Author Archives: Joe

Lecture Review: Doctor Paul C. Johnson

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On November 28, 2017 at 5:00 p.m. Doctor Paul C. Johnson spoke at the Waterman Lounge at the University of Vermont about the African diasporic religion of Candomble. Doctor Paul C. Johnson is a professor at the University of Michigan, and has published books on topics like Candomble and spirit possession. Interestingly enough, Doctor Johnson’s book on spirit possession was called Spirited Things: The Work of “Possession” in Afro-Atlantic Religions, which in turn was used as the title of the Flemming museum exhibit, “Spirited Things”.

Doctor Johnson’s lecture centralized on the development of Candomble with a focus towards spirit possession. He did this by contrasting the way they practice Candomble in Brazil versus how it is practiced in the Bronx, and then analysing the differences between the two. Introducing spirit possession into the picture, made it very interesting to see how in some places, they can freely practice, but in places like New York, an adequate venue would only be available at a certain time on a certain day of the week. Towards the end, he steered his focus towards gender and brought about a new light towards the religion of Candomble. It was intriguing how it seemed that Candomble definition of gender is more focused on the attributes of a character, like calm, relaxed, angry and aggressive, and as with many of African Diasporic religions, men would tend have more of the hot characteristics, while women would more likely have cooler traits.

This connected directly to what we are talking about in my religion class for a multitude of reasons. The most direct connection, is that we have read a chapter out his book Secrets, Gossip and Gods: The Transformation of Brazilian Candomblé which includes a more clear explanation of Candomble defines gender. In describing the Orisa, he uses Juana Elbein dos Santos reading that determined their traits to be, “female: earth and water: white: “coolness”: primordial mas :: male: sky and fire: red/black: “heat”: individual creation”. Another link between the lecture and what we have learned about in class, is when he discussed the aspects of spirit possession. When looking into the Haitian Vodou religion, we focused heavily on spirit possession, including how it theoretically works, how it is practiced, why it is practiced, and more. However, this lecture made me think about the more realistic side spirit possession that did not seem to come up in class, and that is the space and time. Especially in America, where spirit possession is thought of as witchcraft, it is important to think about how each individual participating in the ritual has to drop everything they’re doing at certain time, and go to whatever space is available for them to use. This speaks tremendously to the amount of faith they must have in their religion, and how tremendously the religion is a part of them.

Overall, I would say that Doctor Johnson did a great job of bring up interesting and complex ideas. I will say however, that his style of presentation seemed a little too monotone, and that it would sometimes sound like he was rambling on. I think that simply adding more flair to the lecture’s content (introducing a thought provoking idea), instead of focusing on the aesthetics would result in a more enticing lecture.  

Joe P

Changó’s Thunderstone and Santería Altars

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Walking through “Spirited Things” exhibition in the Flemming museum, one object in particular caught my eye. It was a small cylindrical object with rings of red beads and grey putty. As I approached it, I learned it was called the “Beaded Thunderstone for God Changó Macho”. Examining it closely, I noticed how its base was a stone, and that the beads and putty were made around it. Next I looked at how the putty had gems pushed into it, and that there was figure in the center that began on a ring of putty and eclipsed through a band of red beads. This body sat with its legs crossed wearing red and gold pants. It had a small gold garment cloaked around his top, with a green gem on the chest, and a red one on the stomach. Finally, above this figure’s head was a plastic eye, and just above that was small crystal, sticking out of the top of the stone. After observing it, I thought about what its purpose was. More specifically, How is this intricate rock connected to both specific and general aspects of an entire culture? In this essay, I will examine the meaning of the Thunderstone, and how this meaning ties into the African Diaspora.

