Jeffery Gonzalez’s rebuttal

Mr. Carrazana:

After reading your response to the accord by South Florida Oriates, I was compelled to address several points in your post I find questionable and unfounded. In the light of full disclosure, I am one of Willie Ramos’ godsons. Let me start by establishing some common ground on what is a religion.

Religion

For ease of use, I am going to refer to the definition of religion from Wikipedia “Religion (from Latin religio, “reverence for the gods”, “piety”, possibly related to religare, “to bind”[1]) is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or more in general a set of beliefs explaining the existence of and giving meaning to the universe, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs”. I could have referred to a wealth of sociologist and anthropologist like Durkheim, Bascom, Herskovits, and Clifford Geertz, but I chose something easy for anyone to reference.

Discrimination

Honestly, to bring up the race card is dishonest and disrespectful. Firstly, the accord was signed by Obas from different ethnicities– “white” Cubans, Afro-Cubans, Americans, and several other ethnicities. It was not driven by any particular racial slant as you falsely insist. Secondly, Ifatokun Awolola—Charles Stewart—is Afro-Anglo-Dominican; you are a white Cuban; Radames is Afro-Cuban, and the priests who underwent the ceremonies are of Cuban and Hispanic descent. As far as I can tell, the only Yoruba who could entertain such a conversation of discrimination would be the Yeye Oshun of Lagos, and no one has seen any posts from her. For that matter, I have not seen any posts from Yoruba (of Yoruba Ethnicity) Orisha worshipers in the US or in Nigeria.

Economic Interest

Your statement about “self economic interest ” is unfounded and pure speculation on your part. Additionally, it distorts the facts. The problem began with certain ordinations (defined as such by Mr. Stewart). Not hundreds.

Additionally, your inference to Oba Willie Ramos profiting from selling Ori and Oshumare begs the question, “Do you manage Willie Ramos’ finances to be able to “conclude” that he has profited from these orishas or any other religious activity?

Additionally, I would like to re-address the monetary issue from another perspective. I had the opportunity to visit with the Yeye at Charles’ house before these incidents occurred. This is not the first time I have met with traditional Yoruba–Many years ago, in the mid-1990s, the Apena of Ife had dinner at my house here in Miami. The late Olabisi Komolafe, a great friend, cooked Yoruba food for us and my grandmother cooked Cuban food.

On the night that I visited Charles and the Yeye, we spent the time talking Orisha and discussing the importance of mutual respect. During our conversation, the Yeye shared with us how she supported a large group of orphans back home—a very honorable act on her part. But, at the same time, she clearly stated to us that she needed to take home “a lot” of money to support herself and her children. I bring this up as an example of how monetary conversations can be distorted to support any case of economic abuse in Orisha traditions. This begs the question: Were her intentions in prescribing and directing these rituals any more or any less influenced by the economic needs for her orphans?

Expulsion

First, Article VI makes to reference to rituals. It specifically states that if you are ordained in the YTR in question, you have proclaimed your faith in the tenets of that tradition. This is nothing new. It is an act of conversion. This occurs daily as people find inspiration and hope in other forms of religious expression.

As examples, if you recite the Islamic profession of faith in the presence of two witnesses you are Muslim: it doesn’t matter what your belief system was before. If you are a Roman Catholic priest and choose to leave the Church to join the Episcopal Church, while you carry your initial Catholic ceremonies, you must proceed through the established religious protocol and confirm your initiation status as a priest in your new faith. However, you cannot return to officiate a mass in the Roman Catholic Church.

Here is where the “times are changing.” Orisha worshipers around the globe have never clearly defined how the different practices and protocols for worship will or may work together. We discuss the Lukumi tradition, the Candomble tradition (which includes many variations), the Trinidad Orisha tradition, the Vodun tradition in Haiti etc., etc. But, in fact, each of these traditions has an established protocol, a hierarchy, and a method of worship. While we all worship orisha, we do not do so in the same way. Our beliefs, sacred spaces and world-views are different. Perhaps these are the growing pains of becoming a world-religion.

We do have examples from other world religions to consider. Let us take the example of the Sunni and the Shiites, both Muslims, but they disagree on rights of succession and protocol. The entire Protestant Reformation is the history of a schism with the Roman Catholic Church. Today, the issue of ordaining gay men and women is further dividing Protestant churches—consider the recent declarations by ECLA.

