The African slaves who arrived in Cuba more than five centuries ago added to the Cuban culture and religion, important elements of worship and tradition.
One of them is included in the practice of the Yoruba religion and is called Ruler Will plow, from Africans belonging to the Ewe, Adjá, and Fong ethnic groups.
They, although they were throughout the country, their cults lasted in the provinces of Havana and Matanzas.
Today the Aará cult It is in force in the Matanzas province, in Cuba.
Magic and worship in the Arará Rule
La Aará Rule, includes the worship of ancestors and folduns or dahomeyan gods (from Dahomey, territory of the ancient kingdom that today is the Republic of Benin), in addition to practicing divination and funeral rites.
Currently, practitioners also use for divinatory rituals, the obbi (coconuts) and diloggún (snails) systems typical of the Rule of Ocha, in addition to prayers, greetings and rituals.
As a hierarchical order in the Ará practice It includes a Babamí or main priest, an Eyalodú or high priestess and the rooster or soloist singer and inspiration for the ritual hymns.
In the city of Matanzas, a traditional place to practice the Aará Rule, coronations or consecrations, parties, divinatory rites, offerings and mourning rites are performed.
Myths of Aará
In the religion of the Will plow, like the Yorubas, they revere the creator of the Universe and the One God whom they call Olodumare.
The god leaves the affairs of the Earth, in charge of the folduns, divinities who work in groups and present an equivalence with the Orishas of the Santeria.
For example, Oggun is similar to Gum in Matanzas and Ajoaggún in Jovellanos and ochosi it is known as Aché, Aggé, Wewé and Aggidai in that western territory.
Shango for his part, he is Jebbioso Aná Ma and Acuoso, which also syncretize with Santa Barbara.
Yemaya in the Aará Rule is Afrekete, Ferekete and Ananú and Oshun It is Foldún Masé in all the Aará temples.
Main Aará temples in the Province of Matanzas, Cuba
When these societies and temples were founded, it was with the objective of sheltering the faith in a space where cultural traditions would endure.
For the Aará, preserving their religion and keeping alive the roots that identified it was necessary, thus the temples that we know to this day were born.
| Temple | Location | Input | Founder |
|---|---|---|---|
| araoko | City of Matanzas | In the XNUMXth century it was represented by Mario Reyes. | House of the old town hall Espiritu Santo |
| Society San Manuel | City of Jovellanos | "Ojundegara" is the name of the Arará dance and musical group that represents them today. | Esteban Baro |
| House of the Zulueta | City of Jovellanos | On the death of Babami Zulueta, the temple house is represented by his children. | Mark Zulueta |
| I will go Amoreyé | Parakeet | Known as the "African Society", its foundation is attributed to a Dahomeyan princess (Florentina) | Ma Florentina Zulueta |
| I will go Moyokán | Cardenas | Created at the “La Verbena” site around 1920. | Wenceslas Campos |
The Will plow and Yoruba
To make it easier to understand we have made a comparison of the deities of the Aará with the Orishas Yorubas.
It is important to know that the names of the «foldune» changes depending on the Arará temple, although they are located mainly in nearby municipalities, such as Jovellanos, Perico and the city of Matanzas, religious practices vary greatly.
| Orishas | Entities of the Aará: Foldunes / Temples |
|---|---|
| Elegua | Afrá Kubije ga, Elewasó and Zaneto (Matanzas) Jurajó Tatuó (Baró in Jovellanos) Topo Yayino (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Jundajó (Parakeet) Afrá (Agramonte) |
| Oggun | Gum (Matanzas) Ajoaggún (Baró in Jovellanos) Oggullé (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Cuacho Cuacoturio or Aladdekó (Parakeet). |
| oshosi | Aché (Matanzas) Aggé (Baró in Jovellanos) Wewé (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Aggidai (Parakeet) |
| Babalu Aye | Stop, Aluá, Asoyín (Matanzas) Aluá, Daluá, Ojundegara (Baró in Jovellanos) Adipreti, Ayáo (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Afrimaye, Alúa (Parakeet) |
| Shango | Jebbioso Aná Ma (Matanzas, Jovellanos and Cárdenas) Watery (Parakeet) |
| Yemaya | Afrekete (Matanzas) Ferekete (Baró in Jovellanos and Perico) Ananú (Zulueta in Jovellanos) |
| Oshun | Foldún Masé (all the Aará temples) |
| Oyá | Odañe (Matanzas) Addañé (Baró in Jovellanos) Yawarinume (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Ayéwe (Parakeet) |
| Oduduwa | Manu-Lisa (Matanzas) Malé-Daluá (Baró in Jovellanos) Malé (Zulueta in Jovellanos) Malé-Juebas (Parakeet) |
| Obatala | Boko and Leborisa (Matanzas) Ajosi (Jovellanos) Somaddone (Parakeet) |
| osain | Sobo (Matanzas) Osain Sebola (Jovellanos and Perico) |