First of all, the African Diaspora is the culture from the Yoruba people in Africa that has been scattered through the americas predominantly through the slave trade. Along with being forced across the ocean, the Africans were forced to adapt their religion because slave owners wouldn’t allow them to practice it. Each different region of slaves adapted differently, creating a variety beliefs that root from the original Yoruba religion. In the Cuba, Venezuala, and all around Central America, the slaves were forced to adapt, and Santería emerged as their religion. Santería is the fusion between Christianity and the religion of the Yoruba people. The god or orişa Changó is a major god in both the Santería and Yoruba religion. He is the god of lightning and thunder and is very powerful and fierce. In Santería, he was represented as Santa Barbara because she had the same colors as Changó and was thought to be in many ways like the god himself. The Roman Catholic influence on the Yoruba religion through the means of slaves altering the Christian religion to be able to worship their own, is what lead to the popularity of Santería.

Changó Macho is one of the gods in Cuban Santería, along with Oşún, Obatalá and Yemaya. His colors are red and white, and he represents drumming, thunder and masculinity. During his life as a man, Changó was a mediocre king, but after death he achieved many great feats and became an orişa. Along with sharing the same colors, Changó and Santa Barbara share a fierce, tough and determined attitude. These aspects and colors can also be found in the thunderstone, except the symbolism is in the rocks physical properties.(Santeria Church of the Orisha, n.d.)

The first aspect of the Thunderstone that I wanted to look into, was its purpose. I wanted to know what its function was in the life of those who used it. After researching this question, I found that “Changó’s sacred thunderstones are stored in a ‘batea’ (wooden vessel) on top of a ‘pílon’ (upturned mortar)” (Ayorinde 2004, 212). In learning this, I figured out that the Thunderstones were most likely used as holy objects on altars.

In the original Yoruba religion from Africa, altars were set up by individuals to connect with the orişa that the altar is dedicated to. There is no one way to set up an altar according to the religion, but rather each altar contains objects significant to both the orişa and the individual making the altar. The altar by itself does not have any spiritual connection to the gods until it is activated in ritual. The rituals contain song and dance which empowers it with spiritual energy of Ashé, which is believed to flow through all living things in the Yoruba religion. Once the altar has been activated, the practitioner is then spiritually connected to the god and can even communicate with the orişa. During the slave trade, Santería would still have altars, but they would be disguised for Christian saints, but overtime the need to worship in secrecy has been diminished.

Since the thunderstone belonged on an altar, it must have been significant to Changó. With my previous knowledge, I knew that Changó was the god of lightning and that he was huge in war, and manly power. I was curious about why the thunderstone was significant to Changó. Going deeper in research, I found that the thunderstones were significant because it resembled Changó. The thunderstone is symbolic of Changó because its “(a) tough to crack; (b) a rigid frame not easily disintegrated by reality; (c) highly adaptable; (d) and sanctity/morality/truth, or re-affirmed action of the social order”(Lawuyi 1988, 136). Each of these reasons connect the physical aspects of the rock to the characteristics of Changó. For example, the rock itself is tough to crack, but that does not mean Changó is made of steel. Changó’s personality and honor is what does not crack.

Along with the toughness of the rock, the artistic side also has a tremendous connection with Changó. The red beads and the white gems, crystals and cowrie beads are symbolic of his favorite colors. Another aspect of the art is the black and gold figure on the front. This is a representation of the very masculine side of Changó, Changó Macho. The museum describes Changó Macho as, “to have dressed like a women in order to gain access to normal female spaces… The sculptural representations of Changó that are distinctly male are called ‘Changó Macho’”(SABA). The duality in how Changó shows how gender is both important and equal. This is because Changó, one of the most important Cuban Santería orişa, is portrayed equally important as both man and women, not more important as one gender. These aspects of the thunderstone that relate to Changó give an insight to the beliefs of the practitioners and what values of their god is important to them.

The thunderstone is a sacred object used on altar for Changó, because it resembles and is significant of Changó. This is the specific purpose of the thunderstone to the god Changó, but I am also interested in the general purpose of thunderstone as it plays a part in ritual along with the religion. In order to dissect the general purpose of the thunderstone, I examined altars as a whole. As stated previously, the objects on altars are supposed to be significant to the god the altar is devoted to, and the individual. Since practitioner is worshipping the god, what is important to the god should be what is important to the individual. In realizing this, I see now that altars are how the practitioners interpret the gods, and that the objects on the altar represent the values that the practitioner worships in the god.

