The Letra del año (Spanish) or Letra do Ano (Portuguese) (English: Letter of the year) is an annual proclamation of predictions and advice by babalawo's for the coming year, usually issued every December 31 (New Year's Eve on the Gregorian calendar). In Yorubaland, it is made by a council of babalawo's during the Odun Ifa (New Year) festival during June. In most of Latin America, a national council of babalawo's is usually responsible for the announcements of predictions. In Cuba, however, at least two national councils (one of which is state-sponsored) offer letras del año. A particular controversy arose in 2009-2010, when one of the Cuban national councils of babalawo issued a letra which predicted fights for power and an unusually high number of deaths of political leaders in the world, which many media outlets outside Cuba interpreted as being directed to Cuba's own political apparatus.[1][2]
Some well known babalawo councils
editCuba
edit- Cuban Council of Great Priests of Ifá
- Miguel Febles Padrón Commission Organized for the Reading of the Year
United States
edit- Tata Gaitan Commission Organized for the Reading of the Year
- Council of Babalawos of California
Puerto Rico
edit- Temple Yoruba Omó Orisha
- Yoruba Afro-Caribbean Orisha Ayé Association
Venezuela
edit- Civil Cultural Association of Priests of Ifá
Panama
edit- Ilé Ifá Ifá Lola Alfonso Díaz
- Ilé Ifá Gerardo Carrillo
Mexico
edit- Yoruba Society of Mexico
Spain
edit- Ilé Iré Esulona
Brazil
edit- Associação Ifá Ni L'Órun
France
edit- Yoruba Cultural Association of Cuba in France