Good evening dear readers and blog followers!

Did you know?
Today, December 4th, is dia del Chango – an important day of celebration is the Santeria religion in Cuba.
It’s also a Friday – the day of the week dedicated to the Orisha Chango.

Chango is the Santeria god of fire, thunder, lightening, war, drums, music and dancing.
He also possess the power of divination, knowing what the future holds.
As a deity of fire,  the character of this Orisha and his “children” (those born under his star) is proud, dignified, brave and intelligent and a fierce warrior.
Before becoming a deity, Chango was the king of the Yoruba land, and thus, for him it is very important to be recognized and respected as a leader.
On the other hand, Chango also represents the imperfections of humans;
He is at time violent, easily annoyed (responding with rage…), arrogant, domineering and a great, manipulative, sweet-talking and lying womanizer, as he also represents the power of male sexuality, virility and seduction.

As the Yoruba slaves in Cuba had to hide their religion behind catholic images enforced upon them by the Spaniards, Chango is syncretized with the catholic saint Santa Barbara.
The daughter of an evil pagan ruler, Barbara was sealed in a tower awaiting an arranged marriage, but during this time discovered the “true faith” (Christianity), and refused the marriage.
For that her father ordered her tortured, and after failing to make her renounce her faith, beheaded her.
Soon after, he was struck by lightening.
Chango is mixed with this saint due to the strong character and pride of holding to one’s faith above all, due to the use of lightening as a weapon to punish evildoers, and dressing in female clothing (one of the pattaki, holy stories of the Orishas, tells of Chango dressing up as the female Orisha Oya, one of his lovers, to escape undetected from his enemies).

Over the years many bands and orchestras wrote, composed and performed songs is honor of Chango (with the most famous being the classic “que viva chango“).
The song I’m glad to present you today is a fine Timba composition by NG La Banda, one of the most important bands of the genre, from the album “En directo del patio de mi casa”, which came out in 1995, and was recorded as a live concert in Habana!

Disfruten!