As I considered this idea, I thought about other places in the religion where notions similar to this one come up. As I looked into it, I saw that the syncretization of Changó shows what values of the god was important to the slaves. Instead of representing Changó as a strong male saint, they chose Santa Barbara. The tough and fierce persona of Santa Barbara along with correlation of personal taste(color preference) show how the saint and the god both represent similar values to those that had to adapt the religion. It is also important to note that the misconceptions of men being greater than women was pretty much non-existent among the Yoruba at the time of the slave trade, because men and women both had equally important roles in the religion(Castillo and Mederos 2007, 151-157). This shows that gender was an important value to the people of both Santería and Yoruba, each gender being just as important as the other.

Through analysing both the general and specific purpose of Changó’s a better understanding of how each part of the religion connects to each other can be drawn out. The altar holds all these items which represent the god to the individual. Collectively, the altar is the is the god in the sense that it has all that values and representations of the orişa, but without life. Then it is up to the individual to bring life into the altar with song and dance, and bring life into the god that they are worshipping.

In conclusion, the purpose of the thunderstone is that it is a sacred object for an altar. By analysing this purpose, so much more information about Changó and Santería can be drawn out. The reason the thunderstone is a sacred object to Changó is because physical properties of the thunderstone represent the spiritual values of Changó. These values are then interpreted by the individual and worshipped in the form of an altar, specific to the practitioner. The accumulation of the symbolic objects along with the activation of the altar bring life to the values, turning the altar into a spiritual form of the god.

Ayorinde, Christine. 2004. “Santería in Cuba: Tradition and Transformation.” In The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World edited by Toyin Falola and Matt D. Childs, pp. 209-225. Indiana University Press, 2004.

Castillo, Daisy R., and Mederos, Aníbal A. 2007. “Lo femenino y lo masculino en la Regla Congo o Palo Monte”. In Afro-Hispanic Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, African Religions in the New World, pp. 151-157. William Luis, 2007.

Lawuyi, Olatunde B. 1988. “Ogun: Diffusion across Boundaries and Identity Constructions.”African Studies Review Vol. 31, No. 2 (Sep., 1988):pp.127-139, http://www.jstor.org/stable/524422?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=((thunderstone)&searchText=AND&searchText=(shango))&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2528%2528thunderstone%2529%2BAND%2B%2528shango%2529%2529&refreqid=search%3A8cc1dc2eadc54a0d174b8cc014501bfb&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents.

Santeria Church of Orishas. N.d. “Chango.” Accessed November 4, 2017. http://santeriachurch.org/the-orishas/chango/

Changó’s Thunderstone and Santería Altars

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Walking through “Spirited Things” exhibition in the Flemming museum, one object in particular caught my eye. It was a small column with rings of red beads and grey putty. As I approached it, I learned it was called the “Beaded Thunderstone for God Changó Macho”. Examining it closely, I noticed how its base was a stone, and that the beads and putty were made around it. Next I looked at how the putty had gems pushed into it, and that there was figure in the center that began on a ring of putty and eclipsed through a band of red beads. This body sat with its legs crossed wearing red and gold pants. It had a small gold garment cloaked around his top, with a green gem on the chest, and a red one on the stomach. Finally, above this figure’s head was a plastic eye, and just above that was small crystal, sticking out of the top of the stone. After observing it, I thought about what its purpose was. More specifically, why would anyone decorate a rock so beautifully, not for the purpose of art? In this essay, I will examine the meaning of the Thunderstone, and how this meaning ties into the African Diaspora.

First of all, the African Diaspora is the culture from the Yoruba people in Africa that has been scattered through the americas predominantly through the slave trade. Along with being forced across the ocean, the Africans were forced to adapt their religion because slave owners wouldn’t allow them to practice it. Each different region of slaves adapted differently, creating a variety beliefs that root from the original Yoruba religion. In the Brazil, the slaves were forced to adapt, and Santería emerged as their religion. Santería is the fusion between Christianity and the religion of the Yoruba people. The god or orişa Changó is a major god in both the Santería and Yoruba religion. He is the god of lightning and thunder and is very powerful and fierce. In Santería, he was represented as Santa Barbara because she had the same colors as Changó and was thought to be in many ways like the god himself.

