Anima Sola

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Based on Roman Catholic tradition, the Anima Sola or lonely soul is an image, in some interpretations seen as that of a soul in purgatory, popular in Latin America.^[1]

Contents 1 Various interpretations of the image 2 Magical traditions 3 Santeria and Lukumi 4 Women's liberation movement 5 References

[edit] Various interpretations of the image

The Anima Sola is taken to represent a soul suffering in purgatory, usually, if not always, a woman. The woman has broken free from her chains in the midst of a prison (barred doors) and is surrounded by flames, representing purgatory. She appears penitent and reverent, and her chains have been broken, an indication that, after her temporary suffering, she is destined for heaven.

Anima Sola is also celebrated in folk religions much as a saint - and she hears the prayers of the living. She may bless and intercede on the prayer's behalf to accelerate the conclusion of a purgatorial penance of a loved one who died in sin. She might also be called up on to create a living purgatory for someone who has hurt the person praying to her.^[2]

The Anima Sola is "a belief still deeply rooted in the mass of the campesinos. The devotion dates from the first colonizers, who probably brought the image in which the soul is represented as a woman suffering torments in purgatory with chains binding her hands. A legend concerning the 'thirst of Christ', about which Scripture seems to say nothing, passes from mouth to mouth: They say that in Jerusalem there were women for giving drink to those who were sacrificed on the cross. On the afternoon of Good Friday it fell to a young woman, Celestina Abdenago, to go up Calvary. From the jar she gave to drink to Dismas and Gesta. She despised the Saviour and for that reason he condemned her to suffer thirst and the constant heat of purgatory."^[3]

[edit] Magical traditions

Whatever about its original Roman Catholic use, the image now has significance in some magic traditions. As described in The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells by Judika Illes:

“

Anima Sola translates as the "lone soul" or "lonely spirit" and refers to a very specific votive image. Based on Roman Catholic votive statues (but now a standardized chromolithograph), this image is particularly popular in Latin American magical traditions. It depicts a woman standing amidst flames, eternally burning yet never consumed. She gazes upwards, holding her chained hands towards heaven. Is her soul burning in the fire of Hell or does her heart burn with the fire of love? Allegedly unrequited love is what drew this poor soul into her predicament: the Anima Sola traded eternal salvation for the joys of temporal love. She is invoked in only the most desperate love spells.[4]

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Another interpretation is that the sacred figures most frequently invoked include the "Lonely Soul" [Anima Sola], who requires prayers because of her destitution; San Silvestre, magical because of the date of his feast day; and Santa Elena and San Onofre.^[5]

[edit] Santeria and Lukumi

In Santería or Lukumi, the Afro-Caribbean religion of Cuba, there is a synchronization of the lonely spirit with Eshu Alleguana. The Eshus are the Divine Messengers, the Tricksters, The Masters of the Roads and the Doors that are necessary for all prayers to reach their intended point. Eshu Allegwanna, one Eshu among hundreds, is thought to be the oldest of the Eshus, and to have existed on the Earth since a primordial time long before not only people, but before many of the Gods of the religion, existed in the world. Therefore, he is synchronized with The Lonely Spirit, as many of the African Gods were synchronized with Catholic deities, or hidden behind them, in the first centuries of slavery, when the practice of the African religions were oppressed. Anima Sola is grouped in a triad in some traditions with The Intranquil Spirit and the Dominant Spirit.

[edit] Women's liberation movement

In recent years, Anima Sola has been used as an anthem for the women's movement - woman breaking through the chains of traditional societal roles, ...^[6]

[edit] References