Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre: A Good Example of Syncretism

The slave trade brought thousands of Africans to Cuba, among which the Yoruba people, the biggest ethnic population in the area that is called as Nigeria and Benin today, constituted the biggest part. These slaves of Yoruba origin were called Lucumí in Cuba, perhaps due to the mistaken belief that they all belonged to Ulkumí tribe, or because they were addressing each other as “Oluku Mi = my friend”. Although most of the African slaves were forced to be converted to Catholics in Cuba, many of them continued to practice their native religions at the same time. Santería was the most common native religion among the black slaves because of the preponderance of the Yoruba people. The religion Santería is termed preferably as Regla de Ocha (Rules of Ocha) or the Lucumí religion because of the negative connotations attached to the Santería. Santería means in Spanish as the devotion to the saints (santos).

Practitioners of Regla de Ocha may attend the Catholic Masses and baptize their children as Catholic, while they practice their religion in their homes or temples in a concordant way at the same time. Even though they know that the Catholic saints are different from the Lucumí Orichás, they find similarities between them, instead of highlighting the differences. They don’t see any problem in keeping the statue of Virgen de la Caridad on a Lucumí altar, because they accept it as another way of representing Oshún, the Queen of the Rivers in the Santería religion. It is inappropriate to say that two religions are blended into one; in fact, two religious systems continue parallel to each other in the life of the Afro-Cuban people that don’t see any paradox between them. This is what we call as religious syncretism.

In the Lucumí religion there is one God, but he has three different manifestations, called by different names: Olodumare, Olofi, and Olorun. Olodumare is above all; he is the father that created all that what exist in the universe. Olorun is the other manifestation of God that is visible to humans as the sun. He is also the owner of the heaven, known as Orun. The third manifestation of God, Olofi, is the one that communicates directly with the Orichás that are the intermediaries between the humans and the God and teach them about that what the humans need to lead a healthy and respectful life on the earth. The Orichás have the responsibility to take care of the humans and to inform Olofi about their actions. They receive aché from Olofi and they use this spiritual energy to maintain harmony on the world. Basically, aché is identified as ​​power or energy possessed by all people and objects of the nature, and that can be transmitted from one to another by the magical intervention of an Orichá. Practitioners wish to acquire more aché and to maintain it that will provide them a good life and the possibility to evolve as humans. In the Cuban Santería tradition, it is believed that all kind of plants and trees are especially loaded with the magical energy; that is why fruits are used very common in the rites of the practitioners of the Santería religion. Most of the Orichás live in the human form and gain semi-divine status after the death. Any practioner of Santería is devoted to its Orichá that the Santero or Santera has chosen in a ceremony. They worship to their Orichás, but they never place the Orichás above Olodumare.

According to the patakís (sacred stories), when Olodumare finished creating the world and contemplated his work, he noticed that two things were missing that would make the life worth to live. These were love and sweetness; thus, he created Ochún, the youngest Orichá. Ochún, the Orichá of love, has seductive and sensual power of a female. Ochún, being the most beautiful one among the female Orichás, can overcome any difficulty by using her female sweetness in any instance, when the other Orichás fail. She is vivacious, charming, and glorious. Her provocative laugh and graceful dance, combined with her voluptuous body that suggest eroticism and fertility, grants her a power that can bring down all the resistance of her enemies.

Ochún rules over the rivers and her older sister Yemayá the oceans. They often work together, especially in the issues related to romance, marriage, and motherhood. The compassionate Yemayá is a mature, motherly type that cares for the children and protects the babies during the pregnancy. The seductive and sensual Ochún inspires sexual activity and love, promoting fertility, but when her function is finished, she usually hands over the baby to her benevolent sister Yemayá that will rear the baby.

Ochún likes silk cloth, perfume (particularly vetiver and sandalwood), mirrors and jewelry (particularly coral, amber, and gold). She wears a golden bracelet that jingles seductively when her hand moves. Her sacred necklace, eleke, consist of five yellow beads, alternating with amber colored beads. She likes to wear a dress in long yellow satin, cinched tightly at her waist, sometimes with tinkling bells at the hem. Her favorite flower is sunflower. Her favorite colors are yellow and gold. Her favorite food is honey. Her day of week is Saturday, and her number is 5 (and multiplies of 5).

There are many patakís about Ochún.  According to one of them, Ochún flew to heaven in the form of a peacock to talk to Olofi about a problem of the Orichás. As she came closer to the sun, her feathers burnt out and became charred, so that she lost her beauty. When Olofi saw her, she no longer looked like a peacock, but resembled a vulture instead. Olofi was influenced by the braveness and the self-sacrifice of Ochún, as every Orichá knew Olorún (the sun) would burn them out, so that nobody would have the courage to do the same. Olofi rewarded Ochún by making her one of his favorite Orichás. Thenceforth, both peacock and vulture became the symbols of Ochún.

During the colonial times the African slaves worshiped their Gods through the Saints of the Catholic Church and concealed their religion Santería to avoid any persecution. This was a protection reflex due to the negative social stigma attached to the Afro-Cuban culture in general. They masked the cult of Orichás by making the Spaniards think that they believed in their Saints; thus, they could maintain their religion. Santería survived as an oral tradition, transferred from one generation to the next one. The Afro-Cuban people could do their dances and songs, and the Spaniards couldn’t find out any harm in these activities. By passing of the time, the ceremonies of the Afro-Cuban population created a tightly bound community.

El Cobre was the first place where the slaves were freed 80 years earlier than in the rest of the island. This event was associated with the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. The Afro-Cuban population in this area quickly identified the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre that had a Mestiza face, with Ochún in the Santería religion. In the 19th century, along with the spread of the devotion to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre throughout the island, the identification process of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre with Ochún was accelerated among the Afro-Cuban population. As the consequence of this religious syncretism, over the centuries Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre became a symbol of the Cuban. This is the reason why the Cubans esteem her and celebrate her feast day of September 8 as a major holiday. The syncretism of Ochún with the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, the patroness of Cuba, gained strength after the revolution. Today it is common to see people in the Cuban Catholic Churches that wear the necklaces and other symbols of Santería. Unlike other nations, in Cuba a single Virgin is worshiped massively: the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. Even those that identify themselves as Catholics, venerate her that is dressed in yellow, with the color of Oshún, and bring sunflowers and flowers of that color to her; a tradition that is also associated with Afro-Cuban cults. The Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre is the synthesis of the Cuban nation, and its symbolic value is beyond her religious importance. As it is argued, statistics suggest that in Cuba as much as 80% of the population has some link to Santería. These people of all races, socio-economic backgrounds, and educational levels, are using the motives of the Lucumi religion.