifd en Obe Yono,nos cuenta que en la tierra arard cuando los muertos no se enterraban hubo una grin mortandad y que a punto de perecer toda la poblaci6n, el Rey consult6 a Ordimbila. Este les hizo eb6 con un pico, una pala y una guataca, un gallo y un saco de efdn y les orden6 que con esas herramientas abriesen una zanja espaciosa y enterrasen en ella a todos los cadiveres. Terminado el ebd, el divino Adivino recomend6 que nadie se mojase pues iban a caer aguaceros torrenciales que harian desaparecer la epidemia. Lo que en efecto sucedi6 a consecuencia del eb6. Continuar6n enterrindose los muertos y el arard consultando para todo a Orula. (1980b:127) [An Ifd myth of Obe Yonotells us that there was a great plague in Arara land, when the dead were not buried. The king consulted Orula when all of the population was about to die. This one asked them to make a ritual with a pickaxe, a shovel and a hoe, a cock and a sack of chalk. He ordered them to dig a large trench with these tools and to bury all the corpses in it. When the ritual was finished, the Di-

at the end of Koeko Iyaw6(200-227). mergedwith othersources,is reproduced

sheusedso oftenin thework citedabove, andno libreta of thecontent of thelibretas

Dianteill& Swearingen, Texts and the Written Tradition Cabrera's

279

viner decreed that nobody get wet, because a torrential downpour was about to fall to make the epidemic disappear. That is what happened because of the ritual. The Arara people continued burying their dead and consulting Orula for everything.]

In an anonymous handbook of Ifi divination entitled Dice Ifd, which one of the authors of this paper found in Havana in 1993, we can read this version of the myth related to the same divination sign:
En la tierra de Ararahabia una gran mortandad y se estaba diesmando la tribu. Orula se fue a ese lugar y el rey le cont6 el caso a Orula. Este hizo erb6 con: pico, guataca, pala, un saco de efin, acuco. Despues de terminado el erb6, que con esas herramientas abriera una gran zanja enterrando a los muertos (porque alli no se enterraban a los muertos). Despues orden6 que el effin se pintaran todas las casas de blanco. Terminada esta operaci6n, cayer6n grandes aguaceros y d habia ordenado que nadie se mojara. Y asi desapareci6 la epidemia de le avisari todos sus trabajos al pie de Orumila. (Anonymous, 1950(?):54) ese lugar.Y en virtud el Ararai [In Arara land there was a great plague which was wiping out the entire tribe. Orula went to the place and the king then told Orula about the situation. He (Orula) asked them to perform a ritual with the following: a pickaxe, hoe, shovel, sack of chalk, cock. After completing the ritual, they should then dig a large trench burying the dead (because the dead are not buried there). Later he ordered that the chalk be used to paint all the houses white. Having finished this operation, there was then a great downpour of rain and he commanded that no one get wet. Thus, the epidemic disappeared from the place. As a result of this, the Arara sought advice on all their affairs from Orumila.]

What is the relationship between these texts? The textual similarities between them show that they are not simply independent written versions from an original oral version. For instance, the words mortandad and zanja can be found in both versions. Therefore, we can either assume that one is directly derived from the other, as a modified copy, or that they are both secondary copies of an earlier version. First,let us postulate that one is a direct copy of the other. In this case, it is a reasonable hypothesis to assume that the anonymous text is the source of Cabrera'sversion. The word eb6 is spelled erbdin the anonymous version, which corresponds to the vernacular spelling of the libretas which Cabrerareferred to in Anag6 (1970 [1957]:17). Moreover, the word acuco is the Lucumi word for the Spanish gallo (rooster) which we find in Cabrera's text. It is not easy to comprehend why,in this case, a babalao would translate the word from Spanish into Lucumi. It would seem to make better sense for Cabrerato translatethe Santeriajargon for the general reader.Babalaos and santeros use coding to establish boundaries between initiates and noninitiates, especially in But in the case we are studying, this codhandbooks that could be read by the latter.'14 ing would be useless since the author of the vernacularversion would have encoded a "public"text. One only wants to keep secretwhat is actuallysecret, not try to hide what is alreadyavailablefor everybody to read, namely a myth translated into Spanish and appearing in a Cabrerabook. Finally,we claim that the main evidence of this relationship of priority is that the anonymous version is more coherent than Cabrera's.Indeed, it seems that Cabrera omits one part of the myth-the painting of the houses in white with efan (chalk).15

