The Bohiti or bohíque, the all-powerful witch doctor of the Taino Indians.

Hello dear reader, this is one of those complementary posts that I add to my virtual space every time I am preparing a class. I was preparing my workshop on Candomble and Umbanda for my next classes, but in a certain part of the workshop, I mentioned the magical and animistic culture of the Tainos (natives of the Caribbean).

I know that many may not be interested, but there are always people who want to hear what are the reliable sources on the subject, and well, on the practical side, the only source I have is my mother and I, but, on a theoretical level, Finding people who have written books or columns on the subject is difficult.

So I decided to translate here, directly from my books and magazines in Spanish, the material that I have about it on a theoretical level, I hope it will help you.

Taino Natives

The Taínos were the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. It is a town that came from South America, specifically from the mouth of the Orinoco River, Venezuela, passing from island to island, reducing or assimilating the oldest inhabitants, such as the Guanajatabeyes and the Ciguayos whose cultures They predate the arrival of the Taínos. The Taíno language belongs to the macroarahuacana linguistic family, which extends from South America through the Caribbean.

At the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival in 1492, there were five Taíno chieftains in the territory of Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), each led by a chief cacique (chief), to whom tribute was paid. Puerto Rico was also divided into chiefdoms. The chief or chief of the tribe was paid a significant tribute. The caciques had the privilege of wearing gold pendants called chain, living in rectangular huts instead of oval ones that the inhabitants inhabited, and sitting on wooden stools when they received guests.

Taino Magic & Sorcery

The Taínos were a polytheistic and animistic culture, like most of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The main divinity is YaYa. It is also known as Semign (which means "God" in the Taino Arawak language).

The word "cemí" whose meaning in the Taino language means "Angel", designates the spiritual beings of Taino mythology, and "Juracán" was the name that the Taínos gave to the atmospheric phenomena known today by hurricanes and tropical storms. In Taino belief, who really unleashed these hurricanes was Guabancex, who was accompanied by Guataubá and Cuatrisquie.

In the religious beliefs of the Taíno culture, the hupia are the spirits of the dead, and they differ from the goeiza: spirits of the living. Although the Goeiza life had a clear form, after death the spirit became known as a hupia and went to live in Coaybay.

Taino Witch-doctor

The "behique", "bohique" or "buhitío" was a necessary character in the entire tribe, and occupied a privileged position in the social pyramid after the cacique and the nitaínos. "They represented the level of social and religious development of the Taínos".

The Behiques possessed a "natural power" that made them respectable and feared persons. Like the majority of shamans, they were not priests, but primarily medical-sorcerers, although they also played the role of theologians, soothsayers, and prophets.

To become a Behique, extensive learning and many days of fasting, almost absolute, were required. "The fast that some did mainly the bahiks or priests or sorcerers... They fasted four months and more continuously, without eating anything, but only a certain juice of grass or herbs, that only to sustain them, that they did not die, was enough".

A fantasy about the Sacred ritual of the death

of the Taino Indians in the Dominican Republic

1999-2000. Made by David Cavada.

Among the functions they performed were:

• Organize the cult: The Behiques or shamans, along with the caciques, were the hosts of religious ceremonies or rites. Among which stands out the rite of the Cohoba, in which, after several days of fasting, they inhaled a hallucinogen called “cohoba” which consisted of seeds from a tree known as “Anadenthera Peregrina” and burnt snail shells, both pulverized. This dust caused hallucinations and made them imagine that they had a talk with the gods, who gave them instructions on the actions they should take regarding certain situations. “The result was very dry and well-polished, tan-colored mixes”.
• Communicate tribal traditions: The Behiques were also in charge of carrying out activities through which they transferred the knowledge acquired after many years of experience to the rest of the tribe, so that it was not lost with future generations. An example of these rites is the areito, in which, as in the cohoba rite, they used drugs with hallucinogens and danced to the rhythm of maracas and drums. Medical knowledge was not shared since it was reserved exclusively for future shamans, who were going to replace them in the exercise of witchcraft and curanderismo.
• Educate the children of the caciques and be advisers to them: Being subordinate behiques close to the cacique, they entrusted them with the education of their children, trusting that the behique would guide them along the path that the gods had prepared for them.
• Make the figures in honor of different cemíes: The behiques were in charge of making the representations of the gods using a wide variety of materials, such as stone and clay.
• Curing the sick: The latter distinguished them more than the others due to their vast knowledge in botany, medicine, and other branches; which gave them the privilege of being the only ones in charge of this trade. Of course, these "doctors" of the tribe did not possess scientific knowledge of anatomy or physiology, they were purely intuitive. "They seem to have had some knowledge regarding the five main senses, considering that these functions put him in with the external environment, danger and survival."

Spiritual Heritage

The spiritual world of the Taíno hardly left traces in the Creole culture, and the few samples of that world are strongly syncretized with Christian-African beliefs and rites. We can cite, in this regard, the sacralization of certain Taíno caciques, elevated to the category of luases or divinities of the voodoo pantheon; superstitions regarding indigenous axes, popularly known as “lightning stones” and the myth of the ciguapa, a female entity that walks with its feet upside down. The belief of lightning stones is that if you have one of them, lightning will not strike the houses.

In popular medicine, various herbs and woods are used for different diseases that the Taínos used. They are currently used for the same purposes. Among the different objects and materials used in the country for magical practices, there are stones, bottles with polishing water, drinks, potions, quicksilver, etc. All these objects or materials are supposed to be charged with "force" after their ritual manipulations and therefore capable of operating beneficially in curing illnesses, solving different problems and achieving good luck.

The Behiques, being both intermediaries between the gods and men, as well as doctors and healers, had a great influence on the general population. "However, the religion itself was in the power of men, corresponding to the chief being the chief, warrior and religious at the same time".

One of the most widespread beliefs was cemitism, represented by idols or cemíes, considered as tutelary gods. Among the most accepted Cemíes were the "three-pointed stones" or trigonolites, which were commonly related to fertility rituals, such as the productivity of the conucos and the reproduction of human beings.

As for animism, the Taíno believed that the spirits of the dead lived in the trees. They believed to perceive the presence of these when movements of the branches took place or when the roots branched in a special way. When this happened, the Behique sought to interpret the wishes that the dead wanted to manifest, according to belief.

Sources from where I translate this info:

• Revista Cubana de Medicina Militar. 2016.
• Fernando Polanco/Raquel Chalas. (2017) Del Behique al Medico Militar. 
• Jorge Ulloa Garcia. (2010) Historia, Civilizaciones y Cultura del Caribe. 
• Roberto Busto. (2009) Brujos y Chamanes.
• Cassa, Roberto. (1992). Los indios de las Antillas. MAPFRE. Madrid, España.
• De las Casas, Bartolomé. (1985). Historia de las Indias. Sociedad Dominicana de Bibliófilos. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
• Pané, Fray Ramón. (1986). La Isla Española: cuna de la evangelización de América. Primicias de la Vega Real. Amigo del Hogar. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.
• Cassá, Roberto. (1974). Los taínos de la Española. Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. Santo Domingo, República Dominicana.