The first aspect of the Thunderstone that I wanted to look into, was its purpose. I wanted to know what its function was in the life of those who used it. After researching this question, I found that “Changó’s sacred thunderstones are stored in a ‘batea’ (wooden vessel) on top of a ‘pílon’ (upturned mortar)” (Ayorinde 2004, 212). In learning this, I figured out that the Thunderstones were most likely used as holy objects on altars.

In the original Yoruba religion from Africa, altars were set up by individuals to connect with the orişa that the altar is dedicated to. There is no one way to set up an altar according to the religion, but rather each altar contains objects significant to both the orişa and the individual making the altar. The altar by itself does not have any spiritual connection to the gods until it is activated in ritual. The rituals contain song and dance at the which empowers it with spiritual energy of Ashé, which is believed to flow through all living things in the Yoruba religion. Once the altar has been activated, the practitioner is then spiritually connected to the god and can even communicate with the orişa. During the slave trade, Santería would still have altars, but they would be disguised for Christian saints, but overtime the need to worship in secrecy has been diminished.

Since the thunderstone belonged on an altar, it must have been significant to Changó. With my previous knowledge, I knew that Changó was the god of lightning and that he was huge in war, and manly power. I was curious about why the thunderstone was significant to Changó. Going deeper in research, I found that the thunderstones were significant because it resembled Changó. The thunderstone is symbolic of Changó because its “(a) tough to crack; (b) a rigid frame not easily disintegrated by reality; (c) highly adaptable; (d) and sanctity/morality/truth, or re-affirmed action of the social order”(Lawuyi 1988, 136). Each of these reasons connect the physical aspects of the rock to the characteristics of Changó. For example, the rock itself is tough to crack, but that does not mean Changó is made of steel. Changó’s personality and honor is what does not crack. These aspects of the thunderstone that relate to Changó give insight to the beliefs of the practitioners and what values of their god that are important to them.

The thunderstone is a sacred object used on altar for Changó, because it resembles and is significant of Changó. This is the specific purpose of the thunderstone to the god Changó, but I am also interested in the general purpose of thunderstone as it plays a part in ritual along with the religion. In order to dissect the general purpose of the thunderstone, I examined altars as a whole. As stated previously, the objects on altars are supposed to be significant to the god the altar is devoted to, and the individual. Since practitioner is worshipping the god, what is important to the god should be what is important to the individual. In realizing this, I see now that altars are how the practitioners interpret the gods, and that the objects on the altar represent the values that the practitioner worships in the god.

As I considered this idea, I thought about other places in the religion where notions similar to this one come up. As I looked into it, I saw that the syncretization of Changó shows what values of the god was important to the slaves. Instead of representing Changó as a strong male saint, they chose Santa Barbara. The tough and fierce persona of Santa Barbara along with correlation of personal taste(color preference) show how the saint and the god both represent similar values to those that had to adapt the religion. It is also important to note that the misconceptions of men being greater than women was pretty much non-existent among the Yoruba at the time of the slave trade, because men and women both had equally important roles in the religion(Castillo and Mederos 2007, 151-157). This shows that gender was not an important value to the people of both Santería and Yoruba.

Through analysing both the general and specific purpose of Changó’s a better understanding of how each part of the religion connects to each other can be drawn out. The altar holds all these items which represent the god to the individual. Collectively, the altar is the is the god in the sense that it has all that values and representations of the orişa, but without life. Then it is up to the individual to bring life into the altar with song and dance, and bring life into the god that they are worshipping.

In conclusion, the purpose of the thunderstone is that it is a sacred object for an altar. By analysing this purpose, so much more information about Changó and Santería can be drawn out. The reason the thunderstone is a sacred object to Changó is because physical properties of the thunderstone represent the spiritual values of Changó. These values are then interpreted by the individual and worshipped in the form of an altar, specific to the practitioner. The accumulation of the symbolic objects along with the activation of the altar bring life to the values, turning the altar into a spiritual form of the god.

