42 ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM QUARTERLY 14(2)

KAMBIE SILE CHANGO:IMPRESSIONS OF ANAFRO-CARIBBEANRITUAL

Walter PittsDepartment of Geography and AnthropologyLouisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA 70803

SUMMARY

Chango, the African orisha who, in the westernhemisphere, often masquerades as Santa Barbara,receives the sacrifices prepared by the priestess,Madrina. To the feast, from her home in Cuba,comes Rufina, who possesses Madrina, and in cre-ole Spanish offers counsel to her assembled god-children. Rufina leaves, and, the santo fed, Mad-rina prepares a meal for the human guests. Afterthe last cup of cafe, each departs, nourished in theknowledge that even in Union City, New Jersey,Chango and the family are secure.

THE SETTING

Madrina, whose name in Spanish means "God-mother," directs the three women who have justarrived into her kitchen, quickly taking the bunchesof flowers wrapped in white florist paper out of theirarms and placing them into the sink filled with coldwater. The smell of black beans, frying plantains,and guinea hens covered with ground cumin seedscooking in the oven welcomes the newcomers toMadrina's small kitchen table where the latest gos-sip will unfold over tiny cups of strong cafe cubano."Que barbaridad!" and "No me diga!" she interjectsinto their chatter while stripping the flower stems ofexcess leaves and placing the bunches in separatewhite vases that will eventually be carried down-stairs where the altar is. Giving orders to one ofthe new arrivals to inspect the cooking hens, Mad-rina looks me squarely in the eyes across the table toguess my reactions to—or expectations of—the rit-ual to take place that night. The feast will "feed" hersanto, the Yoruba orisha Chango. Madrina is a spir-itual woman who can read the innermost thoughtsof her ahijados, or "godchildren," so to feign a dis-honest reaction is to risk being caught in a lie. Itell her with the utmost candor that I can musterthat, yes, I am excited and hope that the feast to

the santo will be successful. In all honesty, I amalways excited to come and help Madrina preparefor a feast to the African orisha who often possesstheir followers here in suburban New Jersey, just afifteen minute drive through the Lincoln Tunnel.

On this December evening of 1976,1 too havebrought fresh cut flowers from one of the Cubanflorists lining the main street of Union City, whichmust feel like downtown Havana in the Batistaera, and additional sweetbreads, a large bottle ofperfumed Agua Florida, a larger bottle of rum, andcigars purchased on the same street as the floristin a panaderia, botanica, licoreria, and tabaqueriarespectively. I like to add to the offering to theorisha. With her short, fat fingers—one of which isladen with a ring in the shape of a golden serpentwith emerald eyes—my Godmother beckons me tocarry the now-ready vases of flowers along with abox of variously colored candles downstairs to thealtar room before returning to the kitchen to carrydown bottles of rum, plates, and another box of fineCuban cigars. We are nearing the time of the feast.Several more people arrive and crowd Madrina'ssmall but pleasantly odoriferous kitchen.

The ahijados are distinguishable from the layparticipants, who most likely have come to seekhelp and advice from the powers, by their whiteclothing that covers them from head to foot: whiteturbans or hats, white shirts or blouses, white pantsor skirts, white socks or stockings, and white shoes.These godchildren, who have all been initiated,wear brightly colored beads around their neckssafely tucked away beneath their shirts. Each strandof color represents an orisha and, being sacredto the power, cannot be touched by non-initiates.These collares, as they are called, break the oth-erwise monotonous white, and the number ofdifferent strands indicates the degree of power andsupernatural protection the wearer commands.

On my way downstairs I meet Dania, an ahi-jada, who, telling by her smile, is glad to see an-other helper bearing paraphernalia needed to get theritual underway. A young woman still in her teens,she opens the door to the flower room which is ad-jacent to the laundryroom and directly underneathMadrina's kitchen. Against the muffled footstepsdirectly overhead, I take in the visible, still hum ofthis room vibrating with color. The floor is coveredwith three rows of different kinds of fruit bunchedtogether in nine even piles on the floor. Greenand red plantains, purple eggplants, yellow melons,green pears, red apples, orange oranges, and hairybrown coconuts form separate bundles in front of awhite wool rug atop which rest three empty whiteporcelain bowls that will hold some of the foodMadrina is cooking upstairs. This meal will be anoffering to the orisha. Blue and yellow lace curtains

