The slaves from Africa brought the power of their spirits to the New World where it has been maintained and syncretized for generations in the rituals of Santer a and Palo Monte in Cuba, Vaudou in Haiti and Candombl in Brazil. The Yoruba people of Nigeria arrived with a system of worship that hailed nature as the Supreme Being, Olodumare, and in his many manifestations or specialized keepers of power, called orishas . The orishas are deities in the Yoruba pantheon who govern different parts of the universe and are associated with the forces of nature. Dovetailing with the Yoruba orishas in their power and pervasiveness, the spirits brought from the Kongo also control the journey through life, and demand reverence and respect.
Man lives within a universe ruled by the spirits and the ancestors.
He sees god in everything and is one with the universe. His very existence is controlled by the spirits. The art of Jos Bedia pays homage to these spirits, conceptually, technically and emotionally. Jos Bedia is both a highly respected young artist and an initiated priest of the Kongo Palo Monte religion, brought to Cuba by African slaves in the nineteenth century and given the Creole name of Regla de Mayomb . 1 Believers in Palo Monte ascribe to a cosmic view of human existence in which man and woman are one with nature, the animals and the earth and sky.