A religion started in secret. A Santero, or high priest, traditionally presides over rituals and ceremonies. The word syncretistic means to "draw together" or "combine." In a religious environment, this involves the mixing of elements from different or independent religious traditions to create a new belief system. This Christianity was articulated in terms of Western culture, and its introduction coincided with the colonization of Africa. Santeria, a religion created several centuries ago by West Africans enslaved in colonial Cuba and imported to New York City more than 40 years ago, is going public. In fact the cross is rite there too and the sun when your at your Zenith. Obviously, in our worldview that kind of violent behavior stirs up all kinds of osorbo and creates problems for other people, as well as for the one who can't control his impulses. Death is also described as "sleeping" or "resting.". In Cuba, the practice became known as Santeria, while in Haiti, it started being referred to as Voodoo. Santeria is one of the many African syncretistic religions created in the Americas. We try to cultivate good character while on earth because it helps us in our spiritual evolution, and it also makes society a more pleasant place to live in. Santeria also includes the Yoruba divination system called Ifa, which can only be performed by a senior male priest called a babalawo. The topic of judgement has existed in many ancient cultures. Santeria relies on the wisdom of orishas. Santeria practitioners believe that herbalism is a foremost essential in their healing practices and plays significant roles in their members health. Santeria combines influences of Caribbean tradition, West Africa's Yoruba spirituality, and elements of Catholicism. Idowu, Bolaji. I think the first incorrect assumption is assuming Orisha ever followed nature based religious paradigms in regards to the afterlife. Santeria rituals allow human beings to stay in contact with the Orishas - these rituals include dancing, drumming, speaking and eating with the spirits. Cox, James, ed. Many people describe death as "a going home" (in Gikuyu, kuinuka ) or simply, a departure (Gikuyu, guthie ). The promise of happiness brought by proximity to God was severed and remains only a vague future possibility. 1040 Words. Although census data are lacking, it is likely that initiated devotees number in the tens of thousands and that those who consult an orisha at one time or another may be counted in the millions. Ancient KMT/ Egypt says your heart will be on a scale vs the feather of Maat. Life is an unfolding, a process of "formation and transformation" that starts before birth and does not end at physical death. The songs also indicate that Christianized Africans have embraced Christian eschatological ideas of heaven and hell and even a postmortem judgment. Voodoo can be traced to the Fon and Ewe in West Africa, currently known as Benin. Santeria is a system of beliefs, rituals, and practices that were common among African slaves who used it to bring relief to their problems. It's a beautiful vision, and if anyone can bring it to life, we trust Grau's sensitivity and evidence-based practice to be a step in that direction. 143ff). Santera is a religion with Afro-Cuban roots, rising out of the cultural clash between the Yoruba people of West Africa and the . Santeria Religion. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. Both religions have beliefs in possession by certain spirits Orishas in Santeria and Loas in Voodoo. Santeria evolved when African slaves were stolen from their homelands during the Colonial period and forced to work in Caribbean sugar plantations. in Cuba the Catholic church was tolerant of ethnic traditions and even allowed various African groups to create their own "clubs," which became known as the Cabildos. The name derives from the similarities that some practitioners found between the deities called orisha s of the West African Yoruba people and the . Download Full Image. For many years, Santeria was kept secret, and limited to those of African ancestry. The Catholic Church criticized it as being folksy witchcraft, which was associated with criminality. African belief systems have been most palpably influenced and shaped by the encounter with nineteenth-century missionary Christianity. What those heavens entail etc. Needless to say, Africans who have come into contact with Islam and Christianity have been influenced by the rather sharply defined eschatological notions featuring a final judgment, heaven and hell, and final resurrection as destinies of the soul. Such restless and wondering spirits are said to haunt and afflict the living as they try to gain their attention. Musicians, painters, sculptors, and writers have found in the Orisha tradition sources of African artistry and pride. Mortuary rituals also emphasize the integral connection between the "inner and outer person." Being an Afro-Cuban religion, Santeria is an adaptable tradition that has no central authority. Moreover, for the most part assuming a radical difference between themselves and their worldviews and the Africans and their worldviews, and convinced of the need to convert Africans from their allegedly "primitive" and therefore "inadequate" or even "wrong" beliefs, missionaries deliberately tried to erase African beliefs and practices and to replace these with ostensibly Christian ones. If we tried to live in harmony with our Ori and the world around us, we didn't destroy the planet or harm other people, our energy gets "recycled" for lack of a better word back into the universe so we can continue to be a part of the physical world. Though the deceased may be physically gone, they are still here as persons and the living can still communicate with them. Henceforth, the deceased person can be honored in family rituals alongside other ancestors and enjoy a privileged position both among the living and the dead. Bob Allen is managing editor of EthicsDaily.com. Sometimes my clients are also not comfortable dealing with the spiritual world on their own or lack the necessary items and solitude to even conduct these rituals. . Many contemporary practitioners refer to the tradition as the religion of the orishas or the Lukumi religion, after the name by which the Yoruba were known in Cuba. The religion emphasizes the here and now rather than the afterlife, and it focuses on natural forces. Santeria (Way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. Hector Avalos, Introduction to the U.S. Latina and Latino Religious Experience, 2004, Eugenio Matibag, If and Interpretation: An Afro-Caribbean Literary Practice, in Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santera, Obeah and the Caribbean (ed. Practitioners believe that this divinity created the universe but takes little interest in human affairs. It marks the end of his physical life in the religious community that he's been part of, and it's important to make sure his Orichas are cared for in the proper way, to bring an end to his relationship with them on earth. Santeria combines influences of Caribbean tradition, West