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| Pix credit image generated by Chat GPT |
Divination is both an ancient form of bridging data with analytics as against a set of normative premises that are "natural" or "scientific" or "divine" to produce a set of predictions or in the modern language of "assessments" that help guide the population and its leaders toward appropriate behaviors and decision making. The pages of academic journals, prestigious publishing houses and think tanks are littered with this sort of ancient wisdom dressed up in the costumes and forms appropriate for the times. If that is, indeed, the case, then it may be useful to go back periodically to the roots of this sort of engagement by tapping into the old knowledge and the old forms of analytics grounded, as in modern times, in a relationship between exogenous verities and cognitive premises, and the guidance they offer in human affairs. It may be useful, in other words, to refresh the engines of modern analytics with the ancient forms of divination associated with complex cognitive world rationalizing systems the simulacra of which may be observed in modern complex systems, their ideologies, and their scientism in the production of data based assessment for guidance on decision-making and action.
To that end the practices of West African Ifa (not unlike hat of Chinese IChing (易經) divination but with a distinct cosmology), and its progeny in the Caribbean, offers an elegant and quite useful example of the form. The Cuban Letra del Año for 2026 is annual divination for Cuba "and the world". That is the subject of the analysis--an interpretation of a divination for the world in 2026 using the analytics and theologies of Ifa.
Pix Credit CubaNet Orunmila! Elérí Ípin, Ìbikeji Olódumarè, A-je-jù-Oògùn, Obìriti, A-p'ijó-ikú-da, Olúwa mi, A-to-i-ba-j'ayé, Òrò à-bi-kú-j'igbo, Olúwa mi, Ajiki, Ógégé a-gb'ayé-gún; Odúdú ti nídú orí emèrè; A-tún-orí-tí-kò sunwòn se, A-mo-i-kú. Olówa Aiyere, Agiri Ilé-Ilógbón; Olúwa mi; amoimotán, A kò mo O tàn kose, A ba mo tàn kose, A bà mo tán ìbà se ke. [Orunmila, the witness of our fate, Second to Olodumaré, you are more effective than medicine, You are the immense presence that avoids the day of death, Lord Almighty save us, mysterious spirit that battles death. Salutations are due you first in the morning, for you are the force than produces equilibrium among the forces on Earth, you are the one than can reconstruct the creature whose lot in life is bad, you are the repairer of bad luck, those who come to you encounter immortality. Lord and undeposable ruler, perfection in the house of wisdom, Lord infinite in knowledge, we who fail to know you fully will fail, if we could but know you fully, all would be well with us.] (Afolabi A Epiga and John Philip Niemark, The Sacred Ifa Oracle (Brooklyn, NY: Athelia Henrietta Press, 1995))
So begins the invocations of the Babalawós of IFA to Orunmila, that divine manifestation of wisdom and the conduit through which such wisdom is sometimes made available to humanity. Such wisdom is, as is traditional in many places and among many cultures, oracular. It is provided through manifested by other divine manifestations, in the case of IFA, through Ellegua/Esu, the tricky and quite moody divine manifestation of the divine spirit of connection, pathways, dead-ends and crossroads, before the work of divination, of connection to the divine, may be commenced.
Since 2012 I
have written of the annual letter of the Cuban Council of the High
Priests of Ifá (Consejo Cubano De Sacerdotes Mayores De Ifá),
the practitioners of traditional religion brought over from West Africa
with the slave trade and now naturalized as a powerful indigenous
religion throughout the Caribbean and now growing in the United States. (e.g., 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022; 2021; 2020; 2019; 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015; 2014; 2013; 2012).
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Every religion connects the structures of divinity to the human
communities around which their worship is structured and social,
political, economic, and cultural communities are organized. To that
end, the priestly caste platys a very specific role as mediator,
interpreter, and as the incarnation of a social order grounded in divine
principles and rules.
In most states, the priestly role has been transformed. But it is useful, as one examines the priestly role in modern western states, to consider a more traditional relationship between the priest and the state. One of the more interesting manifestations of the role of religion within political life is that of the priests of the practitioners of the old religions of Africa as re-established in the Western Hemisphere, particularly in Marxist-Leninist Cuba. (here)That priestly role is exercised in very specific ways among the great traditions of Western Religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has also produced a profound disquiet where the prophetic voice is sourced outside of a superior and orthodox religious tradition. The archetype of this tension is the West returns us to the controversy around what was recorded as the last prophetic oracle of Delphi (John Venderspoel, 'The enigma of the last oracle,' Topoi. Orient-Occident Année 2006 Suppl. 7 pp. 53-61)
είπατε τω βασιλεϊ' χαμαί πέσε δαίδαλος αύλά. ούκέτι Φοίβος εχει καλύβαν, ού μάντιδα δάφνην, ού παγάν λαλέουσαν, άπέσβετο καί λάλον ύδωρ. which can be translated as "Tell the emperor that the Daidalic hall has fallen. No longer does Phoebus have his chamber, nor mantic laurel, nor prophetic spring ; and the speaking water has been silenced" (T.E. Gregory, « Julian and the Last Oracle at Delphi », GRBS 24 (1983), p. 356) or as "Speak to the emperor : the Daidalic hall has fallen to the ground. Phoebus no longer has his chamber ; (but) he has not fallen silent with regard to the mantic laurel, nor the prophetic spring and the speaking water. "(Venderspoel, supra, p. 55 [είπατε τω βασιλεν χαμαί πέσε δαίδαλος. ούκέτι Φοίβος έχει καλύβαν- οϋ μάντιδα δάφνην, ού παγάν λαλέουσαν άπέσβετο καί λάλον ύδωρ])
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| Pix Credit Directorio cubano |
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| Pix credit here (Ifa divination bowl) |
One might even be tempted to suggest that these systems even add the divine element with the introduction of generative artificial intelligence as the driver of predictive divination. More traditional systems of divination attempt to set out in text and image the way in which their own worlds are ordered and the pathways and markers of cognition are constructed, and realized through deep embedding in the ordinary course of the lives of social collectives. Prominent among them is the Book of Changes--the I Ching, born during the shaman period of Ancient China, and organically embedded in and as Tao and Confucian overlays, serving as philosophy, religion, oracle and Dao (Benebell We, I Ching: The Oracle (North Atlantic Books, 2023)). The Ifa follows its own contextually driven path as divination and as the expression of a system of cognition principles around which the world is rationalized and perception ordered (Hermeneutics (Interpretation): The Ifa Concept of Cosmology as the Basis for Divination; Celebrating Black History Month 2024 in the US--The Ifa Divination System in the Western Hemisphere).
To realize that objective, at the start of every year the leaders of the great indigenous religion of Cuba conduct, through a series of ceremonies, a general divination for the country. And so it was in the early hours of the 1st of January that leaders of the various branches of the Afro-Cuban religious communities met. The results of that divination, and its advice, is organized into a "Letter of the Year" (Letra del Año) (on the history of the Letras del año see HERE (Historia de la Ceremonia de la Letra del Año )).