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The presence of "a sack of efdn" in her version has no meaning, whereas it is part of the cleansing ritual in the anonymous version. If we postulate that those two versions are independently derived from a third text, the previous remarks are still valid. Indeed, even if the anonymous version is not the first written one, Cabrera's version necessarily remains secondary, because it is ritually incoherent. Thus, there is a very high probability that Cabrera used a written version of this myth because of the numerous lexicons that are common to both versions, and because the Cabreraversion is ritually incoherent compared to the anonymous version. Now, how did she transform the original text? Quite simply, she made it comprehensible for standard Spanish readers. While the anonymous version is written in vernacular Cuban Spanish, the ethnographic version is written in a literary style. For example, Cabrerasubstitutedthe words poblaci6n,perecer,and espaciosa,for the words tribu, diesmando [sic], and gran [sic], correcting all the grammatical "flaws"of the vernacular version. In short, there is sufficient evidence here to demonstrate that Cabrera frequently consulted Santeria libretas, which she used together with her fieldwork carried out in Cuba. She found in these tratados (treatises) lists of sacred plants, prayers,Lucumi vocabulary,descriptions of ritual offerings and divination techniques, and myths. But Cabreradid not emphasize the use of these written sources in prefaces and introductions. On the contrary, she minimized them, underscoring their poor literary qualities. Nevertheless,she used them more and more, as one comes to realizefrom a careful reading of her four works on Santeria. The irony is that she can also be praised for being the first scholar to mention these sources and to show that they have existed at least since the end of the nineteenth century,not only from the 1920s, as ArgeliersLe6n stated (1971:145).16 In other words, she knew about and took advantage of these texts, although it seems she preferred to emphasize her own role as a skilled artist rather than openly discuss the written texts she was using. Ironically, Cabrera could not know that her major work, El Monte (1954), would come to be a major source for today's Santeria manuals.

The Religious Use of Cabrera'sEl Monte in a Contemporary Santeria Manual

During a total of ten months of fieldwork in Havana from June 1993 to January 1996, Dianteill collected thirty-nine manuals of Santeria and Ifi which circulate among practitioners.17 These manuals form a corpus of more than 5,000 pages. Some have only a dozen pages, whereas others have between 500 and 700 full pages and can be considered religious encyclopedias that describe all aspects of the cult. At the end of one of them, called Manual del Santero,we were surprised to find not only a list of herbs strikingly similar to Cabrera'sEl Monte, but also with important differences. Manual is a two-volume mimeographed work consisting of a total of 705 pages. On the first page, we read:
Atenci6n: el presente manual constituye un esfuerzo para ayudar a la formaci6n y perfeccionamiento de los oficiantes. El original fue traido directamente de Nigeria (Africa), traducido y revisado por

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destacadas cubanas de la religi6n.Ensus manosestaun manualparoba muysuperior personalidades a los que tradicionalmente se conocenen Cuba.Eso,Vd. mismo lo podracomprobar. Thismanualis intendedto contribute to the educationand improvement of the practitio[Warning: ners(officiantes). Theoriginal bookwasbroughtdirectly fromNigeria(Africa), andrevised translated Youhavein yourhandsa manualforthe divi(en la religi6n). by prominentCubanfiguresin Santeria nationspecialist(oba)whichis muchsuperiorto the ones knownin Cuba.Youwill be ableto check this for yourself.]

Thisclaimto be an Africanbook is not factual,as one can readilydetermineby notfound in both volumes.The claim cited abovewas ing the numerousCatholicisms meantto lend morelegitimacy to the information probably providedandto promote the book's marketability."s The epigraphdoes indicate,however,that Manualwas writtenfor a practicalpurpose.It does not belong to scholarship to the but, rather, areaof religiouspractice.The anonymousstatusof the authorof Manualhas to be understood fromthe sameperspective, a "collective reflecting memory"-a tradition common of rituals is down from generationto whereby knowledge religious passed to without individual generation authorship.19 attempting recognize One can find in this book a seriesof myths relatedto the Yoruba gods, explanations of some rituals(such as the recipeto preparethe omiero[infusionof sacred But the main partof the two volherbs]),and a seriesof sacredLucumivocabulary. umes (484 pages, or 68%) is dedicatedto the Dilogtin, a technique of divination sixteencowriesaretossedon a rugandseventeen different whereby signscanbe found, of the shellson the rug.Eachone of the signshas an dependingon the configuration with severalmythsand sacrifices linkedto it.2" interpretation The last seventypagesof this religioustreatiseconsistof a list of plantsand herbs We were awarethat the last part of belongingto each god or goddessin Santeria. El Montealso consistsof a list of this kind, so both sourceswerecarefully Cabrera's Wefounda seriesof textualsimilarities examined. betweenthemwhichrevealed that therewas some kind of link.Simplyput, one workused the otheras a source,and it wasnecessary, to determinewhichwas the original. therefore, One way to embarkon this endeavorwas to examinethe descriptionof curative and religiouscharacteristics of the plant albahaca in both documents.Our research revealsstrikingresemblances and a clue, enablingus to determinewhich text is the to do a spiritualcleansingincludethe followoriginal.Forexample,the instructions ing in Manual:
Alterminar, rezatresPadres Nuestros la velase dejaencendida y tresAveMaria, paraSanLuisBeltran, hastaquese consume, en rigordebensertresy en horasdistintas laspersonas los viernes, quesantiguan quees el diaindicado,aunqueen todo momentoes beneficiosoSantiguarse, porquequitala salaci6n. (679) and three"HailMarys," the candlemust staylightedfor Saint [Atthe end, saythree"OurFathers" LuisBeltrin,untilit is consumed, the (numberof) peoplewho consecrate the designated Fridays, day, mustbe threeand (appear)at different to purifyoneselfat anytime,betimes,evenif it is beneficial causeit removesthe curse.]

In El Monte, the sentence is remarkably similar, although it has been split into two sentences.