Bibliography:

Ayorinde, Christine. 2004. “Santería in Cuba: Tradition and Transformation.” In The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World edited by Toyin Falola and Matt D. Childs, pp. 209-225. Indiana University Press, 2004.

Castillo, Daisy R., and Mederos, Aníbal A. 2007. “Lo femenino y lo masculino en la Regla Congo o Palo Monte”. In Afro-Hispanic Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, African Religions in the New World, pp. 151-157. William Luis, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23055254.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A4746fbd7dea826834c3b56455f085daa.

Lawuyi, Olatunde B. 1988. “Ogun: Diffusion across Boundaries and Identity Constructions.”African Studies Review Vol. 31, No. 2 (Sep., 1988):pp.127-139, http://www.jstor.org/stable/524422?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=((thunderstone)&searchText=AND&searchText=(shango))&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2528%2528thunderstone%2529%2BAND%2B%2528shango%2529%2529&refreqid=search%3A8cc1dc2eadc54a0d174b8cc014501bfb&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents.

The Symbolism of Changó and his Thunderstone: Annotated Bibliography

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Ayorinde, Christine. 2004. “Santería in Cuba: Tradition and Transformation.” In The Yoruba 

Diaspora in the Atlantic World edited by Toyin Falola and Matt D. Childs, pp. 209-225.

Indiana University Press, 2004.

This source was suggested to me by Professor Brennan after reviewing what I had so far. The chapter is split into sections discussing different aspects of the Santeria religion in Cuba. It starts with an introduction into who is worshipped and basically how the religion works. Then Ayorinde goes into more detail into how the practitioners show their worship and what objects and songs come from/resemble certain gods. This section was very useful in determining the purpose and symbolism of the Thunderstone. The author then goes into topics like: communication with the gods, Yoruba subgroups, how slave trade affected the religion, and how the religion is passed down through the generations.

The authors perspective in this chapter seems to be very impartial, and only informative. The goal seems to be to teach people about the transformation of the Yoruba religion through the years. I don’t see any real bias throughout the reading, all the information seems to be from the perspective of a very devout practitioner.

Castillo, Daisy R., and Mederos, Aníbal A. 2007. “Lo femenino y lo masculino en la Regla

Congo o Palo Monte”. In Afro-Hispanic Review, Vol. 26, No. 1, African Religions in the New World, pp. 151-157. William Luis, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/23055254.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A4746fbd7dea826834c3b56455f085daa.

I found this citation on JSTOR using the keywords “Regla de Ocha” and “Chango”. The general purpose of this article is to talk about the masculinity and femininity in the religious expression of the Regla Congo(hence the title). More specifically it discusses this in terms of the slave trade and how both masculinity and femininity has changed through it. In talking about this change, the article goes into beliefs and practices of the Regla Congo. This section gets to the heart of what gender means to the religion, and how gender is dependent on what the object means to the religion. Although this does not directly relate to the Thunderstone that I am studying, gender plays a major part in both the Diasporic religions, and in Chango.

Because the text is in Spanish, and I can translate it, but not fluently read, the tone and perspective of the author is a little unclear. With this, I found the perspective of the author to be similar to other works we have read. Their goals seem to be solely to inform people about the Regla Congo. For talking about sex a lot, there seemed to be little bias in this article. It did not seem to favor men or women over each other, and got the information across.  

Lawuyi, Olatunde B. 1988. “Ogun: Diffusion across Boundaries and Identity Constructions.”

African Studies Review Vol. 31, No. 2 (Sep., 1988):pp.127-139, http://www.jstor.org/stable/524422?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=((thunderstone)&searchText=AND&searchText=(shango))&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3D%2528%2528thunderstone%2529%2BAND%2B%2528shango%2529%2529&refreqid=search%3A8cc1dc2eadc54a0d174b8cc014501bfb&seq=10#page_scan_tab_contents.