La letra indica que es lo que comunican los Orichas a las família de santo y creyentes, como les irá en el transcurso del año en curso, y lo que deberán hacer para que, las posibles tragedias venideras no los agarre tan desprevenidos. Por esa letra, se regirán todos los familiares de ese ilé (casa) sin excepción, durante todo ese año, y en ella quedan determinados cuales limpiezas (Ebbós) deben hacerse todos los miembros. [The letter indicates what the Orishas communicate to the orisha communities and uninitiated believers (the laity), how they will fare in the course of the current year, and what they must do so that possible coming tragedies do not catch them so unprepared. The letter serves without exception as the rules and instructions that serve as the basis for the governance (and guidance) of those religious communities, each ilé (house), throughout that year, and in it are determined which cleanings (Ebbós) all the members should undertake.] (EcuRed, Letra del Año)).
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| Pix credit Associaci'on Yoruba de Cuba |
Traditionally each of the major houses provided their own annual divination. In Cuba a process of consolidation resulted in agreement among the major houses for a major joint divination and the production of a single national augury. The year 2021 marked the 6th year of an important change, in which many of the most important branches of the faith came together to produce a unified letter under the aegis of the Asociación Cultural Yoruba de Cuba (ACYC). It also marked the last year of that union. The rupture was a long time coming. In 2019 there was some confusion over the authenticity of the Letter of the Year with two appearing in the early hours of the new year. That was cleared up but not to everyone's satisfaction. 2020 proved to be a more difficult year. It caused the IFA practitioners to change their divination ceremonies in light of the realities of the pandemic. And indeed, in retrospect, when the Letras del Año for 2021 and 2022 are read for the ACYC, one can (again in retrospect) understand the inevitability of that rupture. (For more read an extended discussion in my analysis of the Letra del Año 2024).
Other oracles are produced by other developed African traditions that have taken root in the Western Hemisphere. Among them are those of the Asociación Religiosa Bantú de Cuba whose oracle for 2026 has already been released (discussed below). Outside of the Bantu community in Cuba (and their Congolese system of Reglas de Congo), What is also clear is that greater care appears to have been taken to avoid difficulties in the preliminary ceremonies preparing the way to the oracular exercise on 31 December.
Nonetheless, ACYC also produced a variant of an adelanto immediately before the New Year the oracular body reported something like an "adelanto" a preliminary oracle pointing to the final form of the annual oracle: "De esa consulta surgió la llamada profecía inicial del ciclo 2026, asociada al Odun Osa She y acompañada por el anuncio de 'Iré Buyoko Lowo Orunmila'." [From that consultation emerged the so-called initial prophecy of the 2026 cycle, associated with the Odun Osa She and accompanied by the announcement of 'Iré Buyoko Lowo Orunmila'.] (¿Qué dijeron los babalawos cubanos en la ceremonia de preapertura de la Letra del Año 2026?). "Iré" refers to a sort of luck or blessing, to be distinguished from "osogbos" which reference the opposite. Iré Buyoko Lowo Orunmila' is a reference to a lucky or positive state, or blessings that come slowly through divination. Osa She (or Osá-Sé) (Oracle 223 in the Ifa cycle of 256 oddus, The Sacred Ifá Oracle (Afolabi A. Epega and Philip Neimark, Brooklyn NY: Athelia Henrietta Press, 1995, pp. 473-474) is understood as the oddu of transactions and transactional challenges. It is grounded in the insights of continuity and inter-generational patterns--the son following the pattern of the father ("Asa ti baba omo se li omo li" ibid., 473). It is also the oddu of false accusations and and its damage to both parties (Òsa does not offend, Òsa does not hurt. The one we thought had offended us did not offend [Òsa kosé, Òsákoro. Eniti a rope o se'ni kose'ni], ibid., 474). It is in this sense that the oddu has been interpreted as suggesting the ebbs and flows of interaction as well as the sacrifices of the old for the young. Its reference to a man without a shadow suggests a discontinuity with the past that requires some sort of realignment but also the misalignment that reshapes values. "A calabash which has no base is the one that sits on its side." [Poko ni o ni'di, L'o fi'ha joko] (William Bascom, 16 Cowries (Indiana U. Press, 1993, p. 243 Òsa C7), and that, perhaps is the first insight for what awaits in 2026--having turned the world on its side in 2025, it may be time to rebuild it a base. And the fundamental basis for that rebuilding may incorporate the essence of the old giving way to the new, of a slow positive turn, but one in which the grounding premise is challenged by falsity that may make 2026 the year in which knowing what is fact from what is manipulation may be quite difficult indeed. Indeed, from this one might begin to think of 2026 as the year in which data may well be consumed by an analytics that presupposes data or reshapes it in the image of something else. And it may well be the year in which too much of a good thing turns the positive negative.
Pix credit here B'oti ba kun nu, oti pa omo [If beer fills the stomach, it intoxicates the child]
B'orrun po l'a po ju, a'somo di were [If the sun is too strong, it makes the child crazy]
B'a ba l'oba l'oni ju a sin ni ni'win []If one has too much authority, he goes mad
Tete'gun po lodo, a do lu eri [If prickly spinach is plentiful at the river, it becomes bush] (William Bascom, 16 Coweries (Indiana U. Press, 1993, p. 243 Òsa C12)
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| Pix credit here |
The 2026 Letter of the Year is interesting especially after several years of oracular suggestions (2019-2024) of turmoil, explosion, and transformation traveling along pathways that are both conduit and are disrupted and reshaped, and of the oracular suggestion of 2025 of the world order (our calabash) turned on its side without a base. Ofunmeiji reminds one that in creating the world, Olodumare, dao (道), was advised:
He was advised to sacrifice four pillars and one big calabash [(葫芦/葫蘆)] having a lid and a chain. He heeded the advice and sacrificed. He was assured that no one would question his authority. Therefore he should pitch the four pillars on the ground together, place the calabash on them, and use the chain to tie the pillars to his hands. He obeyed and performed the sacrifice as instructed. The day that Odù created all the characters in the world has since been called Odùduà (Odù that created all things that exist, Oòdua, Olódúmarè). He created all that existed in the calabash. We (human beings) are all living inside the calabash [Ninu igbá naa ni, ni Oun da gbogbo; Uwa si, ninu igbá naa ni gbongbo (eda-alaayé) wa wa yio]. (Òfúnméjì, Afolabi Epega and Philip Neimark, The Sacred Ifa Oracle (Athelia Henrietta Press, 1994).
These are the incarnations around which the predictive analytics of IFA divination is organized. And like prediction analytics that is heavily path dependent on the layering of prior predictions (descriptive analytics), IFA also builds on its own pathways. 2025 correctly noted that the world calabash finally lost its base in 2024 and produced that mechanisms for base building in 2025. The result for 2025 were the macro level end-games for total control based on honesty and justice and solidarity, while at the same time the micro level caution and warning that people are sort of in a shark tank and either they eat or are eaten as the rules of the game split everyone up into teams. For some that produced all of the ingredients of disintegration; for others the start of building from out of the still contested rubble of cognitive spaces within which social orders are elevated--that later point is understood in its sense of the recasting of the fundamental premises of a social order, the old forms of which had been visibly swept away in 2025. Not that there wasn't opposition--the rearguards of power systems remain; but the centering of the cognitive baseline driving organizational perspective was altered.
