Afro-Cuban Myths: Yemaya and Other Orishas

by Romulo Lachatanere, Christine Ayorinde

"The essay "The Afro-Cuban Festival 'Day of the Kings'" by Fernando Ortiz, founder of Afro-Cuban studies, describes how, as in Brazil, Catholic priests and the colonial government as early as 1573 allowed and encouraged the African slaves to celebrate Epiphany, the Festival of the Three Kings...Free people joined in and the dances, music and costumes paraded by the various eyewitnesses demonstrate how early and how immense were the African contributions to what was to become the carnival of the African Diaspora.

Genres: Spirituality

156 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Morgan M. Page · Rating 2 out of 5]

An important historical document, which unfortunately gets things — especially the Lukumí language — almost entirely wrong.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Good: This one is a lot easier to read through, compared to similar books. It has a lot of nice but minimalistic black and white illustrations along with some of the sections. The design of the book makes it feel a bit like something geared towards young readers, which might make it a good gift for children/teens who have an interest in the religion (or just like stories).

The Bad: While I loved the feel of “Santeria Stories” in my hands, this one felt very cheap. Also, for some, the hard plastic-feeling cover and design might distract slightly from the content.

Overall: Aside from my gripes about the book design, the quality of the material seemed decent. It’s nowhere near as complete as other books, but seemed to cover most of the popular stories.

[Sumayyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent introduction to the mythology, but feels sslanted toward younger readers. I was hoping for something a bit more in depth; this offering feels like a collection of bedtime stories or campfire tales. 3.5 stars.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good basic introduction and to the point to the mythology of La Regla Lucumi (aka Santeria)