Taino Spirituality in the Twentyfirst Century

[Miguel Sague Jr]

Tu My Relatives
The fact is that many of us perceive our spiritual tradition as something most appropriately associated with the fifteenth century. Even many of us who have adopted the spiritual path of our ancestors as the path of personal growth and development in our own lives, often treat this way as something that should resemble what was experienced by our fifteenth century ancestors.
I disagree with this attitude. All spiritual traditions progress and evolve. In the article "The Taino Social and Political Order" (contribution to the compendium "Taino Pre-Colombian Art and Culture of the Caribbean" Edited by Fatima Bercht, Estrellita Brodsky , John Alan Farmer and Dicey Taylor 1997 Monticelli Press) Samuel Wilson comments "The Taino were neither conservative nor tradition-bound." I don't believe that Wilson means here that the Taino totally ignored tradition. instead what he means is that as in the case of many other earth-centered cultures, the ancient Tainos were always open to new concepts that would add to the quality of their lifestyle.

We can adopt this attitude in this day and age to accept a spiritual path that, although based on the ancient tried-and-true ways of our ancestors is adapted to the world that we are living in today. This is what we have attempted to achieve in the Caney Indigenous Spiritual Circle. We follow in the footesteps of our ancestors by honoring the ancient ceremonies but we do it in a way that adapts to modern lifestyle. An example of this is the water ceremony that we know is followed by some Amazonian tribes today and that our ancestors followed because we have some hint of it in the words of colonial-era Spanish who wrote about the taino habit of bathing in the rivers. We don't all have access to the waters of a stream where we live now in the modern era so we suggest to our Taino Resurgence-era relatives to perform this ceremony in their baths or showers (see water ritual in our website http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/sacredwater.html). We don't all have access to stone, clay, wood and cotton images of the spirits but images can be created from modern-day sculpting materials, which although scoffed-at and ridiculed by some are, in my opinion just as legitimate a medium for sacred art as any other.

We don't have to dress in tapa-rabos and wear face paint to legitimately appeal to the cemies (spirits) and the jupias (ancestor spirits). We can use practical and accessible practices that are available to all of us and reach the connection with the spirits in the here and now. Please visit our website's ceremony pages http://caneycircle.owlweb.org/ceremonies.html and discover how we in the Caney Indigenous Spiritual Circle have maintained a connection to our ancestors tradition of spirituality since 1982.
Taino Ti
Miguel Sobaoko Koromo Sague

[Anita Pagan]

Miguel, this is an excellent post. I agree with you in that we today may use what we have in hand and it will serve it's purpose. It is my opinion that in the end, the actions and props we use are only a physical representation of a greater truth which is invisible.

I am very proud and happy to see that my people are bringing forth ceremony to present modern day life.

Taino ti!
Nanu

[Miguel Sague Jr]

I want to make sure we all understand that to adopt the ancestral regalia, don the red bija and black face paint of our forbears and pray in the forested highlands of the island's interior is a breath-takingly inspiring and fulfilling thing to do. But it is just as legitimate to stand in one's living room in jeans and t-shirt with the rumble of the elevated train wafting in through the open window of a tenement apartment, to raise one's hands out to the spirits so that impurities can be pulled out of one's body and then pull in towards one's self the beauty and energy of the ancestors as one lifts one's voice in Taino language song right there in the heart of the city.
They are BOTH legitimate!
Thank you sister for understanding
Taino Ti
Miguel

[Anita Pagan]

By all means...

I believe that by having that flexibility to adapt old ways to life today is exactly what it means to bring the past to the present.

If you have no drum, an empty coffee can will do, and the drumming is just as valid. If you have no loose tobacco or cigar, a cigarette will do and it's just as valid. If you have no copal, cooking sage will do- even an incense stick will do!

I believe the props only represent a spiritual reality that is invisible and beyond a material understanding.

[AkuTurey]

Thank you for that "breath of fresh air!",all cultures adapt ,adjust,and accept new rituals and ideas,dress,etc,if it increases survival value,or received in a vision,dream,etc.
Frank Aku Turey

[Miguel Sague Jr]

Jan Jan Katu Hermana!