Caribbean Folklore: The Power of Pataki Stories in Cuba with Kesha Christie

Exploring Pataki Stories: The Tale of Obara and His Gift

Continuing the Caribbean folklore series, Kesha Christie joins Hema on the podcast to dive into Pataki stories of the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, focusing on the Orishas and their unique powers. 'The Gift’, told by Kesha, is the story of Obara, the once-poor Orisha and how he received his Ashe. The conversation highlights the cultural and spiritual significance of these sacred stories, their connection to Yoruba culture, and their role in teaching morals and guiding rituals.

More Caribbean Folklore with Kesha Christie:
Anansi's Antics in Antigua & Barbuda
Trickster Tales
Exploring Caribbean Folklore

More about Cuba:
Cuban History and Food
Cuban Roots: Lisette's Journey to Havana

To learn more about Kesha and her work:

Website
Instagram 
Facebook
Walk Good Podcast

Transcript

Kesha:   Each of the Orishas have a different power, whether it's helping out with nature or certain characteristics that humans have. And these stories, the Pataki stories explain who each Orisha is and their different powers. 

They tell about how the Orisha got its power in order to help with the plethora of things that we ask for, and they teach you little lessons in between. So that's why these stories are just, they're more than folktales. They've got that spiritual foundation that is really strong when you hear these stories

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Hema: Hi Kesha.

Kesha: Hi, Hema. How are you?

Hema: I'm good. We are back to talk more about folktales and folklore in the Caribbean.

Kesha: Yes, we are.

Hema: Now we, the first couple of episodes we did, we sort of planned in advance which country we were gonna talk about, and then I just gave you a list and I don't even know which country's folktale we're gonna talk about today.

Kesha: Well, you gave me a list and I was like, oh, great. But I thought I would talk about stories from this particular island because they're a little bit different. And what I love about them is their connection to the Yoruba culture and how it's so prominent in the, in the stories that I'm gonna talk about today.

Hema: Okay.

Kesha: Are you ready to hear where we're, we're going today?

Hema: I am ready.

Kesha: So we are going to Cuba and we're gonna be talking a little bit about the stories that they have called Pataki Stories, and these stories are rich in the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria. So these are the stories that really embody, explain the Orishas. And so these are spiritual stories that are considered to be teaching stories. So they teach you about the Orishas and their power, and also having morals and lessons as well. So.

Hema: Can we do a little bit of explanation because I love for people to, and we'll talk more after the, after you tell the tale,

Kesha: Yes.

Hema: but said two things and I wanna make sure before people listen that they understand. Yoruba and Orishas. Can you help us with that?

Kesha: Okay. So Pataki's uh, stories are considered to be more than folktales, so they're like a lifeblood, and it's really the thread between African culture and the Cuban culture is very strong. And so the Yoruba culture in Cuba, they, I'm gonna say that the religion Santeria, it combines the Yoruba religion as well as the Catholicism that already existed in, in Cuba.

So it's merging them together, but holding strong to the belief in the Orishas. And so the Orishas are the deities that exist with us. And if you had a need or, or something that you needed to be addressed, you would pray or create an altar for the Orisha, which is the deity. However, you're asking for them to use their Ashe, which is their power to fix your problem.

Hema: Okay.

Kesha: So each of the Orishas have a different power, whether it's helping out with nature or certain characteristics that humans have. And these stories, the Pataki stories explain who each Orisha is and their different powers. 

So listening to the stories will help to teach you kind of, okay, if I wanted to communicate with this Orisha, here's how I would do it. They tell about how the Orisha got its power in order to help with the plethora of things that we ask for, and they teach you little lessons in between. So that's why these stories are just, they're more than folktales. They've got that spiritual foundation that is really strong when you hear these stories.

Hema: Excellent. I'm excited to hear the story.

Kesha: Well, like I said, each Orisha has their own power and each of them got it differently. So this story is called The Gift, and this is a story of how Obara got his Ashe. 

