Egun, Spirits of Our Ancestors
Reina Cemetery in Cienfuegos, Cuba
Roughly translated, egun (eggun) are the spirits of our ancestors, those related to us by blood and religious ties. My departed grandparents and parents are my egun, but so are the departed ancestors of my godmother in Ocha. It's customary to begin any prayer or ceremony by remembering the ancestors and speaking their names aloud. This is called the moyugba, which is a fundamental part of any Santería ritual. The Lucumí people say ikú lobi ocha: the dead give birth to the Orichás. This means that without the egun, we wouldn't be able to interact with the Orichás. They're our intermediaries, and unless they give their permission, the Orichás won't talk to us. This is why Santeros/as call on egun for guidance. In Cuba and elsewhere in the 19th century spiritism influenced Santería and today some santeros/as conduct misas espirituales, or spiritual masses, to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Others keep a boveda or pray to their ancestral spirits in private. Respect for egun comes from an ancient African belief system that honors the dead as spirits who guide the living. Our egun normally want to see us progress in life. They bring us blessings and enlightenment.
Other muertos (or deceased persons) can attach themselves to us, but generally we don't encourage this connection, since spirits that continue to roam the earth are often "lost" and searching for something that they could, potentially, take away from us, like our health and vitality. Just as there are good and bad people in life, there are good and bad muertos. It's traditionally thought that the character of a person doesn't change after death; if he was good in life, he'll be a good spirit, and if he was bad in life, as a muerto, he'll cause trouble. Especially dangerous are the spirits of people who in life were insane, who were criminals, or who suffered a violent death. The traumas they had as living people keep them trapped on earth, where their spirits roam looking for some person they can latch on to. Hospitals, graveyards, sites of accidents and other places where violent death occur should be avoided as much as possible, because muertos congregate in those places and can attach themselves to anyone at random.
Other muertos (or deceased persons) can attach themselves to us, but generally we don't encourage this connection, since spirits that continue to roam the earth are often "lost" and searching for something that they could, potentially, take away from us, like our health and vitality. Just as there are good and bad people in life, there are good and bad muertos. It's traditionally thought that the character of a person doesn't change after death; if he was good in life, he'll be a good spirit, and if he was bad in life, as a muerto, he'll cause trouble. Especially dangerous are the spirits of people who in life were insane, who were criminals, or who suffered a violent death. The traumas they had as living people keep them trapped on earth, where their spirits roam looking for some person they can latch on to. Hospitals, graveyards, sites of accidents and other places where violent death occur should be avoided as much as possible, because muertos congregate in those places and can attach themselves to anyone at random.
The Bóveda Espiritual
Bóveda espiritual
Normally, when people live according to their destiny and die at the proper time, their spirits don't hang around on earth. The Lucumí believe that the living and dead are always connected, but when everything is functioning properly, the dead stay in their realm and the living in theirs. When muertos remain in the realm of the living, it's not natural. Sometimes muertos will use human beings to act out their own dramas, causing people to do things to fulfill the unsatisfied desires of the muerto. For example, a muerto who was violent in life can cause people to feel aggitated and angry, to lose their temper easily, and get in fights, even if it's not their natural character to do those things.
Egun, when properly honored and attended to in correct fashion, don't "haunt" the living, or remain as spirits wandering the earth. They can speak to their living descendants through misas, or guide them through dreams, intuition, "feelings" or "forebodings," or they may "speak" to the living by whispering in their ear, like an inner voice. In Cuba, many people keep a bóveda espiritual, or a shrine to the ancestors, in the home. This can be very simple, usually consisting several clear glasses of water placed on a table or shelf. The bóveda should be in a quiet part of the house, where there isn't a lot of traffic, but it shouldn't be in the bedroom, because you don't want egun around you when you sleep. It's appropriate to offer egun anything that we eat, and if we know there's some food our ancestors really enjoyed, we offer them that. Unlike the Mexican Day of the Dead, rituals in front of the bóveda don't take place on a specific day of the year. Most people change the water once a week, and put offerings or light candles whenever they want to. The idea is to let the egun know you remember them and honor them. If you need a special favor, you might add a special offering as incentive. People also pray in front of the bóveda whenever they feel like it.
Espiritismo (Spiritism) influenced the development of Afro-Cuban Santería in the late 19th century, when the work of Allan Kardec introduced the idea of seances and mediums to readers in Europe and the Americas. Among the practitioners of Santería, some of Kardec's ideas were used to communicate with egun through a special ceremony called the misa espiritual (spiritual mass). People who are trained as mediums host the ceremony, and people attend to hear what the egun have to say. Sometimes through divination with a Santero, egun speak through Eleguá's cowrie shells and ask for a misa espiritual. The usual reason is that the egun's distressed for some reason, and has more to say. Technically, the misa espiritual isn't a Santería ceremony, but it's linked to the religion through the participation of egun.
