The Gifts of Santeria
Modern practitioners of Santeria may be attracted to the religion for a variety of reasons, notable among which are curiosity with secret rituals and the longing among many immigrants and people of color to get in touch with Caribbean and African roots. What each specific individual wants from a religion is difficult to generalize upon, but Santeria offers a way for people to achieve harmony in their lives through communication with and obedience to orishas, the divine beings that act as intermediaries between humans and the Supreme Being, Olodumare. Santeria teaches how to know and appease the specific desires of a pantheon of orishas who alert devotees to problems in their lives and protect them from harm. In addition to a distinctive and demanding set of rituals that requires a commitment of time and energy from believers, Santeria offers a rich history and a supportive community that make it a way of life and not just a passive belief structure that bears little relevance to the daily life of its adherents.
The foremost way to communicate with the gods is through divination. When one is having a problem, an italero or babalowo can divine what is causing the problem and what must be done to correct it. On special occasions, or just for good measure, divination can reveal problems that the supplicant is not aware of beforehand. One santera, Awolowo, had this to say about the power and relevance of ita, the divination performed when a person is initiated into Santeria during the asiento ceremony:
You will learn how to avoid sicknesses, how to get money and keep your husband happy. You will learn who are your friends and who are your enemies. You will learn what are you lucky and unlucky d...
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...teria in the US is based around the Ile, the community of believers. The santero/a who leads an initiate into the faith becomes the godfather or godmother to the new member, who joins the godparent’s Ile. A system of hierarchy exists within the Ile based on how long ago members were initiated. The Ile gathers together for festivals and to celebrate new initiations into the religious community.
Participants in Santeria, as in any faith, can be involved to a greater or lesser degree in the practice of their religion. However, serious believers who want to gain the benefits of divine revelation and protection must be willing to listen to and obey the will of the orishas. Through ritual purification and communion with fellow believers and orishas, santeros can taste what Murphy calls “the heart of religion…a harmony of the human and the divine in dance and joy.”
Further, prayer and medicine interplay to paint a classical image of the Native’s creed, yet, for many obsolete or preposterous existences of the shaman. To re-install beliefs present in the world for thousands of years, but have been disappearing, writers such as Neidhardt introduce the element of the
The Yoruba religion was brought to the Hispanic Caribbean approximately four hundred years ago by African slaves during the period of conquest and colonization of the new world. The religion remained traditionally strong among the African community until the Spanish conquerors began to prohibit its practice. When the Spaniards reached the New lands they brought with them the religion of the reigning King. That is Queen Isabella's religion; Catholosism. The conquerors forced the slaves to accept the Catholic faith as their new religion. The African, stripped already of their dignity refuse to give up their religious beliefs, this belief being all they brought with them. Knowing of the negative ramnifications, punishment and sometimes even death if caught "devil worshipping" it meant that in order to continue to worship theri Gods the angry Africans had to find a way to practice thier religion. They astutely hide theri religion behind Catholic religious practices and saints.
The vastly different traditions of religion forms in the United States show that how diversity of worldwide people merged into one society and formed separate traditions all while dealing boundaries between religions in America. The mystery of religious belief beyond the definition is still and will always be a much-debated topic. Regardless of whether these arguments are ever resolved, it is important to bear in mind about the powers from Albanese‘s theory, which is a system of symbols by means of which people orient themselves in a world with reference to both ordinary and extraordinary powers, meanings, and values (Albanese). She also identified
the many things that can be learned from it, instead of looking at it passively. You grow
Santeria, Voodoo, the Cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Rastafari all embody syncretism of Christian influence and traditional Indigenous beliefs of their followers. While the religions all express their syncretism in various manners, all regularly conduct rituals that deviate from traditional Christianity. These rituals exemplify the influence of the native cultures on these religions, and maintain the importance of tradition culture with the necessity of practicing Christianity during colonial times of religious oppression. Likewise, all of these religions frame their concept of what a “religion” is through their various unique rituals that serve to connect them to their native deities, as well as to the Christian God and Saints.
The origins of Shinto and Judaism are rich in history, yet it is the steadfast strength of their belief systems that are most fascinating. While the beliefs of most religions will evolve with time, the core beliefs of these two religions seem impervious to the cultural and generational changes in modern times. In fact, their belief systems seem to be the very foundations of which their cultures were originally built upon In exploring the completely diverse beliefs of Shinto and Judaism, an appreciation for the longevity of each is undeniable.
Based on Santería, people are born under a guardian Orisha, or saint, that must be worshipped throughout life. Each Orisha is an aspect of one supreme god. The seven main Orishas are known as the Seven African Powers. Eleggua is the gatekeeper between life and the afterlife in heaven and is the connection between the Orishas, humans, and god. He is very powerful because without him, there would be no communication between humanity and the saints. The Catholic Saint that is associated with Eleggua is Saint Anthony, and the colors associated with him are red and black.
African-Inspired religions have also prevailed when they were forced to come to the Americas. Voodoo and Santería are some of the main religions practiced in Latin America.Voodoo is commonly practiced in Haiti and Santería is practiced throughout Cuba and Puerto Rico. Santería times their rituals to those of the Catholic church, such as Easter and Christmas.
"A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims." A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust-Victims. University of South Florida. Web. 19 May 2014.
Religion is one of the most scared aspects a person has in his or her life; for many practitioners
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