Bottom line: This is a year of putting things together and rebuilding the core premises on which societal organization is structured and social relations constituted, valued and policed. alternatively, this is a year when everything that has been hanging on bit no longer aligned with the times will wither away or, in resisting the inevitable cause destruction. Or both may be true, appearing differently in different places. The basis is in the transactional, from and through which ideology is shared and expressed. Everything is a deal--war, peace, wealth, relations of all sorts. But the quality and manifestation of those relations can produce positive and negative/destructive results. The impediment is in the falsity within which transactional element are still wrapped--false accusations, false facts, bad dealing, all of which will open the possibilities of rage. And the warning of the oracle in that context is this--rage quick and strategic may be tolerated, rage that lasts too long will become its own prison. Within this oracular framework some deal makers will change, some will collapse, some will prosper, and these transactional consequences will be repeated at every level of social organization. Together however they will contribute to a very slow movement from pulling apart to positive deal making. The revolution is over; the initial settling in of new ordering has begun. This is the year of messy consolidation and housecleaning which is collectively positive but which is also a time for potentially violent end of things. * * * * * * * * *For those interested in the full summary of the bottom line, please scroll down to the end of this essay.
The Letra del Año 2026 follows (in Spanish and with English translation) along with my analysis and discussion (in English). The letter may be accessed in full on the ACYC Facebook Page (here and here). The Adelanto of the Comisión Organizadora de la Letra de Año Miguel Febles Padrón) anf their Letra del Año 2026 also follow below and be accessed HERE (Oggun is the reigning Orisha, but supported by Oya; the result is a greater tendency towardthe more volatile characteristics of Oggun and a greater tendency toward cleansing). Lastly the text of the oracle for the Regla de Congo, the Institución religiosa Bantú de Cuba, Letra Bantú que regira el año 2026 also follows in the original Spanish and the English translation
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| Pix credt Chat GPT (Esu's hat and the problem of perspective) |
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PREDICCIONES DE IFA PARA CUBA Y EL MUNDO
A los sacerdotes de Ifa, Obá Oriate, Babaloshas, lyaloshas, Iworo, al Pueblo en general:
el 31 de diciembre de 2025 en la sede social de la "institución religiosa asociación cultural yoruba de cuba*, sita en prado # 615 entre monte y dragones, municipio la habana vieja, la habana, cuba, se reúnen los sacerdotes de ifá para realizar la ceremonia de la letra del año 2026, presidida por el sacerdote mayor de ifá carlos argudín valenzuela "awo ogunda she omo ala aggayu", con el respaldo de la junta directiva, los consejos de sacerdotes mayores de la república de cuba, las extensiones de funcionamientos provinciales, filiares en el exterior e invitados de otras naciones, previa consulta de las 25 posiciones y sacrificios prescritos.
SIGNO REGENTE: Ogunda Otrupon
PRIMER TESTIGO: Otura Ogbe
SEGUNDO TESTIGO: Oshe Otura
ORACIÓN PROFÉTICA: iré arikú oyale lowo Orula
(una suerte de salud firme por la mano de Orula) [“the blessing of health/immortality that is firm/stable/permanent, provided by the hand of Orula (Orunmila)”]
ONISHE ORULA: ADDIMU: dos cocos, dos velas, una jícara con agua
DIVINIDAD REGENTE: Oggun
DIVINIDAD ACOMPAÑANTE: Oshun
BANDERA: verde con ribete blanco
EBBO NI IFA: un gallo; medida de la cabeza; raspadura de Elegua y Oggun, paño amarillo; agua de mar; agua de rio; un clavo; pelo de caballo; un coco, una vela; pescado ahumado, jutia ahumada y maíz tostado.
EBBO DE SANTEROS: un pollo; dos palomas a Oggun, un caballito de hierro; cintas de colores; ropa sudada; cinco pomito de miel, un coco y dos velas.
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EN ESTE SIGNO NACE
• a través de la madre se salva al hijo.
• habla la guerra que no vencerá.
REFRANES DEL SIGNO :
•en casa del herrero cuchillo de palo.
• un clavo bien enterrado es difícil de sacar.
•guerra que comienza no se termina.
• no hay como la bendición de la madre.
ENFERMEDADES QUE SE PRONÓSTICAN
• enfermedades de los nervios y cráneo encefálicas.
• enfermedades de intoxicación por sustancias químicas y alimentos
• enfermedades del bajo vientre.
• enfermedades del sistema digestivo.
• alcoholismo.
RECOMENDACIONES
• poner especial atención en la higiene poblacional y colectiva para prevenir enfermedades.
• no descuidar los chequeos médicos periódicos y las pruebas citológicas de las mujeres.
• se preve un incremento de enfermedades asociadas a la sangre como la hepatitis, diabetes, hipertensión.
• se debe profundizar en el trabajo social educativo por un incremento de la violencia sobre todo en la juventud.
• Orula preve un incremento de discusiones y de violencia domestica
• dice ifa que se debe recibir Oya y los que la tienen atenderla.
• en el caso de los babalawo recibir su kuanaldo.
• se recomienda reforzar a Oggun.
• dar el valor que merece la madre en la familia y los que no la tienen darle una atencion a su espiritus.
• mucho cuidado con el desvío de nuestros linajes y el irrespeto a las tradiciones.
• atender y apoyarse en San Lázaro para evadir enfermedades.
• para los religiosos limpiarse al pie de San Lázaro con lo marcado por el oráculo.
• evitar toda discusión para no llegar a la violencia.
• invitar a los padres a apoyar a las madres en su roll por el cuidado de sus hijos.
• hacerle ofrendas a Oshun para apaciguar y buscar la armonía.
• ifa preve que continuara el flujo migratorio.
• se avizora un quebrantamiento de la conducta y las buenas costumbres sociales por lo que se recomienda reforzar el trabajo educativo familiar y social.
• Orula expone que se debe atender el alcoholismo como un flagelo social.
• en casa del herrero cuchillo de palo nos llama a aprender de nuestros errores para superarnos como país.
FELIZ Y PROSPERO ANO 2026
(ESTA HOJA ES GRATUITA)
LETTER OF THE YEAR 2026
IFA PREDICTIONS FOR CUBA AND THE WORLD
To the Ifa priests, Obá Oriate, Babaloshas, Iyaloshas, Iworo, and the general public:
On December 31, 2025, at the headquarters of the "Yoruba Cultural Religious Association of Cuba," located at Prado #615 between Monte and Dragones streets, Old Havana municipality, Havana, Cuba, the Ifa priests gathered to perform the ceremony of the Letter of the Year 2026, presided over by the senior Ifa priest Carlos Argudín Valenzuela "Awo Ogunda She Omo Ala Aggayu," with the support of the board of directors, the councils of senior priests of the Republic of Cuba, the provincial branches, international affiliates, and guests from other nations, after consulting the 25 positions and performing the prescribed sacrifices.
RULING SIGN [Odu Ifa]: Ogunda Otrupon
FIRST WITNESS [Suuporting Odu]: Otura Ogbe
SECOND WITNESS [Supporting Odu]: Oshe Otura
PROPHETIC PRAYER: Iré Arikú Oyale Lowo Orula
(A blessing of firm health by the hand of Orula)
ONISHE ORULA: ADDIMU: two coconuts, two candles, a gourd with water
RULING DIVINITY: Oggun
ACCOMPANYING DIVINITY: Oshun
FLAG: Green with a white border
EBBO NI IFA: one rooster; measurement of the head; shavings of Elegua and Oggun; yellow cloth; seawater; river water; one nail; horsehair; one coconut, one candle; smoked fish, smoked jutia (Cuban rodent), and toasted corn.
EBBO DE SANTEROS: one chicken; two doves for Oggun; a small iron horse; colored ribbons; sweaty clothing; five small jars of honey, one coconut, and two candles.
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IN THIS SIGN IS BORN:
• Through the mother, the child is saved.
• One may speak through war but one will not that way prevail
PROVERBS OF THE SIGN:
• The shoemaker's children go barefoot.
• A nail well driven in is difficult to pull out.
• A war that begins does not end.
• There is nothing like a mother's blessing.
PREDICTED DISEASES:
• Nervous system and cranioencephalic diseases.
• Diseases caused by chemical and food poisoning.
• Diseases of the lower abdomen.
• Diseases of the digestive system.
• Alcoholism.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
• Pay special attention to public and collective hygiene to prevent diseases.
• Do not neglect regular medical check-ups and cytological tests for women.
• An increase in blood-related diseases such as hepatitis, diabetes, and hypertension is foreseen.
• Educational social work should be intensified due to an increase in violence, especially among young people.
• Orula foresees an increase in arguments and domestic violence.
• Ifa says that Oya should be received, and those who already have her should attend to her.
• In the case of Babalawos, they should receive their Kuanaldo.
• It is recommended to strengthen Oggun.
• Give the mother the value she deserves in the family, and those who do not have a mother should pay attention to her spirit.
• Be very careful with the deviation from our lineages and disrespect for traditions.
• Attend to and rely on Saint Lazarus to avoid illnesses.
• For religious people, cleanse yourselves at the feet of Saint Lazarus with what the oracle indicates.
• Avoid all arguments to prevent violence.
• Encourage fathers to support mothers in their role of caring for their children.
• Make offerings to Oshun to appease and seek harmony.
• Ifa foresees that the migratory flow will continue.
• A breakdown of conduct and good social customs is foreseen, so it is recommended to reinforce family and social educational work. • Orula states that alcoholism must be addressed as a social scourge.
• The proverb "The shoemaker's children go barefoot" reminds us to learn from our mistakes in order to improve as a country.
HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS YEAR 2026
(THIS SHEET IS FREE)
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| Pix Credit Chat GPT (Oshun lures Oggun out of the forest) |
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The Divination for 2026, like those in prior years has a form that is itself a guide to oracular interpretation. That is the substance of the oracle is the product of a process that layers text, interpretive lens, and the glosses that have grown up around each in the form of stories and other wisdom.
It starts with the oracles themselves, made up of a ruling or principle oracle and two interpretive oracles that are meant to be utilized as commentary and explanatory elaboration of the principal text. The product of this oracle--three of the possible 256 oddus that represent the entirety of the cycle of rationalizing meaning in the world--is produced through the casting of oracular instruments (cowrie shells, koala nuts etc. as the means through which the divine helps identify (and communicate the identity of) the relevant oracles.
That is followed by the divination of the specific interpretive lens though which it is possible to more accurately "read" the oracle--that is through which the oracle acquires meaningful meaning attached to and proceedings from its text rather than from somewhere or someone else. The interpretive lens usually takes the form of orishas, manifestations of the divine force as it interacts with thee human, of the oracle. Those manifestations, in turn, are embodiments of particular ways of approaching the world and the interpretation of things and actions within it. Traditionally there is a ruling oddu (the primary sign ("signo" in Spanish that evokes the process of semiotic meaning making), and two "witnesses" but better understood not by reference to what they are what what they do--they witness or testify ("testigos" in the Spanish brings this out better) or bear witness, they attest, to the truth within the primary oracular sign (etymology of testify here; of witness here). It is in this sense that they are meant to provide interpretive support and elaboration, perhaps in the form of commentary, to and of the primary oddu.
Lastly there is the oral (and now increasingly written) tradition, the lore and accumulation of teachings. These were once almost invariably oral. Oral traditions served a variety of purposes. It ensured a certain element of control by restricting the people who could be initiated into the knowledge and thus initiated trained to conform to some sort of collective wisdom or orthodoxy. Sometimes oral traditions were a matter of survival--for example for slaves who sought to preserve their traditions in environments in which such knowledge was actively suppressed and socially disapproved. And sometime technology made written traditions substantially harder to produce and keep--for example in moist tropical environments (contrast desert and semi-arid environments in which writing on be more technologically accessible.
For 2026, the Letra del Año as well as the adelantes provide all three interpretive elements. The oracle consists of a ruling sign Ogunda Otrupon, number 205 in the Ifa oddu cycle, which speaks to increases in wealth tied to improvement of social behavior. The first of the two attesting signs is Otura Ogbe, number 40 in the Ifa cycle, which speaks to the need to overcome the loss of confidence from prior failure in order to attain wealth. The second of the two attesting signs is Oshe Otura, number 248, speaks to the essential role of the manifestation of Eleggua as Èsu-Òdàrà for guidance on the pathways toward wealth, and with it a reminder that the perspetive that one brings to a task or relationship may be both true and decieving. This then colors tha approach to the interpretation of both the caution of Otura Ogbe and the conditional primise of Ogunda Otrupon.
This last point recalls the quite famous story of Esu's hat, a pataki told in a number of variations (eg here and here). It is a story that acquires greater resonance in light of the pre-oracular divination that produced the oddu Osa She (or Osá-Sé) discussed above especially with respect to false or erroneous accusations that ruin the best of relations and social cohesion generally. In one variation of the story of Esu's hat, two people pledge eternal friendship but failed to invoke Esu as the guardian of the roadways and communication. Esu decides to teach them a lesson. As they labor in adjoining field Esu walks past, greeting both and wearing a hat that is red on one side and black on the other. Later that day the friends met for a meal and the discussion turned to the color of the hat of the man who greeted them both. The friends got into a heated argument because on insisted that he saw the fellow with a red hat and the other swore that the fellow was wearing a black hat. The friendship was torn apart and was turning violent when Esu shows. He asks about the origin of the fight and then reveals his hat to both friends. And the moral--there is a strong difference between what one sees from one's vantage point and what it is one is seeing. Where there are different vantage points, that insistence without communication--with Esu, turns what is right (both friends did see what they saw) into some thing quite wrong (the hat was BOTH black and red). That is the essence of the oracle.
