Chapter Thirteen: Spells, Ebbos and Adimus
Rituals and Sacrifice (Ebó)
Ebó is a ritual offering or sacrifice as dictated by divination. Ebó is one of the cornerstones of the Santeria religion, and it is the tool that we have been given by the Orishas to change our fate and return our lives to a balanced and healthy state.
Ebo takes many forms. It can be an offering of fresh fruits, ritual baths, offerings of cooked foods, undergoing initiation, receiving an orisha, or animal sacrifice to name a few. In every case, ebó is marked through divination (either through obí divination, diloggun divination or Ifá divination) as the required remedy to bring a person out of an unbalanced place and put them back into a state of balance. A properly recommended
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This is one of the more controversial parts of the Santeria faith, but we want to demystify the practice for those who may not understand its function. Within Santeria blood sacrifice is only done with the kinds of animals you’d find on a farm: chickens, roosters, goats, sheep, pigeons, etc. It is a required part of any initiation (Elekes, Warriors, Orisha Addimú, Kariocha) and without blood sacrifice you do not have the presence of the orishas in that ritual, and you do not have a legitimate consecration. This is an ancient and traditional practice upheld by the culture bearers of our religion and is not something that can be excluded in said …show more content…
The sacrifice method commonly used in Santeria involves the severing of the carotid arteries with a knife to cause the animal to pass out before it dies. This is one of the most humane ways of killing an animal and is nearly identical to the way animals are handled with Kosher and Halal religious slaughter techniques. Most often the animals for major initiations are then butchered and the meat is cooked and shared with the community. The orishas or ancestors eat the blood, and the people eat the meat. It is an act of communion with the spirits.
This serious ebó is done when it is absolutely necessary. At the Santeria Church of the Orishas, we try to find simpler solutions like addimus before resorting to eyebale. Eyebale (Animal Sacrifice) is a legally protected form of religious practice according to the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in the 1993 case of The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye vs. the City of Hialeah. Our church action committee, SAFE – Santeros Against Fraud and Exploitation, takes a strong stance on the ethical treatment of animals prior to sacrifice and adherence to proper ritual slaughter of
Read those last few words again. As said in the popular children’s show Sesame Street, “one of these things is not like the other”. The integration of human sacrifice into Aztec culture was not nearly as subtle as written above, though: The most important Aztec deity in their whole religion, Huitzilopochtli, was the sun god. According to Aztec creation myths, Huitzilopochtli required a great deal of power to raise the sun every morning and keep the night from overpowering for too long. This strength was drawn from regular consumption of human blood and heart.
To understand the practice of human sacrifice one must look at the reasons why the culture did such practices. There are three main ways of examining a cultural practice from an anthropological perspective.
At the root of these interesting rituals, were the beliefs that the gods needed to be nourished by human beings. This was accomplished through human blood. They did this through a practice called bloodletting. Bloodletting is intentionally harming and drawing blood from the body. Those who were higher in status within the Aztec religion were expected to give the most blood during these Aztec rituals.
Santería is a newly recognized religion within the United States. Many Americans who practice more traditional religions, such as Catholicism, and Judaism, find the practice of Santeria very odd and quite obscure. The preponderance of our society feels that the practice of animal sacrifice, prevalent in Santeria, is immoral and possibly offensive. One reason for this reaction could be that there is a major lack of understanding of this religion in our society.
the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects,
The Aztecs believed they owed the gods everything for creating them and the world around them, therefore the gods needed to be fed or nourished daily. To honor their gods and show their gratitude they performed human sacrifices by offering hearts and blood. In doing so, they believed human sacrifices would ensure their existence to the world, and in turn help them in their after life. Aztecs also saw these rituals as a way to send a political message to control their own citizens and instill fear in their foreign neighbors. These sacrifices were performed by a specialized priest at the great temple, the Huey Teocalli, at the very top of the pyramid for all to witness. The heart was cut out while the victim was still alive. The still beating heart would then be burned in offering to the chosen god. Afterward, the body was thrown down the stairs of the pyramid where the head was then cut off and placed on a skull rack, known as a Tzompantli, displayed for all to see. (Ancient History
...g people to take the blame for others; society needs to rid the world of this ancient ritual sacrifice.
Sacrifice within the social context can be transgressed into two aspects, one relating to the offender, and the other being the offended one, God. “If individuals entered a state incongruent with good relations with God, they had to undergo rites to restore them to a normative status” (Davies, 1985;155). Thus the sacrifice encompassed this social dimension. The part played by God in the social ...
These offerings were made for the gods, temple consecration, the rise of a new leader and during natural disturbances such as drought and disease. They used animals like deer, dogs, jaguars and birds as offering. They cut the bird’s head of an...
As the animals move up the line they can see what is about to happen to them, some of the animals struggle and in turn are abused by frustrated workers, who are under pressure to keep the slaughter lines moving at rapid speeds. It is not uncommon for the animal to suffer one or two failed stuns. In this event, the animal may be paralyzed without losing consciousness and may regain their senses after being hung on the bleed rail, I would consider that torture. To soften a hog’s hide for skinning, hogs are dunked in tanks of hot water after being stunned. If a hog is not stunned properly they can be conscious as they are lowered into the hot tanks squealing and kicking to be scalded and drowned.
The problems with some rituals are that if it is not on symbolism it is not highly, visible and therefore, very hard to interpret, this can be a secular ritual.
One of the most important rituals in the first stage initiation is nose bleeding. This act is the most painful preformed on the initiates (Herdt 1981: 224). In this rite sharp blades of grass are stuck up the nose until it bleeds. This is done to remove any contaminated blood that is caused from extended contact with the boy’s mother (Herdt 1981: 223). This purifies the boys and enables them to move on to rites that will strengthen them.
In the pre-rabbinic period, the rites were originally performed in the temple. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., the rites were changed because Jews no longer had access to the temple. Originally, a lamb was sacrificed in the Temple, and the family would later eat the lamb for dinner (Greenberg, 40). This sacrifice was made so that God will pass over the Israelites’ houses when he kills the Egyptians’ first-born (Jacobs, 374). Today, the sacrifice is omitted, and the sacrificed lamb is symbolized by the shank bone (Greenberg, 40).
Some cultures in the Spanish Caribbean participate in sacrificing and they also hold clergy to a different standard than those in the United States. Some of the religious practices they have also involved monotheism although polytheism is more customary. Some often look at their sacrifice as odd, disgusting and inhumane. When in reality most of us come from cultures that historically made sacrifices and were
...ebo means that anything seems to be real but actually it is not real then, doctors create something fake such as pills, shots or drugs on people’s brains in order to heal a disease. For example, a pill is given to a person who has insomnia and said positive things about treatment. After that emotional effect and pill, person feels better and s/he can sleep well afterwards. In another specimen, people can