Tag Archives: Living with the orisha

Living With The Orisha Aganjú

(author unknown)

A serene and quiet atmosphere enveloped the evening when the Diaspora Cultural Center presented the Living with the Orishas roundtable focused on Aganjú. The Master of Ceremonies for the event was DCC President Miguel Ramos. He introduced the three panelists:

Jose Travieso, Maggie Acosta, and Emy Martínez. Each had taken a different direction in their journey toward initiation, but the depth of their feelings about their relationship with Aganjú was identically profound. Continue reading →

Living With the Orisha: Ogún

contibution by Delma Rodríguez

In July 2007, the Diaspora Cultural Center presented its roundtable series “Living with the Orishas” with a focus on the Lukumí orisha Ogún. The discussion for the warrior orisha associated with metals and hard work, had a unique setting. Due to unexpected complications that arose at the spur of the moment, for this mighty orisha we had one panelist, Cameau Paul, who had been ordained to Ogún in 2005. And he represented his orisha by handling this situation with character and class. Continue reading →

Living With The Orisha: Yemojá

contribution by Pedro Bonetti

This remains one of the liveliest of the roundtables. All the panelists seemed relaxed, and though they claimed they were nervous, they all seemed to want to talk about their experiences with Yemojá.

The panelists were Valerie Forbes, Bárbara Gutiérrez, Ezequiel González, Poppy Cioffi and his godson Reinol Montes De Oca. Ms. Forbes is originally from Jamaica, while the remainder of the panel were either Cuban-born or Cuban-Americans. Continue reading →