PITTS 1989 43

mmmsmmmm

tied at the middle with red ribbons drape this smallaltar resting on the floor. Hanging from the ceilingover the center of the altar is an Indian cornstalkand seven ribbons each matching a color of fruit orflower. I deposit the vases along each side of theroom, framing the fruit piles in a floral design muchlike the fruit itself: each vase, as one would expect,holds flowers of the same color. Every color inthe room—red, white, blue, yellow, green, maroon,and brown—has significance in that it representsand pleases each of the seven major orisha.

Having unloaded the flowers, I leave the quietroom, taking one last glance at its spectacularbeauty before proceeding one more flight down-stairs to the very basement to place the candlesfrom my box. Busy with preparing the food, Da-nia left me alone with the chore of arranging thevases, which afforded a welcome moment of re-flection. "I wonder if the santos will be strongtonight? Will they deign to possess me too?" Itis such a distinction to be chosen as a medium ofthe orisha. "Which spirits of the dead, called muer-tos, will visit?" Reaching the lowest landing, I enterthe grand altar room where Roberto, Madrina's hus-band, extends a greasy hand in greeting, the resultof trying to secure an oily metal rack supported bytwo poles in the middle of the room. Although thisis my first time seeing such a contraption in this

room, I know that the rack and the canvas oilclothunderneath it are designed for tying up the she-goatthat will be sacrificed later in the evening.

Unlike the flower room immediately above it,this room contains the main altar and is privatein that only initiates, Madrina, and her clients un-dertaking spiritual "work" are allowed inside. Thehuge altar against the rear wall is the most salientfeature here as it reaches from the floor to theceiling in three tiers. Each tier holds an assort-ment of statues and vivid chromolithographs of Ro-man Catholic saints riding white steeds and slay-ing dragons, walking on crutches amidst a pack ofhounds, and hovering above a small boat of ship-wrecked sailors, or, to me the most beautiful, ablack Madonna with cicatrices scarring an other-wise perfect face framed by an indigo shawl. Sheis the African Santa Barbara de Change

Another tier holds copper and brass bells usedfor calling the orisha, an assortment of coloredcandles, black and white dolls, and stale pastrywhich must have been placed here weeks ago alongwith some horrific remnants of sacrificial food thatis now being consumed by assorted fungi, cock-roaches, small rodents, and ants. It is on this tierthat the Virgin of Mercy, resplendent in white, ex-tends a blessing hand while with the other she holdsaloft a pair of handcuffs. She stands next to a sitting

44 ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM QUARTERLY 14(2)

Indian chief offering a pipe to an invisible guest. Anexemplary piece of tourist art in any other setting,he now exudes ache, that visible animism, or powerfrom God, which seems to shimmer like heat wavesoff of smoldering asphalt.

On the third tier I stare up at porcelain soupdishes that conceal secret fetishes. Among them,with its rooster's head keeping watch, is the perva-sive osun, which contains the fetishes of Osanyin,the orisha of the forest1. Perched above are thefamiliar wooden African statues whose heads bearthe double-headed ax, the emblem of Chango, whileon every tier there are glasses of clear and blue-colored water holding small crucifixes. On the floorto the left stands the rather hefty statue of the oceanpower, Yemanja Olocun, represented by a black-haired mermaid rising out of the sea strewing pearlsin her wake. Because of its size, Madrina can-not place her on a tier but near her altar dedicatedto Chango, the power over fire and thunder. Po-sitioned on the floor diametrically across from themermaid sits powerful Eleggua which, with the helpof a black iron cauldron of "warriors" also stand-ing on the floor, guards Madrina's mighty altar2.Eleggua, that old Trickster god found all over WestAfrica, South America, the Caribbean, and New Or-leans under one name or another, is a grotesquecone of clay with cowrie shell mouth and eyes sit-ting in a terra-cotta flower pot base surrounded by

a moat of honey and rum. How many times in howmany places in both hemispheres must Old Elegguabe approached on Monday with his offerings, suchas tobacco and rum, so that he will open the doorspropitiously to a good week?

