Caridad del Cobre

Caridad del Cobre

The owl in Caridad del Cobre refers to the wisdom of the night, usually attributed to feminine archetypes.1 Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity) is the patron saint of Cuba. Santeria joins Caridad del Cobre with the Yoruba saint Osun whose colors are golden yellow, brass and copper. She is associated with sweet, or fresh, running water and with honey.

The border pattern is based on photographs of tree fungus. The buildings were photographed at the Holyland USA shrine.

Notes

Neumann, Erich. 1994. The Fear of the Feminine and Other Essays on Feminine Psychology Princeton University Press. p. 42. Although the owl is often associated with sorcery, or with witchcraft, Neumann maintains that the knowledge of the unconscious attributed to the feminine is not inherently negative. "As the principle of feminine wisdom, the owl is just as positive a symbol when it appears as Athene's bird as it is negative when it appears as the bird of the witch, who uses the same wisdom in the service of evil."