In a time long before now, the Orishas lived among us and all of the Orishas were rich. They had their big houses and their horses, all except for Obara. Obara was very poor. He lived in a small hut with a straw roof and even had to man his own field. Anything that he needed, he would have to do. If he needed to travel, he would travel by foot or this old donkey that he had. One day, Olofi, the God of all who gives the Orishas their powers, invited all of the Orisha to come to his house for a meal. And so the Orishas got dressed up in their fine regalia, which was, you know, important because Olofi was so powerful. They wanted to show their pride. 

They got themselves dressed up, they rode their best horses and made their way to Olofi's home. When they got there, they all looked around greeting each other. And Olofi asked, is everyone here? They looked around and they're, ah, Obara's not here. He's always late. The Orisha always spoke about Obara in such a bad way. They talked about how he was lazy and they couldn't trust him, and here it was such an important occasion. They looked around and looked around and there, there he was coming down in his old donkey and even wearing work clothes for this occasion? 

Obara finally arrived. Olofi set a plate for each one of the Orisha. They all got a magnificent meal. They ate and laughed and entertained, but as the night started to quiet down, Olofi advised that I have a gift for all of you. They were excited. He led them all to a room opening the big doors. This room was filled with pumpkins, pumpkins of every shape and size and colour, and they at each other thinking, are pumpkins. But Olofi said each one, pick the one that you like. And so they went in and they picked all that they wanted and they left the really small dinky ones for Obara to pick. And Obara humbly picked a nice little small one. 

Well, with their gift they left and the Orisha, they jumped on their horses and started to go down the road, but they started to talk amongst themselves. Imagine Olofi invited us to his house for a meal and a gift, and he gives us a pumpkin? They bickered amongst themselves, and slowly rolled the pumpkins off into the ditch as they rode away. 

There was Obara coming down on his donkey. And he looked around and he saw that the pumpkins were in the ditch. Now, Obara was a real farmer and he thought to himself, ah, this is a good meal for me and my wife. And so he picked up each of those pumpkins and carried them home. When he got home, he greeted his wife and he gave her the small pumpkin that he was gifted, and instructed that she should cut it open and make a meal for them. But he was gonna go out to the field and would eat when he came back. 

So Obara went off to the field and his wife sharpened her knife and she went to cut into this pumpkin and a chunk came off and there was gold coins inside. She was so frightened. She sat with the pumpkin and waited for Obara to come home. When Obara came home, she showed him the pumpkin with all of the gold coins. She didn't know what to do, but Obara did. He hid the gold coins until he could figure out what he wanted to do, and he thought long and hard about the best way to spend these coins. He came up with an idea and spent some of it. Well, a week later, Olofi called out to the Orisha again, inviting them back for another meal. But this time bring the pumpkin I gave to you, bring the gift I gave to you the last time. 

Well, the Orisha got all dressed up. They mounted their horses and made their way to Olofi's home. And again, they arrived and Olofi asked, is everyone here? Oh gosh, Obara is late again, they muttered amongst themselves. So they looked, waiting for Obara to arrive on his old donkey. But this time there was no donkey. They saw a man dressed in an immaculate white suit, mounted on the most beautiful steed they had ever seen coming towards them. 

Is that Obara? It was. Obara came and climbed down and greeted them all. Olofi again presented them with an amazing meal. When they were done, he asked where, where is the gift that I gave you the last time? Well, the Orisha, they started to kick off their feet and rub their hands together. And one said, I, I, I dropped it. Another said, you know, it was so heavy. Another said it spoiled my outfit. And they went on and on. Well, each one had a complaint except for Obara. So Olofi looked at Obara and said. And what of you? Obara presented what was left of his pumpkin said, I gave this to my wife to make a meal for us, and she found gold coins. And see, I found a way to spend. Olofi blinked twice. He laughed to himself and said, Obara, you are the only one who knew what to do with a gift. You were able to find the true value in something that seemed cheap. All of the Orisha stood saying nothing.

Well, while we know each of the Orisha, they have their own powers to take care of things that happen in nature and things that happen among man. But everyone believes that the Orisha who has the most valuable power has to be Obara, because Obara is the only one who can help you to see the true gift in the things that life gives to you. 