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Al terminar, rezatresPadres tresCredosy tresAveMarias. Lavelase dejaencendida,-para Nuestros, SanLuisBeltrin,-hasta que se consuma.En rigordeben ser tres,y en horas distintas,las personas que santiguenal aojado,sin que ningunade las tressepaquienesson las otras.(1954:302) three"Creeds" and three"HailMarys." The candlemust stay [Atthe end, say three"OurFathers," the (numberof) peoplewho speaking, lighted-for SaintLuisBeltrain-untilit is consumed.Strictly purifythe aojado(a personwho is a victim of mal de ojo,that is the "evileye")must be three,and times.Theymust not know eachother.] (appear)at different

then wrotetwo otherparagraphs. In the thirdparagraph, whichfocuseson Cabrera the ReglaKimbisadel Santo Cristodel BuenViaje(a religionthat includesBantu,
Yoruba,Spiritualistic,and Catholic influences), we read the following: "Los'hermanos' se santiguan los viernes, que es el dia indicado, aunque en todo momento es beneficioso santiguarse 'porque quita la salaci6n'" (1954:303). (The Brothers purify themselves on Fridays,which is the appropriate day, even if it beneficial to purify oneself at any time, because it removes the curses.) We can see from this example that the textual similarities are too numerous to be accidental. In fact, it is clear that the anonymous author of Manual copied from Cabrera'sEl Monte. Carelessly,he skipped from the verb santiguen on one page (302) to santiguan on the first line of the following page (303), thus omitting words found in the original source when copying the text. He began copying one sentence and finished with another, simply because Cabrera'stwo sentences in this passage had one verb in common. The two inflections of the verb santiguar are grammatically acceptable in this context, which explains why the anonymous writer was confused here. We also found a confirmation of copying in the section of Manual regarding the plant known as anamu:
Es una yerbade las comunesy facilesde arrancar, pero no se arrancarimais que cuandosea preciso Cura utilizarla. (No se incluyenentrelasyerbasdel OmierodelAsiento).El restodel afio,es benefica. del cuerpoalgfinespiritui la locuray con bafiosde anam6se desprenderi obscuro,de esos que suelen enviarlos mayomberos a ellas.(689) paraacometera sus victimas,adheriendose to use it. (It [Itis easyto find andto pull up an herb,but you must pull it up only when it is necessary It curesmadness, is not includedin the infusionof the initiation.)The restof the year,it is beneficial. the body fromdarkspiritsthatpractitioners andthe bathwith anamudelivers of PaloMontesendto attacktheirvictimsand remainin them.]

Note the version of the same found in El Monte:

mAsquecuandoseapreciso Esunayerbade lasmascomunesy fAciles de obtener, perono se arrancara utilizarla. No se incluyenentrelas yerbasdel omiero del Asiento.Es abortivay de ahi que se Ilamea veces"sacamuchacho"; I. del R.la llamaOchisin. Si las resesla comen,mal paren.Laraizhechacon en los mesesde octubre, aliviaal dolorde muelasobturandolas caries.Es malkfica sebo de carnero, noviembre Se puedematarpor medio de estayerba.El restodel afo es bendfica. Curala y diciembre. delcuerpoalgfin oscurode esosquesuelenenviar locura; y conbafiosde anami se desprendera espiritu a sus victimas,adhiri~ndose a ellas.(1954:322) los mayomberos paraatormentar to use it. (It is [Itis easyto find andpull up an herb,but you mustpull it up only when it is necessary andthatis whyit is called"remove-child"; not includedin the infusionof the initiation.)It is abortive If cowseatit, theywill delivera stillborn. The root of this plantmixedwith J.del R. callsit "Ochisin."

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November sheeptallowrelievestooth achesby fillingcaries.It is evil duringthe monthsof October, andDecember. It curesmadness; One can killwith this plant.The restof the yearit is beneficial. and the bathwith anamudelivers the body fromanydarkspiritthat practitioners of PaloMontesend to attacktheirvictimsand remainin them.]

is missing It is clear thata meaningful in theManual version above. Otherpassage is not it clear the author of Manual wrote rest of the wise, why year[thisplant] "'The a certain is beneficial" without thatit is evilduring of theyear. This supposing period information is provided in ElMonte["Itis evilin October, November andDecemtheremaining butnotin Manual, textincoherent in thelatter. From ber"], rendering is a partial suchexamples we cansurmise thatManual El Monte. of We next copy someof theways ofManual examine in which theauthor usedinformation borrowed fromElMonte. The Organizationof Manual The"author" thelistofplants andherbs inElMonte ofManual provided reorganized in a practical, the manner. On one thelist Cabrera hand, religious simply presented to the the order of common of She used names plants. probably according alphabetical asareference themajor Cuban botanical Tomas available, Juan dictionary Roig y Mesa's Medicinales Aromaticas o Venenosas Allthescientific Plantas deCuba names in (1945). Latin shementioned come from this source is not cited in El (which Monte). apparently theauthor ofManual Ontheother hadnoscientific Ashestated hand, purpose. clearly in theepigraph, he onlywished to helptheSanteria practitioner.
de las Reglaso Religiones Africanas relativas a la determinante [sic]la apreciaci6n Complementado influenciaespiritualy materialde la vegetaci6n como fuente indispensablede la vida humana, unaamplia demfiltiples ofrecemos con susfacultades curativas relaci6n y documentada plantas y raices, y a los Santosque pertenecen. y maigicas of Santeria the appreciation or similarAfricanreligionsin relationto the determin[Tosupplement influenceof plantsas an indispensible fountainof humanlife,we offeran ing spiritualand material anddocumented of manyplantsand roots,alongwith theircurative extensive andmagidescription cal facultiesandthe relevant saints.]

