Haitian Vodou and Cuban Lukumi are separate religions worshipping different deities, however the Arara illuminate some of their common roots by way of interchange between Dahomey and Yorubaland prior to colonization. One interesting case is the Arara fodun GuerĂł, who shares common roots and associations with the Lukumi Oshumare and the Vodou Danbala Wedo. David Brown writes,
On the far right is the tinaja of GuerĂł, the âhusbandâ of NanĂĄ BurukĂș. The Spanishized name, GuerĂł, is pronounced HwedĂł (the d softened to an r; accent on the last syllable). This is none other than Dan GuerĂł, the ancient serpent vodĂș, which the sinuous figure on his vesselâs lid reflects. ArarĂĄ SabalĂș priests compare GuerĂł to OchumarĂ©, the Yoruba-LucumĂ deity represented by the rainbowâOchumarĂ© has become very rare in Cuba, and is often considered to be a âroadâ of ObatalĂĄ. However, Abreu believes that the ArarĂĄ SabalĂș nation âborrowedâ GuerĂł from the pantheon of the ArarĂĄ DajomĂ© (Dahomey) nation.
The small, but rich, ethnographic literature on the ArarĂĄ proposes that the various ArarĂĄ sub-groups in Matanzas interacted with each other, as well as with the LukumĂ. Without doubt, GuerĂł is the Afro-Cuban cognate of Danbala Wedo of the Haitian Vodou Rada pantheon, also of Dahomean origin. In Haiti, Danbala Wedoâs vertebrae symbolically connect Vodou priests to their ancient ancestors across the water in GinĂ©, the African continent (see Karen Brown, Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn). Like the Yoruba-LucumĂ ObatalĂĄ, GuerĂł carries a horsetail flywhisk, yet GuerĂł takes white beads with blue stripes, unlike any of the ObatalĂĄs.
ArarĂĄ derives its name from the ancient West African city of Allada, Arada, or Ardra, as found on the earliest maps. Cubaâs ArarĂĄ ânationâ originated among the Ewe, Fon, Mahi, and other peoples of the former Dahomean Empire (now the Republic of Benin), which historically had itself borrowed religious traditions from the neighboring Yoruba to the east. Many of the Empireâs peoples were sold off into slavery and taken to Western Cuba, particularly to the sugar growing province of Matanzas. There, in and around the sugar factories (centrales) linked to the commercial hub that was the City of Matanzas, with its great port, the ArarĂĄ reorganized themselves into numerous sub-nations. These included the ArarĂĄ SabalĂș (from the Dahomean city of Savalu), the ArarĂĄ Magino (from the Mahi people), ArarĂĄ DajomĂ©, ArarĂĄ CuĂ©vano, ArarĂĄ AbopĂĄ, and ArarĂĄ Cuatros Ojos. Following emancipation, many former slaves migrated to, and formed cabildos (religious mutual aid societies) in, the nearby small towns, most notably Perico, Jovellanos, and Agramonte, as well as the City of Matanzas itself. These cabildos, founded by the Zulueta, BarĂł, FernĂĄndez, and RuĂz/Heredia families, respectively, exist today. The last, the Cabildo ArarĂĄ SabalĂș NonjĂł (Cabildo EspĂritu Santo), founded between 1889 and 1895 in the City of Matanzas, is the genealogical root of the lineage to which Havanaâs Pedro Abreu belongs.
