Cemí Worship and the Cohoba Ceremony

The cemí was central to Taíno cosmology. The term referred both to a spirit or deity and to its physical representation, carved from stone, wood, bone, shell, or clay. Cemís were believed to possess supernatural powers and served as intermediaries between the living and the spirit world. They were associated with ancestor worship and decorated with human and animal symbols.

Major cemís included Yucahú, the supreme deity and lord of cassava and the sea; Atabey (also Atabeira), earth mother goddess of fertility, fresh water, and the moon; Guabancex, a manifestation representing violent wind and rain (hurricanes); and Opiyelguobirán, a dog-shaped cemí that guarded the dead. Each lineage maintained its own cemís, and the behique and lineage elders would invoke them aloud, recite ancestral histories, and mark lines of belonging.

The cohoba ceremony used a hallucinogenic snuff prepared from the seeds of the Anadenanthera peregrina tree. The active compounds are DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) and bufotenine. The ritual followed strict protocol: participants fasted and purified, then used a carved wooden spatula inserted into the throat to empty the stomach completely. The powdered snuff was placed on a carved wooden platform and inhaled through a Y-shaped tube made from hollowed bird bones, inserted into both nostrils. Participants entered an altered state believed to enable direct communication with cemís, ancestors, and the supernatural world.

The behique served as the community's medical and spiritual specialist—healer, diviner, and ritual leader. They maintained knowledge of medicinal plants, conducted cohoba ceremonies, communicated with cemís on behalf of the community, and preserved oral histories and genealogies. Archaeological evidence at Cueva del Indio in Puerto Rico includes purging sticks with traces of cohoba residue, confirming their use in pre-ritual preparations.