I found this article on JSTOR by searching “Shango” and “Thunderstone”. This article is focused on Ogun’s role in the Yoruba Religion, and how the god is a structure in the religion. He does this by discussing the idea of Ogun and what realities his conceptions deal with. It then discusses how all the different variations Yoruba religion all connect to the idea of Ogun. Also, who worshipped Ogun along with where those people worshipped him connected back to the main idea of the structure of Ogun to the Yoruba religion. Throughout the article, it compared Ogun with Chango, which includes the symbolism of both Chango and the Thunderstone.

This article seems very scholarly because it explains the purpose of the journal before talking about anything else. The perspective seems to that of most articles I have found, and that means that I do not see much bias. The information seems to be from an inside perspective of the religion which talks more about what the religion means to the people rather than what the religion is made up of. Even though the intended audience is unclear to me, it seems to present the information in similar ways as previous articles.

Object Analysis Research Statement

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The object that I chose to study is the Beaded Thunderstone of God Changó. This is an eight inch tall artifact with columns of red beads around a stone which is seen at the base. These columns are separated by putty with gems in them. Changó makes an appearance near the top as a black figure in gold and red garments with a plastic eye above his golden cap. The object itself is quite beautiful, yet it doesn’t seem like it could have any use outside of being a piece of art. This leads to me think about the significance of Thunderstone to the cultures it belongs to, as well as the processes that lead to it becoming important in those cultures. I hope that in understanding about the purpose of the Thunderstone, I can learn about what makes these objects so much more than just objects to these cultures.

Throughout the year we have read articles from a variety of scholars discussing fetishes, rituals, and events that are part of the African Diaspora. Much of what we read discussed the actions and activities that different groups would participate in. The descriptions would sometimes include backstories, or explanation, but couldn’t get at the significance of what was happening. “Here the tip of the cone is perforated, to receive a single nail, which is meant to suggest the wonder-working knife of Eshu Odara, who worked miracles with a knife erect upon his head”(Flash of Spirit, 25). This description does a good job of matching the details of the art to the Orişa, but gives very little to its purpose in the life of the Yoruba people. I want to understand the significance of the individual Thunderstone so that I can apply that understanding to the rest of the culture, and learn without the bias of Western Culture.

To understand the purpose of the Thunderstone, I must find some form of evidence that contains the information I want. The first primary source that I think will be most useful, would be interviews with the people devote to the African Diaspora. Looking specifically at the influence of the Orişa Changó in their lives would be the most ideal interview available, but most interviews discussing their culture would be beneficial. Another primary source that would be useful to look at would be other pieces of art or fetishes from Changó. With these, I could look for an overall purpose from how Changó is represented to his followers. A secondary source with the analysis of Changó’s influence on the African Diaspora culture I think will help significantly in pulling out the most information I can from the primary sources. I believe it will give a sufficient introduction to Changó and his place in the African Diaspora, so much so that looking at the actual religion will allow me to connect to it.

Joe Petrozzino

A Slice of African Diaspora Pie

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The film Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: “Oṣun-Oṣogbo” shares with us the festival of Oṣun-Oṣogbo, and all of its extraordinary features. The work uses the perspective of both scholars and practitioners to show us what literally and spiritually happens during this event. The festival is a celebration of the Oṣun, the goddess of beauty, love and fertility. It began with the first Yoruba King swearing to protect and honor Oṣun’s grove, and in return Oṣun would bless the all that kept it safe. Now, it is a great gathering of all who follow this indigenous African faith from all around the world to renew this ancient vow.

The African Diaspora is a religion that began in Africa, but has spread throughout the world. Each movement has changed how the original religion is practiced while keeping the same idea. The first reason that this festival is an example of African Diaspora, is because the people who take part in the ceremony come from many different parts of the world. A large portion of non-native folk that attend are from the Americas. This is mostly because the slave trade that took place between the 1500’s and 1800’s brought many of the Yoruba into the Americas. Once in the “New World”, the slaves were prohibited from following any religion from Africa. To get around this rule they, “managed to establish altars to their dead even while blending with the Christian world: they coded their burial mounds as ‘graves’ but studded them with symbolic objects…”(Thompson, Overture: The Concept “Altar”). Other techniques discussed in the film involved associating certain Oriṣa with certain saints, then worshiping those saints. This secret devotion to the Oriṣa kept the religion alive in a variety of forms across the continent, which is why so many people from so many places can come together and celebrate the same Goddess Oṣun. The diversity of the history in each participant is part of why I would consider the Oṣun-Oṣogba festival an example of African Diaspora.

