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Birongo
''Birongo'', also spelled ''Bilongo'', is a spiritual tradition found among Afro-Venezuelans in rural areas of Coastal Venezuela, especially that of Southern coastal Lake Maracaibo and in the subregion of Barlovento, Venezuela, Barlovento but with similar forms existing in Cuba and the Dominican Republic to describe magico-religious traditions and folk healing of African origins as they are done among Afro-Venezuelans. Etymology The term "birongo" comes from the Kikongo word "bilongo", which is used to describe ingredients of magical use but the term is used in Venezuela to describe folk medicine, and even witchcraft. Practices Practitioners of Birongo, known as curanderos or ensalmaderos, use various herbs and ingredients to heal both spiritual and physical illness such as mal de ojo, and other forms using various herbs and preparations such as baths and teas to heal the victim. Alongside this, they use the psychological medicine of prayer and soothsaying to heal the patient as ...
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Afro-Venezuelans
Afro-Venezuelans (), also known as Black Venezuelans (), are Venezuelans who have predominantly or total Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Afro-Venezuelans are mostly descendants of enslaved Africans brought to the Western Hemisphere during the Atlantic slave trade. This term also sometimes refers to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Venezuelan society such as the arts, traditions, music, religion, race, and language. History Slave Trade The first black Africans arrived on the Island of Cubagua around 1526–1527 to be used by Spaniards as slaves in pearl fishing. Slaves were later imported to the rest of Venezuelan territory for plantations and domestic service. Between 1576 and 1810, about 100,000 African slaves were transported across the Atlantic to Venezuela via the transatlantic slave trade. These slaves belonged to various ethnicities from present-day Angola, Senegal, Gambia, Benin, Nigeria and the Congo, such as: Kalabari, Igbo, Yoruba ...
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Barlovento, Venezuela
Barlovento is a sub-region of Miranda (state), Miranda state, Venezuela. During Spanish colonization of the Americas, Barlovento was developed as estate owners founded cacao tree, cacao haciendas. The work on the estates was done by African slaves brought from what is now the Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. These people were from the Kingdom of Kongo and Kingdom of Loango. There were also Yoruba people, Yoruba slaves. The culture of African and Spanish inhabitants has merged into the "drum dancing", Barlovento's typical Afro-Venezuelan celebration. This occurs particularly at the time of the feast of San Juan. Other events include the ''Entierro de la Sardina'' (Burial of the Sardine) and Day of the Dead. A syncretism has occurred where Catholicism, Catholic saints represent traditional African deities. Toponymy "Barlovento" is a Spanish language, Spanish word meaning "windward".Guss D''The Festive State: Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism as C ...
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Elegba
Èṣù is a pivotal Òrìṣà/Irúnmọlẹ̀ in the Yoruba spirituality or Yoruba religion known as ìṣẹ̀ṣe. Èṣù is a prominent primordial Divinity (a delegated Irúnmọlẹ̀ sent by the Olódùmarè) who descended from Ìkọ̀lé Ọ̀run, and the Chief Enforcer of natural and divine laws – he is the Deity in charge of law enforcement and orderliness. As the religion has spread around the world, the name of this Orisha has varied in different locations, but the beliefs remain similar. Overview The other names of the Irúnmọlẹ̀ called Èṣù includes; ''Ẹlẹ́jẹ̀lú'', ''Olúlànà'', ''Ọbasìn'', ''Láarúmọ̀'', ''Ajọ́ńgọ́lọ̀'', ''Ọba Ọ̀dàrà,'' ''Onílé Oríta'', ''Ẹlẹ́gbára Ọ̀gọ'', ''Olóògùn Àjíṣà'', ''Láàlú Ògiri Òkò'', ''Láàlù Bara Ẹlẹ́jọ́'', ''Láaróyè Ẹbọra tí jẹ́ Látọpa''. Èṣù is powerful, relevant, and ubiquitous to the extent of having every day of the four-day ...
