Babalù Aye

Babalù Aye

Babalú Ayé: healer god of numerous venereal diseases, of the skin, of leprosy, of cholera, of infirmities in general, etc. For this reason he is therefore associated with Saint Lazarus. His colors are white and blue. In Africa he was the principal and most venerated saint; in Havana there is a sanctuary in his honor (Rincon), where thousands of the sick travel every year on December 17. He is one of the Orisha most invoked by the faithful in Santería, but also by Cuban Catholics. He is the deity who deals with the diseases of the body, epidemics, and disabilities. The depiction of Babalu Aye, in fact, is that of a crippled beggar, covered in sores, dressed only in a very poor white garment. But Babalu is also the one who helps those who suffer, the saint from whom everyone asks the grace of healing and help in states of physical distress, in problems of one’s own health or that of loved ones. His messengers are flies and mosquitoes, because they carry diseases around. In the dance he arrives dragging himself along like a sick man, hunched over on himself, and only at the end – after having simulated a kind of rite of “limpieza” (cleansing)