Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> wrote:
>
> > If you think I am kidding, go to
> > http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/91-948.ZO.html and read up on Santeria
> > and the Lukumi Church of Babalu Aye.
> >
> > And do read up on Obatala:
> > http://www.cubanmotives.com/English/...s.asp?listID=8
>
> Thanks for good memories! I took a class taught by the Pichardos back
> when I lived in Miami. For all the exotic weirdness of the religion,
> Ernesto and his wife are nice, down to earth, people. Ernesto can be
> wickedly and self-deprecatingly funny. If you're expecting to find
> sanctimonious seriousness, look elsewhere. These folks are great. Once
> I learned about Santaria, I started seeing signs of it all over Miami.
> Where I used to see a flower arrangement, a glass of water and small
> statue as decorations in a restaurant, I started recognizing offerings
> to an orisha. (When I was up on it, I knew which colors and flowers
> corresponded to which orishas.) A man wearing beads was no longer
> making a fashion statement but was associating himself with an orisha.
> The class gave me a good feeling for how odd every religion looks to
> outsiders.
>
> --Lia

I met the Pichardos once at a conference in FIU. Nice people. I wish I had
taken some of the courses in Afro-Cuban religion, especially one that dealt
directly with santeria, specially sincretismo. But the courses were not
offered every semester or I would have taken my electives in that instead of
beginning anthropology. Interesting also but I really could have used some
info on things that I had been seeing all my life.

Ever walk into a botanica and smell all the different essences with all the
interesting names? They were also associated with orishas. "Seven African
Powers", "Open the Way", the one that smells like orange blossoms, I forget
the name.

There was an interesting program in the local NPR station where they described
all the different rythms played with the drums, each dedicated to a different
orisha. You can hear them in all Caribbean music. They are called "toque de
santo".

I have a recipe for goat ragout (chilindron de chivo) but it calls for a 2
month old goat. Do you think I should post the recipe to keep OT?

Nice meting you!

Bert