the orishas a ritualorderthatcorresponds arepresented to the Usually, following of is the The used in seniority gods. mythical only exception Eleggu'i (spelling the divine who he is a child, Manual), messenger opensevery ceremony. Although Thesecond to be honored thefirstto be honored. is Obatali, thefather he is always
of the orishas. That is why the author of Manuql first listed the plants that belong to the most popular gods among santeros:21 Plants of Eleggud Plants of Obbatald,the father of all the gods Plants of Chang6, god of thunder Plants of Yemayd,goddess of the ocean Plants of Ochdn, goddess of love and fresh water

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tothekindof ceremony, theorder ofthedeities varies InSanteria practice, according to theinformants. Thelist evenforonekindof ceremony andsometimes according forthe ceremony of the neckorders seemed to followoneof thevernacular above
laces,althoughthereis no clearinformationin Manualaboutit.22Duringthis ritual, whichis madeof beadsof the colorsof the corresponding eachnecklace, god,is soaked SinceManualdealswith the plantsof eachgod,it makes followingthe previousorder.

Thenthenecklaces aresuccessively in omiero. puton theneckof thenovice, usually

to helpthepracfound inElMonte to reorganize thelistof plants fortheauthor sense rituas other kinds of Santeria of the as well the titioner necklaces, perform ceremony als.

in Manual fromElMonteAppearing KeySelections

theauthor selected what wasusedin thiscase. No othersource Monte. Nevertheless, of Santeria of theimprovement of thepractice to thepurpose wasfeltto be relevant
above.InElMonte,Cabrera asstatedin the epigraph gaveeachplanta commonCuban as Santeria and Palo Monte religiousnames. as well name,a Latinbotanicalname, name of the The authorof Manual,on the otherhand,only retainedthe vernacular The entire section of Manualthat focuses on plants and herbs is taken from El

to a santero. theothers wouldbe meaningless because anditsLucumi name, plant wasapplied the recipes andgeneral of selection in copying Thesameprinciple
informationof each plant. For instance,the plants called baga,bejucobatalla,or bijaguain El Monte (1954:334,337, 345) were supposedto be used exclusivelyby mentioned a possible paleros,so they werenot retainedin Manual.When Cabrera the plant called caiia brava,which is presentedas ampleof the selectionregarding followsin Manual:
a Nana madrede los SanLizaros.Latierraen torno a ella Lacafiabravale estA consagrada Nboma(casaBurukti, de maji) y lo que aumentasu prestigio[sic].Latierraque le tienevirtudes,es Munanso lo que se quiera.(677) con madrede bibijagua circunda, y comejen,sirveparadesvaratar The groundaroundit to Nana Motherof all the SanLazaros. [Thewild caneis consecrated Burukt6, its prestige. The it is MunansoNboma (house of the snake)and this increases has specialproperties, is usefulto "break" eartharoundthis plant,with antsand termites, anythingyou want.]

thiscomtheauthor of Manual useof a plantforPaloMonte skipped practitioners, tradition. Below is anexelement to the Santeria thenext mentto reach belonging

the followingin El Monte: Note by way of comparison

Latierra,en torno suyo,tiene muchasvirtudes.Es munansomboma,casade maji (lo que aumenta es decirsirveparaguardar su prestigio).Un trozo del canutosirvede "coraz6n, timi, de ngangas," dentro, obturadoslos orificios, azogue y arena de mar, "la vida del mar y del azogue,"que se los mandatos en diligencia su movilidad incesante a la nganga quese traduce paracumplir comunicarin del mayombero. lo que se quiera. con Madre Latierraquela circunda, Bibijagua y Comejin,sirvepara"desbaratar" (1954:366-67)

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[The ground around it has special properties, it is Munanso Nboma (house of the snake) and this increases its prestige. A piece of cane is used as "heart, timi, de ngangas" (Nti ntimd means "heart" in ritual Palo Monte language) that is used to keep sand and mercury inside it, with the orifices closed, "the life of the sea and the sand," which will transfer to the nganga their incessant mobility that will be useful to carry out the orders of the palero. The earth around this plant, with ants and termites, is useful to destroy anything you want.] (Cabrera 1984:55)

In the first passage above, the author of Manual simply deleted the short paragraph about the nganga, the sacred receptacle where the spirits reside according to Palo Monte religion. But the description concerning the use of the earth that surrounds the cafia brava plant is retained, because it is possible to recontextualize this information in Santeria,especially in rituals against witchcraft where one has to "destroy" the spell that has been put on oneself. The author of Manual selected information directly concerning Santeria, systematically favoring ritual information in comparison with mythology. Consider two more examples. In the case of the plant algod6n, Cabreracollected a series of elements related to Obatala, the god who "owns" the cotton plant, because everything white is related to him (1954:306-19). The author of Manual did not retain any of the myths related to this god. He only kept the medical information about cotton, such as its use against bronchitis, asthma, and cystitis or its abortifacent characteristics (640). A similar thing happened with the plant calabaza (667)-none of the myths related to the divination sign Obbaramelli are included, but the copying is continued at the end of the section on this plant in El Monte where Cabreracited medical uses (1954:254362). In other words, the author of Manual is not interested in mythology or in any kind of religious speculation about the genealogy of the gods or the creation of the world. Rather,he is looking for practical information that the Santero can use.

