Jorge Luis Hernandez, Senior Editor - Del Caribe Journal
Casa del Caribe, Santiago de Cuba

One of the most important contributions that the African peoples and their descendants have made to the culture of Cuba is, without doubt, the complex group of systems of beliefs and practices of religious "magic" woven into everyday life. This may be manifested as an active practice of ritual, or may be reflected in various idioms of popular culture, or professional life.

Regardless of expression, practitioners and others influenced by these African derived belief systems and practices, have reached out to the world to offer several of the most significant cultural contributions which Cuba has made to humankind. These contriutions range through popular music and dance genres such as "son' and "rumba", to the concerts of Alejandro Garcia Caturla, the distinct musical instruments of the regions, the paintings of artists like Wilfredo Lam and the important novels of Alejo Carpentier, to mention some of the most recognized names.

I base my research from my home town of Santiago de Cuba, where I was born breathing the same air that feeds the spectrum of popular religions prevalent in the eastern part of the country. In this region live communities of Bantu heritage descended from the Kongo slaves brought predominantly to the eastern and central regions of Cuba. This specrum was enriched through the influences of Voudu which arrived in eastern Cuba with slaves being brought from Haiti as a result of the revolution there at the end of the 18th century. Still later Scientific Spiritism was brought from France by the works of Allan Kardec, and finding opportunity among the creoles and Kongo people grew and evolved into Cuban Cordón Spiritism. Meanwhile the derived beliefs of the Lecumi people of Yoruba origin, Regla de Ocha or Cuban Santeria, arrived with slaves through Cuba's eastern ports, and increased their influence in the eastern region through internal migration. As well, in the previous centuries a cult of the Virgin of Charity of El Cobre, had culminated with the Roman Catholic Church recognizing the Virgin as the patron saint of Cuba.

As a result of this richness of spiritual heritage and life, it is easy to understand why Fiesta del Fuego (Festival of Caribbean Culture), celebrated in Santiago de Cuba since 1981, has been marked by a strong religious and mystical accent which form a base for the preservation of these distinct manifestations of traditional popular culture. The Casa del Caribe, from its foundation in 1982, has had as its principal objective the study of the complex and related systems of manifested beliefs in the entire eastern region. The journal, Del Caribe, (in Spanish) has been a responsible vehicle of expression for a large number of Cuban and foreign researchers interested in the manifestations of religious thoughts.