Africa's Yoruba spirituality, and elements of Catholicism. One such song exhorts the listeners to remember that "our bodies are like flowers that wither and die" and that "We shall leave our bodies right here on earth and go to heaven in/with our souls/spirits" (mioyo ) (Kikuyu Catholic Hymnal, 1992, hymn 108). There are many reasons why they are drawn to Santeria. Dressed in a loose white gauze shirt, white pants and white hat, the red-bearded drummer Babaila taps out the same beat he has played for 35 years. It means way of saints or honor of saints. Santeria is based on Yoruba beliefs, while Voodoo is based on Fon and Ewe beliefs. The Santeria faith teaches that every individual has a destiny from God, a destiny fulfilled with the aid and energy of the orishas. The essays discuss the contested interface between African religions and Christianity regarding rites of passage. Santeria (Way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. Oosthuizen, G. C., and Irving Hexham, eds. Santeria evolved when African slaves were stolen from their homelands during the Colonial period and forced to work in Caribbean sugar plantations. Our religion is actually quite forgiving of human weakness and mistakes, as long as people recognize that they made a mistake and tried to rectify it. Maryknoll, N.Y., 1990. In situations where a corpse is not retrievable, say because of drowning, a burial must still be performed, and so in some societies, a surrogate is used. Many women pray to her for conceiving a child. They are accompanied by their Guardian Orisha. Thus, in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a text designed to be a guide for the soul as it journeyed on beyond physical death, Osiris determines the destiny of the dead. Santeria developed among Afro-Cuban communities while Voodoo developed among Afro-Haitian communities. Santeria merges as a diversity of different faiths. Possession of spirits. Across the many ethnic groupings and cultural expressions, however, one can discern commonalities in worldviews that make it possible to speak of an "African" worldview as compared, say, to a "Hindu" one. We can see African influences and also Christian influences. 5 Pages. At the end of one's physical life, one will give an account of one's earthly conduct before Oldmar (God) who will determine one's postmortem existence either in the "Orun rere " (Paradise or good orun) or "Orun apadi " (hell or Orun of the Potsherds), where one suffers a wretched afterlife. See you on the other side! Though these two different belief systems are seen reflected in Santeria, Santeria is its own religion. A bull is also killed specifically for the deceased's grandfather to alert him so that he can await the deceased (Mbiti, 1969, p. 155). P'bitek, Okot'. Sun on the cross sacrificing your ego. One can also study comparative religious chronology through a . More clues regarding African notions of afterlife can be gleaned from an examination of African concepts of the person. Santeria. All these essays challenge the view that African beliefs including those regarding the afterlife are incompatible with Christianity. Many levels of heaven. Through the guidance of the ach, Santera believers find . Dennis M'passou writes on "The Continuing Tension Between Christianity and Rites of Passage in Swaziland," Paul Gundani explores "The Roman Catholic Church and the Kurova Guva Ritual in Zimbabwe," and Jude Ongonga writes on "The River-Lake Luo Phenomenon of Death." It has grown beyond its Yoruba and Catholic origins to become a religion in its own right, and a powerful symbol of the religious creativity of Afro-Cuban culture. A monograph on the beliefs and cultural system of the Agikuyu of Kenya. They belong to the Six Nations, formerly known as the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Doctrinally, to ban ancestral veneration, then, is to demand that Africans abandon this quite viable notion of family (Ela, 1990, p. 17). Santeria incorporates elements of several faiths and so is what's called a 'syncretic' religion. The Chagga of Tanzania believe that this journey to the world of ancestors takes nine days. Santera is an Afro-Cuban or Afro-Caribbean religion created in Cuba by the Yoruba people who were brought to the island as enslaved people. Santeria was created in Cuba by the mingling of Yoruba traditions brought by enslaved Africans from Nigeria and Benin with the Roman Catholic faith of the Spanish plantation owners. African Religions and Philosophy. Ils are independent but may join up for special occasions. Explains that santera is a sensible religion that focuses on helping individuals live more in harmony with themselves and the world around them. Ray (1976, p. 24) reports that according to a myth of original "paradise lost" held by the Tutsi of Rwanda, in the beginning, Imana, God, created two worlds, the one above and the one below. We believe in reincarnation. This is often the house of senior Santeria priest, who heads an extended family: He, or more often, she, is the head of the il in the deeper sense of 'family'. The religion emphasizes the here and now rather than the afterlife, and it focuses on natural forces. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. Espiritismo is similar. Murphy discusses the continuity of Yoruba religion in America, specifically in Cuba, discussing, inter alia, Yoruba notions about God and how these are linked with concepts of the person. Instead of conceiving the person as a soul that is contained in a body, Africans define the person as an integral whole constituting the "outer person" (the body) and the "inner self." Oldmar: God in Yoruba Belief. Obtain a deeper knowledge of magic with my latest book The Psy-Mage Compendium. Generically called, African Traditional Religion or ATR, it is more complex than one practice, and not religion. The SM Otieno Case: Death and Burial in Modern Kenya. In chapters 13 and 14 Idowu discusses Yoruba notions of human nature and definition of the person. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The USA Supreme Court has stated (Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 1993 - see related links) that it is constitutional for Santeria worshippers to kill animals for such a ritual sacrifice. Santeria is based on Yoruba beliefs, while Voodoo is based on Fon and Ewe beliefs. Failure to perform burial rites properly makes the deceased unable to negotiate the postmortem phase of the life journey successfully. Practicing occultist and writer with a particular interest in summoning magic. A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage a lwa to possess one of their members. Discusses in detail the belief system of the Acholi of Uganda. Managing editor at EthicsDaily.com from 2003-2009, Allen wrote more than 1,500 news stories during his tenure. The book, by Chalice Press, also distinguishes the differences and similarities between the U.S. theologies and their Latin American counterparts. The priest may be a babalorisha (Father in the Spirit) or iyalorisha (Mother or Wife in the Spirit). 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