The colors of Esu's hat, in the case of the oracular oddus, the perspectives that will shape what one sees and understands, are provided in the oracle through the role of the reigning Orishas of the oracle, Oggun and Oshun, for 2026. For 2025 Shango and Oshun, the reiging divine manifestations and their interpretive lens, could be understood as the power couple of institutions, rules and wealth through the organization of institutional organs for the purpose of creating wealth in ways that manifested order and power. This couple has a dynamic relationship but in their own way they make for a powerful partnership, both in augmenting their positive and their negative characteristics (see eg five patakis of Shango and Oshun). The 2026 power couple, Oggun and Oshun represent a power business coupling. They harmonize but do not partner; they resonate but do not combine; they affect each other but do not often work in concert. That makes for substantial unpredictability where the perspective/interests of Oshun and Oggun diverge. But together they bring balance--as long as their energies are balanced; where unbalanced thing fall apart. This is encased in a well known pataki of the time that the world was in danger of falling apart. The male orishas were unable to restore balance. Oshun, however, performed a dance powerful and evocative enough to draw the reclusive Oggun from the hidden reaches of the forest, intetwining their enegies and restoring a balance of energies that worked both to bild and destroy, but in harmony with each other. Should that intertwining cease, should their energies conflict or oppose each other, then stability and harmony cease as well. That is the lesson of the oracle and the warning for those to whom it is directed.
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Oshun--Oshun is the youngest of the Orishas, the embodiment of intuition, of emotion, of empathy. This is the High Priestess in a tarot deck, but also the cult priestess of a time before the current religions; she is the abbess. This is Ibú Ikolé – the mother of witches; but also Ibú Añá, so poor that she could only forget her troubles by losing herself in dance to the beat of the sacred Añá drums. Oshun is also Ibú Ololodí, the master of the 16 major oddus of diloggún; but also Ibú Asedán, the owner of pointed things who enjoys the hunt and the infliction of pain. The point, beyond metaphor, is the opposite--the oppositional nature--of this reigning Orisha, to her partner. This is passion enough to build and to tear down. This is the flame of energy that constructs and the fires that extinguish all around them. When they are in sync both the drive to build and the positive side of fertility and the drive to destroy and replace are both augmented. And that is what Oggun/Oshun bring to the 2026 oracle--the knowledge that whatever tendencies and insights are provided in the oddus will be magnified--positively or negatively--through the application of the lens of Oggun/Oshun. While in 2025, the Shango/Oshun combination perspective tilted toward the augmentation of the positive and negative energies in state and institutional energy, in 2026 that energy is directed toward transactional activity and wealth, not order in itself (Shango/2025) but discipline for the purpose of creation/destruction of transactionally framed wealth.
Oshun manifests love and accumulation, wealth and the world of the senses; Oggun represents industry and weaponry; Oshun is unstructured emotion; Oggun is disciplined emotion but both can get out of control. Together they are a coupling that at their best bring balance and at their worst augment chaos. They are intent on enjoying and making objects and money, but their partnership, when either is provoked, can cause their tempers to flair. For Oggun, the reigning orisha that reveals a willingness to fight and a preference to be left rather than being the center of attention (toward which Oshun will pull Oggun by her dance)--this, then, sums up the lens, the perspective, through which it is possible to better understand the oracular in the 2026 oddu. One can see how they add to the flavor of the oracular oddu--Oggun adds mechanical, engineering and industrial creativity, but with a bad temper and a violence that can be triggered. Oshun tends toward the accumulation of wealth on display, of fertility and abundance and also quick to be insulted. Where an angry Oggun and Oshun team up, the oddu suggest something violent and disruptive, to no one's benefit. Where they are productive ad fertile, everyone wins. Oshun and Ogun teamed up for the 2019 Letra del Año, the last year before the era of COVID opened the floodgates to sometimes violent change. The it was Oshun who was the reigning attribute. This time it is Oggun.
The patakis (parables) for Oshun and Ogun are particularly interesting. And they
point to the way that the ruling manifestations of the divine in this
reading will strongly affect the approach to the oddus that make up the
core of the reading, again reinforcing a balancing of perspectives that are perhaps complementary.
When Ogun, the fierce and hard-working blacksmith, withdrew from the creation of the world and retreated into the forest, Oshun brought him out. With the departure of Ogun's force and labor, creation stopped. No new fields were cleared for planting and no new inventions appeared to help the Orishas and human beings. Ogun took to the bush, and the process of creation came grinding to a halt. Several orishas tried to draw him out of the forest but failed. Finally Oshun went into the woods with her five scarves and her gourd of honey. She did not call to Ogun. Instead she found a clearing and began to dance. Her beauty and her sensual movements caught Ogun's attention. As he watched her dance, he was drawn to her. Slowly he approached her, and when he drew close, Oshun smeared his lips with her honey. As she danced, Ogun followed her back to civilization and resumed his work. (Depths of Oshun)
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These are the ideas that are picked up in some of the adages put forward by the Cuban Ifa priests, as part of the traditions and learnings around the oracular text. The proverbs reinforce the notion of balance (en casa del herrero cuchillo de palo), as well as the notion of deeper embedding within the fabric of engagement (un clavo bien enterrado es dificil de sacar) which might refer as much to the problem of settled migrants, as it does to any embedded projection into a body politic, societal or transactional. The proverbs return to war suggesting that its path has no exit ramp (guerra que comienza no se termina), and the value of the blessings of tradition (no hay como la benedicción de la madre). Perhaps, in deed, a new transactional golden age is possible within the oracular imaginary.
And
it is central to the signification of the oddus cast for the year, a
signification that produces the interpretation of the "adages" but also
that are the means of signifying the oracular in the spirit of Oggun/Oschun. It is in these senses that the oracular casting for the
year "give birth" (signify) several key elements: They speak to the centrality of tradition, or of the past, in shaping
the future (a través de la madre sel salva al hijo) which also reflects the oral traditions around Ogunda Oturupon (see here), and to the
consequences of violence and war as a means of communication that will
fail of its own character (habla la guerra que no se vencerá). These are
what are "born" with the oracle. And here that combination of the power
of the past and the failures of violent communication of desire or
intent, mark its outer layer.
With these framing principles in mind, one can approach the more specific oracular guidance of the oddus. The oddus (reflections based on the translations and oddus in The Sacred Ifá Oracle (Afolabi A. Epega and Philip Neimark, Brooklyn NY: Athelia Henrietta Press, 1995). Let us consider each in turn briefly:
The principal oddu is Ogunda Otrupon, number 205 in the Ifa oddu cycle. This is an oddu that speaks to the possibilities of good fortune, but as a function of equally good behaviors. It speaks, then, to the balancing (Oggun/Oshun) between the material and the behavioral, between the positive of Oggun and that of Oshun. But it speaks to the opposite as well. For all the possibilities of good fortune can turn bad with bad behavuors. Where begavior aligns with activity then Wón ni: Odún Oro de odún owó odún omo. Wón nikin wón rúbo, ki ijà ma si [The said that a year of riches had come, a tear of wealth, a year of giving birth to many children] (The Sacred Ifá Oracle, supra, p. 436). The good behavior is directly tied to Oggun in Oturupon: in order to cure the forest of its maladies good behavior was required (ibid., p. 437). The oral traditions around Ogunda Otrupon then give rise to the proverbs in the oracle about the embedding of a nail and of wars that will not be won. (see eg here). The others are derived from the good behavior constraints of good fortune and wealth. That produces the negative consequences--bad relationships make for bad behavior and must be avoided; and that the "company" of the ancestors will bring good fortune. In the folk traditions, that connection between good fortune and good behavior also invokes Esu whose guidance is often an important element of this oddu. Is this, at bottom, though, the oddu that visualizes the harmony of Oggun drawn from the forests by the dancing of Oshun and together producing harmony.
