The Songs to the Gods of Santería

By Luis Rumbaut

The Origins

In pre-Christian and pre-Islamic Africa the gods were many. For the Yoruba, in what today is Nigeria, the gods were manifested in natural objects and connected to natural forces such as water, fire, and thunder. The gods had supernatural powers, but were also very human in their frailties as well as virtues. They could be angry, generous, jealous, mischievous, bold, lustful, caring, or deceitful. They could be called upon for assistance, and invoked at ceremonies where they took possession of individual men and women among the celebrants.

With lands extending to the coast, and their kingdom weakened from internal strife, the Yorubas were among the peoples taken by slave traders to America. There, they found that the Catholic god and the many Catholic saints were not unlike their own gods, and learned to merge the ones with the others in order that their deities could survive the repression of slavery. The resulting combination became, in Cuba, Santer’a; in Brazil, Candomblí. After the ocean crossing the many gods of the Yoruba were reduced in number. Those who survived were perhaps the more popular, the ones more adaptable to the new life, or those who did not require offerings of wealth that the slaves could not provide. These gods shared qualities with the Catholic god and saints. Changó, for example, the warrior god of fire, could be found personified in St. Barbara, whose image always carried a torch and a sword, and it did not matter that one was a black man and the other a white woman; both, as it happened, were associated with the color red. Babalú-Ayé, disfigured and cast out, found ready identification with St. Lazarus and his sufferings. Indeed, Olodumare, Olofi, Olorún –the great divinity in its three aspects– was not so different from the Catholic godÕs aspects of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Yoruba gods, become the gods of Santería, specialized, like the saints, in particular powers and concerns.

Slave owners considered the Yoruba gods primitive and inferior to their own, without realizing or accepting that they were very much like those of the great Greek and Roman civilizations that were the pride of Europe: Zeus, Jupiter, Athena, Neptune, Eros, Bacchus, and so on. Imagining these gods black and tropical, in their function of explaining the workings of nature and the events of everyday life, and thinking of the ways that humans could interact with them, anyone familiar with Greek and Roman mythology will find the gods of Santería –the orishas– familiar and accessible. The orishas are a comfort and a source of strength to those who call upon them to interpret nature as well as for help with the human concerns of love, health, and fortune. Their intercession must be sought through prayer, devotion, and sacrifice, and through musicÑmusic that while liturgical frees the spirit through the free expression of the self.

The music of Santería, like other kinds of music with African roots, is collective in form, bringing people together in common celebration. It is call-and-response, inviting participation. It is lyrical, complex, and poly-rhythmic. Its sacred drums are the batá, the three double-headed drums that are played horizontally. In order of size, the batá drums are called iyá, iteótele, and okónkolo. The iyá, the largest and with the lowest pitch, is the leader and the one that improvises. The it—tele breaks out of its patterns to respond to and communicate with the iyá, while the smaller okónkolo maintains a constant accompaniment. In this sense they occupy the reverse functions of the three conga drums used for other kinds of music.

There are songs for each of the orishas, and dances that reflect the qualities of the orishas to whom they are dedicated. During a ceremony a celebrant may be possessed by the god that is invoked, not unlike the seizure of the faithful by the Holy Spirit in some Christian denominations.

Olodumare, the supreme deity, is a distant force, and too powerful to take possession of any mortal. It is with the other orishas that humans may communicate. The following are some of the best-known orishas.

The Orishas

Elegguá, or Eshú, is the protector, the one who opens all roads. He represents luck and destiny and the ability to change them. He is the first to be invoked at a ceremony, and the last to leave. Because he helped Obatalá in times of need, the former allowed Elegguá, unlike the other orishas, to use his considerable powers as he pleased. As a result, Elegguá can be spoiled and even child-like. He is a trickster and unpredictable, and likes toys such as balls and tops. He carries a stick made from a forked branch, with which he stirs up trouble. His colors are red and black, and he is associated with the Holy Child of Atocha.

Obatalá is also called orisanlá, or the great orisha. He was commissioned by Olodumare to make the land and human beings out of the primordial sea that occupied the planet, a task that he carried out successfully. He is known, accordingly, as the father of all and the owner of all "heads." Anyone who belongs to Obatalá may be possessed by any of the other orishas. He personifies reason and justice, and can intercede with other angry gods to calm them. He is a force of peace, knowledge, and immense purity, and his color is white. He is identified with the Immaculate Conception or the Virgin of Mercy.

Changó is the god of thunder, lighting, and storms, of power and violence and also of music and dance. He is the owner of the batá drums, and in his dance he carries his ax and sword. An adventurous orisha, he likes women –he has three wives– and drinking, and when he fights he always wins. Some say that it is these qualities that have made him a favorite orisha in Cuba. He is in constant struggle with his older brother Ogún, the god of metals who lost his wife to Changó. His colors are red and white, and he is associated with St. Barbara.

Yemayá is the fertile mother and the goddess of the sea. Her followers in Brazil are known especially for their offerings of flowers to the sea. Her color is blue like the ocean. Her dance evokes the movement of the waves, sometimes peaceful and sometimes stormy. In Cuba she is associated with the Virgin of Regla, the patron saint of the port of Havana.