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Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of , and its population was estimated at 29 million in 2022. The capital and largest urban agglomeration is the city of Caracas. The continental territory is bordered on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Colombia, Brazil on the south, Trinidad and Tobago to the north-east and on the east by Guyana. Venezuela is a presidential republic consisting of States of Venezuela, 23 states, the Venezuelan Capital District, Capital District and Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, federal dependencies covering Venezuela's offshore islands. Venezuela is among the most urbanized countries in Latin America; the vast majority of Venezuelans live in the cities of the north and in the capital. The territory o ...
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Latin Language
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language in the Italian Peninsula and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. It has greatly influenced many languages, Latin influence in English, including English, having contributed List of Latin words with English derivatives, many words to the English lexicon, particularly after the Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England, Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons and the Norman Conquest. Latin Root (linguistics), roots appear frequently in the technical vocabulary used by fields such as theology, List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names, the sciences, List of medical roots, suffixes and prefixes, medicine, and List of Latin legal terms ...
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Efik Language
Efik (''Usem Efịk'') is the indigenous language of the Efik people, who are situated in the present-day Cross River State and Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria, as well as in the north-west of Cameroon. The Efik language is mutually intelligible with other lower Cross River languages such as Ibibio, Anaang, Oro and Ekid but the degree of intelligibility in the case of Oro and Ekid is unidirectional; in other words, speakers of these languages speak and understand Efik (and Ibibio) but not vice versa. The Efik vocabulary has been enriched and influenced by external contact with the British, Portuguese and other surrounding communities such as Balondo, Oron, Efut, Okoyong, Efiat and Ekoi (Qua). Classification The Efik Language has undergone several linguistic classifications since the 19th century. The first attempt at classifying the Efik language was by Dr. William Balfour Baikie in 1854. Baikie, p. 420 Dr Baikie had stated, "All the coast dialects from One to Old Ka ...
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Aguardiente
( Portuguese) or ( Spanish) (; ; ) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is typically consumed on the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and in Iberian America (Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries of the Americas). Etymology The word is a compound of the Iberian languages' words for "water" ( in Castilian; in Catalan; in Portuguese; in Galician) and "burning"/"fiery" ( in Castilian; in Catalan; in Portuguese and Galician). A comparable word in English is "firewater", though the English term is colloquial or humorous, whereas ''aguardiente'' is stylistically neutral in Spanish. Definition ''Aguardientes'' are strong alcoholic beverages obtained by fermentation then distillation of sugared or sweet musts, vegetable macerations, or mixtures of the two. This is the most generic level; by this defi ...
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Saint John The Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christianity, Christian traditions, and as the prophet Yahya ibn Zakariya in Islam. He is sometimes referred to as John the Baptiser. John is mentioned by the History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish historian Josephus, and he is revered as a major religious figure in Christianity, Islam, the Baháʼí Faith, the Druze faith, and Mandaeism; in the last of these he is considered to be the final and most vital prophet. He is considered to be a prophet of God in Abrahamic religions, God by all of the aforementioned faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations. According to the New Testament, John anticipated a messianic figure greater than himself; in the Gospels, he is portrayed as the precursor or forerunn ...
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Kongo Religion
Kongo religion (Kongo language, Kikongo: Bukongo or Bakongo) encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Kongo people, Bakongo people. Due to the highly centralized position of the Kingdom of Kongo, its leaders were able to influence much of the traditional religious practices across the Congo Basin. As a result, many other ethnic groups and kingdoms in Central Africa, West-Central Africa, like the Chokwe people, Chokwe and Ambundu, Mbundu, adopted elements of Bakongo spirituality. The spirituality is based on a complex Animism, animistic system and a Pantheon (religion), pantheon of spirits. The principle Creator God of the world is Nzambi a Mpungu, Nzambi Mpungu, the sovereign master, and his female counterpart, Nzambici. While Nzambi Mpungu, who gave birth to the universe and the spirits who inhabit it, is vital to the spirituality, Veneration of the dead, ancestor veneration is the core principle. The Bakongo cosmos is split between two worlds: the top half representing the ...
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