Case file · Folklore / legend
The Letra del Año
Each New Year's Eve since 1986, a council of Cuban babalawos (Ifá priests) casts divination to name the ruling orisha of the year and its warnings, and publishes the result as the 'Letter of the Year'.
1986 CE · 23.14, -82.37 · status: official
The account
The Letra advises on health, politics and society and is widely followed in Cuba and the diaspora. It reflects the public growth of Santería since the 1980s.