My Cozy Casita

For me it was an amazing road from age 19 to 46.  There were many mentors from many paths - Wiccan, Curanderismo, Palo Mayombe, Espiritismo, Lucumi.  I would have to say that a constant of my walk was Espiritismo and Animism.  

Espiritismo is in my blood.  It is in my Boricua culture.  In Puerto Rico, Spiritism filled in spaces that were left open by the oppression of colonialism against the practice of tribal rituals by the Native Taino people and African people who were brought in captivity for forced labor.  Both peoples are part of my ancestors.  Both people had their own songs, dances and traditions for their ancestors.  Therefore an amalgamation happened between this format that Europeans were bringing from the circles that were formed in France by the founder of Spiritism, Allan Kardec, and the need to insert tribal ritual, belief and song from Taino and Native culture.  Thus was born Puerto Rican Espiritismo.   

I learned Espiritismo via the Puerto Rican Iyalochas and Babalochas who were already practicism Lucumi, so there were forms of formal mesa blanca and espiritismo which I did not get to experience growing up.  And I definitely did not practice it in Puerto Rico.  Mami would not have heard of it since she wanted to bring me up Christian.  But once I began to build my own spiritual journey, what is called Espiritismo Criollo arrived in my life.  And with that the information to  begin praying at my boveda.  

Espiritismo criollo is a less structured form of Espiritismo and it is more heavily influenced by African and Taino culture.  As opposed to the formal “seance” white table of Mesa Blanca and Kardecian Spritism, Espiritismo can be practiced by sitting in a loose circle and having the spiritual current bring messages from the ancestors to anyone developing the faculty of communicating with the ancestors.  People with these faculties are called mediums.  I began showing this faculty very early in my Espiritismo journey.  And these faculties were furthered developed in a more structured training by my present Padrino (godfather)