Egun, when properly honored and attended to in correct fashion, don't "haunt" the living, or remain as spirits wandering the earth. They can speak to their living descendants through misas, or guide them through dreams, intuition, "feelings" or "forebodings," or they may "speak" to the living by whispering in their ear, like an inner voice. In Cuba, many people keep a bóveda espiritual, or a shrine to the ancestors, in the home. This can be very simple, usually consisting several clear glasses of water placed on a table or shelf. The bóveda should be in a quiet part of the house, where there isn't a lot of traffic, but it shouldn't be in the bedroom, because you don't want egun around you when you sleep. It's appropriate to offer egun anything that we eat, and if we know there's some food our ancestors really enjoyed, we offer them that. Unlike the Mexican Day of the Dead, rituals in front of the bóveda don't take place on a specific day of the year. Most people change the water once a week, and put offerings or light candles whenever they want to. The idea is to let the egun know you remember them and honor them. If you need a special favor, you might add a special offering as incentive. People also pray in front of the bóveda whenever they feel like it.
Espiritismo (Spiritism) influenced the development of Afro-Cuban Santería in the late 19th century, when the work of Allan Kardec introduced the idea of seances and mediums to readers in Europe and the Americas. Among the practitioners of Santería, some of Kardec's ideas were used to communicate with egun through a special ceremony called the misa espiritual (spiritual mass). People who are trained as mediums host the ceremony, and people attend to hear what the egun have to say. Sometimes through divination with a Santero, egun speak through Eleguá's cowrie shells and ask for a misa espiritual. The usual reason is that the egun's distressed for some reason, and has more to say. Technically, the misa espiritual isn't a Santería ceremony, but it's linked to the religion through the participation of egun.
Heaven and Earth
The marketplace
Egun work with the Orichás to oversee and guide the progress of human beings. Egun are especially interested in society's norms and values, and they like to see tradition upheld. This is one reason why they're so interested in human beings; they want to be sure things are running smoothly on a societal level. The Orichás are more likely to concern themselves with our destiny as individuals, but egun help us mesh with society at large. Lucumí traditional thought compares Earth to the marketplace because it's the place where people come together and interact, carry out business, and make a name for themselves in the public sphere. Heaven is like our home. It's restful, but not meant to be a permanent refuge, because after a while, too much rest is boring. Christian religions describe Heaven as a place where the dead can have eternal rest. Santeros/as, on the other hand, have no particular desire to live in Heaven, and don't see it as a reward for living well on earth. If one has lived well, at death the energy contained in the orí (head, the divine center of an individual) gets recycled back into the universe, and a kind of reincarnation takes place. Often, it happens within the family structure, so grandchildren can inherit the energy of their dead grandparents, for example. Honoring the ancestors is a way to keep their orí happy and healthy until it's recycled and reborn. Those who behaved so badly on earth that they can't be recycled are put in a kind of no man's land, orun bururu, like broken pottery that can't be repaired. In the Lucumí worldview, social isolation of this kind is punishment enough. Hell isn't necessary.
The dead should be respected but not especially feared. Egun aren't like ghosts, vampires, zombies or other supernatural beings that we see in popular fiction and films. They're invisible companions who live among us, and intercede on our behalf when we need help. In the case of an unruly or malevolent muerto, through divination a Santero/a can determine what needs to be done to pacify the muerto or make it leave the client in peace. The client may be told to do a misa espiritual, bathe with certain herbs, or wear a particular kind of amulet to keep a muerto at bay. In Santería ceremonies, the opening toque (drumming pattern) is dedicated to the egun, but living people remain seated and don't dance to it. Black is a color that attracts muertos, so most Santeros/as avoid wearing it as a way to avoid problems with them.
The dead should be respected but not especially feared. Egun aren't like ghosts, vampires, zombies or other supernatural beings that we see in popular fiction and films. They're invisible companions who live among us, and intercede on our behalf when we need help. In the case of an unruly or malevolent muerto, through divination a Santero/a can determine what needs to be done to pacify the muerto or make it leave the client in peace. The client may be told to do a misa espiritual, bathe with certain herbs, or wear a particular kind of amulet to keep a muerto at bay. In Santería ceremonies, the opening toque (drumming pattern) is dedicated to the egun, but living people remain seated and don't dance to it. Black is a color that attracts muertos, so most Santeros/as avoid wearing it as a way to avoid problems with them.
