Yesterday the group piled (literally) into a van taxi and headed across Havana to the house of Profe's madrina in Cayo Hueso. It was here that we attended our first Santeria tambor. As soon as we disentangled ourselves and stepped onto the muddy cracked streets, we could hear the pulsing beats of the drums coming from the house. We were greeted with cheek kisses and welcomed into the home. We entered into a large living room with tile floors and high ceilings, a couple rocking chairs, a painting of Jesus hanging on the wall, and a large alter for the Orisha Yemaya. The tambor, which is a Santeria ritual in honor of an orisha , sometimes used as an initiation, was for our Professor who was recieving his maternal orisha, Yemaya. Orishas can be related to the Christian saints and each represent an aspect of life or earth. They are seen as a type of guardian angel in the Santeria faith.Yemaya is seen as the mother of all things and the goddess of the ocean. Her alter was decorated with the colors blue and white and an assortment of images and items associated with the ocean.
There were quite a few santeros that had dropped by for the tambor. There were three drummers lined up on one side of the room playing drums unlike any drums I had seen before. They were large and natural, each decorated for the event. They were very powerful and are considered sacred and treated like human beings. Their deep sounds combined with the Yoruba chants provided the beat of the afternoon, the heartbeat of the faith in the santeros, the rhythm to the dance, and the soundtrack to spiritual possession. I had a moment when I just could not believe that I was there, experiencing the possession of one of the santeros by the orisha Yemaya, and witnessing this religious ritual that is uniquely Cuban or Afrocuban, depending on how you look at it. It was unlike anything I had experienced and therefore I will never forget it. Although we were outsiders and got strange looks as we stood along the wall and watched the ceremony instead of participating, it felt like an awkward rite of passage into our new Cuban life.
There were quite a few santeros that had dropped by for the tambor. There were three drummers lined up on one side of the room playing drums unlike any drums I had seen before. They were large and natural, each decorated for the event. They were very powerful and are considered sacred and treated like human beings. Their deep sounds combined with the Yoruba chants provided the beat of the afternoon, the heartbeat of the faith in the santeros, the rhythm to the dance, and the soundtrack to spiritual possession. I had a moment when I just could not believe that I was there, experiencing the possession of one of the santeros by the orisha Yemaya, and witnessing this religious ritual that is uniquely Cuban or Afrocuban, depending on how you look at it. It was unlike anything I had experienced and therefore I will never forget it. Although we were outsiders and got strange looks as we stood along the wall and watched the ceremony instead of participating, it felt like an awkward rite of passage into our new Cuban life.
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