The Writing Style of El Monte and Manual

Manual is also noteworthy for being abbreviated, containing only the parts of El Monte deemed useful or relevant for the modern Santero'spurposes. The writing style is short, staccato, as if the editor of Manual were attempting to provide the modern santero practitioner with an efficient way to learn relevant parts of El Monte and include them in the oral performance. As mentioned above, one finds in El Monte a listing of Neo-Latinate, Linnean terms providing the scientific name for each herb in addition to its vernacular names. Such an approach reflects an educated background that was not imitated in Manual. In the latter there was often an omission of grammatical features, that is, quotes around expressions, or the replacement, omission of words and passages that were included in El Monte. Note, for example, the passage concerning the plant Albahaca de Clavo:
Zumo: vertido dentro del oido apaga los zumbidos o dolores, "saca el viento" que puede entrar y producir un ruido inc6modo. Con el cocimiento del cogollo, Oddtia alivia los dolores de la menstruaci6n, y el zumo de las hojas, que se extrae mediante la presi6n del indice y el pulgar, aplicado a los ojos, cura un orzuelo rebelde. (1954:304-5)

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in theear,(to)remove thebuzzing fordizziness orpain,(andto) "remove thewind" thatcan [Juice: enter andproduce anuncomfortable noise. With thewater where theplant wasboiled attheheart or alleviates menstrual andthejuice ofleaves, which are extracted ofpressing center, pain, bymeans Odddia to theeyescuring withtheindex andthethumb, a stubborn finger applied sty.]

witha similar onefoundin Manual: theabove Compare passage

ElZumo dentro deloido, loszumbidos o dolores, saca elviento vertido estar apaga quepuede y producir unruido conel cocimiento delcogello, Oddua alivialos dolores delmenstruo, conzumo inc6modo, delashojas, lapresi6n delosdedos mediante indice alosojos,cura un aplicado queseextrae y pulgar, anzuelo rebelde. (679) thebuzzing orpain,takes in theear, removes thewindthatcanpro[The (for)dizziness Juice away withthewater where attheheart duce anuncomfortable theplant wasboiled orcenter, noise, Odddia alleviates menstrual withthejuice of leaves, which are extracted of pressing theindex pains, bymeans to theeyes, andthethumb, a stubborn finger applied curing sty.] The way in which Manual is written suggests a limited understanding of how the

of herbsweredescribed.By omittingquotesaroundcertainexpressions, categories el viento"above,the intendedemphasisgivento this particular suchas "saca expression in ElMonteis lost. Usingthesequotes,Cabrera seemedto referto an oralutteranceof an informant. Theauthorof Manualdidnot takesuchprecautions. Similarly,
replacing Cabrera'sword entrar with estar in Manual results in a different interpretation of this passage.The author of Manual also replaced certain terms with a shorter word, for example, menstruaci6nis replaced by menstruo.And a vernacular form of a word, orzuelo,which appeared in El Monte, is replaced by anzuelo in Manual. The format of Manual suggests that more than one author may have been involved, perhaps with one participant reading the passages of El Monte that he thought to be In the course of such appropriate,to another who then wrote it down as it was heard.23 an undertaking,it would be very possible, perhaps even likely,to misinterpret at times what has been said. This could also partiallyaccount for some of the gaps, for example, omission of key passagesfound in El Monte not appearing in Manual. Moreover,while Cabrerawas aware of the English spelling used in British anthropology, it is unlikely that the authors of the Manual were equally familiar with these sophistications of language. For example, Olld,which appearsin Manual, is none other than Oyd, found in El Monte. The author(s) of Manual used the Spanish letter "ll," rather than the original "y"for transcribing the same phoneme. As we have noted, the style of writing is clearly more vernacular and abbreviated in Manual than in El Monte. For instance, in the latter (1954:70-71), Cabrera compared Osain, the Yorubagod of plants and medicine, to Esculapio, his equivalent in the Greek pantheon, which reflected an erudition and knowledge of Western Classical training. It is apparent from this and other formalities found in El Monte that Cabrera'sintentions included presenting the work to an audience trained in classical European culture. Nonetheless, it would be misleading to present the author(s) of Manual as semiliterate. For Manual, while borrowing heavily from El Monte, was written in a manner intended for modern practitionersof an Afro-Cuban religion who

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in theirperformance. wouldlikely usean informal It wouldhave styleof language fromthisperspective, to copyElMonte asit was.Itis notunreabeenabsurd, exactly anintentional to assume thatManual rather thanacsonable, therefore, mayreflect cidental use of the vernacular. Conclusion of Hermann A classic definition offolklorism maybefoundin thework Bausinger, of folklorism arethedo-just-as-if, theconjuring whostates, "Characteristic upof new forancient thestamp of tradition evenamongregressive forms, forms, expressions andoriginality" theartificial andthepresumption of wholeness (1986:121). patina, is "the ofyesterday" declares that folklore (114)andreafolklorism applied Bausinger areoftenintertwined. of secondhand traditions Theresearcher sonsthat"First-and to exclude falsifies hisresults if he categorically wants oneof thesecategotraditions

