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Why is tobacco smoke used to ward off evil spirits?

Protection and purification rituals

The tobacco It has held a unique position in Cuban customs and traditions, the Creoles introduced it to gatherings as a symbol of national pride, tasting its smoke was for them a sublime act of good taste and elegance.

At present, tobacco continues to fill Cuba with greatness with brands such as Cohíba, Partagás, Romeo y Julieta and Montecristo among others that remain in the taste of the national and international market.

In our popular heritage, numerous mythical-religious properties have been attributed to tobacco, not only to the act of wrapping the smoke inside the mouth but also at the moment of releasing it from the palate, it is said that it attracts the spirits that in its incarnation it They tasted, it is common to see it on altars as an offering to deities and loved ones who are no longer among us.

Its consumption in religious rituals such as bembés, coronation of oshas, ​​oaths, astral cleansing, recollections and spiritual masses constitutes one of the key pieces to start any of these ceremonies.

The medium uses it as a vehicle to attract spirits to all those from the Congo, others of a Franciscan tendency and the descendants of the aborigines.

History and use of habano as a magical vehicle in Cuba

Its use dates back before the period of Spanish conquest and colonization that the island suffered. Aborigines are believed to have been the first habitabefore on our island who smoked it. The pictographs found in caves near rivers and lagoons, places where these civilizations settled, attest to the aforementioned.

In the same way, it is known that the shaman, supreme deity within his religious hierarchy and doctor of the tribe, used it to undo hexes and for healing purposes.

Through the smoke of this he invoked the spirits seeking to obtain their benefits and appease their anger through the ritual of the Cohoba, they also used it in their dances, an example of this is in the Areito their ceremonial dance.

The habano was also given to visitors and was used to seal peace agreements between neighboring settlements. The Spanish discovered it in Cuba and spread it on other continents.

Tobacco in indigenous tribes in America

Literatures collect the pipe as a means to smoke tobacco, which was used not only by the aborigines, misnamed Cuban Indians, but also by tribes originating from North and South America.

The Mayans and Aztecs used it in their ceremonies.

The Mayans considered shooting stars the incandescent ashes of the same, thunder was the noise of the rocks with which they lit it, the spark that made it burn was considered lightning, while they identified the smoke with the clouds present in the sky .

The Caribbean Indians used the leaves of the plant as a hallucinogenic drug to enter a trance and communicate with their deities.

Rituals of protection and purification with tobacco smoke  

The well-known phrase "Blow out smoke so that the bad comes out" accompaña to all the religious of Cuba and the world, being one of the most used and well-known rituals that of spreading tobacco smoke in the corners of the house in order to ward off evil spirits and negative influences that may be tormenting the inhabitants of the house. living place.

Smoke is credited with the faculties of attracting good fortune and not only material but also astral development.

This is used to make offal and cross children and the needy with basil, a powerful herb widely used for spells in the Yoruba Pantheon.

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