Resumen de Las plantas trágico-tradicionales en las religiones afrocubanas

Miguel Esquivel, Victor Fuentes, Luis López, Julio I. Martínez Betancourt

• The slavery system imposed in Cuba by the Sponiards, brought as a consequence the introduction of more than a million of slaves during the colonial stage, from different places of West Africa . They belonged mainly from Yoruba and Bantu cultures, and once in Cuba, were porticipants of a transculturation process and adaptation to new conditions. From the religious point of view, this phenomenon was manifested in the syncretization of African religions with the catholic, appearing the different Rules, term used to group the rituals and magical practices of each culture. Among the different rules in Cuba are, the Ocha Rule (Y oruba), the Palo Monte Rule (Bant), the Arar Rule (Dahomey), but also the Secret Society Abaku (Efik). In al/ these religions, plants have a fundamental role: the spirits, orishas or gods live in the bush, and plants are one of their means of communication. 7he present work is a preliminary compilation about plants used in Afrocuban religions, including Cuban folk.

  English, Latin, Lucum, Congo and Abaku names, Orisha to whom they belong and fonn of utilization. This information was gathered from the revission of the most relevant literature sources and a field work with practicians of those religions. All the obtained information is compiled in a database named «IGBONFINDA» (forest, in Yoruba and Kikongo, respectively).