The history of Catholic churches in communion with the Roman Catholic Church like the Melkites is an example of groups that agree theologically but differ liturgically. The list of examples goes on and on.

In reference to the branch smacking the tree comment, I again make reference to the various religions that have disparate forms of worship. I wonder if a Jewish Rabbi would make the same comment about Christianity or Islam or if the Pope would refer to the various forms of Protestant worship as smacking branches in relation to worshiping Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, your statements only speak to arrogance, alleged superiority, resentment and discord.

As I stated early, what I find interesting is the lack of Yoruba voices in this conversation. I have been fortunate to interact with many Yoruba in the United States—talking culture, language and religion. Unfortunately, the greater majority of them are Muslim or Christian.

I would be interested in what research method you and others used to determine that the Lukumi ceremony is or is not from Oyo royalty. On numerous occasions the root of the kari-ocha ceremony has been discussed with scholars and practitioners. The origin of the current initiation ceremony is certainly a structure determined “appropriate” by the very African ancestors you mentioned earlier.

The reality of these conversations is clear: the Lukumi have an established religious protocol, and those practitioners who believe in, accept, and practice within that protocol are uniting through free association and defining the boarders of our religious community. This accord does NOT in any way question the validity of any other tradition, manifestation or religious community. On the contrary, it recognizes the right and religious significance of others to initiate their community as established by their faith, practices and protocols.

Other Orisha Traditions

First, the accord is silent on the issue of rituals from other Diaspora traditions. It does not condone or prohibit such actions. The council did not consider this issue worthy of addressing at the moment because the South Florida Lukumi community is not experiencing discord with other Diaspora traditions. If such conditions arise, the council may choose to address them at that time.

Maria of Oxala

In the light of full disclosure, I have known Maria de Oxala since 1998, and she and I are personal friends. In response to your comment about Maria de Oxala, while the question is valid for Lukumi practitioners to discuss, it is not within the scope of other traditions to question the action of Lukumi priests. Clearly, as Americans we have the freedom to have an opinion on anything we consider of interest. However, that is a far cry from questioning the position of another tradition’s religious elders. Additionally, the religious exchange with Maria was one of parallelism, mutual respect and unity.

African Deities

The Oriates participating in the council recognize the West African origin of the Lukumi tradition. But keep in mind, that our ancestors did not live in a unified Yorubaland—they were Oyo, Egbado, Iyesa, Egba. Our Lukumi ancestors arrived as slaves before the different ethnic groups were united and identified under the Hausa word “Yoruba.” Also worthy of noting is how the different dialects were unified under the Oyo dialect by the creation of the first written Yoruba language, under the influence of Saro returnees already converted to Christianity. All of this occurred after the arrival of our Lukumi ancestors to the Diaspora. We do not ignore nor disparage the origin of our tradition: it is West Africa—the area currently called Yorubaland. However, you make reference to the origin of our religion as if the Lukumi chose to deny the ancestral home of Orisha worshipers. This is just not true and another example of your incendiary writing.

Let us consider other world religions—the origin of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is in the Middle East; no one would deny the importance of Jerusalem, or Bethlehem or Mecca. However, each of the three great religions has various forms of ritual observances and expressions that are manifested and performed within their own sacred spaces and do not intrude or question the ritual space of others. Each of these world religions has billion of adherents who have never been able to visit Mecca or Jerusalem or Rome. Does this make them any less devout? Or their religious experience any less valid?

Elders

As far as I can tell, each tradition has its protocol for elder recognition. As an oral tradition, Orisha worship has numerous forms of expression within Yorubaland and in the Diaspora that differ. I believe your comment about Oriates being “self-proclaimed” is inaccurate. Any Lukumi practitioner will clarify for you that the Oriate is the master of ceremonies for our religious rituals. They are considered elders and are treated with the appropriate respect. The term “Oba” clearly denotes this. And, as you have requested on several occasions that the Lukumi should not make comments about what “they do not know,” I would request that your line of reasoning and comments be grounded in the tradition you are familiar with. In reference to your comments about the secrecy of the meeting, all members of the Lukumi community were invited to attend.

