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 thatavoids the day of death, Lord Almighty save us, mysterious spirit that battles death. Salutation s 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 reairer of bad luck, those who come to you encounter immortality. Lord and undeposable ruler, perfection int he house of wisdom, Lord infinite in knowedge, 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 it is made available to humanity through the channels provided by Ellegua/Esu, the tricky and quite moody divine manifestation of divine spirit of connection, before the work of divination, of connection to the divine, may be commenced.
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
shows a more variegated vigor among Non-Western religious traditions.
These are well known. Yet most of these have sought to marginalize the
great traditions of African religions as a barbaric variant of primitive
idol worship that had been suppressed elsewhere. And yet those
religious traditions remain as vibrant, their theologies as complex, and
their practices as rich as those other religious traditions that have
sought over many centuries to supplant them. 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.
La comunidad yoruba cubana espera ansiosa las revelaciones que transmite
el grupo de Sacerdotes Mayores de Ifá que se reúne el 31 de diciembre
para dar a conocer, cada 1 de enero, la Letra del Año. Esta es la
ceremonia religiosa más importante de Osha Ifá. Comenzó a realizarse en
el siglo XIX, desde entonces los babalawos de diferentes ramas
religiosas se reúnen para entregar las predicciones y cuidados que se
deben tener en cuenta durante el período que se inicia. Los refranes y
recomendaciones que aparecen en la Letra del Año son esenciales para que
los devotos sepan cómo conducirse en aras de vencer los obstáculos en
el año que comienza. Además, es muy importante conocer los orishas que
gobiernan, los signos y ritos asociados a estos.
[The Cuban Yoruba community anxiously awaits the revelations which will
be transmitted by the Principal Sacerdotes of Ifa who met on 31 December
to divine, every 1 January, the Letra del Año. Thsi is the most
important religious ceremony of the Osha Ifa. The practice started in
the 19th century, and from then on the babalowos of the different
branches of the faith would come together to deliver their predictions
and cautions that would to be taken into account during the year. The
various parts of the Letra del Año are essential for those faithful as a
aguide to their conduct in order to overcome the predicted obstacles
and challenges which begin with the new year. At the same time it is
important to recognize the orishas who will govern the temper of the
year as well as their attributes. ] (CiberCuba, Letra del Año 2020 para Cuba)
To
that end, 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. 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)).
The object of the annual letter is to provide guidance for the
nation and its people, as well as more technical advice for the orisha communities of initiates and believers. More specifically it is meant to provide
guidance for faith practitioners otherwise unable to receive more
specific guidance within their own branch.
For the last eight years 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.,
2020;
2019;
2018,
2017,
2016,
2015;
2014;
2013;
2012).
The 2018 Letter was particularly relevant--it stressed that 2018 was to
be the year of great revelations that would begin to have
transformative effects (more here
2018).
The
2019 Letter marked a very odd premonition of rupture. The year was different in another way. For a few hours early on
January 1st, there appeared to be two distinct letters distributed on
the Internet. The first appeared to be the full Letra del Año and was
posted to two web sites, one from Miami and the other from Madrid, but
both with deep connections to the religious community in Cuba. That rupture was realized in 2020, for which the divination suggested the arrival of a fundamental fracture that will be repeated over and over. The Letter for 2021 was highly anticiapted goven the unprecedented challenges of 2020 (
Crecen expectativas sobre el contenido de la Letra del Año 2021).
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.
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El 31 de Diciembre de 2020 se reunieron en la sede de La Institución
Religiosa Asociación Cultural Yoruba de Cuba los miembros de la Comisión
Organizadora de la Letra del Año, integrada por el Consejo de
Sacerdotes Mayores de IFA, el Consejos de Sacerdotes Asesores a los
Mayores, Sacerdotes Jefes de Familia descendientes de las cuatro
vertientes o ramas más importantes de nuestro legado Afrocubano, para
realizar la Ceremonia de Apertura del Año 2021. Presidida como es
habitual por el Sacerdote de Ifá Ángel Custodio (Bebo) Padrón “Awo Baba
Eyiobe” Sacerdote Mayor de Cuba y respaldado por Sacerdotes de IFA de
todas las familias de Cuba y sus descendientes en el Mundo. (
Letra del Año 2021 para Cuba)
The 2021
Letra
(
oddus (the wisdom of the divine passed through
Orunmila the manifestation of such wisdom communication),
patakis (sacred parables passed down through generations of
babaláwos, Ifá practitioners), and ruling manifestations) and
interpretation/suggestions follows, along with the somewhat abbreviated
full predictions and interpretations of the
Yoruba
Cultural Society and the Council of Major Priests of Ifá (with thanks
to IPS CUBA for the images). For this post I include my own interpretation-refection of the 2020 Letra in the form of brief comments on the predominant orishas and on the key
oddus which form the basis of the official divination.
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