Songs for Osain. Cándido Martínez, Baba orisha from Havana

We recorded seven of the sixteen or twenty-one Ankori in the Oro which an Oriaté — the person directing a ceremony — intones for Osáin, the Owner of El Monte, while the Iyalochas responsible for the chorus, sitting at their respective clay pots, each pot painted with the emblematic color the Orisha they serve, prepare the ritual herbs which constitute the Omiero, the agua lustral (cleansing or holy water) for the great Asiento^[1] ceremony or the consecration of the Iyawó.

Like every Oro, its prayers begin with a salute to Elegua.

1. DF-N: Idiomatically, asiento refers to orisha initiation (i.e., seating, installation, ordination, etc.). As a term of art in colonial Cuba, asiento also refers a “special monopolistic license” authorized by the Spanish crown (Martínez-Fernández 2018, 157). In this second sense, the initiation of an orisha priest confers Afro-centric royal authority. [ ***]. ↑