Dream Variants
Variations on a theme
Monday, March 18, 2024
Mestizos and Zambos of San Juan de la Maguana
Sunday, March 17, 2024
Muisca, Nicarago and Taino Cacicazgos
Francisco Moscoso's Cacicazgos en el caribe y continente americano was something of a disappointment. We were hoping for a detailed comparative analysis of the cacicazgo among the Taino, Muisca and Nicarao but the chapters were too brief to flesh out a full analysis. This is no surprise, since the book was part of a chapter of a UNESCO General History of the Caribbean series. However, we still hoped for something new or deeper here. For those who have already read Moscoso's work on the Taino chiefdoms or his work on precolonial Nicaragua, this study basically restates the general proposition of the cacicazo as a state of political development somewhere between the tribe and the state. In general, all three of the highlighted indigenous civilizations here were somewhat similar in that all developed systems of tribute, caciques, some degree of stratification, and a form of production beyond that of bands. Assuming one shares his view on the historical stages of production societies undergo, Muisca, Nicarao and Taino are all similar. However, the Nicarao case does seem to be, in part, a product of ancient Mesoamerican migrations and cultural influences which might explain some of the features of the Nicarao civilization. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize and study the specific transitional state of development represented by the cacicazgo. As something akin to an incipient state, elucidating its origins could shed light on the process of state formation elsewhere.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Espiritismo and Puerto Ricans in NYC
Jose Morales-Dorta's Puerto Rican Espiritismo: Religion and Psychotherapy is a study of Espiritismo's appeal among poor and working-class Puerto Ricans in New York City. Relying on surveys, observation of Espiritismo centros and statistics and studies of the low status, marginalization and impoverished conditions of Puerto Rican life in NYC, Morales-Dorta's sympathetic portrayal of Espiritismo stresses its positive relationship on mental and physical health. Unlike the institutions offering care to those in need of psychotherapy, which often were disconnected to Puerto Rican communities, alienating and lacking Spanish-speaking social workers, therapists or doctors, Espiritismo centros featured members of the community who drew from long-standing traditions of spirits as the cause of ailments, methods to invoke spirits through mediums, and healing practices from herbal remedies and spiritual intervention. The Puerto Rican seeking aid for ailments both physical or mental could find a supportive community which used action via mediums and spirit possessions as psychodrama that allowed the "patient" a space for the expression of emotions. This exteriorization of the patient's psychological woes in the environment of a centro reminds one of certain Haitian interpretations of Vodou, too.
However, our main purpose in reading Morales-Dorta was for insights on the indigenous influences in Puerto Rican Espiritismo. According to him, statues of Indians are common at centros. In addition, Indian and African spirits were predominant among Cuban and Puerto Rican mediums. Indian spirits were associated with a high spiritual level, too. In addition, some of the healing practices do, vaguely, recall Taino or indigenous Caribbean shamanistic practices. However, since Espiritismo clearly owes at least some of its terminology to Kardec and has undeniably incorporated the Bible, Christianity and African influences, the Taino legacy is not always so clear. In order to truly elucidate the depth of Taino influence in Puerto Rican Espiritismo, one must dig deeper into the history of Taino religion, Puerto Rican folk healing, and the "Creolization" of Espiritismo in Puerto Rico. Nonetheless, this brief study, too brief for a proper analysis of this topic, does point strongly to some Taino influence. As of now, it seems less obvious than that of the ceremonia del cordon in Cuba.
Friday, March 15, 2024
Oswald Durand's Le Vaudoux
Thursday, March 14, 2024
A Jesuit and the Caribs
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
3 Dominicans, a Puerto Rican and Vodou
A ¡os amigos Domingo Russo y
Ventura Silverio, Ciudad.
Cumplíendo con sus deberes
La señora policía,
Ayer como a mediodía
Sorprendió cuatro mujeres
Que bailaban con placeres
El judú con un haitiano
Que también le echaron mano
Y lo tienen en chirona,
Porque esa buena persona
Del judú es buen hermano.
En la calle ‘Santa Ana”
Allí fué la fiesta armada,
Pero que a puerta cerrada
Celebraban su bacana.
Y como costumbre haitiana
El baile tuvo lugar,
Delante de un altar
Cubierto de lamparitas,
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(1) A última hora hemos sabido que
el baile judú tuvo lugar en la calle de
la “Victoria” y no en la de “Santa Ana”.
Con siete mechas toditas
Para más iluminar.
Y unos infelices santos
En dicho altar se encontraban,
Y aquel baile presenciaban
Sin cubrirlos con sus mantos.
Y al son del tambor y cantos,
Bailarinas y gazones
Hacían miles contorsiones
Pero el chans, o proserpina~,
Atacó a una bailarina
Con muy crueles convulsiones.
También en aquel altar
Había un plátano asadó,
Maíz y maní tostado,
Pimienta y sal de la mar.
Y en ese mismo lugar
Encontró la policía,
Una lata que tenía
Agua verde y tan hedionda,
Que con repugnancia honda
El público la veía.
Entre dichas bailarinas
Había tres dominicanas,
Fragatas de cuatro andanas,
Y con buenas culebrinas.
La otra es de las vecinas
De la tierra borinqueña,
Corbeta puertorriqueña
De cien cañones por banda
Que por estos trigos anda
Alegre y siempre risueña.
El gran musié del judú
O ya sea el gran papá,
Es un tal musié Grambuá,
De la societé D’Otrú.
Pájaro muy lugarú
Y gran profesor haitiano,
De ese fandango africano
Que se nos mete de lleno;
Y si no hay Gobierno bueno
Adiós pueblo quisqueyano!
Al fin comeremos gente, si Dios no
mete su mano.
Santiago, Julio 30 de 1904.