Jorge Ortega, Ewín Sholá is a priest of Obatalá who resides in Miami. Ewín Sholá was ordained to Obatalá as a teenager by Conrado García, Odurosinmí, during the early repressive days of the Cuban revolution when ordaining minors was forbidden. Anyone caught doing so would face imprisonment and have their orishas confiscated and destroyed. Ewín Sholá arrived to the U.S. via the 1980 Mariel boatlift and soon after, began manufacturing orisha garments and panels, and installing thrones for his Babalorisha, and eventually for the community.

The use of garments, in almost all contexts ceremonial, varies according to the type of ritual performed. On the second day of an olorisha’s ordination, known as el da del medio, usually loosely translated into English as the middle day, the newly ordained iyawo (lit. wife of the gods; a novice) wears two outfits that are especially commissioned for the ritual. These garments are made in the specific colors of the person’s tutelary or principal orisha: red for Shango, blue for Yemoja, white for Obatala, and so on.

Elena was ordained as a small child in Cuba. She is from Susana Cantero, Omi Toke’s lineage. Interestingly, Elena’s outfit was a dress and not the typical jacket and “bombacho” pants we are used to seeing today. The reasons for this are not clear.