Well, let's just say people still call out to Obara, not for money, not for answers to prayers,  not for things, but when they want to know if what they are dealing with friend or foe, or if what they received is for good or for bad, they will cry out to Obara, to the Ashe that will guide them to what is true. 

Hema: Thank you for sharing that. This is, um, you prefaced this at the beginning. It's a little bit different than some of the others that we've talked about. 

Kesha: Yes, it definitely is.

Hema: So I have a couple of questions for you. Oftentimes folktales cross barriers, and are told a version is told by many different people. Is that the same with Cuban tales? And you said, this is not really a folktale. 

Kesha: It is a Pataki story. And so these stories are different from traditional folktales that you hear in Cuba, which tap into your, the trickster characters and other things. These are like sacred stories. They're stories that are used for, as a blueprint. They explain the universe, they describe the powers and possibilities of the Orisha, as well as they're a guide for, um, divination rituals. So if there was a ritual being done for, say Oshun, they would look to the Pataki stories related to Oshun and read those, teach it to their children and their followers so that they would know how to address her and the infinite possibility in the powers that she holds.

Hema: With all of that said, do you think the Pataki stories are really for the people within the community, or are they widely known and told?

Kesha: Well, finding Pataki stories, it's very interesting because you have some who believe that stories are so sacred that unless you are ordained in a special way, you shouldn't tell them. But there are also another view where the stories should still be told and shared because it is a part of the rich culture that should be available to the world. 

So if you're looking online, Hey, let me find a Pataki story. You might find a few that are very, um, lightweight. I guess that's the only way I can put that. But if you're looking for something that's more rooted in the divine, the, the divination rituals, it's not easy to find. But if you're looking for stories that kind of explain the universe or or teach you a moral or two, those are easier to find. But you have to specifically be looking for Pataki stories, not just Cuban folktale, because you won't find them that way. 

Hema: So you have to be very specific and in fact have to know what you're looking for.

Kesha: Yes.

Hema: When you just said that maybe in some, some people might consider only ordained people should be telling these stories we're, I'm just putting it out there, we're doing this in all good faith today. We're, we're not trying to cross boundaries and barriers that we're not supposed to be.

Kesha: Right, right. So I chose this story because it kind of more explains, it describes the powers and possibilities of the Orisha, not necessarily, being a part of a a divination ritual. 

The stories are important for us to tell because they have like a direct line from Cuba to Africa, without having to be changed or shifted like it's been there are a lot of things that have been adapted, and like I said, the Santeria religion blends the two together, but these stories, there are not a lot of other islands that share their stories, that speak of the Orisha. Here, we see it very clearly.

Hema: The Santeria religion, in broad terms, would it be akin to or a cousin to Voodoo and Obeah?

Kesha: Yes. I'm gonna say lightly because I'm not versed in the, all of it, but yes, it definitely is. And you know, the rituals and activities, gatherings and such are similar. Um, the experience of being in the space gives, it has the same type of energy and the ability to celebrate a revered gods, goddesses and deities is the same, essentially.

Hema: The the three or the two that I named and then Santeria, for me in the North American context are often misunderstood, right? Because they're so different, and I imagine many, many years ago it was planted in our minds that these were “bad” for many reasons, right? We know what the history is like.

When you think Voodoo and Obeah I, these are the two that I'm probably more familiar with. People tend to think of them as, not necessarily as religions, but more on the, something bad can happen to you because of… 

Kesha: But they also believe in karma, right? So…..

Hema: Yeah. It's complicated, right? And it's complicated for many reasons, and it's very misunderstood, but it's also purposely misunderstood because people were not allowed to express their religion, celebrate their religion way back in the day.

Kesha: Exactly, and so the religion had to be hidden or look comfortable. When you look at how worship has been done, the way that we worship, there's movement of body, there's calling out, there's using your voice. There is, a praise where you might be talking to somebody, but once they're in their flow, there're in that, that what we say, connection with the ancestors. They're not speaking to you. But that's fearful for anyone who does, has never seen that before, you know, it's very fearful. If you've never been to a church in the Caribbean, it's very different from North America. Not everyone's sitting neatly, you know what I mean?