The hidden oddu.
Bottom line:This is a year of putting things together and rebuilding the core premises on which societal organization is structured and social relations constituted, valued and policed. alternatively, this is a year when everything that has been hanging on bit no longer aligned with the times will wither away or, in resisting the inevitable cause destruction. Or both may be true, appearing differently in different places. The basis is in the transactional, from and through which ideology is shared and expressed. Everything is a deal--war, peace, wealth, relations of all sorts. But the quality and manifestation of those relations can produce positive and negative/destructive results. The impediment is in the falsity within which transactional element are still wrapped--false accusations, false facts, bad dealing, all of which will open the possibilities of rage. And the warning of the oracle in that context is this--rage quick and strategic may be tolerated, rage that lasts too long will become its own prison. Within this oracular framework some deal makers will change, some will collapse, some will prosper, and these transactional consequences will be repeated at every level of social organization. Together however they will contribute to a very slow movement from pulling apart to positive deal making. The revolution is over; the initial settling in of new ordering has begun. This is the year of messy consolidation and housecleaning which is collectively positive but which is also a time for potentially violent end of things.The oracle offers four elements of guidance that must be interpreted within the conceptual base personified by the relationship between Oggun and Oshun. The four elements are these: first that which bridges the old year and the new--Osa She (or Osá-Sé) (Oracle 223 of the Ifa cycle) focuses the year on transactions and transactional engagement; this is a year where ideology follows transactions and the ideology of transactions effectivey remakes the institutional premises of social collectives. The ruling sign Ogunda Otrupon, number 205 in the Ifa oddu cycle, which speaks to increases in wealth tied to improvement of social behavior. The first of the two attesting signs is Otura Ogbe, number 40 in the Ifa cycle, which speaks to the need to overcome the loss of confidence from prior failure in order to attain wealth. The second of the two attesting signs is Oshe Otura, number 248, speaks to the essential role of the manifestation of Eleggua as Èsu-Òdàrà for guidance on the pathways toward wealth, and with it a reminder that the perspective that one brings to a task or relationship may be both true and deceiving. This then colors that approach to the interpretation of both the caution of Otura Ogbe and the conditional promise of Ogunda Otrupon. Lastly the HIDDEN ODDU, Otura meiji speaks to the danger of arrogance and bullying in markets, behaviors that are self-defeating and that will trigger the darker sides of Oggun-Oshun. It is a warning that betrayals can undo the positive, but that the cost may be felt most acutely by those in the habit of gaining through betrayals and false accusation. The conceptual base is personified in the spirit of the markets and transactional activity, of the union and disunion of creativity, production, and conflict, with passion, fertility and the generation of wealth. Oshun and Shango couple; Oggun and Oshun representing a coupling of energy without union--the balancing of elements that in transactional environments bring balance but which can also unleash passion and destruction.Together with the folk wisdom associated with the oracles, the suggestion is that the old ordering is gone; but the new is not entirely here nor entirely clear. This is the era of the transactional, of business, of markets and wealth and stability through commercial relations; it is not the era of regulation, but wealth is a function of the behaviors of those who engage in its production. But the new ordering has not yet taken firm hold, though its fundamentals were developed in the revolutionary upheavals the resolution of which was made clear in 2025. It is, then, also the era of the enemies of what is coming for 2026. And that is the caution and danger for the year--the likelihood of conflict between what has passed and what is coming, and between the positive of what is coming and its destructive and distorted opposite. Things can go wrong where there are imbalances between transaction and behavior, where there is imbalance between will and ability, and where there is an absence of robust communication and an even greater effort to see things from all sides. War will be its own punishment; and the arrogance and prisons of the past will produce not wealth but penury, false accusation will hurt the accuser and the accused as an element of deceptive or reckless miscommunication. But in all of this there will be much potential for creativity and passion, as well as for destruction and fury. On these choices states, organizations, and societal constructions that are evolving will rise, fall, fail, succeed, or be reshaped into a thing that aligns with the best of things or a noxious distortion of the good: The embrace of Oggun and Oshun can bring great fecundity, creativity, wealth and love, or it can produce the sort of unbalanced totentanz that will take the world down with their destructive and furious embrace
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Letra bantú que regira el año 2026.
Hablo el primer oraculo musundi bantú del mundo.
Para beneficio de cuba y la humanidad
Enunciada el 28 de diciembre de 2025.
Ntanu
Poderes o dioses regentes: nkazuan (lucero, cuatro viento)
Poderes o dioses acompañantes: nsimba (cementerio)
Representa: el craneo del cuerpo humano y el equilibrio.
Precaucion en la nzila: profecia:
Cuidese de los animales, ellos parecen inofencivos pero pueden hacerle daño.tenga cuidado pues lo que coma o haga puede devorarlo a ud.
Algunos actuan mal y otros pagan por eso. Cuidese de las trampas.
Hay personas que caminan de frente y otras de espalda busque la forma que le conviene a ud. Vaya por el camino del bien.
Cuidar su entorno y los semejantes que lo rodean, familiares, amigos y compañias intimas, no se realcione amorosamente con personas casadas, ud puede perder su matrimonio.
Cuidado no vaya a pasar un susto. En esta nzila hay que preguntar que situacion existe con nkazuan. El esta reclamando algo que hay que darle para fortalecerse y poder ayudarlo, el decea que ud le pida y escuchar su voz para tenerlo presente y salvarlo de todas las enfermedades que lo estan asechando, no pude confiarse aunque no se sienta nada.
La enfermedad esta caminando por dentro. Es recomendable que se haga un macuto con el camino de nyendy (coballende) para que lo tenga presente. Este resguardo le puede servir tambien para protegerse de situacion que se interpongan en su camino como desastres naturales que se interpongan durante el desarrollo de la nzila. Debe hacerla urgente para evitar ser dañado, observe de cerca los desastres producidos por nzulu (cielo). Cuidarse de los desastres producidos por nfinda (monte), debe darle de comer, purifica el oxigeno que ud respira, le sirve para construir un hogar, protege a los distintos animales que viven en el y del cual ud se alimenta pero cuando se seca o se incendia producto de los designios de nzulu (cielo) ocacionado por descargas electricas no tendras con que alimentarte ni hacer nzalas.
Hacer la cosas completas. No deje las cosas en el aire.
Estudiar y superarse.
Mucha higiene para evitar enfermedades.
Nkazuan: (asociado a lucero, cuatro viento)
Dios de los vientos y de los puntos cardinales, vive entre la tierra y el cielo. Se comunica directamente con nzambi, es el elegido de nzulu. El cielo lo envia para que observe todo lo que ocurre en el planeta. Tiene el poder de ser un cazador de todo lo que vuela. Cuando tenga un problema y quiera cazar a alguien entregueselo a el y vera el resultado inmediatamente. Si ud tiene que hacer un pacto con algun poder de nzulu (cielo) debe realizarlo a traves de nkazuan que es el indicado para comunicarse con los nkasos (astros). Este genio vive los dias pares en nzulu (cielo) y los nones en ntoto (tierra). Por tanto cuando va hacer una nzala con las fuerzas magicas de nzulu (cielo) o ntoto (tierra) debe realizarla de acuerdo con los dias del ciclo donde rige. Los hijos de este poder tiene la facultad de trabajar con todos los astros del universo. Esta es la nzila de poder y destrono. Nkazuan es el unico dios que tiene dos tronos uno en mpenzo (aire) y otro en ntoto (tierra). Entidad de los vientos y de la tierra.
