Abstract:
After three bags containing items of Afro-Cuban religious and cult origins washed up on a beach, the author was contacted to decipher the meanings. Most objects were associated with Santeria, and some from Palo Mayombe. They are both religious cults which began in the Caribbean as a result of blending different aspects from two or more religious systems over a period of time. Santeria is a combination of Yoruba, a Nigerian tribe, and Cuban Catholicism. Palo Mayombe came from Bantu peoples and Catholicism, but focuses on performing magic hoping to cause misfortune or death to their enemies.