It's a, it's an experience and because we've had to hide those things, how do I say this? Some of the Saints, St. Paul. Why are you worshiping, or why are you praying to St. Paul? St. Paul had the same characteristics aligned with a deity that we, that was praised in Africa. So instead of calling out the original name, they started calling out St. Peter's. So guess what? It, oh, St. We know who that is. it's okay. 

So they've had to hide, and the movement had to change to that side to side shuffle as opposed to chanting and raising hands and calling out in a circle, it just had to be hidden. It's always been a part of who we are. It just had to change so that we could adapt to our environment, and these spiritual practices take the bandaid off. And that's where the fear is because we're no longer hiding behind those saints names. We're no longer hiding our ability or need to have music, and movement. When we praise, when we celebrate, we, they, why do you celebrate your ancestors the same way you call on saints? They're, aren't they dead too? 

But we're not doing it as to keep them there. We're celebrating our ancestors because they are alive. We are one of 10,000, and we are just praising and grateful for the opportunity to be able to connect with them on this level where that communication is happening back and forth.

Hema: Yeah, it's the, I was going to say the fear of the unknown, and then I, I recognize that we're sitting in Canada, right? We are in Canada, and we're looking at it through that lens. But would this story be told in another part of the world, it would not be as unknown or as foreign or as different because it's these kinds of thought patterns, and beliefs are normal and everyday for them.

Kesha: Yes.

Hema: You said that Pataki stories, you have to be intentional to even know, to find them online, for example, and maybe there's only a handful of them online. So unless you're in the inner circle, so to speak, there are probably hundreds of Pataki stories that we just don't know.

Kesha: There are absolutely, there are. When I was doing like my research, 'cause I'm always looking for, intothe stories make reference to a number of Pataki stories, but you can't necessarily find that Pataki story. So, like I said, some of them are for divine rituals and things like that, so you're not gonna easily find those. The ones that explain the Orishas, they're more available now because we're now looking back to what, you know, looking back to say this is where we should be spiritually standing. And so when you look up Orishas, you get a little more information. But when you think of Cuba and folktales, if you're looking that up, you won't find it at all.

You might not even find a reference to Pataki stories. You have to kind of dig a little bit unpeel, and it's a little bit of an onion where you gotta peel it back, peel it back until you find what's this mean? And then you're able to really dive in and see the whole richness that unfolds.

Hema: Kesha, every time I talk to you, I add to my list of things that need to be researched.

Kesha: Happy to help.

Hema: Uh, every episode that we do together, my research list grows and grows, and I'm happy for that because the more that I learn from other people, the wider my knowledge, the wider my mind and my framework is. That's part of why I'm doing this podcast is I want to share what other people know, I wanna learn from other people, I want to share what I know so that we can all embrace the culture in the Caribbean fully, as fully as we can.

Kesha: Yes. Um, being able to share these stories, I'm, I learning to it expands, stretches me in ways that I didn't expect. Uh, as a storyteller, you kind of expect to find the story and just share the story and it's all good. But I've always liked to have that little bit of extra so that I create an understanding that's real, a connection that is real, that I can now share. And the important thing is whenever you find a story, you're supposed to make the story your own. If you can't make the story your own, they say, don't share that story. But I can't make it my own without understanding everything around the story. So it's, it's super important for me, when I'm looking at stories, is to have that understanding and to do that deep dive. And then if, like, if I needed to do that, then so do others possibly, right? So, unless you're just looking for a nostalgia moment or just to be entertained when you ask the questions, I'd like to be able to have an answer.

Hema: I appreciate you being able to have these conversations and sharing, and hopefully if people who are listening to this have questions or have other stories that they wanna share, they will leave comments and let us know, because again, we're always open to hearing other perspectives, other stories, other tales, because you've made this story your own as you're supposed to after having done your research, but maybe somebody else will the story, uh, the Pataki story in a very different manner.

Kesha: Yes. I love to see that.

Hema: Thank you so much for sharing a tale from Cuba, a Pataki story from Cuba today, and we will see you again soon.

Kesha: Awesome. See you soon.

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