J.
Arrencivia, Aworan de Osain del camino de Ifa . Hand carved wood with unfinished
surface and three wood plugs, 9" tall, Havana, 2000. An aworan , or alboran
( muneco in Spanish), is an anthropomorphic representation of, or a figure associated
with, a particular orisha egun . Osain is the master of the sacred "leaves"
( ewe ) and el monte (the forest), and takes many forms and representations.
This figure of Osain derives from a historia (legend). There, Osain is deformed:
in his battles with Chango, which led to a pact between them, Osain lost an
eye, an arm, and a leg. Therefore, the figure's head, arm stump, and leg stump
are hollow; each hole is loaded with a "charge" ( carga ), and is sealed with
a wood plug. Normally, the figure is mounted in a base of cement within a terracotta
dish. The figure's surface remains unfinished so that the sculpture can be consecrated,
i.e., "washed" and "fed," absorbing the ache of herbal liquids and sacrificial
blood.
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