ries" (115).24

is a goodexample of this between Cabrera's workandSanteria Therelationship that we have shown in this article the division between the Indeed, intertwining. isnotappropriate inthecase of Cabrera's work onAfroandoral written performance AnAfro-Cuban tradition of religious theappearCuban preceded writing religions. Cabrera consulted usedtogether ance ofElMonte libretas, (1954). frequently Santeria in Cuba.25 Butevenif shedidnot emphasize heruse withnotesfromherfieldwork of thiskindof primary Cabrera is nevertheless the firstscholar to mention source, forherlater works shedidnot libretas. Andsheusedthemincreasingly because these Santeria asit waspracticed on theisland. Theexistence of the haveaccess to Cuban as of the notion of of oral the santeros refutes Santeria consisting purely rites. writings hasbeenusedasa reference notedthatCabrera's work Joseph Murphy bysanteros thesisis thattheworkof Lydia Cabrera is imin theUnited States andstated, "Our in not to but has become crucial the life of the itresearchers, portant only religion the of a who In this Isabel mentioned case novice self" (1987:252). regard, Castellafios learned book,Koeko Santeria 1987:216). usingCabrera's prayers Iyaw6 (Castellafios alsotransformed herworks to theirownperspective. Butin Cuba, santeros Theyare This has also are or better rewriters. fact been not onlyreaders, writers, said, they andtheSanteria of thecomparisons made between ElMonte confirmed in thecourse in thisarticle. manual inElMonte. InManual, to a religious Manual returns logicabandoned byCabrera not by scientific or common butbythe gods."Itis theplants areclassified, names,
possible to re-order all the entries and arrange them into two groups, one that would place them in their scientific families (Acanthaceae,Agavaceae,etc.), the other in their orisha family" (1987:228), wrote Morton Marks about the list of plants found in El Monte, adding that the orisha classification belongs to what Claude Levi-Strauss calls "la science du concret" (1962:30). This cognitive reorganization was precisely what the author(s) of Manual did. They also systematically favored the Lucumi tradition above all others and privileged ritual as opposed to mythological information. And although this manual was written in vernacular Spanish, the reason for this should

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it is partof theverypurpose of Manual-to notbe seenas simply rather, illiteracy; rituals. perform helpthepractitioner is thatCabrera's work effect of thisreborrowing continues to influence Theironic in are now and the wayin whichsomeAfro-Cuban preserved practiced religions
Whetherthis kind of interchange betweenethnography and religionmay Havana.

of other traditions in theNewWorld African-derived reaffect thenature religious Forinstance, wehaveevidence thatthemajor works of Bermains to be examined.
nardMaupoil(1988[1943]) andJ.OlumideLucas(1948) on Ifi andYoruba religion in Havana, as well as those of Wilwereusedin manualscirculating amongBabalaos liam Bascom(1969) andWandeAbimbola(1976).26

on theliterary thatgoeswiththeIfi oracle hasinsisted practice Eugenio Matibag to external ethliterate tradition asbeingclosed canreligious influences, especially In addition to Afro-Cuban it is verypossible thatthiskindof religions, nographies. fromscholarship withtheworks of Melville Herskovits occurred orAlfred borrowing
Ramosor RogerBastide on Brazilian on Haitian Mdtraux Vodou,Arthur Candombld, Neale Hurston on African American folk and Zora religion. it must alsobe saidthatManualis not just a diluted,recycled versionof El Finally, of El Monte. Theauthorsof Manualdid not simplyuse relevant Monte, parts theyalso areactiveliterateagents likesanteros, (1997),but we shouldnot forgetthatbabalaos, We Afro-Ameriinformation. cannot who useandreinterpret anthropological regard

froma merereading andapplication rewrote it. Thisis quitedifferent of the mate-

to themasthereference torsusetheextant forcorrect ritual texts, scholarly referring mentioned Butthe existence as in the caseof the prayers above. of a more action, in thispaper: a newhierographic is discussed textresults phenomenon complicated of an ethnographic bookthatwasitselfpartly a product of the fromthe rewriting of hierographic texts. Thiscircular awaits further phenomenon investigarewriting
tion in otherAfrican Americanreligionsas well. Notes
We would like to thank Jose Miranda, a Cuban babalao who lives in Paris, and Rosalina Gonzalez Piedra, a "santeramayor" who lives in Havana, for their help in providing an accurate meaning of the utterances in vernacular Cuban Spanish and in Lucumi found in the Santeria texts analyzed in this paper. 1. In the postscript of her second volume of tales, Por qu ... CuentosNegros de Cuba, she writes that in Cuba, Blacks "keep a large amount of tales and legends," and that "those tales also enchanted the childhood of white children" (1972b:230). In Ayapa, she assumes in the first sentence of the book that it is a collection of "stories which [she] has been told in Cuba about a small fresh water tortoise" (1971:9). In these texts, Cabrera emphasizes the oral Afro-Cuban tradition as the source of the tales, rather than her own literary creation or previously written narrations among Santeria practitioners. 2. In the preface to CuentosNegros de Cuba, Ortiz states clearly that the main merit of Cabrera'swork was to write in Spanish the oral narrations told to her in a "creolized language" (Cabrera 1972a:8). 3. For a critique of Ortiz's criminology and the evolution of his research,see Helg 1990a:250, 1990b:52; Dianteill 1995:13-31. Ortiz's thinking evolved toward a clear acknowledgment of the high value of the Afro-Cuban culture (see, for instance, his five volumes on the instruments of Afro-Cuban music, 195255), but he never explicitly rejected any statement he made in his 1906 book. When R6mulo Lachataftiere

Therearecertainly otherinstancesin whichreligiousacrial,as mightbe presumed.