Ignoring the complaints coming from Robertowho is still wrestling with the sacrificial rack, Isalute the altar and Madrina's santo hy prostratingmyself on the floor before the icon of Santa Barbara,who is actually the orisha Chango masquerading asthe Catholic saint. I knock three times on the hardcement ground with each elbow, calling out: "Kam-bie sile Chango, kambie sile Chango, kambie sileChango,""Mighty power resides in you, Chango."With each knock, I must roll on one side then theother; so many questions are again running throughmy mind. How much are my actions like thoseof initiates in old Dahomey who also prostratedthemselves before the king as they exited from theircloister to announce their new status as mediums?3

How similar in sound is this kambie sile, belongingto sacred Yoruba, to that glossolalic phrase so oftenheard among black Pentecostal shouters who cry /kama saya! as they enter trance?

Having finished with my dutiful salutation, Istand the candles which I brought from upstairs ontheir ends in front of the altar and quickly turn toleave Roberto and the altar to themselves. As Ihead for the door, I notice black Rufina sitting inher usual child's wicker-bottom chair in the far cor-ner of the room. This evening she is dressed anewin a red and white checkered calico dress, with hugehoop earrings made of gold, and a matching head-dress covering her wooly Afro. Splendid with beadshanging around her neck, she is silently gazing atthe altar with outstretched hands, waiting for thefeast to begin. Rufina is a large doll who symbol-izes the ancestral guardian spirit of a slavewomanof the same name in Cuba who now protects ourgroup of ahijados. Perhaps she will visit us tonight,choosing to cross the balmy sea from her island ca-bana to wintry North Jersey. Who knows?

Back upstairs in the kitchen, someone has ju-diciously put on a Celia Cruz record on which sheis singing in sacred Lucumi, the Yoruba languageas it is called in Cuba, to the santos. Of courseeveryone has heard that this illustrious Cuban en-tertainer is herself a santera, that is, a member likeus, so that her music relaxes as well as prepares thesmall kitchen crowd to begin their descent to thebasement. Transporting the remaining parapherna-lia needed to conduct the feast, all eight of us pro-ceed to the grand altar room to begin the ritual thatwill nourish Chango for another year.

With Madrina leading our group downstairspast the washing machine and the flower roomdoor, we are all chattering about nothing really

PITTS 1989 45

important. Anticipating our arrival, Roberto opensthe squeaky door that allows us to enter the room.Yes, he has finally rigged the rack up in placeand the feast is set to go. Madrina takes her seatin the only chair other than Rufina's to surveythe room and the candles which she bids one ofher godchildren to light; meanwhile the rest of usstand near the altar exhausting what remains oftrivial conversation. Finally taking her cue from theebb of talk, she motions to one of the ahijados toprostrate himself before the altar. Blowing volumesof smoke from her cigar over his supine form,Madrina, with red and blue taffeta panels drapedacross her midsection, begins the ritual in silence.

THE SACRIFICE"Sambia arriba, sambia abajo!" she exclaims whilecontinuing to blow smoke from the cigar which shehas inverted into her mouth. Not knowing Lucumi,I take these words to mean roughly "glory above,glory below" as the phrase is repeated over andover again until, finally, Madrina shouts one lastjSambia! and the prostrated ahijado rises from thefloor to stand with the rest of us. She repeats thesame exercise for two more godchildren to purifytheir bodies before the ritual unfolds.

Next, Madrina sprays the room, the altar withits assorted statues, Rufina, and the crowd of ob-servers with more cigar fumes, Agua Florida, andrum which she spews from an opened Ron Ricobottle. This bath consecrates us for the sacrificesabout to occur. Now standing before the great altarand Santa Barbara, our Godmother offers a greet-ing to all the major orisha in a Lucumi sing-song,calling forth: Eleggua, the Trickster; Yemanja, theocean power; her sister, Ochun, the river power;Obatala, the creator of humankind and guardian ofpeace; Babalu Aiye, the crippled guardian of dis-ease; Oya, the keeper of the cemetery; Ogun, theiron warrior, and, of course, Chango, her protector.

