My first visit to Botanica Yoruba was definitely an interesting one. I visited the botanica located at 474 E. 49 St. on Friday Sept. 24 around 4 p.m. I had spoken to the owner, Luis Perez, a few times on the phone so he was expecting my visit. I expected the botanica to be a lot bigger. In fact, I actually missed it when I first drove by. It is located in a very small shopping center. The shop itself stands out with it's bright green window sign and window decals that read "Botanica Yoruba" and "Articulos Religiosos" (religious items). I walked into the shop and realized it was probably no bigger than our classroom. Despite the size, Luis had filled it from top to bottom with beads, dolls, statues, herbs, bottles, coconuts, saint figurines and machetes. Luis stepped out from a back room in the shop, and I shook his hand to introduce myself. He had a confused look on his face; I'm not sure why. It was a bit awkward because I didn't know how to begin our conversation, so I thanked him for once again letting me come over. Luckily, at that moment a customer walked in so he had to go attend him. In the mean time, I told him I would look around for a bit,which I thought would give me enough time to come up with some intelligent sounding questions.
Though I know about santeria from both my Cuban culture as well as courses I have taken on Cuba, I still felt like I didn't even know where to begin with my questions. While Luis was attending his customer, I noticed there was a young girl there in a uniform, and I asked her if she was his employee. She was actually a student from Hialeah High School who had just started getting involved in the religion. She told me about how a few months back doctors had detected a tumor (I think she told me it was in her pancreas). She was distraught at the thought of having a life threatening disease, so her mom took her to a spiritualist for some consoling. After meeting with the spiritualist, she started learning more about santeria, a religion which she felt would cure her of her disease. A few months after the spiritualist encounter, she is now much better. She no longer has the tumor, and she is now fully involved in the religion. She actually made a "pact with death," a ceremony that assures the participant that he or she will not leave this Earth before it's their time to do so.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask her, but she had to leave. Fortunately, she gave me her cell number and e-mail, so Iwill hopefully keep in contact with her.
By then, Luis was done with his customer. We walked around the store together, and I would point to different objects and ask what they were used for, such as the different potions that were used for healing purposes as well as the different pots that were used for ceremonies. I was a little uneasy when I saw a bucket full of machetes, so I asked him what those were for. He explained that those were used in rituals for warrior spirits. The machete is placed in a mini cauldron-like bowl, along with a secret mixture of herbs and liquids- a mixture which he wouldn't reveal because it was considered sacred.
He also told me about how he came to own the botanica. He came to the United States in Sept. 1980 after serving four years as a political prisoner in Cuba. At 18 years old, he had been accused of sabotage. It's been about 30 years since he came to this country, and he has been involved in the religion for 18 years. He is now 57 years old. When he was about 40, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was given approximately a year to live. Prior to his surgery, he met with a spiritualist. The spiritualist had a "vision" in which Luis was in an emergency room. He told Luis not to worry because he would come out of the surgery perfectly fine. The day of the surgery came, and Luis was confident that he would be O.K. He told the doctors, "Yo estoy en las manos de dios primero, y despues en los tuyos" ("I'm in God's hands first, then yours.") The doctor's response has also stayed with Luis till this day. "Procede con este valiente," ("Procede with this brave man.") To Luis' surprise and that of the doctor, the tumor below his pancreas had vanished during the surgery. The doctor could not find it, though it had been clearly visible in several x-rays. The only medical explanation he could give was that the mass that appeared to be a tumor was perhaps some kind of liquid that just dissolved throughout his body.
Since that day, Luis has been fully committed to Bantu, a derivative of Santeria that deals with the spirits of the dead.
I will be meeting again with Luis sometime this week.
Below are some pictures of the items sold in the store:
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