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in placeof the word"brujeria," whichhe considered to be a "poarguedin favorof the word"Santeria" Ortizaccepted it: lice concept"(1992[1939]:200), Actualmente el negroy suscosas,aparte delaumento [thatis,in 1939],el mejortratoqueva recibiendo en Cuba,haceque la voz santeria a la palabra generalde la culturaque se advierte vengasustituyendo brujeria; y esto es muy plausible,porque tiende a evitar incomprensionesinexcusablesy desvios indecorosos. the excellent treatment thatthe Blackandhis ideasarereceiving, besidesthe generaleleva[Presently, tion of educationthatcanbe noticedthroughout usedas Cuba,explainswhythe wordis increasingly a substitute for witchcraft;and this is quite plausible, because it tends to avoid inexusable and improper diversions.] incomprehensiveness Buthe did not realizethathe himselfshouldnot haveusedthe termbackin 1906,whenit wasverycommon. In 1939he also continuedto show a deepcontemptfor anykind of "syncretistic" religion: destacados de la tradiciones ancestrales, Hoydiano cabedudade que,a veces,en los sectoresmais hay o sumamente credulos,quienes,por creeren todo o por no creerconcretamente sujetos,descreidos en nada,asi le cantana Babalhi a quiense lo pagueun Ay6,como inciensaa SanLizaro,o le preparan a unabuenamozaque se muestraesquiva.(1991[1939]:100-101) embrujopara"amarrar" thereis no doubtthat,at times,in the most noticeablesectorsof ancestral are traditions, [Nowadays or extremely or not individuals, credulous, who, by believingin everything, susceptible unbelieving believingin anything, specifically singin thismannerto Babaldi Aye,to burnincenseto SanLizaro,or to or woo a for whoever a charm influence nice them, pays prepare, girlwho mightotherwiseproveto be aloof.] Fora generalaccountof racerelations and racismagainstBlacksin Cubaat the beginningof the twentisee Helg 1995,Palmid 2002. eth century, 4. Toprovidecontextto the notionof it beinga "creolized" as citedby some scholars(such language, Bozalis nowwidelyregarded as OrtizandCastellafios), as havingfirstbeen a pidgin-that is, a restricted Africanlanguages and Spanish, language resultingfromthe mixtureof relevant spokenby Cubanslaves andtheirdescendants-but whichwas not a nativelanguage. 1989;Holm See,for example,Castellafios submitted. 1989:307-9; Swearingen, in Yorubaland, see Bascom1969.Fora description of PaloMonte 5. Fora fullaccountof Ifddivination Valdes-Cruz see alsoCabrera Valdes-Cruz Bran1979,1984;Dianteilland Pigeon1999; 1974:9; 1977:99; don 1993:175-76. 6.Theauthorsof this workdo not practiceAfro-Cuban religions,althoughone of them (Dianteill) hadbeen initiatedas a santeroand a babalaoin 1996in Havanaafterten months of fieldwork, during in varioustypesof ceremonies. whichhe actively Dianteillarguesthatthe trajectory thatled participated of Afro-Cuban him to initiationis a wayto uncoverthe structure The religiousitinerary of an religions. is of greaterscientificsignificance than the initiationitself.This method is fullyexplainedin individual un sociologuedevientBabalao"). The presentarDes Dieuxet desSignes(2000,chapter1, "Comment on works,excludesthe theologicalpoint of view and concentrates ticle,as well as Dianteill's exclusively and linguisticissues. anthropological 7. Our corpusonly includesElMonte(1954),Anag6(1970[1957]),Yemayd (1980a[1974]), y Ochrtn A Cabrera's three of and the storiesfound andKoeko between collections tales (1980b). comparison Iyaw6 in Santeria and Ifi vernacular arebeyondthe purviewof this work. literature is "used of Yoruba 8. ThewordLucumi to referto a personof Yoruba descentor to describe anyfeature in Cuba to Bascom(1972),Murphy culturein Cuba"(Murphy1987:179). Similar statesthatthe Yoruba cameto be calledLucumiaftertheirwayof greetingeachother,olukumi, my friend"(1987:27). fromSpanish to Englishareby MarthaSwearingen. 9. All translations we use the word"gods" 10. In the mannerof Cabrera, ("susdioses"in the presentcitation)to referto even if the santeros believein a "higher or Olodumare, who is the orishas; god"theycall Olofi,Olordin,