These various powers, with their individualpersonalities, represent the many aspects of God,which the Yoruba call Olodumare. While chantingtheir Lucumi praise-names, Madrina's voice takeson a profound range stretching from the deepestbass to a melodious alto, quivering emotionallythrough her tears. No longer the casual cook talkingto her guests in colloquial Spanish, she has becomethe high priestess of this ancient religion whosemythology derives in part from Pharaonic Egyptand the trans-Sahara caravans that brought it to WestAfrica, somewhat replicating overland the diffusionof Egyptian culture along the Mediterranean coastthat culminated in the founding of classical Greekcivilization (Martin 1987).4 The Atlantic slave tradebrought various forms of old African religions to

the Americas. To Jamaica and Surinam, respec-tively, the West African Asante sent Cumina andKromanti religions. To Haiti, the Fon gave Vodun.The Yoruba gave Santeria to Cuba and Orisha toTrinidad. The Yoruba and Fon together sent BrazilCandomble.

After her greeting to the altar, Madrina turnsto Eleggua by the altar and blows smoke and ruminto his receptacle, speaking to the Trickster also

46 ANTHROPOLOGY & HUMANISM QUARTERLY 14(2)

in Lucumi. Her greeting grows faster and fasteruntil she shouts the final word, ending her praise.Wiping away tears and excess rum from her lips,Madrina turns to Dania, whom I had met previouslycoming out of the flower room, giving her directionsin vernacular Cuban Spanish to prepare a whitechicken for sacrifice. Returning from an outsideroom where the sacrificial animals have been kept,Dania brings in a white hen whose feet and beakhave been washed in cold water for purification.

Speaking again in Lucumi and petitioning Eleg-gua to protect her ahijados while opening the doorsto their good health, peace and spiritual develop-ment, as well as opening the doors to a successfulcontinuation of the other sacrifices to take place,Madrina begins to wring the chicken's neck withboth hands. With a snap, blood pours forth intoa white bowl strategically placed under the flap-ping headless bird. In the bowl are a string ofcollares whose holy beads are "eating" the fowl'sblood which activates their mana.

Having finished the first sacrifice, Madrinamust cast four pieces of coconut on the floor toascertain whether Eleggua has accepted the sacri-fice. Without his approval, the Trickster could con-found the ritual by locking the doors to the otherorisha so that they cannot arrive. Throwing the fourpieces from both hands, Madrina asks aloud, "Is thissacrifice acceptable?" The coconuts fall two on thewhite side, two on the brown hairy side. Elegguais pleased. "Bueno," she says, "coge los pedacitosy no olvides lo que se ha dicho," "Well, gather upthe pieces and don't forget what you've heard."

After the first sacrifice, a brief silence ensueswhile Madrina gives further instructions for dispos-ing of certain objects, moving the chicken carcassto one side, and cleaning up the cigar butt andblood that have splattered onto the floor. Turningto Roberto, she tells him to bring in the she-goat.Dragging the animal onto the rack where he sus-pends it by the hind legs after dousing it with clearwater, he positions the goat's head directly over anempty white bowl. Struggling to free itself with an-gry jolts against the chains, the goat bleats, but itscries are muffled by Madrina's powerful grasp onits jaws. Sudden pangs of guilt and pity for the an-imal, which I knew would surface, stab my chest.Knife in hand, Madrina begins another prayer toChango, making incantations in Lucumi over theanimal whose spirit is being sent thither. She asksagain for health, prosperity, and blessings from theorisha for herself, family, and godchildren.

As she slits the goat's throat, her speech growsfaster and louder with the flow of blood. " Maperafundi ocha [orisha]!" Sudden spurts correlatewith sudden increments of loudness and speed, asour Godmother beseeches the santo to drink theoffering. Occasionally Madrina speaks to the orishaChango in Lucumi during the dying process of thegoat until the last drop of blood has fallen. Whenthis happens, Madrina instructs Dania to place theblood-filled bowl upstairs on the woolen altar in theflower room. The rest of us take part in cleaning upthe blood spatterings before they stain the part ofthe floor not covered by the canvas. Again Madrinathrows the coconuts; again the santo has acceptedthe sacrifice. Two other smaller goats are killed tofeed the orisha, followed by two more divinationswith the coconut slices. All is proceeding well.

