Search results for: Yoruba Letter of the Year

Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba 2013 Letter of the Year / Ignacio Estrada #Cuba

By Ignacio Estrada Cepero, Independent Journalist Havana, Cuba. The last Tuesday of January the “Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba” dawned, as it does every year, to a crowd of people at its doors awaiting the famous Letter of the Year. Religious predictions governing the fate of the Cuban nation. Throughout the morning the number of … Continue reading “Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba 2013 Letter of the Year / Ignacio Estrada #Cuba”

Cuba’s Independent Yorubas Dedicate the Year to Elegba, Protector of Private Enterprises

14ymedio, Havana | 2 January 2024 — Devoid of the critical tone against the Regime that characterized it in another era, the Letter of the Year of the independent Cuban Yorubas, published this Tuesday in Havana by the Miguel Febles Padrón Commission, focuses on international trade and on requesting “the prompt sanitation of the country.” … Continue reading “Cuba’s Independent Yorubas Dedicate the Year to Elegba, Protector of Private Enterprises”

The Independent Yorubas Announce the ‘Increase in Social Indiscipline’ in Cuba

14ymedio/EFE, Havana, 3 January 2023 — A day after its rivals of the ruling Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba, the independent commission Miguel Febles Padrón published on Monday its Letter of the Year 2023, in which it predicts “the loss of freedom due to the increase in social indisciplines,” the arrival of favorable trade agreements and … Continue reading “The Independent Yorubas Announce the ‘Increase in Social Indiscipline’ in Cuba”

Cuban Babalawos Predict a Bad Year for Agriculture

14ymedio, Havana, January 2, 2018 — Cuban babalawos [Yoruba spiritual title for a Santeria priest] have again predicted a year of difficulties, especially in the agricultural sector, but also for natural phenomenons, venereal diseases, and migratory conflicts, according to the Letter of the Year published by the Yoruba Cultural Association of the Island (ACYC). The … Continue reading “Cuban Babalawos Predict a Bad Year for Agriculture”

’Letter of the Year’ Sets Off Controversy Among Cuba’s Babalaos

14ymedio, Zunilda Mata, Havana, 3 January 2018 —  The controversy broke out after the publication of the 2018 Letter of the Year. The series of predictions — provided every January by the priests of the Yoruba religion — has raised a cloud of criticism expressed in calls to “not conspire” and to respect authority, something that … Continue reading “’Letter of the Year’ Sets Off Controversy Among Cuba’s Babalaos”

Cuban Santeros Predict Disease and an Increase in Crime in 2024

EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 1 January 2024 — The Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba fortells for 2024 an increase in disease, crime, alcohol and drug use, and it drew attention to the increase in “abuse of women” on the Island, according to its predictions released this Monday. A group of priests from the Cuban Santería … Continue reading “Cuban Santeros Predict Disease and an Increase in Crime in 2024”

Cuba: A Raspberry for the Little Dictator

14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, January 3, 2023 — Almost everyone has heard of the Golden Raspberry Awards, popularly known as the Razzies or the anti-Oscars, where the worst films and performances of the year are recognized. The video presented by Díaz-Canel to welcome 2023 could very well sweep those awards, if they were to … Continue reading “Cuba: A Raspberry for the Little Dictator”

Garcia Lorca in Cuba: Diary of a Resurrection

14ymedio, Manuel Llorente, Madrid, 14 October 2022 — Federico García Lorca’s first adventure in the Americas could not have been more beneficial for him. The young man who, with a broken heart, embarked for the United States in 1929, bore no resemblance to the man who returned to Cádiz on 30 June 1930 aboard the … Continue reading “Garcia Lorca in Cuba: Diary of a Resurrection”

Cuban Babalawos Predict ‘Firm and Safe Health’ for 2021

14ymedio, Havana, 1 January 2021 — The Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba published the 2021 Letter of the Year this Friday, a series of recommendations and predictions developed in one of the most anticipated ceremonies for the believers of that religion. The text also offers some advice to face the next stage. The Letter was … Continue reading “Cuban Babalawos Predict ‘Firm and Safe Health’ for 2021”

Cuba: Skepticism Beats Hope / Iván García

Ivan Garcia, 4 January 2017 — Like a metaphorical invisible hand, moving to place a ouija or bet on Russian roulette, David, a young writer, considers that the coming year will be unpredictable for the island. In the hope that the Ifá priests (Yoruba mystics) will spread around their Letters of the Year, the necromancers predict the future, and … Continue reading “Cuba: Skepticism Beats Hope / Iván García”

Tractors In Cuba, From Ghosts To Orishas / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar

“Do not put me in the dark to die like a tractor” (popular parody of a line from José Martí) 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar, Havana, 25 February 2016 – Two pieces of news have raised hopes among Cuban farmers. One is that the United States company Cleber LLC will install a tractor factory in the Mariel … Continue reading “Tractors In Cuba, From Ghosts To Orishas / 14ymedio, Reinaldo Escobar”

Cuba Awaits the Pope in Record Heat and Repression / Ivan Garcia

Ivan Garcia, 17 September 2015 — For Nicolás Sarmientos, 73, making his usual rounds between the farm market, the bodega and the carters who sell fruits and vegetables in Havana is almost an extreme sport. Although in theory we are knocking on the door of autumn, in Cuba the thermometers are soaring. The Meteorological Institute announced … Continue reading “Cuba Awaits the Pope in Record Heat and Repression / Ivan Garcia”

Being a Dissident and a Practitioner of Santeria, a Difficult Path / Luis Felipe Rojas

The first Cuban vice-president, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez visited the headquarters of the Cultural Yoruba Association of Cuba this past Monday, days after the Department of State published a document in regards to religious freedom, which alleges that there have been some advances as far as Cuba’s approach in these matters. While the second-in-line of the … Continue reading “Being a Dissident and a Practitioner of Santeria, a Difficult Path / Luis Felipe Rojas”

“To make a saint”: A prosperous business in Cuba / Iván García

Daniel, 39, made a trip of 6,000 kilometers from Spain, to hacerse santo’* in Havana. He bought a low fare ticket from Iberia and brought in his wallet his savings from ten years as a computer programmer. It all started one night when he was reunited with a childhood friend. Things were going well with … Continue reading ““To make a saint”: A prosperous business in Cuba / Iván García”

Of Oracles and Soothsayers: Cuba, Predictions and Realities / Miriam Celaya

Divinations Note: This work was originally written for and published in Voices magazine #5, in January, 2011. I want to start with a statement of principle absolutely rigorous and rigorously true: I respect the religious beliefs of all people anywhere in the world. The second statement I will make is as vertical and solid as … Continue reading “Of Oracles and Soothsayers: Cuba, Predictions and Realities / Miriam Celaya”