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conceivedof as the creatorof all things.PierreVerger, one of the greatestauthoritieson Yoruba traditionalreligion, alsousedthe French of theword"gods" to referto the orishas (seeVerger 1954). equivalent 11. Thewordeb6means"offering, in Lucumi(Cabrera sacrifice, 1970[1957]:98). purification" is the deityof destiny 12. Ifi, or Orula, in Santeria. arespecialists Babalaos of the interpretation of signs of Ifi. Fora description of this kindof divinationin Africa,see Bascom(1969). of the Diloguin 13.An oriateis a santerospecialist divination.He interprets the position of the cowrieson the matforthe consultant, at the time of the itd,whichis the majorconsultation on the especially thirddayof the Santeria initiation.Usually, the oriat6,frequently a man,is also the one who directsthe full initiationof the santero: he is often called"Obai" then.Accordingto the majorityof santerosand we know in Cuba,thereis no specialinitiationto become an oriate,but lengthyexperience babalaos in the Diloguinis requested. two oriates,whom the Nevertheless, directingceremoniesand interpreting American Ysamur Floresinterviewed in Cuba(2001:66),claimedto havepasseda specialinifolklorist tiationto becomean oriate.A babalaois usuallya santero(but not always; see Flores2001:65)who has he can gone throughan initiationin the cultof Ifi. Althoughthe analogyis not completely appropriate, be calleda "priest" of Ifi. Fora completeaccountof the differences (andthe frequentconflict)between oriatesandbabalaos, see Flores(2001). 14. Concerningthe contradictionbetween secrecy and writing in Ifi handbooks, see Dianteill (2000:261-65). 15. Traditionally, it is often madeof industrial chalk. eftinwasmadeof crushedeggshells. Nowadays, 16. A manualcollectedby one of the authorsof this articlein Havana bearsthe date 1836.It is a typed copy,but the text is verylikelyto datefrom at leastthe beginningof the nineteenthcentury(Dianteill 2000:222-23). 17.Fora completeaccountof the fieldwork and analysis of this corpus,see Dianteill(2000:13-32). 18. Its pricewas 250 Cubanpesos (about$10 U.S.)whenwe boughtit in 1996.It was the equivalent of one month'spayfor a professional in Cubaat this time. 19.Weuse the expression author hereas a genericterm:theremighthavebeen several people,maleor female,involvedin the editingof the Manual. 20. Thepartof theManual thatis dedicated to theDiloguin is different fromthe majority of theDilog in handbooks In thesein particular, we find a seriesof sixteensigns,and sometimes presenton the market. the combinationof signs that formsa seriesof 256 (suchas in Manualdel Oriatrby NicolasAngarica) doublesigns.But in this casethe interpretation is simplybasedon the sum of the meaningsof the two independent signs.In the Manual,eachdoublesign has a peculiarmeaningthat is not the simpleaddition of the two signsof whichit is composed.It is for this reasonthatthe Manuallooks morelikean Ifi divinationmanualthan a commonDiloguin handbook. 21. Afterthe fivemajordeities,the authorof Manualwritesthe list of plantscorresponding to deities who havefewer"children" the and a series of that to "all thatis, Santeros, saints," among plants belong all the deities,as follows: Plantsof Babalu Aye,god of skindiseases Plantsof Ollhi [sic],goddessof stormand sparks Plantsof OrischaOko [sic],god of agriculture Plantsof Orula,god of destiny Plantsof Ochosi,god of hunting Plantsof NanaBuruku, wild sugarcane,and springs. goddessof snakes, Plantsof Yegua, goddessof the cementery(one of them) Plantsof All Saints The mainpeculiarity of the presentorderis that Chang6,who is usuallysupposedto be a youngergod thanYemayi,is placedbeforeher on the list. This probably comes fromthe colorsof his necklace(red andwhite),whichincludesthe colorof Obatali(white).Amythexplains necklace includes whyChang6's the colorwhite:this is a sign thatChang6is Obatalhi's son (Cabrera 1954:224). 22. Thereis no unique orderfor the ceremonyof the necklacesin the communityof santeros.The usedin ElMonte), order-consistingof Elegua(spelling Yemayi, Obatali,Chang6, Ochiin-is confirmed

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by a babalao informant of Cabrera in KoekolIyaw6(1980b:182). In Yemayay Ochiln (1980a[1974]:120), Cabrera does not cite Elegua in the list of necklaces, but the four other gods are cited in the same order: However, J. M. Murphy (1988:81-82) describes the ceremony of the Obatali, Chang6, Yemaya, Ochtin. necklaces in a different order: Elegua, Obatala, Yemaya, Chang6, Ochtin. Rosalina Gonzalez Piedra, a Cuban santera, gives the necklaces in yet another order-Obatala, Yemaya,Ochun, Chang6, Oyd--if the novice does not yet know of which orisha he is the child. If he already knows it, then the last necklace to be put on is that of the orisha of which he is the child. According to Gonzalez Piedra, it is not absolutely necessary to give someone the necklace of Elegua in this ceremony. 23. It should also be kept in mind that in the early 1990s the lack of paper, ink, and other printing supplies in Cuba made it very difficult to publish many texts. Printings were extremely limited in number, even when an edition went to press. Thus, it seems proper that a "popular" text like Manual would be copied by hand or typed, and that the authors would pick and choose and organize-rewrite-as they needed. (We thank one of JAFs anonymous referees for pointing this out.) 24. It should not be assumed from the cited quote that the occurrence of folklorism necessarily suggests the negative. As pointed out by Bausinger, folklorism performs a vital function-it may serve as a way to preserve the very structure of an organization and provide for its recognition by others outside of the organization (1986:117). 25. The use of written material does not, of course, prevent El Monte from being a major breakthrough for Afro-American ethnography, acknowledged by the most prominent scholars of the 1950s. For the relationship between LydiaCabrera,Pierre Verger,and Roger Bastide especially, see the preface to the new French translation of El Monte (Dianteill 2002). This particular edition includes a color plate of the head of an initiate, which has not appeared in a publication since 1954. 26. See Dianteill 2000:229-32.

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