POSSESSION

An hour has elapsed since the first goat has beenslain, and we gather around Madrina, who has takenher seat exhausted from work. Either standing orbalancing on our haunches, we have returned tocasual talk finding new topics in the ritual eventsso far. I am waiting for some cue to return upstairsfor the meal which promises to be delicious judgingby the odors drifting downward. All of a sudden,Madrina flings her arms about, spitting out the cigarshe has been smoking, and rocks back and forthintensely in her chair. Her eyes are completely shut,and, sounding like the expulsions from a puncturedtire, she begins hissing. Violently snatching out andthrowing away the combs that have been holdingup her hair, she lets her long black strands fall overshoulders and face, as she claps her hands. No onemisses this cue for a turn of events.

The storm gradually subsides. The dishevelledfigure before us utters, "Lo bueno dia." Her Creole-

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sounding Spanish5 tells us that Rufina has onceagain found her way to Union City. We all chimein "Buenos dias, Rufina," smiling with eagernessto discover what the spirit has to tell us. Cacklingwith ribald laughter, the old slavewoman addresseseach of us as ti ti ya, "little one," as she pokes funat our little secrets and daily events that we thoughtno one else was aware of. Rocking to and fro, notso vehemently now, Rufina dispenses advice aboutour personal problems which we have laid beforeher, or better, which she has revealed, as she drinksan occasional glass of rum. Not everyone under-stands her Spanish, so Dania must translate whenan ahijado presents a questioning face. Holding ourhands in her own, Rufina blows cigar smoke andrum over our appendages before she undertakes tocounsel. With unabashed humor, she refers to taboobody parts and functions to add spice to her words,laughing at her own jokes and our embarrassment.She makes fun of herself at times, referring to Ru-fina as sin verguenza, or "shameless." She becomesvery serious when foretelling approaching dangerthat we mortals cannot see.

Asking for small gifts of food, rum, tobacco, orany trinket as payment for her advice and warnings,she continues her counsel around the room until shespeaks to every participant. After receiving the giftsof payment, Rufina finally bids farewell:

Me voy. Muchio tempo en lo lo piano de laterra.I'm leaving. Long time down here on thisearthly level.

Then with flinging arms and hair, circling body,and hissing, Rufina is gone, demonstrating by hercommotion the difficulty of departing this sphere ofexistence.

THE CLOSEWhen Madrina awakens, she wearily asks for aglass of water. In a fatigued, barely audible voiceshe inquires, "Que paso?" Her tired eyes peer heav-ily through a screen of loose strands of hair. Takinga whole coconut, she smashes it with a hammer ly-ing by for this purpose to cast the pieces as shehas done four times before. This time, however, iswithout much ceremony as she quickly "reads" theaugur and decides that all went well. Gathering her-self up from the chair, she tells us to extinguish thecandles and come upstairs into the kitchen as sheprepares to go there herself. Roberto and severalother ahijados follow her with the goat carcassesas the dead chicken is left in the dark to the santo.In the warm kitchen light Madrina butchers the goatmeat and distributes the pieces to her various god-children to take home and cook. We will all have

plenty of meat for weeks to come. But now we feaston thefrijoles, plantains, and hens that were worthwaiting for. I finish my visit over one more cup ofcafe while waiting for the last bus to Manhattan'sPort Authority. I will sleep well knowing that thesanto and our family of believers are strengthened,renourished, and secure. The universe is in order.Kambie sile Chango.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC POSTSCRIPT

Kambie sile, Chango, according to Jeffrey Beddoe,an Orisha leader in Matura, Trinidad, may have asmany as three interpretations, depending on its ritualoccurrence. One of them is "Welcome, Chango!"which invites Chango to possess the speaker. Thisinterpretation is similar to the black Pentecostalutterance. Likewise, the Spiritual Baptists, anotherAfro-Trinidadian group, shout "Hello!" to greet theHoly Spirit as they enter trance.