The next reason that this great celebration is part of the African Diaspora is because of the art involved in each item used during the ceremony. The color and pattern of each dress signifies different Oriṣa, and one would wear the colors of the Oriṣa that speak to them. Beyond the colors, the fabric itself is tradition boutique fabric and is typically used during rituals. Other symbols that reflect the African Diaspora are the altars for the different Oriṣa. The altars in the video had lots of similarities some of the altars we read about in Thompson’s article, with each item specific to the altar of the deity it is designed for. The interesting difference between the video and the readings is that no two altars are identical in that each altar is both spiritual and personal. The same holds true with the dresses and art in the festival compared to ceremonious clothing used in the Americas. There are commonalities in which each Oriṣa represent in general, but what each god represents to the individual will vary. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo altars represent the African Diaspora well because they add to the variety ways the same god can by worshiped by many individuals.

The Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival is very representative of the African Diaspora because it is another variety of how the Oriṣa can be worshiped, and how others across the world can still devote themselves the same as those native to Oṣogbo.

 

Oṣun-Oṣogbo Festival Reflection

The film Sacred Journeys with Bruce Feiler: “Oṣun-Oṣogbo” shares with us the festival of Oṣun-Oṣogbo, and all of its extraordinary features. The work uses the perspective of both scholars and practitioners to show us what literally and spiritually happens during this event. The festival is a celebration of the Oṣun, the goddess of beauty, love and fertility. It began with the first Yoruba King swearing to protect and honor Oṣun’s grove, and in return Oṣun would bless the all that kept it safe. Now, it is a great gathering of all who follow this indigenous African faith from all around the world to renew this ancient vow.

The first reason that this festival is an example of African Diaspora, is because the people who take part in the ceremony, come from many differents parts of the world. A large portion of non-native folk that attend, are from the Americas. This is mostly because the slave trade that took place between the 1500’s and 1800’s brought many of the Yoruba into the Americas. Once in the “New World”, the slaves were prohibited from following any religion from Africa. To get around this rule they, “managed to establish altars to their dead even while blending with the Christian world: they coded their burial mounds as ‘graves’ but studded them with symbolic objects…”(Thompson, Overture: The Concept “Altar”). Other techniques discussed in the film involved associating certain Oriṣa with certain saints, then worshiping those saints. This secret devotion to the Oriṣa kept the religion alive in a variety of forms across the continent, which is why so many people from so many places can come together and celebrate the same Goddess Oṣun. The diversity of the history in each participant is part of why I would consider the Oṣun-Oṣogba festival an example of African Diaspora.

The next reason that this great celebration is part of the African Diaspora is because of the art involved in each item used during the ceremony. The color and pattern of each dress signifies different Oriṣa, and one would wear the colors of the Oriṣa that speak to them. Beyond the colors, the fabric itself is tradition boutique fabric and is typically used during rituals. Other symbols that reflect the African Diaspora, are the altars for the different Oriṣa. The altars in the video had lots of similarities some of the altars we read about in Thompson’s article, with each item specific to the altar of the deity it is designed for. The interesting difference between the video and the readings, is that no two altars are identical in that each altar is both spiritual and personal. There are commonalities in which each Oriṣa represent in general, but the gods representation to the individual will vary. The Oṣun-Oṣogbo altars represent the African Diaspora well because they add to the variety ways the same god can by worshiped by many individuals.

The Oṣun-Oṣogbo festival is very representative of the African Diaspora because it is another variety of how the Oriṣa can be worshiped, and how others across the world can still devote themselves the same as those native to Oṣogbo.