Nkazuan era dueño de los nueve poderes del mundo y señor de todas las decisiones que venian de nzulu (cielo). Todos estaban subordinados a el, pero los demas genios no estaban de acuerdo con acatar las dispocisiones de nkazuan a pesar que era el vocero de nzambi. Se reunieron y le preguntaron al sistema como podrian librarse de este mandato. Las nzilas mandaron hacer nzalas mbumba ntu nkombo ntoto y encontraron la forma de quitarle los poderes a nkazuan.
Preparaon los nueve mpolos (polvos) del sistema y se los echaron en el camino por donde todos los dias pasaba nkazuan. El se quedo dormido y ellos pudieron robarle ocho poderes dejandole solo el que ellos entendian le correspondia.
Nzambi se entero de lo que habia pasado y se disgusto mucho ya que el habia confiado los poderes a nkazuan, como castigo lo echo del nzulo (cielo) y tuvo que conformarse con vivir entre nzulo (cielo) y ntoto (tierra).
Los hijos de esta nzila deben cuidar muy bien el sistema porque se lo pueden robar y en ocaciones debe ubicarlo cerca del lugar donde duermen. Tenga cuidado donde camina, pueden echarle brujeria. Recuerde lo que le sucedió a nkazuan. No sea confiado.
Sersendamba nkanda. (lechuza)
Representa la frente del ser humano.
Dice el poder que su camino esta regido por la nzila de la noche, los libros y la inteligencia. De la misma forma que la sersenbanda ve y saza en la noche los negocios o acciones que ud emprenda en ese horario seran positivos. La noche para ud es buena para amar y para curar, debe pedirle a los astros y al cielo los deceos que quiere en su vida. Tambien tiene que cuidarse de la noche porque de la misma forma que sirve para salvarle puede hacerle daño, porque en la noche hay amigos y enemigos. La oscuridad es el bien y el mal. No use espejuelos de noche lo pueden confundir con otra persona y hacerle daño. Debe vestir de negro, le traera mucha suerte. No descuidarse puede pasar de cazador a presa. No actuar ni tomar decisiones con la cabeza caliente. Asi sea su actuar sera su futuro.
Apoyarse en los ancestros. Su fondo canasta, fondo canasta principio primero.
Buscar la unidad, no dejarse dividir por chismes.
En la media noche buscar un lugar apropiado ya sea el nzo nganga (casa de la nganga) debajo de una ceiba, en el monte y buscar la conexción con los ancestros y la respuesta a la situación que tengas.
Ndydy matari nkayi (piedra verde)
Poder representado por el puma.
Dice este testigo que no tenga miedo prque es la nzila de la fortuna, del oro, la abundancia, la felicidad, el amor, la estabilidad, etc. La nzila nkayi logra que la persona lo tenga todo siempre y cuando observe las reglas establecidas por los dioses que influyen en su camino. Hagalo todo bien y triunfara. No le decee mal a nadie ni eche maldiciones y sera feliz. Representa vida, vegetacion, sustento. Buscar su potencial, crcer, estudiar y emprender.
Nchuendo (historia)
El rey kuazul habia logrado que su pueblo viviera con todas las comodidades que necesitaba para ser feliz, por esta razon todos lo amaban. Nchambekan que estaba mirando desde el cielo y que pensaba que este rey era bueno porque tenia muchas cosas para dar lo quizo poner a prueba. Provoco que viniera una epidemia y acabara con toos los bienes del rey y del pueblo. El soberano que habia guardado una reserva de comida la repartio entre todos los habitantes evitando asi que el pueblo sufriera esa desgracia. Nchambekan convencido de la bondad del rey le multiplico su fortuna y el pueblo volvio a vivir con mucho mas bienestar, es por eso que dice matari nkayi que no tenga miedo que ud se convertira en una persona muy rica.
Nzala nkombo. (trabajo, obra, ebbo)
Cosntruir una casita de madera en forma de castillo. Buscar un muñequito pequeño que quepa dentro de la casita. Ponerla en el patio de su casa y hacerle una cerca que la rodee de modo que la casita quede dentro.ubicar varios muñequitos en lo que viene siendo el patio de la casita de madera que esto simbolicamente representen un castillo con su pueblo.encienda una vela negra durante nueve dias y rueguele a nchambekan para que pueda triunfar.
De manera obligada sean nuestras primeras palabras un caudal de bendiciones para nuestro amado pueblo de cuba, en especial para los creyentes de todas las tierras religiosas, porque juntos integramos ese poderoso cordon espiritual que une y fortalece, que nos hace inclinar la frente con reverencia y respeto ante nuestros credos.
Que el poder de los ntoukues (que es la ciencia la sabiduria y la filosofia) nos proteja como decimos en digno lenguaje musundi bantu: kobera dian bumbi (en la union y la hermandad esta la fuerza).
Participantes en la prediccion del ntokue mbuhoooma (oraculo bantu)
Jose Andres Knights Rodriguez, presidente de la institución religiosa bantú de cuba, presidente del templo ezinwe arara de cuba, babalorisha, ngangulero.
William oraa sanchez, vicepresidente de relaciones internacionales de la institucion religiosa bantu de cuba, presidente de la asociacion religiosa bantu de la peninsula del sureste de mexico, virrey del cabildo de los musundis de cuba, tatandi bilongo nzi, babalawo, omo oddun, babalorisha, ngangulero.
Frank León Mozo, tatandi bilongo nzi nki, abakua, frank nlá, vicepresidente de liturgia institución religiosa bantú de cuba.
Profesor Julio Cesar Valdez Viera, acesor cultutal de la asocición religiosa bantú-arara de cuba. Tata nganga, master en ciencas y doctorado en ciencias sobre arte de la universidad de artes isa. Miembro de la uneac y la asociación cubana de comunicadores sociales, director de produccion artistico y cinematografico icaic. Iph grado 33 para la republica de cuba.
Yonersi león oro, sacerdotiza yonersi miwa, nzarungamba.
Fabricio adan gallegos, tatankisi, babalosha, awo orunmila, secretario general de la asociación religiosa bantú de la peninsula del sureste de méxico.
Invintados, babalawos, babalorishas, iyalorishas, nganguleros, paleros, espiritistas, aleyos
Bantu letter that will govern the year 2026.
The world's first Musundi Bantu oracle has spoken.
For the benefit of Cuba and humanity.
Announced on December 28, 2025.
Ntanu
Ruling powers or gods: Nkazuan (morning star, four winds)
Accompanying powers or gods: Nsimba (cemetery)
Represents: the skull of the human body and balance.
Caution on the path: prophecy:
Beware of animals; they seem harmless but can harm you. Be careful, because what you eat or do can devour you.
Some act wrongly and others pay for it. Beware of traps.
Some people walk forward and others backward; find the way that suits you. Follow the path of good.
Take care of your surroundings and those around you, family, friends, and intimate companions. Do not have romantic relationships with married people; you could lose your marriage.