Although scholars almost always refer to Afro-Trinidadian religion as Shango, followers use thename Orisha, since Shango is only one orisha inthe pantheon. Even George E. Simpson, one ofthe earliest American ethnologists to study Afro-Trinidadian religious groups, periodically refers tothe Shango religion as orisha (1965, 23-123). Fora discussion of syncretism of West African Yorubaorisha and Roman Catholic saints in the westernhemisphere, see William Bascom (1972); RogerBastide (1971, 152-170, and 1978, 260-284); LydiaCabrera (1980); Joseph Murphy (1988, 116-125).In addition to Yoruba features, and particularly inthe case of Jamaican Cumina, where Asante ele-ments predominate, Afro-Caribbean religions mayinclude Asante and Kongo practices.

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NOTES

1. According to Robert Farris Thompson (1984,42-51), the orisha Osanyin is a power whose devo-tees practice ventriloquism, and his symbol is thebird's head that sits on top of an osun, a metal con-tainer that was originally an inverted cone on thetop of a walking staff. For pictures of a typicalAfro-Cuban osun see, Thompson (1984), p. 49.

2. The "warriors" are manifestations of Ogun,the power over iron and warfare, who appear inan iron cauldron as nails, horseshoes, iron bows,anvils, or any type of iron instrument. For a pic-ture of a typical Afro-Cuban warrior cauldron, seeThompson (1984), p. 54. Likewise, for pictures oftypical Eleggua and double-ax statues of Chango,see Thompson (1984), pp. 23f and pp. 88f, 91, re-spectively.

3. For a description of this West African ini-tiation practice in Dahomey, now the Republic ofBenin, see Rouget (1980), p. 99, and Verger (1957).

4. For a discussion of the transfer of Pharaoniclanguage, including that of sacred mythology, toWest Africa, see Diop (1972). For centuries theSahara was a highway of cultural exchange betweenEgypt and the Sudan and the rest of the Africancontinent; see Diop (1974), Hurriez (1972), and VanSertima (1975, 108-120).

5. Although creolists claim to have no evidenceof Iberian Creoles in the western hemisphere besidesPapiamentu on the Dutch islands of Aruba, Cura-cao, and Bonaire, Bickerton and Escalante (1970)and Lipski (1986) claim to have found traces ofsuch a Creole in Colombian Palenquero and Pana-manian Kongo, respectively. Their findings implythat Spanish Creoles may have been quite commonand had a wide effect on the formation of plantationlanguage in colonies such as Cuba.

REFERENCES

Bascom, William. 1972. Shango in the New World.Occasional Publication of the African and Afro-American Research Institute, n.4. Austin: U. ofTexas.

Bastide, Roger. 1971. African civilizations in theNew World. New York: Harper & Row.

1978. The African religions of Brazil. Balti-more: Johns Hopkin University Press.

Bickerton, Derek, and Aquilas Escalante. 1970.Palenquero: A Spanish-based creole of northernColombia. Lingua 24:254-267.

Cabrera, Lydia. 1980. Yemayay Ochun. New York:Coleccidn del Chicheruku in el Exilio.

Cortez, Julio Garcia. 1971. El santo: La ocha.Miami: Ediciones Universal.

Diop, Cheikh Anta. 1972. Parente genetiquede L'Egyptien pharaonique des langues Negro-Africaines. Dakar: Nouvelle Editions Africaines.

1974. The African origin of civilization. NewYork: L. Hill.

Hurriez, Sayyid. 1972. Afro-Arab relations inthe Sudanese folktale. In African folklore, ed.Richard Dorson. 157-164. Bloomington: Indi-ana University Press.

Lipski, John. 1986. The NegrosCongos of Panama.Journal of Black Studies, 16, no. 4 (June 1986):409-428.

Martin, Bemal. 1987. Black Athena: TheAfroasiastic roots of classical civilization. NewBrunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Murphy, Joseph. 1988. Santeria: An African reli-gion in America. Boston: Beacon.

Rouget, Gilbert. 1980. La transe et la musique.Paris: Gallimard.

Simpson, George E. 1965. The Shango cult inTrinidad. Rio Piedras: University of Puerto RicoInstitute of Caribbean Studies.

Thompson, Robert F. 1984. Flash of the spirit:African & Afro-American art and philosophy.New York: Random House.

Van Sertima, Ivan. 1975. They came before Colum-bus. New York: Random House.

Verger, Pierre. 1957. Notes sur le culte des Or-isha et Vodun. Bulletin de I'lnstitut Francaisd'Afrique Noir (1957):71-108.