Trickster Spirits and miracles in Cuba’s Afrogenic religious traditions
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2021-1-99-119
Abstract
The article is devoted to the phenomenon of a miracle in Cuba. The author traces the historical and cultural features of the development of Cuba and develops an idea of the transculturation of the miracle. He analyzes how Afro-genic traditions such as Santeria, Palo Monte and others were enriched with European-Christian and Indian elements, adapting them to their cosmologies and magical practices. Special attention is paid to the role of the trickster spirits, especially Eshu, as well as witchcraft with the help of dangerous, demonic forces. The article is based on the field material collected by the author in Cuba in 2013 and 2019 through informal interviews and participant observation.
Supporting agencies: Published in accordance with the research plan of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS.
About the Author
N. A. Maniсhkin
N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, RAS
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Nestor A. Manichkin, Cand. of Sci. (History)
bld. 32A, Leninsky Av., Moscow, 119991
References
1. Allison Peers, E. (2002), The Mystics of Spain, Dover Publications, New York, USA.
2. Bolívar Aróstegui, N. (2017), Los Orishas en Cuba, Institutio cubano del libro, Editorial José Martí, La Habana, Cuba.
3. Bolívar Aróstegui, N., López Cepero, M. and del Río Bolívar, N. (2011), Saint Barbara Changó: Religious Syncretism? Institutio cubano del libro, Editorial José Martí, La Habana, Cuba.
4. Bolívar Aróstegui, N., González Díaz de Villegas, C. and del Río Bolívar, N. (2013), Ta Makuende Yaya y las Reglas de Palo Monte: Mayombe, Brillumba, Kimbisa, Shamalongo. Institutio cubano del libro, Editorial José Martí, La Habana, Cuba.
5. Cabrera, L. (2018), El monte. Editorial Letras Cubanas, La Habana, Cuba.
6. Cabrera, L. (1986), Reglas de Congo: Palo Monte Mayombe, Ediciones Universal, Miami, USA.
7. Cañizares, R. (2005), Kubinskaya santeriya [Cuban Santería], Grande Faire-Press, Moscow, Russia.
8. Espírito Santo, D. (2015), Developing the Dead, University Press of Florida, Miami, USA.
9. Garcia Dalli, A.Kh. and Guanche Pérez, Kh. (2003), “Ethnic History Essays”, in Aleksandrenkov, Eh.G. and Dalli Garcia, A.Kh. (eds.), Traditsionnaya material’naya kul’tura sel’skogo naseleniya Kuby [Traditional material culture of the rural population of Cuba], Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS, Moscow, Russia, pp. 12–29.
10. Khristoforova, O.B. (2019), “All of them are our Ancestors: African and European Elements in Cuban Religion”, in The Omnipresent Past. Historical Anthropology of Africa and African Diaspora, LRC Publishing House, Moscow, Russia, pp. 339–368.
11. Levinson, J. (2006), Jewish Community of Cuba: The Golden Age, 1906–1958, Westview Publishing Company, Nashville, USA.
12. Manichkin, N.A. (2020), “Spiritual Healing in Afro-Cuban Religious Traditions”, Bulletin of Antropology, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 92–107.
13. Ortiz, F. (1995), Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar, Duke University Press, Durham and London, UK.
14. Zamora, L. (2000), El culto de San Lázaro en Cuba, Fundacion Fernando Ortiz, La Habana, Cuba.
Review
For citations:
Maniсhkin N.A. Trickster Spirits and miracles in Cuba’s Afrogenic religious traditions. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2021;(1):99-119. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2021-1-99-119
Views:
2886
Email this article 