Be careful not to get a fright. On this path, you must ask about the situation with Nkazuan. He is demanding something that must be given to him to strengthen him and allow him to help you. He wants you to ask him and hear your voice so that he can be present and save you from all the diseases that are lurking. You cannot be complacent even if you feel nothing.
The disease is spreading internally. It is recommended that you make a protective amulet with the path of Nyendy (Coballende) so that he is present. This protection can also serve to protect you from situations that stand in your way, such as natural disasters that may occur during the development of the path. You must do it urgently to avoid being harmed. Closely observe the disasters caused by Nzulu (sky). Take care of the disasters caused by nfinda (the forest); you must feed it, it purifies the oxygen you breathe, it provides you with materials to build a home, it protects the various animals that live in it and from which you feed yourself, but when it dries up or burns due to the designs of nzulu (the sky) caused by electrical discharges, you will have nothing to eat or to perform rituals.
Do things completely. Don't leave things unfinished.
Study and improve yourself.
Maintain good hygiene to avoid illnesses.
Nkazuan: (associated with the morning star, the four winds)
God of the winds and the cardinal points, he lives between the earth and the sky. He communicates directly with Nzambi, he is the chosen one of Nzulu. The sky sends him to observe everything that happens on the planet. He has the power to be a hunter of everything that flies. When you have a problem and want to hunt someone, entrust it to him and you will see the result immediately. If you have to make a pact with any power of Nzulu (the sky), you must do it through Nkazuan, who is the one designated to communicate with the nkasos (celestial bodies). This spirit lives on even days in Nzulu (the sky) and on odd days in Ntoto (the earth). Therefore, when you are going to perform a ritual with the magical forces of Nzulu (the sky) or Ntoto (the earth), you must perform it according to the days of the cycle where he reigns. The children of this power have the ability to work with all the celestial bodies of the universe. This is the path of power and dethronement. Nkazuan is the only god who has two thrones, one in Mpenzo (the air) and another in Ntoto (the earth). Entity of the winds and the earth.
Nkazuan was the owner of the nine powers of the world and lord of all the decisions that came from Nzulu (the sky). Everyone was subordinate to him, but the other spirits did not agree to obey Nkazuan's orders, even though he was Nzambi's spokesperson. They met and asked the system how they could free themselves from this mandate. The nzilas ordered the creation of nzalas mbumba ntu nkombo ntoto and found a way to strip Nkazuan of his powers.
They prepared the nine mpolos (powders) of the system and scattered them on the path where Nkazuan walked every day. He fell asleep, and they were able to steal eight of his powers, leaving him only the one they believed belonged to him.
Nzambi found out what had happened and was very displeased, since he had entrusted the powers to Nkazuan. As punishment, he banished him from Nzulo (heaven), and Nkazuan had to settle for living between Nzulo (heaven) and Ntoto (earth).
The children of this nzila must take very good care of the system because it can be stolen, and sometimes they should keep it near where they sleep. Be careful where you walk; witchcraft can be cast upon you. Remember what happened to Nkazuan. Do not be overconfident.
Sersendamba nkanda (owl)
Represents the forehead of the human being.
The power says that your path is governed by the path of the night, books, and intelligence. Just as the sersenbanda sees and acts in the night, the businesses or actions you undertake during that time will be positive. The night is good for you for loving and healing; you should ask the stars and the sky for the desires you want in your life. You also have to be careful of the night because just as it can save you, it can also harm you, because in the night there are friends and enemies. Darkness is both good and evil. Do not wear glasses at night; they can confuse you with someone else and cause you harm. You should wear black; it will bring you much luck. Don't let your guard down; you can go from hunter to prey. Do not act or make decisions with a hot head. Your actions will determine your future.
Rely on your ancestors. Your foundation, your first principle.
Seek unity, do not let yourself be divided by gossip.
At midnight, find an appropriate place, whether it's the nzo nganga (house of the nganga), under a ceiba tree, or in the forest, and seek connection with your ancestors and the answer to the situation you are facing.
Ndydy matari nkayi (green stone)
Power represented by the puma.
This witness says not to be afraid because it is the path of fortune, gold, abundance, happiness, love, stability, etc. The nzila nkayi ensures that the person has everything, as long as they observe the rules established by the gods who influence their path. Do everything well and you will triumph. Do not wish harm on anyone or cast curses, and you will be happy. It represents life, vegetation, sustenance. Seek your potential, grow, study, and undertake new ventures.
Nchuendo (story)
King Kuazul had managed to ensure that his people lived with all the comforts they needed to be happy, which is why everyone loved him. Nchambekan, who was watching from heaven and thought that this king was good because he had many things to give, wanted to put him to the test. He caused an epidemic to come and destroy all the king's and the people's possessions. The sovereign, who had kept a reserve of food, distributed it among all the inhabitants, thus preventing the people from suffering this misfortune. Nchambekan, convinced of the king's goodness, multiplied his fortune, and the people once again lived in much greater prosperity. That is why Matari Nkayi says, "Do not be afraid, for you will become a very rich person."
Nzala Nkombo (work, offering, ritual)
Build a small wooden house in the shape of a castle. Find a small doll that fits inside the house. Place it in your yard and build a fence around it so that the house is inside. Place several small dolls in what would be the yard of the wooden house; these symbolically represent a castle with its people. Light a black candle for nine days and pray to Nchambekan so that you may triumph.
Our first words must be a wealth of blessings for our beloved people of Cuba, especially for the believers of all religious traditions, because together we form that powerful spiritual cord that unites and strengthens us, that makes us bow our heads with reverence and respect before our beliefs.
May the power of the Ntoukues (which is science, wisdom, and philosophy) protect us, as we say in the dignified Musundi Bantu language: Kobera Dian Bumbi (in unity and brotherhood there is strength).
Participants in the prediction of the Ntokue Mbuhooma (Bantu oracle):
Jose Andres Knights Rodriguez, President of the Bantu Religious Institution of Cuba, President of the Ezinwe Arara Temple of Cuba, Babalorisha, Ngangulero.
William Oraa Sanchez, Vice President of International Relations of the Bantu Religious Institution of Cuba, President of the Bantu Religious Association of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Viceroy of the Musundis Council of Cuba, Tatandi Bilongo Nzi, Babalawo, Omo Oddun, Babalorisha, Ngangulero. Frank León Mozo, Tatandi Bilongo Nzi Nki, Abakua, Frank Nlá, Vice President of Liturgy of the Bantu religious institution of Cuba.
Professor Julio Cesar Valdez Viera, Cultural Advisor of the Bantu-Arara religious association of Cuba. Tata Nganga, Master of Science and Doctor of Science in Art from the ISA University of Arts. Member of UNEAC and the Cuban Association of Social Communicators, Director of Artistic and Cinematographic Production at ICAIC. IPH Grade 33 for the Republic of Cuba.
Yonersi León Oro, Priestess Yonersi Miwa, Nzarungamba.
Fabricio Adán Gallegos, Tatankisi, Babalosha, Awo Orunmila, General Secretary of the Bantu religious association of the southeastern peninsula of Mexico.
Guests: Babalawos, Babalorishas, Iyalorishas, Nganguleros, Paleros, Spiritists, Aleyos
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