A group of Cuban santeria priests prophesy for 2021 “a firm and secure health good,” as well as an increase in natural disasters, migratory flow, political tensions and criminal acts in the world, among the predictions of their traditional “Letter of the Year”.
The message, written by babalawos (priests of Ifa or santeria) members of the Yoruba Association of Cuba, contains a series of predictions and advice for the new year awaited by many believers of Afro-Cuban and curious religions who consult them mainly in through social media.
Due to the health emergency caused by the pandemic of the contagious coronavirus, in the ceremonies to elaborate the “Letter of the Year” only a number of priests was summoned that did not exceed the hundred, according to the Association headquartered in Havana.
Regent deities, alerts and advice
In 2021 will rule the powerful deity Olokun, queen of the oceans and related to death that provides health, prosperity and material evolution and is considered among the most mysterious of the Yoruba pantheon.
His companion will be Ochún, 1 orisha that syncretizes with the Virgin of the Charity of Copper, the employer of Cuba by the catholic religion, and that for santeria represents the queen of the fresh waters, the streams, sources and rivers , and the personification of love and fertility.
The text of the “Letter,” based on a divinatory system of Afro-Cuban cults, warns of the rise of infectious, gastrointestinal, and nervous system diseases.
In the social order, it also warns of increases in issues such as political, social and religious tensions that can lead to conflict, criminal acts, deaths due to illegal emigration, territorial, legal and sexual violations, and false consecrations and religious desecrations.
In his list of recommendations the priests of Ifa call on world society to analyze the high level of corruption existing in all spheres, and families to instill “respect, education and love” for work.
Their designs also advise maintaining the established hygienic-sanitary measures, respecting the laws of each country to avoid problems with justice, or elevating domestic economic planning.
For more than three decades, the priests of the santería of the island meet in December to define in the “Letter of the Year” the guidelines that will govern the coming year and to advise to the population, mainly before the evils auguris.
The Afro-Cuban religion, one of the most widely practiced syncretic cults in Cuba, came to the island with African slaves in the late 18th century and has been passed down through generations by oral tradition.
Prayers, rituals, spells, dance, music and sacrifices are part of the religious legacy, which has in divination one of its main components.