From the coasts of far-off Africa and in subhuman conditions, they were taken to Cuba in the bellies of the slave ships: men, women and children. Unknowingly, the Spanish slave traders transplanted what we now call religious syncretism, because they were not just bringing the official Catholic saints on those ships; they were also transporting traditions, customs, psychology, music, religions, ceremonies, legends and orishas (gods) along with the people they had tragically snatched from African lands. Today, they are an inseparable part of our Cuban nationality.