Every year, on December 16 and 17, thousands of acolytes--some say up to 100,000--crawl on their hands and knees, sometimes with stones and bricks tied to their legs to touch the purple robe of the statue of San Lázaro. They leave flowers, gifts, a promise (ex-votos, very much like México) in the hopes that their supplications for healing will be granted. The sanctuary where this takes place, in Rincón outside of Havana, used to be part of a hospital/church complex where lepers were taken care of. The photos at this website speak volumes.
http://www.demotix.com/news/345957/sanctuary-san-lazaro
San Lázaro is associated with diseases of the skin, venereal disease (AIDS in modern times) and epidemics (measles, etc.). In Cuba, he is believed to have powers to cure infectious disease in general, including cancer.
And then, there was Ricky Ricardo. He stole it all from Miguelito Valdés, licks and style, who you can hear/see do the "real" popular song of the time in tribute to Babaluaye.
Quiere a Babalú, santo milagroso, pídele salud, pues sin salud no hay gozo.
GET READY FOR THE NEW YEAR A LO CUBANO
In the words of the famous coro from the song Santa Palabra from NG La Banda (look up on YouTube if you're interested):
Oye, despójate,
quítate lo malo,
échalo pa'atrás,
límpiate, mi hermano.
(José Luís, El Tosco)
To do your own Limpia Cubana, be sure to do the motions as follows, as you sing the coro, and dance at the same time:
Fling hands up in the air, palms facing out,
Bring hands down, wiping the left arm with the right hand and then, vice versa,
Fling hands up again, this time palms to the back--geting rid of the bad,
Bring hands down, starting at chest height, rubbing both hands down the sides of your torso while you groove hard to the music
REPEAT as often as necessary or until the song ends.
Now you're ready for the new year.
Feliz Año Nuevo 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment