Santeria

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Santería en Cuba

Santería en Cuba. Ceremony of "Cajon of the Dead".

The Santeria, Lucumí cult or Ifá Rule, Lucumí Rule, Lucumí or Orisha is a religion of the African diaspora that developed in Cuba at the end of the century XIX. Their beliefs derive directly from Yoruba culture and religion, which in Cuba were syncretized with Catholicism implanted by the Hispanic Monarchy, as well as with spiritualism. There is no central authority that controls Santeria and there is great diversity among practitioners, who are known as believers.

Santeria is polytheistic and revolves around deities called orisha. These derive their names and attributes from traditional Yoruba divinities, and are equated with Catholic saints. It is believed that each human being has a personal bond with a specific orisha that influences his personality. Various myths are narrated about these orisha, who are considered subservient to Olodumare, a transcendent creator deity. Olodumare is believed to be the ultimate source of aché, a supernatural force that permeates the universe and can be manipulated through ritual actions. Practitioners venerate the orisha on altars, either in the home or in the casa (temple), which is run by a santero or santera >. Membership in a house requires an initiation. Offerings to the orisha include fruit, liquor, flowers, and sacrificed animals. A central ritual is the toque de santo, in which practitioners beat drums, sing, and dance to encourage an orisha to possess one of its members and thus communicate with it. Various forms of divination, such as Ifá, are used to decipher the messages of the orisha. Offerings are also made to the spirits of the dead, and some practitioners identify themselves as spirit mediums. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies and talismans also play an important role.

Santeria developed as the cult of Afro-Cubans, whose ancestors were enslaved during the colonial era, between the 16th and 19th centuries. It is part of the Afro-American group of religions. Santeria began to be practiced by former black slaves and their descendants in the western half of the island of Cuba (Havana), which spread to the eastern half and then to the other colonies that the Yoruba arrived in the Caribbean. (Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela Colombia and Panama). It was formed from the mixture of traditional religions brought to Cuba by enslaved West Africans, most of them Yoruba, and Catholicism, the only religion legally allowed on the island by the Spanish colonial government. In the urban areas of western Cuba, these traditions merged with spiritist ideas to form the first casas at the turn of the century XIX. In colonial Cuba, her rituals had to be practiced clandestinely because she was marginalized and persecuted. After the Cuban War of Independence gave rise to an independent republic in 1898, its new constitution enshrined religious freedom. However, Santeria continued to be marginalized by Cuba's Catholic and Euro-Cuban establishment, which considered it witchcraft. In the 1960s, the increasing emigration that followed the Cuban Revolution caused the emigration of Santeros to Spain, the United States, Italy, among others, spreading Santeria abroad. Communism brought with it secularization, so that since the middle of the 20th century its social consideration has changed favorably and now many santeros from all over the world make pilgrimages to the island of Cuba. In the late 20th century, Santeria became increasingly linked with related West African and American traditions, such as Haitian Vodou and the Brazilian candomblé. Since the late XX century, some practitioners have emphasized a process of "Yorubization" to eliminate Catholic influences and create forms of Santeria closest to the traditional Yoruba religion.

Currently the main religions in Cuba are the Catholic religion and the Yoruba religion, without them having to be exclusive, at least by practitioners of the African religion. However, the Catholic Church does not recognize Santeria as a Christian cult, but as a pagan cult. Santeria practitioners are found mainly in the Cuban provinces of Havana and Matanzas, although there are communities throughout the island and abroad, especially among the Cuban diasporas from Mexico and the United States. The religion remains most common among working-class Afro-Cuban communities, although it is also practiced by individuals of other classes and ethnic origins. The number of initiates is estimated to be several hundred thousand. These initiates act as diviners and healers for a much wider range of adherents with varying levels of fidelity, making it difficult to determine the exact number of Santeria practitioners. Many of them also identify themselves as practicing another religion, usually Catholicism.

Terminology

During the colonial regime it was common to refer to it as a lucumí cult, which comes from the Yoruba expression oloku mi ("my friend"). The Spanish contemptuously called it "santeria", to mock of the apparent excessive devotion shown by followers to their saints.

It is also called Rule of Ocha (or Osha)-Ifá. On some occasions, Santeria practitioners prefer to be known by the secret societies to which they belong, for example: Abakuá (in Cuba) and Amigos de San Lázaro (in Puerto Rico).

This term has spread around the world, although it also has another meaning: santero or image maker is the person who makes the images of Catholic saints.

History

Santeria derives from the union of several religious practices of different ethnic groups from Africa, although the predominant one of all of them is the Yoruba religion, which is practiced by the homonymous ethnic group in African Guinea (Ilè Yorùbá), current Nigeria, Benin and Togo for thousands of years. The Yorubas reached their cultural and political zenith during the periods of the Kingdom of Benin and the Oyo Empire (dissolved in the 19th century, moment in which African immigration to America would intensify), in which the inhuman trade of African slaves took place, to be taken en masse to the New World.

Colonial period

Cuba, the Caribbean island from which the Santería proceeds

Following the conquest of Cuba by the Spanish Empire, the island's Arawak and Siboney populations declined dramatically. To provide a new source of labor for the sugar, tobacco, and coffee plantations they had established in Cuba, the Spanish then resorted to buying slaves sold in West African ports. Slavery was widespread in West Africa; most of the slaves were prisoners of war captured in conflicts with neighboring groups, although some were convicted criminals. The first enslaved Africans arrived in Cuba in 1511, although the greatest number arrived in the XIX. Cuba continued to receive new slaves until at least 1860, and full emancipation occurred in 1886. In all, between 702,000 and 1 million Africans enslaved were taken to Cuba. Most came from a fringe of West Africa located between the present-day nation-states of Guinea and Angola. The vast majority were Yorubas, from the area between present-day Nigeria and Benin; they had a shared language and culture, but were divided among different states. They adhered largely to traditional Yoruba religion, which incorporated many local orisha cults, although certain orishas were widely worshiped. due to the extension of the Oyo Empire, led by the Yoruba.

In Cuba, slaves were divided into groups called nations, often based on their port of shipment rather than their actual ethnocultural background; those who were Yoruba-speaking, as well as of the Arará and Igbo peoples, were identified as the "lucumí nation". Enslaved West Africans brought their traditional religions with them to Cuba; some belonged to the priestly class and possessed knowledge of traditions such as Ifá. Although hundreds of Orishas throughout West Africa, fewer than twenty became prominent in Santeria, perhaps because many kinship-based orisha cults were lost when traditional kinship networks were destroyed by slavery. Orishas associated with agriculture were abandoned., probably because the slaves had little reason to protect the crops from the slavers. Many myths associated with the orishas were transformed, creating kinship relationships between They were different orishas that were not present in West African mythologies. As Santeria took shape, different cults of West African orishas were reconstituted into a single religious system, which featured a newly standardized pantheon of orishas.

In Spanish Cuba, Catholicism was the only religion that could be legally practiced. The Cuban Catholic Church made efforts to convert enslaved Africans, but their instruction in Catholicism was often superficial and sporadic. In Cuba, traditional African deities probably continued to be venerated in clubs and fraternal organizations formed by African emigrants and their descendants. The most important were the cabildos de nación, associations that the establishment considered a means of control the Afro-Cuban population. They functioned as mutual aid societies and organized communal festivals, dances, and carnivals. The Catholic Church saw in these groups a method of gradual evangelization, through which it tolerated the practice of some African customs while eradicating those which he most fiercely opposed. It is likely that in these groups priests of different or West African ishas interact and begin to develop a new system.

The Catholic religion was the only one accepted by Spain in its American colonies. African slaves were forbidden to practice religions other than Christianity, however, they were not completely suppressed, animism continued to be practiced clandestinely in Yoruba homes. It must be taken into account that Yoruba priests and even Obas, that is, local kings, also arrived from Africa. Due to this religious imposition (and to circumvent the veto), the slaves identified in the Catholic saints a pantheon equivalent to the Yoruba pantheon, associating each African deity or energy with a Christian saint. In this way they were able to continue practicing Santeria, once called the "religion (of the) Lucumí".

Something similar happened in Brazil with Candomblé.^{[citation required]}

There is little written record of Santeria from this time because it was prohibited. The number of faithful at that time is unknown, although around 500,000 African slaves arrived in the ports of Cuba between 1740 and 1840. During the 19th century, the new Santeria religion was finally established to the west of the Island of Cuba (in the current provinces of Havana and Matanzas, where a greater number of slaves of Yoruba origin would have settled), which later expanded to the eastern half. To Santiago de Cuba by the hand of the santero Raynés, at the beginning of the XX century

African slaves in 1899 working a sugar cane plantation.

Spanish laws, while allowing slavery, tried to soften that injustice by granting slaves some rights, at least in theory. They had the right to private property, marriage and personal safety. The laws also required that slaves be baptized Catholic as a condition of their legal entry to the Indies.^{[citation required]}

The Church tried to evangelize blacks but the conditions were very difficult. However, the Catholic Church in Cuba found itself in a very precarious situation. In addition to the shortage of priests, the injustice of slavery made it difficult for the Lucumí to accept what was imposed on them. Regardless of the motives behind the initiative evangelizing, the men who promulgated the Christian faith among the slaves, belonged to the same race and in many occasions to the same social circles as the slaveholders. The result was that many outwardly accepted Catholic teachings while inwardly upholding their old religion.^{[citation needed]}

At the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th century, new laws restricted the activities of the cabildos, although their number membership increased in the 19th century. In the last decades of the XIX interest in spiritualism also grew, a religion based on the ideas of the French writer Allan Kardec, which in Cuba was especially popular among the white peasantry, the criollo class and the small urban middle class. Ideas from espiritismo seeped into and increasingly influenced Santeria.

Formation and early history

The first houses of teaching Santeria arose in urban areas of western Cuba at the end of the century XIX. With the emergence of a trained priesthood, they ensured a level of standardization among the new initiates. While drawing on older West African cults, Santeria was, as Clark describes, "a new religious system". Rural-to-urban migration spread Santeria to other parts of Cuba, and by the 1930s it probably reached Cuba's second-largest city, Santiago de Cuba, located on the eastern tip of the island.

Following the War of Independence, the island became an independent republic in 1898. In the republic, Afro-Cubans continued to be largely excluded from economic and political power, and negative stereotypes about them remained pervasive among the Euro-Cuban population. The religious practices of Afro-Cubans used to be called witchcraft and were thought to be related to delinquency. In 1901 the First Cuban Constitution was published, article 26 of which allows free religious profession The 1940 Constitution, promulgated by the dictator Batista, also declared the country a secular state, although it allowed private Christian education and the exercise of all cults except those that do not respect Christian morality (art. 35). This detail made Santeria, in practice, illegal. Although the new constitution of the republic enshrined freedom of worship and laws were never created against Santeria, throughout the first half of the XX century several campaigns were launched against it. These campaigns were often encouraged by the press, which promoted accusations that white children were kidnapped and sacrificed in Santeria rituals; this reached a fever pitch in 1904, after the murder of two white children in Havana in cases that investigators speculated were related to witchcraft.

One of the first intellectuals to examine Santeria was the lawyer and ethnographer Fernando Ortiz Fernández, who analyzed it in his 1906 book Los negros brujos. He considered it an obstacle to the social integration of Afro-Cubans in Cuban society in general and recommended its suppression. In the 1920s, efforts were made to incorporate elements of Afro-Cuban culture into a broader understanding of Cuban culture, for example, through the afrocubanismo. They were often inspired by Afro-Cuban music, dance, and mythology, but tended to reject Santeria rituals. understand Santeria as a religion; unlike Ortiz, he argued that the tradition should be seen as a religious system and not as a form of witchcraft. Lachatañeré helped promote the term Santería to refer to the phenomenon, considering it a more neutral description than terms laden with pejoratives such as witchcraft, then in common use.

Example of syncretization: altar dedicated to San Lázaro-Babalú Ayé, in the Valley of Viñales (Pinar del Río, Cuba).

In «The Great Book of Santeria» by Delgado Torres the author described the Oración a San Froilán, where he exposes and demonstrates that said saint, from the point of view of syncretism, could be a way to syncretize with the Yoruba deity Ossaín, which accentuates throughout this study the universality of the theology of Santeria, one of the heirs of Yoruba culture, that is, Cuban Santeria.

According to Mercedes Sandoval, Santeria also ended up permeating among the white and mestizo population of Cuba for health reasons, since one of the main functions of the santeros is faith healing. The dissemination of the faith was also important. music, mythology and other Yoruba idiosyncrasies by the population that was not strictly black, scholars raise to 70 the percentage of Cubans who have some kind of more or less close relationship with Santeria.

After the Cuban Revolution

The Cuban Revolution of 1959 caused the island to become a Marxist-Leninist state ruled by Fidel Castro's Communist Party of Cuba. Committed to state atheism, the Castro government took a negative view of Santeria. Practitioners were harassed by the police, denied membership in the Communist Party, and limited employment opportunities. Believers needed permission from the police to perform rituals, which was sometimes denied. However, the state promoted art forms associated with Santeria in the hope of using them to promote a unified Cuban identity. The Castro government, while advocating anti-racism, considered the promotion of a separate Afro-Cuban identity to be counterrevolutionary.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the Castro government declared that Cuba was entering a "special period" in which new economic measures would be necessary. As part of this, he selectively supported Afro-Cuban and Santeria traditions, in part out of a desire to boost tourism; this Santeria-focused tourism was termed santurismo. Santeria, Ifá, and Palo priests they participated in government-sponsored tours for foreigners wishing to be introduced to these traditions, while Afro-Cuban performances became commonplace in Cuban hotels. In 1991, the Communist Party approved the admission of religious members, and in 1992 the constitution was amended to declare Cuba a secular rather than an atheist state. This liberalization allowed Santeria to move beyond its marginalization, and during the 1990s it began to be practiced more openly.

The theologian Frei Betto, in his book Fidel and Religion (1985), wrote about Fidel Castro's relationship with Santeria. He comments that he was not a practitioner, but he did get started. Many santeros who supported the communist Revolution saw in him a spiritual liberator for Cuba, considering him the son of the deity Elegguá.^{[citation required]}

In the second half of the 20th century, there was a growing awareness of Santeria's ties to other religions that orishas are worshiped in West Africa and the Americas. These transnational links were reinforced when the Ooni of Ife (the traditional ruler of Ile-Ife and spiritual head of the Yoruba people), Olubuse II, a prominent Yoruba political and religious leader, visited Cuba in 1987. The Cuban government allowed the formation of the Yoruba Cultural Association, a non-governmental organization, in the early 1990s, while several Santeria practitioners visited Nigeria to study traditional Yoruba religion. A process emerged of "yorubización", with attempts to eliminate the Catholic elements of Santeria; this process was criticized by those who saw the syncretism of Santeria as a positive trait.

Similarly, with the triumph of the communist revolution in Cuba in 1959, more than a million Cubans went into exile in other countries (mainly in the cities of Miami, New York and Los Angeles). Among them were Santeros who spread Santeria in their new environments.^{[citation needed]}The Cuban Revolution prompted Cuban emigration, especially to the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. With the increase of the Cuban presence in the United States, Santeria grew in many cities of the country, being adopted by Latin Americans, as well as by Europeans and African Americans. Some African Americans considered it an authentic African religion, especially when it was purged of Catholic elements, and was sometimes perceived as a religious wing of the Black Power movement. A leading exponent of this approach was the black nationalist activist Walter King. After being initiated in Cuba, he established a temple in Harlem before moving with his followers in 1970 to a community in Sheldon, South Carolina, which they called the Yoruba Village of Oyotunji. Having a strained relationship with many other Santeros and Santeras, who accused him of racism, King came to call his tradition "Orisha-Vudu" instead of Santeria. In the United States, Santeria, along with Haitian Vodou, also influenced the Louisiana voodoo revival in the late 20th century. One of the leading figures of this revival, Ava Kay Jones, had previously participated in King's Orisha-Vodoo.

News

Young Cuban with a white dress, which indicates that she is newly baptized in the shelf.

Today, Santeria occurs throughout Latin America and places with large Hispanic populations in the United States (Florida, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego).^{[< i>citation required]}

In 1992, Nigerian academic Wándé Abímbọ́lá (professor at the University of Lagos and scholar of Yoruba culture and language) stated that "there are more babalawos in Puerto Rico than in Nigeria." Cuban babalawos arrived in Puerto Rico in the 1960s.

Currently, religion is also present in Spain, especially in the Canary Islands due to its close relationship with Cuba, Mexico, the Netherlands, Germany, England, France, and other countries where there are a considerable number of Cuban immigrants. In Venezuela, the Caracas region is where the largest number of santeros and babalawos in the country are concentrated, but they are also found in Cumaná, Coro and Maracay.

Doctrine

The fundamental pillars of the religion are based on the worship of dead ancestors (egúns) and on the knowledge that there is a single God (Oloddumare) and he is related to human beings through of extensions of it, which are also divinities, which the Yoruba called orishás. Due to these characteristics, it is considered to be a polytheistic religion.^{[citation required]}

Those who profess Santeria believe in determinism, that is, that lives are determined from before birth, as well as in reincarnation.

Olodumare and the orishas

Santeria believes in a universal force or god from whom everything created comes, called Olodumare (from Yoruba, oloddumare; literally, "the omnipotent"), Olofi or Olorun. Practitioners believe that this divinity created the universe, but takes little interest in human affairs. As this creator deity is inaccessible to humanity, no great offerings are made to him. The three facets of this divinity are understood slightly differently: Olodumare represents the divine essence of all that exists, Olorun is considered the creator of all beings, while Olofi inhabits all creation. By adopting a tripartite form, this deity shows similarities with the Christian Trinity.

The orishas

Orishas Oddé (“warriors”) Eshu Elegguá (San Antonio de Padua) Oggun (San Pedro) Oshosi (San Norberto) Osun (John the Baptist) Principal Orishas (“From head”) Obbatal (Virgen de las Mercedes) Oshun (Virgen of Charity) Shango (BarbaraSanta) Yemayah (Rule translation) Hey. (Virgen de la Candelaria) Older Orishas Inle (San Rafael or San Roque) Iroko (the Purest Conception) Naná Burukú (Santa Ana) Obba Oduwá (San Norberto) Olokun Orisha oko (San Isidro Labrador)	Minor orishas Abita (the Devil) Aha Ajé Shalunga Aroni Ayaó Boromú and Boronsiá Dad (San Ramon) Ibeyis (San Damián) Irunmoles Korikoto Logun Ede Obañena Ogboni and Ogboni Oggue Oke Oranmiyán Ori Oroiña Orungan Oshumare (San Bartolomé) Yembó -	Other orisha manifestations Olodumare - (the Great Power of God) Olofin - (Jesus Christ) Olorun - (the Holy Spirit) Orula - (San Francisco de Assisi) Ikú (Death) Eggun (spiritus of ancestors) Gold (u Orun) Iyami Oshooronga Aggayú Solá (San Cristóbal) Babalu Ayé (San Lázaro)

Relations with the orishas

Santeria focuses on cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the orisha, as followers believe these deities can intercede in human affairs and help people if appeased. Practitioners hold that each person is "born of" a particular orisha, whether or not one is devoted to that deity. This is a connection that, according to adherents, has been established before birth. Practitioners refer to this orisha as the one who "rules the head " of a person; he is the "owner of his head". If the orisha is male, he is described as the "father" of the individual; if the orisha is female, she is the "mother" of the person. This orisha is considered to influence the individual's personality, and can be recognized by examining the person's personality traits or through divination.

To gain the protection of a particular orisha, practitioners are encouraged to make offerings to him, sponsor ceremonies in his honor, and live according to his wishes, as determined through divination. Practitioners are concerned the possibility of offending the orishas. Believers believe that the orisha can communicate with humans through divination, prayers, dreams, music, and dance. Many practitioners also describe how they "read" messages from the orishas. orisha in everyday interactions and events. For example, a practitioner passing a child at a traffic junction may interpret this as a message from Elegguá, who is often represented as a child and perceived as the "guardian" of crossroads or streets. At that time, the practitioner can resort to divination to determine the precise meaning of the encounter. The information obtained from these messages can help practitioners make decisions about their lives.

Birth and the deceased

A healing altar in La Habana, Cuba

Santeria teaches that the human head contains the essence of the person, his eledá or orí. It maintains that before birth, the eledá goes before Olodumare, where it is given its essential character, and forms a bond with the orisha who becomes "the owner of its head". The concept of eledá derives from traditional Yoruba religion, where it is considered the "spiritual double" of the person. In Santeria, this concept has been syncretized with Catholic beliefs about guardian angels and spiritist notions of protections or protective spirits. There is no strict orthodoxy on this issue and therefore interpretations differ Practitioners often believe that each person has a specific destiny or path , although the fate of him it is not completely predetermined.

Ancestor veneration is important in Santeria. The religion involves propitiating the spirits of the deceased, known as egun, spirits, or dead. Practitioners believe that the deceased should be treated with respect, fear, and kindness, and are consulted in all ceremonies. Although the dead are not considered to be as powerful as the orisha, they are believes they can help the living, with whom they can communicate through dreams, intuition, and spirit possession. Santeria teaches that a person can learn to see and communicate with the dead. Practitioners often make offerings, usually seven glasses of water, to the egun to appease and please them. The egun regarded as ancestors are especially favored; these ancestors may include both hereditary ancestors as former members of one's own congregation, and practitioners believe that a believer becomes a ancestor when he dies.

Followers believe that everyone has a spiritual cadre of second that protects them. A person can have up to 25 protectors >. The religion maintains that all people have multiple egun that accompany them at all times, and that these can be benevolent, malevolent, or a mixture of both. Practitioners also believe that the number and the identity of these spirits can be determined through divination. A distinction is made between evolved spirits, who can help those they are attached to, and unevolved spirits, who lack the wisdom and ability to be useful and, instead, they wreak havoc. Santeria teaches that, through offerings and prayers, people can help some of their unevolved spirits become evolved. Santeria also divides spirits into categories that exhibit different traits, reflecting stereotypes about different groups social, in a manner So such spirits are often depicted as African, Haitian, Gypsy, Arab, or Indian. Gypsy spirits, for example, are seen as capable of foreseeing impending trouble and diagnosing illness, while spirits i>congo from Africa are perceived as strong, powerful and capable of leading people in hostile circumstances.

Ache

The ashé or aché is an important cosmological concept in traditional Yoruba religion and has been transferred to Santeria. The aché is considered the organizing power of the cosmos; Hispanists Margarite Fernández Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert referred to it as "a spiritual-mystical energy or power found in varying degrees and in many forms throughout the universe". Medical anthropologist Johan Wedel described it as " life force" or "divine force", while folklorist Michael Atwood Mason called Aché "ritual generative power". Ethnomusicologist Katherine Hagedorn described Aché as "the realized divine potential inherent in all aspects of life, even in apparently inert objects". He added that "Aché is neither good nor bad; rather, aché is movement".

Although Olodumare is considered the ultimate incarnation of the aché, believers believe that the aché permeates all life and is present in both the visible and invisible worlds. However, it is sometimes considered to congregate more densely, for example, in the forces of nature, in specific places, and in certain people; initiates are believed to attract more Aché than other people. Santeria holds that Aché can emanate from the human body through of speech, song, dance, and drumming, and which can be transmitted through acts such as singing praises to the orisha or sacrificing an animal. Among practitioners, it is sometimes described that the Aché it transmits notions of luck, health and prosperity, and has the power to strengthen a person's health. The expression "tener aché" in Cuba is common for "being lucky".

Morality, ethics and gender roles

Two healers participating in a ceremony Dead Box in 2011

Santeria has norms of behavior that are expected of its practitioners, encouraging behaviors influenced by mythological stories about the orisha. The religion lays out strict rules about how to interact with other people and with the supernatural, for example, making emphasis on respect for elders and superiors. A general attitude in Santeria is that if a person maintains good character, the orisha will help them. Practitioners generally adopt socially conservative stances, with great respect for traditional family structures, marriage, fidelity, and parenting; followers in the United States tend to take more progressive stances on issues of gender and sexuality than their Cuban counterparts.

The religion is non-dualistic and does not view the universe as divided between good and evil, but instead views all things as complementary and relative. Several scholars have described Santeria as having a ethos of the "here and now" different from that of Christianity, and social scientist Mercedes C. Sandoval suggested that many Cubans chose Santeria over Catholicism or Espiritismo because it emphasizes coping techniques. pragmatists of life. In the United States, some African-American adherents have contrasted what they see as the African-derived ethos of Santeria with the non-African origins of Christianity, thus embracing it as a religion easily combined with black nationalism.

Religious scholar Mary Ann Clark categorized Santeria as a "female-oriented and female-normative" religion, arguing that those who practice it are expected to assume "female gender roles" during their rituals. Women may hold the highest leadership positions, although restrictions are placed on them when they are menstruating. Similar restrictions are also placed on homosexual men, traditionally prohibiting them from participating in certain forms of divination and ritual drumming. However, many Gay men are Santeros, and some Santeras are lesbians. There is a stereotype that all male Santeria priests are gay, and members of other more masculine-oriented Afro-Cuban traditions, such as Palo, have often denigrated it. for being dominated by women and men who consider "effeminate".

General characteristics

Clerical Organization

Babalawo Afro-Cuban.

Santero en La Habana

Santeria has a priestly hierarchy. The priests are commonly known as santeros or olorichas. Although the Orisha and Ifá are considered to be separate branches, in both the babalawos (occasionally, babalaos) are the highest priests of Santeria. Once those priests have initiated other priests, they are known as babalorichás “father of orichá” (for male) and iyalorichás “mother of orichá” (for female)., who are santeros with consecrated godchildren. The iyawos are santeros in their first year of consecration, and the aleyos are believers who have not been consecrated. If they practice divination for the orichás, they are called italeros.

All of them are santeros, initiated through specific rites (read below), the first of which is a purification ritual and the delivery of five necklaces, representing Shangó, Obbatalá, Yemayá, Oshún and Elegguá or receiving the orishás warriors, who are Elegguá, Oggún, Oshosi and Ozun, who are saints enshrined in otanes [stones].

Babalawo or babalao

The Babalawo (from Yoruba: Babaaláwo "father of the secret"), usually deformed to babalao, is the person initiated to a deity and interpreter of duties and teachings. In Yoruba Nigeria they are also called simply Awo. Originally the Awos had to memorize and interpret the 256 Odus (sacred scriptures) and the numerous verses of Ifá. Traditionally, the Babalawo also has other professional specialties, such as herbalist. The Babalawo, as a spiritual, psychological and ethical guide, is trained in the determination of problems and in the application of secular or spiritual solutions to solve them. His primary function is to assist people to find, understand, and process life until they experience spiritual wisdom as a part of everyday experiences.

Famous Babalawos

Being such a remote religion, there is little evidence of its babalaos. Some of the most important of the priesthood are:

Ño Remigio Herrera (1811?-1905): whose original name is Adeshina Obara Meyi He was a Babalao of Nigeria and transferred as a slave to Matanzas. He was forced to be baptized as Remigio Lucumí. He realizes that he swallowed up his priests' ikines, so he could bring them with him when he was captured as a slave.
Ño Carlos Addebí (???-???): Originally Ojuani Boká contemporary to Adeshina, they met and together promulgated the ifa regimen. He got his freedom in Camagüey.
Bernardo Rojas (1881-1959), called Irete Tendi: from the second generation of Babalaos, it was formed by the same Adeshina, which he cared until his death.
Taita Gaitán (???-??): also? Oggunda fun, born in Matanzas, his godfather was the babalawo slave Lugery (Heykun Meyi) who got back to Nigeria.
Enrique Hernández (1918-2017), «Enriquito»: he was born in Guanabacoa (Cuba) city with great presence. They also called him. Tata Nganga.

Other recognized babalawos are Cornelio Vidal (the first criollo babalawo, that is, of a non-black race), Asunción Villalonga, Ramón Febles (Ogbe tua), Panchito Febles (Otura Niko), Miguel Febles, Sevilla Baró (Oshe Yekun), the Chinese Poey (Oshe Paure), Felix el Negro (Osa Rete)...

Oracles and divination

The Diloggun ceremony or of the sixteen snails. The healer uses shells to communicate with the orishas.

Divination is given through the three oracles (ceremonies) that make up the religion. The babalawos perform the oracle of "ifá" (It is guessed with an ifá board, for example, the "ekuele"). The santeros perform the oracle of "Dilogún" (with shells) and the oracle of "Biagué" (with a coconut). There are other oracles that guide the consultant through the interpretation of "oddun" or signs.

Orisha fetishes

Lucumí healing herbology

FlorifundioBrugmansia candida) is a medicinal plant in Cuban popular culture.

Anthropologist Brian Du Toit published in 2001 Ethnomedical (Popular) Healing in the Caribbean, where he stated that «Cuba is one of the regions in which the greatest amount of ethnobotanical research has been carried out». Du Toit cites the studies of Lydia Cabrera on the religious and healing role of indigenous medicinal plants, and José Gallo in the 900-page compilation of popular medicine; Herbs with medicinal properties are called ewés. Florifundio (Brugmansia candida) is effective as a bronchodilator, due to its scopolamine and atropine content in the leaves. Cana santa, lemongrass or lemongrass (Cymbopogon herb) is used for low blood pressure and as an anti-inflammatory. Thyme tea and castor oil are used for pregnancy and mallow tea (Corchorus siliquosus) induces the rapid expulsion of the placenta.

There are three main healing orishas (although others can be invoked): Ossaín, the orichá of herbs and patron saint of healers (for this reason they are called osainistas), who is syncretized with Saint Joseph, Saint Benedict, Saint Silvestre or Saint Jerome; Babalú Ayé, the orichá of contagious and epidemic diseases and patron saint of victims and survivors of smallpox, leprosy, and skin diseases (he has also become the patron saint of people with HIV/AIDS); and Inle, the patroness of doctors, of the scientific method for healing, and of more specific health problems. Inle is also the patron saint of gays and lesbians.

Herbs can also be used to induce the priest to become possessed by the deity (trance) using the hallucinogenic properties of devil's trumpet (Datura metel) and Jimson weed (Datura stramonium). Both have atropine and scopolamine, better known as burundanga, causing amnesia. The psychoactives of the cane toad (Bufo marinus) are also valued.

In addition to being herbal, the traditional Santeria healing practice has a spiritual aspect. Santeria takes a holistic approach, recognizing the connection to the heart, mind, and body. According to this philosophy, the world flows with the primordial life energy called aché or growth, the force toward wholeness. and divinity. Aché is the current that the Santeria channel initiates to allow them to fulfill their path in life. When a person is ill, the healer thinks, interprets, and reacts, viewing illness not only as a physical dysfunction, but also as an interface with suffering and misfortune in life, believed to be caused by the activity of the bad spirits.

Spiritism

Du Troit points out that Santeria has a strong spiritist component. Spiritism is the popular belief in Latin America that benign and evil spirits can affect the health, luck, or other aspects of mortals. It should not be confused with the spiritualism founded by Allan Kardec, although they are based on a similar idea.

The reputation of spiritualists is often negative, as they are associated with witchcraft. Before secularization, the traditional healers of Santeria and other Latin American cultures who work with healing through the spiritual world were officially considered as devil's workers by the Catholic Church. The unique model of medical knowledge is appreciated as a system of ethnopharmacology or ethnomedicine.

Adimu offerings

Adimu usually wraps in corn leaves.

The adimú are edible offerings or sacrifices that are presented to the orishas in order to obtain the desired good or to consolidate it if they already have it. This good that appears in the query of the diloggun or snail, can be "yale" (complete), or "cotoyale" (incomplete). It is said Adimú when the offering is placed at the foot of the orisha who has requested it; aladimu, if placed on the deity.

Some examples of adimu are:

The oguidi, also called oguede or agguidi is a sweet resemblance to the tamal that are offered to the orisha of the ancestors, Oya and Eggun, or also Oggun. It is prepared with corn flour, a bit of vinegar, brown sugar, cinnamon in branch, lemon juice, anise and vanilla wrapped in banana leaves and offered with honey or cane melaus. They are then presented in front of Oya or the eggun tile during the days determined by giving coconut to the saint and then taken to the cemetery or to the place that indicates the coconut strip.

The guava sweet and coconut for Elegguá.

The ekoof corn wrapped in banana leaves. Oshun is presented with honey, Obatala with cask (sprayed egg shell, product valued by lucumí) and cocoa butter, to Yemayá with melaza, to Eleggua with choir, and so on to the rest of the Orishas using the corresponding ingredients.

Rituals and religious ceremonies

IgdobunSantero altar in Cuba.

Santeria does not have a central creed for its religious practices; although it is understood in terms of their rituals and ceremonies. These rituals and ceremonies take place in what is known as a house-temple or house of saints, also known as ilé. The priests perform the ceremonies in their own homes, because Santeria lacks temples. Priests and priestesses build shrines ilé to each orichá, creating a space for worship called igbodun, the altar. Displayed on the igbodun are three distinct thrones (covered in royal blue, white, and red satin) representing the seats of deified queens, kings, and warriors.

Each ilé is made up of those who occasionally seek guidance from the orishas as well as those who are in the process of becoming priests.

The numerous cabildos and houses of saints that sprang up in the 19th and 20th centuries are now considered the places where Cuban Lucumí culture and religion originated and were preserved.

To belong to Santeria, believers must first go through a series of rituals that have a specific order that must be respected. One of the sacraments or rituals to enter is the Kari osha, that is, "to become holy." A santero can now practice santeria and give it continuity by initiating more people, as long as it is not prohibited by his guardian angel.

Santeria is a practice-oriented religion; ritual correctness is considered more important than belief. It has an elaborate system of rituals, and its rites are called ceremonies. Most of its activities revolve around the orisha and focus on solving the problems of everyday life. Practitioners often use the term "work" to refer to ritual activity.

Santeria is an initiatory religion, organized around a structured hierarchy. An ethos of secrecy pervades many of its practices, and initiates often refuse to discuss certain topics with others. uninitiated. For this reason, Mason describes Santeria as a secret society. For rituals, the Lucumí language is often used. a divine language through which practitioners can contact the deities. Although some practitioners feel uncomfortable using it, most initiates know tens or hundreds of Lucumí words and phrases. Most Cubans do not understand the Lucumí language, except for some words that have leaked into Cuban Spanish. Lucumí derives from the Yoruba language, although from the XIX century has become "increasingly fragmented and unintelligible". Yoruba to Lucumí, the Yoruba pronunciation of many words was forgotten, and by the early XXI century the Yoruba language has been studied by some practitioners to better understand the original meaning of the Lucumí words.

House temples

Baba Raúl Cañizares, a Cuban priest both of the heal and of the stick, photographed with his ritual paraphernalia

Rituals take place in the house of the temple,house of saints,house of religionor ilé i> ("house"). This house is usually the personal home of a santero or santera. It usually has an interior room, the igbodu ("sacred grove of the festival"), where the most important rituals are celebrated. There is also an eyá aránla or sala, often a living room, where semi-private rites can be performed. Another space, the iban balo, or patio, is used for public occasions, as well as for growing plants and housing animals to be slaughtered. The house it usually includes a place where ritual paraphernalia is kept, kitchen facilities and spaces for visitors to sleep.

The house refers not only to the building where the ceremonies are held, but also to the community of practitioners who gather there. In this sense, many houses they have a lineage dating back to the 19th century, and some santeros and santeras can name all practitioners who have been initiated into her. In some ceremonies, the names of these individuals, considered to be ancestors of the house, are recited in chronological order. Although members of different houses often interact, each is largely autonomous, allowing for variety in their practices. In Cuba, it is customary for practitioners of Santeria to meet regularly and consider each other as a family: the familia de santo. On the contrary, in one area Like Veracruz, Mexico, many practitioners attend group rituals and then leave, sometimes never seeing their co-practitioners again..

Most houses are established by a santero or santera who has attracted a following. An apprentice is known as his ahijado or ahijada. santero/santera as padrino or madrina. The relationship between santeros/santeras and their "godchildren" is fundamental to the social organization of the religion, and practitioners believe that the more "godchildren" a santera or santero has, the greater their aché. and, in return, the santero/santera provides them with assistance for their needs. Within the religion, offending the godfather or godmother is also considered an offense to the oricha who "rules the head." Practitioners express their respect both to their godfather or godmother as the orisha through a ritual prostration, the moforibale, in which they bow their heads to the ground. The precise form of the moforibale differs depending on whether the individual's personal orisha is male or female.

Altars

A sopera with otans representing the Orisha Yemaya, which is associated with the sea; the altars of Yemaya usually have sea shells and nautical paraphernalia..

Altars or shrines for the orisha are usually found both in the igbodu and in the homes of the practitioners. On these altars are sacred objects, called foundations, which are kept in porcelain containers, often tureens. The most important foundations are the stones called otanes (sing. otán), which are considered the literal representation and symbolic of the orisha and, therefore, living entities. They are considered to be sources of Aché, and that the oldest Otans have more Aché than the youngest.

Practicers collect stones from the landscape and then use divination to determine which ones contain an orisha, and if so, which orisha it is. Sometimes, some otans display traits that link them to a particular orisha; for example, the stones of the ocean are related to Yemaya, the pebbles of the river with Ochún and the fragments of meteorite with Changó. It is considered that each orisha prefers a color and a certain number of otans in the tureen that is dedicated to him; Changó has six or ten black stones, Obatala has eight white stones, while Ochún prefers five yellow stones. The new otanes undergo a baptism rite in which they are washed with osain (a mixture of herbs and water), and are "fed" with animal blood. When an initiate receives their stones, they swear to protect and feed them at least once a year.

A vault, or white table, ready for the spirits of the dead, in a house of Trinidad, Cuba

Another type of material that is placed inside the tureen are cowry shells; normally 18 are added, although the exact number varies depending on the orisha to which the tureen is dedicated. in question. Necklaces are often placed on the tureen, which also represent a particular orisha. On the altar, the tureens are arranged in a descending hierarchy depending on which orisha each one is dedicated to, with Obatala's at the top.

Many altars contain few or no anthropomorphic representations of the orisha, although they often include objects associated with them: a wooden ax for Changó or a fan for Ochún, for example. These altars are considered expensive to create. and it requires a lot of time. The materials can be selected according to the tastes of the believer; anthropologists have observed practitioners including Taoist figurines or statues of magicians on their altars. Food and flowers are often placed on the altar as offerings. Although rarely included on their altars, practitioners often have statues of Catholic saints in other places in their homes.

In addition to their altar to the orisha, many practitioners have altars reserved for the spirits of the dead. These usually consist of a white-covered table known as a vóveda, derived in part from the Mesa Blanca del Espiritismo. The vaults usually have photographs of deceased relatives, to whom offerings are made; popular offerings for the spirits of the dead include seven glasses of water, a coffee , and the brandy. Many practitioners also consecrate their family ancestors under the bathroom sink. This place is chosen so that the ancestors can travel between the realms of the living and the dead through the water from the pipes.

Offerings and sacrifice of animals

Sacrifice of a hen in a healing ritual in 2017 in Havana

The offerings are called ebbó (or ebó), and are offered to the orisha, to ancestral spirits, to the ori itself. of the person, and sometimes to the land. These offerings may consist of fruit and other food, liquor, flowers, candles, money, or sacrificed animals. Divination is often used to determine the exact nature of the offering; Initiates are supposed to make offerings regularly, and at least once a year. Offered to strengthen supernatural forces, as thanks or as a supplication, they help form a reciprocal relationship with these entities in the hope of receiving something in exchange. If this does not materialize, practitioners may resort to various explanations: that the details of the ritual were incorrect, that the priest or priestess who performed the rite lacked sufficient Aché, or that the ebbo was offered. wrong for the situation.

Carried out by a matador, animal sacrifice is called a matanza. menstruating women. Birds—including guinea fowl, chickens, and pigeons—are often sacrificed with their throats slit or with their heads twisted and torn off. In larger rituals, sacrifices are often of four-legged animals. Some practitioners describe the killing of animals as an acceptable substitute for human sacrifice. The orisha and spirits are believed to "eat" the blood of the victim; the life force of the victim is considered to be transferred to the orisha, thus reinforcing their aché. Sometimes it is understood that an animal that fights to avoid being killed has a special force that will later pass on to the orisha.

Once sacrificed, the severed heads of the animals can be placed on top of the tureen belonging to the orisha to whom the sacrifice has been directed. Once the corpse has been dismembered, some of the organs—known as acheses—can be cooked and offered to the orisha; other parts will be consumed by practitioners. Part of the blood can be collected and added to omiero, an infusion of herbs and water. believed to contain much aché, it is used to remove malevolent influences and in ceremonies to baptize ritual tools. Animal sacrifice in Santeria has been a matter of concern to many non-practitioners, and has sometimes led adherents to clashes with the law. In the 1993 case of the Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, the US Supreme Court ruled that animal cruelty laws specifically targeting Santeria were unconstitutional.

Become a Saint

The “Iyabó” adopt a name as a healer and wear white during that first year of purification.

In the santera conception, becoming a saint means having your guardian angel settle in your head, that is, having your Orisha guardian with you ad eternum and the responsibility and commitment that this requires. The tutelary Orisha is determined prior to becoming a saint, since the ceremony varies depending on the Orisha that is going to be crowned. The person who is made a saint is called "iyawó" (also iyabó or yabó), a title that he will receive only for that year in which he must comply with rigorous and strict rules and after finishing that year of purification he is already called a santero or olorisha.

To become a santero or santera, the initiator must go through an intensive initiation process in which the teaching of ritual skills and moral behavior occurs informally and non-verbally. The kari osha ceremony lasts 7 days in which one is reborn, receives the orishas, obtains itá de santo and the name of the saint (name that identifies the santero within the religion). This ceremony is directed by the "Obá Ení Oriaté" who is a santero with extensive knowledge and experience that made him worthy of that title, apart from the godparents and other santeros who are assigned different tasks that allow the opportune development of the ceremony.. To begin with, the initiator goes through what is called a cleansing ritual. The godfather of the initiator cleanses the head with certain herbs and water. A godfather ("babalosha") or godmother ("iyalosha") must be chosen, since symbolically one is born from them and they are the ones who, together with the "oyugbona", guide the religious path of the initiate. The Godfather rubs the herbs and water in a specific pattern of movements into the hair. However, if a person is entering Santeria out of a need for healing, they will undergo the rogación de la cabeza (blessing of the head), in which coconut water and cotton are applied to the head. Once cleansed, there are four main initiation rituals that the initiator will have to perform: obtaining the elekes (bead necklace), receiving Los Guerreros (Oddé, the warrior orishas), making Ocha (Holy) and Asiento (ascend to the throne).