Ifa

Ironically, if you look at the Diaspora as a whole, the only community that maintained the knowledge and ceremonies for Ifa initiation was Cuba. If the creation of the Oriate was a Cuban innovation, (and of that I am not sure), it was done in a thriving system that included Ifa and Babalawos.

In reference to Babalawos acting as master of ceremonies, thank you for clarifying the protocol among the traditions you visited while in Nigeria. I wonder how many different locations you visited to arrive at this all-encompassing statement about West Africa. As a practitioner for over 30 years and an initiate for 20, I honestly have not seen the phenomena of Babalawos acting as master of ceremonies for Orisha activities. As early as 1972, when Adefunmi went to Yorubaland to be initiated to Ifa, practitioners of numerous traditions have gone to Yorubaland. This is not something new. I have not experienced a rush for Babalawos to officiate in Orisha ceremonies in the US. Perhaps this will be a growing phenomena among traditional religious enclaves, but not an acceptable one within the Diaspora, as we have no historical examples in Cuba, Brazil or Trinidad of this ever occurring.

If an Oriate would like to be initiated in Ifa, they may easily visit a Cuban babalawo. There is no need to travel to Yorubaland unless you are not permitted to be initiated in the Cuban system for a number of possible reasons and not just homosexuality. As I am not a babalawo, I will leave your concerns related to homosexuality and Ifa, to be answered by someone who has the appropriate expertise. However, there is a growing belief in the Americas that seems to place the position of the Babalawo at the pinnacle of Orisha worship at the expense of the other Orishas of the pantheon. Clearly, the machinations of power are at work in these individual decisions to reach the pinnacle. American society is defined by hierarchies of power, money, culture and ethnic origin, a fact that anthropologist have been studying since Franz Boas published The Mind of Primitive Man in 1911. I wonder if these issues arising in the Diaspora with YTRs are a quest for religious power, status and hierarchy at the expense of mainland Yoruba who do not define themselves or their practices in the same way.

Different Ashe

Reading your response on being re-initiated, it would seem that the distinction between initiation and receiving an orisha is not a valid distinction within your world-view. However, within the framework of Lukumi religious practices, there are significant ritual differences between receiving an orisha and being “initiated” into an orisha tradition. This is an example of how the traditions are fundamentally different in theory and practice.

In your reference to Radames’ participation, you note that the idosu is prepared differently, the osun is painted differently, the ashe is different and the oriki and incantations are different. Thank you for providing four examples of how that initiation follows different protocols, practices and initiation frameworks, thus supporting my claim that it is in fact a different religious tradition. It is not Lukumi, and as such it is not part of our world-view. Therefore, being initiated into another religion is clearly a conversion, confirming the practitioner’s abandonment of the former religion and embracement of the new tradition.

Discord and resentment

These are your opinions. I beg to differ. The accord is bringing together more and more Lukumi practitioners. It is a clear call for unity and brotherhood. We understand who we are and what our tradition is all about. At the same time, the accord provides an opportunity for honest communication among the traditions. It is an opportunity for each of the different traditions to look within and develop a framework from without. However, this opportunity for honest communication must be a level one; one that requires an end to the arrogance and attacks continuously made by those who are NOT Lukumi. If you want open communication, you cannot achieve this by actions that are less than honest and instead, utterly incendiary. In addition, communication in the Lukumi community has always been a function directed by elders. I for one, welcome the participation and communication with Yoruba elders who are open to discuss the current issues occurring in the Diaspora.

In our own world, we had several of these “councils.” We had olorishas, oriates and babalawos come together under the threat of Cuba’s and the U.S.’s attempts to eradicate our practices at the onset of our republic; we had another council in the 1920s to define our religious direction. The greatest “council” came about in the 19th century when some of the elders you mention, came together to define our ceremonies, employing the dominant traditions in Cuba—Oyo and Egbado—as acceptable models to follow in the growing number of initiations.

If you review the history of African traditions in Cuba, you will note that our Lukumi ancestors were very clear about what was part of our religious heritage. There has always been a clear distinction between the Lukumi, the Arara, the Kongo, and the Calabari. Additionally, our ancestors in Brazil also defined clear boarders between Ketu, Gege and Angolan practices. Again, clarifying our boarders is nothing new.

Sincerely,
Jeffery Gonzalez