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African religions

Parallel to the cultural development of saccharocrats and merchants, in the sugar mills of the region the endowments of Africans _ 33 699 slaves in 1855 _, mainly of Yoruba, Congo and Gangá origin, preserved their customs, traditions and religious beliefs. The fusion of their millennial cults with the Catholicism imposed by their masters, allowed the birth of a religious syncretism, called today Cuban religions of African origin. The bembé has been since then the most popular and preferred festival by practitioners of Santeria or Regla de Ocha.

The most important festivals of local Santeria and that demonstrate the presence of religious syncretism are: Santa Bárbara (Changó) on December 4; San Lázaro (Babalú Ayé) on December 17; Virgen de Regla (Yemayá) on September 7; Virgin of Charity of El Cobre (Ochún) on September 8; Santa Teresa de Jesús (Oyá) on October 15 and others celebrate it on February 2, which is the day of the Virgin of La Candelaria; Elegguá is celebrated as San Roque on August 16, San Antonio on June 13 or San Pablo on June 29; while Oggún is celebrated here generally on June 24, the day of San Juan Bautista.

The municipality has 25 temple houses, of which 17 are traditional temple houses (3 in the CHU) and 8 popular temple houses (2 in the CHU). In them the orishas of the Yoruba pantheon are worshiped, or the palo de monte and spiritism are practiced, while one worships San Fan Con.

The Mexico sugar mill has the best preserved heritage in the municipality with 4 temple houses (two to Oggún and one per capita to Elegguá and Yemayá), 9 seats of orichas, the use of hairstyles and sayings of their ancestors, and traditional dishes. On October 23 and 24, Elegguá, saint protector of the workers at the plant, is worshiped, who put herbal water inside a basin so that the factory, the main economic support of the families, grinds well and tragic events do not occur work accidents.

In the old central Santa Rita de Baró, today René Fraga, hundreds of residents carry out the ritual of the Oggún Onile oricha each year before starting the sugar harvest. It receives a touch with güiro, tumbadora and guataca, and a goat and several roosters are sacrificed; all with the intention that this deity also protects workers during the harvest period.

The best parties in Cuba for the African patron saint were held by the societies, councils and casinos of the Congo in Colón, which disappeared during the 20th century for unclear reasons. There they danced the bembé and the makuta, the men wearing cat fur and bells attached to the waist, while the women wore colored scarves. The drums used were made of wood and ox leather, and were named: caller, hookah, tumbler and box, like the yuka drums. The meals consisted of congrí, mutton, vegetables and brandy was drunk.

As part of religious syncretism, the Chinese residing in Cuba contributed the belief in San Fan Con, a holy warrior who is equated with Santa Bárbara and Changó. The most deeply held belief in San Fan is held by the people of Banagüises, since there is an ancient image of the saint (painted on paper), and to which every June 13 a ritual is performed to apply its miraculous power to children and pregnant.

Colón has two folkloric groups that carry: Iyaguaré Ochún, founded in 1980 by Reynaldo Cazañas Santiuste (Rey), closely linked to the activities of the Casa de Cultura de Banagüises, religious rituals and cultural events of African descent, which have made him worthy of the Prize. National Community Culture in group work; and the group carrying the Mexico batey, Omó Layé, linked to the Yemayá temple house led by Marina de las Nieves Zulueta (Marinita), and made up of children and adolescents who represent in their songs and dances the major orichas of the Yoruba pantheon. It also has a Yoruba Cultural Society, the result of the strong presence of this African cultural system in our settlers, and a source of research for Dr. Rogelio Martínez Furé and other scholars of the black legacy in culture and national history.

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