Ritual for obtaining elekes

Woman holding several elekes (accounts).

The first ritual is known as the acquisition of the bead necklaces (known as elekes); according to de La Torre "the colors and patterns of the beads on the elekes will be those of the orichá who serves as the head of the iyawo (bride) and guardian angel, so the first thing to do is determine who the orichá is. The eleke necklace is bathed in a mixture of herbs, sacrificial blood, and other potent substances and administered to initiates.

The initiate most often receives the necklace of the five most powerful and popular orisha, since the multicolored beads of the elekes are modeled for the primary Orishás (Eleguá, Obatalá, Yemayá, Changó and Ochún), and serve as a sacred point. of contact with these orishás. When the necklace is received, the initiate must lean over a bathtub and wash his head with the olo orichá. The elekes are like sacred banners for the Orishás and act as a sign of the Orichá's presence and protection. Elekes should not dress during the menstruation period, neither during sex nor when bathing.

Half Seat Ritual

The second important ritual is known as medio asiento, the creation of an image of the orichá Eleguá. The individual will go through a consultation with a santero, where the life, past, present and future of all recipients will be reviewed. During the consultation, the Santero determines which path of Eleguá the recipient will receive. Then, based on his findings, he chooses the materials that will be used to build the image of the Eleguá, a sculpture used to keep evil spirits away from the home of the initiator. This ritual is only prepared by men when the orichás take something of the "masculine" of the Santero in the process.

Ritual of welcoming warriors

The third ritual, known as receiving the warriors, is a ritual where the initiates receive objects from their godfather that represent the warriors; Iron tools to represent Ogún; an iron bow and arrow to represent Ochosi; and an iron or silver chalice crowned by a rooster to represent Osun. This ritual begins a formal and lifelong relationship that the initiate will have with these Orichás, since the orichás dedicate their energies to protecting and providing for the initiate in his life. path.

Ritual of accession to the throne

The last ritual of the initiation process is known as asiento or ascending to the throne, and it is the most important and secret ritual of Santeria, since it is the ceremony where the iyawó is reborn. This ritual is the culmination of the previous rituals and cannot be performed unless the others have been completed. The Asiento is a purification and divination process whereby the initiate becomes like a newborn babe and begins a new life of deeper growth within the faith.

The santeros, or "omorishas" are those who come into contact with the deity (for example, through consultations with a snail or spiritual consultation, in spiritual sessions according to the development of each person.

The "oriaté" is the person who directs the ceremonies of the divinity (orisha, saint) so that it is done correctly and only santeros who are consecrated work in it; the newly initiated and newly consecrated is called an iyawo who has already gone through secret rituals.

The «alayos» are those people who have certain knowledge, are believers, are interested in ceremonies so they have some secrets, rituals should not be exposed to non-consecrated people.

Bembé or Toque de Santos

Main article: Baby

Baby in Mantilla, south of Havana.

The bembé, or also toque de Santos, is a religious festival in which they sing and dance in honor of the Orishas. They are praised and implored to join the party. It is one of the most remarkable ceremonies of Santeria. The presence of percussion instruments is essential, such as batá drums, tumbadoras or tabales, since the ceremony cannot be celebrated without rhythms. Each Orisha has an associated rhythm, which the drummers must master in order to play together. Both in the Yoruba religion and in Santeria, the drum is a sacred object and music is considered a mystical dimension to get in touch with the Orisha. In fact, the singing and dancing in the bembé are considered prayers to the gods.

Currently in many places in Cuba bembés are celebrated in public spaces of towns and cities and they are open to whoever wants to join. For example, in Santiago de Cuba the general Bembé is celebrated in October, which is considered a form of collective spiritual cleansing.

Sometimes the bembé ends in a possession ritual or trance, whereby an Orisha deity manifests itself in the bembé through a santero priest. In principle, only priests can be possessed, and only the Orisha to whom they have consecrated. The possession of an Orisha is a reason for great joy among the participants of the bembé.

Dance to Ogun.

Dance to Obatalá.

Dance to Yemayah.

Dance to Oshun.

Ebbo Ceremony

In popular culture

Santeros in Old Havana. Dance and music are two fundamental artistic expressions in Yoruba culture and healing. The African rhythms forever marked the music of Cuba in genres such as bolero, son, salsa, guaguancó, rumba or Latin jazz.

There are many references to Santeria in Cuban popular culture. The expression "tener aché" in Cuba means "to be lucky". Olodumare's power or energy is known as aché, or ashé in Yoruba. There is also the Cuban saying “to become a saint”, which refers to the Yawós (or “yabós”), those who are baptized in Santeria. They are easily recognizable because during their training they must follow a rigorous process of consecration to become santeros. For example, by wearing white, reach the maximum bond with your guardian angel, the saint who protects you.

Music

Celia Cruz, together with La Sonora Matancera, paid homage to the santera culture throughout her discography, with songs like «Burundanga» (1953), «Plegaria a Laroyé» (1954) or «Yemaya» (1962) among many others more, culminating in the compilation album Tribute to the Orishas in 1999. Also the American percussionist of Puerto Rican origin Ray Barretto considered himself "El hijo de Obatalá" (1973). Celina and Reutilio, Merceditas Valdés, Candita Batista and Caridad Cuervo also sang profusely to Yemayá and the other orishas.

Perhaps one of the most popular saints among Cubans is Changó, the god of thunder. He has a special importance in musical culture since the mythological object associated with Changó are the Batá drums.

Orishas in Warsaw (Poland) in 2009

In 1999, Roldán González, Ruzzo Medina, Yotuel Romero and Livián Núñez (Flaco-Pro) came together to create one of the most emblematic music groups in recent Cuban history, the Orishas. Of the Latin hip hop genre, in their songs there are numerous references to the Santera-Yoruba tradition.

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