Belíe Belcán, the patron saint of justice, is celebrated in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico on September 29 (MichaelMas) because he is syncretized with Archangel Michael. 🇩🇴 🇵🇷
Belíe Belcán
Belíe Belcán is a popular loa in Dominican Vudú, Puerto Rican Sansé Espiritismo, and other Folk Catholic traditions. Loas are like saints or angels. Outsiders see the traditions as African Diasporic religions, whereas practitioners consider themselves Catholics.
Belcán is generally a nice guy, but will defend his people fiercely. He is syncretized with the Roman Catholic Archangel Michael who is also a protector of the people, and a force for good. Belcán gets along well with Anaisa Pye, the female loa of love, money, and happiness in Dominican Vudú. She is syncretized with Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Many Dominican homes have images of Saint Michael and Saint Anne. They may be honoring the Christian saints, the Vudú loas, or probably both. It’s all good.
In Haiti, Belcán is celebrated as Ogun, the Yoruba orisha of metals, technology, drivers, and rum. The call “Aguanile” in New York Puerto Rican salsa music is a self-cleansing prayer to Ogun.
African Diasporic Religions
There is nothing bad or scary about Vudú or any of the African Diasporic religious traditions. All that scary Hollywood nonsense was cooked up by Christian priests seeking earthly power and riches for themselves, and American soldiers who wrote wild fantasies that became books and movies after the American occupation of Haiti (1915-1934).
Either all religions are good or all religions are bad. The idea that my religion is the one true faith and all the others are devil worship is false. You shouldn’t trust anyone who thinks that way. They are setting you up to be controlled. It’s particularly ironic because the African Diasporic Religions that rooted in the Americas don’t believe in a devil. They believe the devil is in your head, which is true if you think about it.
Humans borrow and steal culture from each other, and then say it’s their own and will even fight over it. The Muslim, Christian, and Jewish concept of heaven and hell is actually derived from the teachings of the Persian prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) from the time of Cyrus the Great. Zoroaster was the first to conceive the idea of a good heaven and a bad hell. Jews had a period of high culture in what is now Iran and formed their religion out of Persian ideas. The Jewish festival of Purim is about the time of the Persian Jews.
Persia is now called Iran. Many Jews and Christians hate Islamic Iran without realizing that their own religion is based on Persian traditions. However the divine manifests for you is wonderful, but it’s time to stop demonizing other religions. Killing each other over whose name for God is the correct one, is dumb. All religions try to explain the universal mystery of life.
Editor Kíko Keith
(By the way, I am a quarter Persian, from a Parsi family. Parsi was the old Persian religion before Islam came. I can trace my family history back to 637 in what is now Iraq because of this, and consider Zoroaster to be one of my ancestors. There were far fewer people then, so the ancestral connection is very likely.)
I currently live in the Dominican Republic. It’s an interesting place because of the many contrasts between rich and poor, modern and ancient. It’s all here. Dominicans will tell you that they are serious Christians and the cross is on the Dominican flag and all that, yet folk traditions remain strong.
On my last day living in New York City, before moving to the Caribbean, the Yoruba saints began to reveal themselves and I’ve had quite an interesting journey since then. Big life changes happen to me on saints days. I only find out in hindsight, but there are far too many “coincidences” to deny it. Those who know the entire story say I’m under some kind of saintly protection.
I don’t believe in any religion or spirits, but I do believe in the forces of nature which are universal and perfectly normal. To me there is only nature and the stories we tell to try and explain it. My story isn’t any more or less valid than anyone else’s. It’s just my story. That said, I am absolutely a son of Eleguá, the Yoruba orisha of the crossroads of destiny and messenger of God (the same God, the same One as everyone else’s).
A Dominican friend mentioned a palo for Belie Belcán. That’s a drum, song, and dance ceremony. In Puerto Rico, I became a bomba drummer which really changed me. Bomba Puertorriqueña has lost its religious meaning, but the drum, song, and dance traditions are wonderful to participate in. When I ask Dominicans about Belie Belcán, the most common answer is brujeria (witchcraft). I’ve gotten good at explaining in Spanish that I’m not a witch, there is no such thing, and I’m not the devil, there is no such thing. The devil is in your own head, not some external force.
If I make it to that palo, I’ll try to share some pictures. These things are around, but a little hard to find because the Christians can be violent (the opposite of the teachings of Christ). I’m multiracial, but pass for white. Most Dominicans are what Americans call Black, so I stick out like a sore thumb. Some Dominicans think I might be working for the government or the FBI or something, so it takes time to gain people’s trust.
Because of my experiences, I thought it was worth explaining all this and I want to understand what’s going on if I do make it to that palo. God bless you in whatever way makes sense to you. ¡Ashé!