The Osain Cult: The Sacred Forest, Witchcraft, and “Green Medicine” in Cuba

Abstract

The article is devoted to the sacred images and practices associated with the veneration of the forest in Cuba. The author primarily examines the religious and magical traditions of Santeria and Palo Monte but also refers to other African and African American cults, tracing their historical and semantic relationships. The article restores the multifaceted myth-ritual reality of the forest, encompassing spheres of traditional medicine, magic, and ethnocultural memory. This article is based on field research and ethnographic data. Special attention is paid to the metaphysical and practical aspects of the veneration of Orishas and, specifically, to the central concepts of symbols, shrines, ritual instruments, prohibitions, and norms that are inherent in the cult of Osain, the master of vegetation and wildlife.