Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. Nairobi, Kenya, 1992. Santeria became a way to keep their old culture alive, in a way that did not threaten or attract undue attention of their oppressors. Each Orisha is an aspect of one supreme god. Ils are independent but may join up for special occasions. Each person, according to Vodou, is born under the patronage of a specific lwa and will often exhibit that lwa's . As we recall, Africans believe that the destiny of the individual and the community are interdependent, interconnected, and intertwined. Mortuary rituals also emphasize the integral connection between the "inner and outer person." We can be good, or we can be bad. In effect, it may be considered a mainstream American faith along with Christianity, Judaism and Islam.. In a landmark 1993 case, the Church of Lakumi Babalu Aye successfully sued the city of Hialeah, Florida. We're supposed to evolve, not live like brutes. 24ff). In the Kongo Malongo/ Palo tradition the Kongo cosmogram depicts the birth of man, potentially reaching his full potential on this physical domain and then passing into the spirit realm where you review what youve done and then continue the cycle again until proper elevation. A priest has 'made the saint', which means that they have been 'reborn in the spirit' and made a commitment to serve a particular Orisha. In the If oracle, for example, a trained priest, a babalawo (father of the mystery), interprets the fall of consecrated palm nuts to reveal the orishas response to a seekers question. The installation of the deceased back into family simultaneously marks the induction of the deceased into the world of ancestors. According to the myth, humans continue to suffer hardships in this world, until one day when, their expiation over, they will return to the sky. When they die, believers are buried in the earth (never cremated) so that they can provide axe to all living things. Santera is a religion with Afro-Cuban roots, rising out of the cultural clash between the Yoruba people of West Africa and the . Santeria rituals allow human beings to stay in contact with the Orishas - these rituals include dancing, drumming, speaking and eating with the spirits. People want to go back in one form or another to be with their family, to take their place among the ancestors, and to continue to evolve spiritually. Even the Santeros do not come into the limelight to provide viable reasons to support the sacrificing of animals. They help reprogram your subconscious mind from negative to positive thinking. The Santeria faith teaches that every individual has a destiny from God, a destiny fulfilled with the aid and energy of the orishas. While Christianity emphasizes beliefs and preparation for eternal life, he says, Santeria focuses almost entirely on rituals and life in the here-and-now. The orishas serve as messengers between the human world and the divine. We are a nature based religion, of course, and we pay homage to the earth and give thanks to it. At drum dances called bembs, initiated devotees, now properly called olorishasthose who have the orishamay lose their ordinary consciousness and manifest that of their orisha patrons. Yemaya, the spirit of motherhood, is often associated with the Virgin Mary. Between 1940 and 1960, the immigrants from Cuba spread Santeria in the United States. Santera, (Spanish: The Way of the Saints) also called La Regla de Ocha (Spanish: The Order of the Orishas) or La Religin Lucum (Spanish: The Order of Lucum), the most common name given to a religious tradition of African origin that was developed in Cuba and then spread throughout Latin America and the United States. According to the Church of Santeria. Those who undergo its carefully guarded initiation rites, which include animal sacrifice to cleanse the soul and give strength, step into an extended family. The issue of concern is whether at death one will be in a state of readiness to meet God in the final judgment (Kikuyu Catholic Hymnal, 1992, hymn 100). The animals are killed by cutting the carotid arteries with a single knife stroke in a similar way to other religious methods of slaughter. They are accompanied by their Guardian Orisha. 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. Training includes divinatory work, herbalism, and counseling. In chapters 13 and 14 Idowu discusses Yoruba notions of human nature and definition of the person. This ceremony invites the Orisha to join the community in drumming, singing and dancing. De La Torre, a Baptist minister, approaches the topic from a unique insider-outsider perspective. Encyclopedia of Religion. This is primarily an account of Yoruba notions of God. These religions ultimate goal is to preserve rituals and cultures to future generations. Egregores can best be described as spiritual entities that feed off the thoughts and energy of a unified multitude. Christianity does have an influence on the Yoruba in terms of the concept of heaven. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. 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. However, thats not the case. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha. We can choose how we want to interact with people, and with the world around us, and we can make good choices to bring more ir into our lives. Readers will also find plenty of valuable book reviews and courses which may prove to be helpful for obtaining greater knowledge. Open Document. More clues regarding African notions of afterlife can be gleaned from an examination of African concepts of the person. Santeria evolved when African slaves were stolen from their homelands during the Colonial period and forced to work in Caribbean sugar plantations. There are lawyers and professors, civil servants and musicians whose homes are filled with altars laden with flowers, rum, cake and cigars to keep the gods happy and helpful. Those who have fulfilled their corporate duties and obligations as the community defines them are honored as "ancestors," a status analogous to but not identical to that of sainthood in Christianity. Followers of Santeria believe that the gods keep accounts of the number of offerings made to the Orishas and they determine the number of favors granted to followers (Lele, 2012). By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Santeria evolved when African slaves were stolen from their homelands during the Colonial period and forced to work in Caribbean sugar plantations. Somehow, this state was interrupted, and death entered the world. If there were absolutely no consequences to bad behavior (stealing, cheating, lying, hurting, killing, etc.) Santeria combines influences of Caribbean tradition, West Africa's Yoruba spirituality, and elements of Catholicism. Wigington, Patti. 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. A second essay, titled "The Unveiling of Tombstones among African Independent Churches," by L. L. Pato, discusses how Christianized Africans have seemingly reconstructed the rituals of reinstating the dead among the living, ukubuyisa, through the practice of "unveiling the tombstones. You are reviewing your own life and being honest with yourself about how you lived, what you did right or wrong, and what you learned. They continued to practice their own rituals, which they found to be useful and effective, and which, most importantly, filled the spiritual space in lives torn from their original cultural foundations. They are also used for healing. We even consult the Babalawos in heaven and either do or dont do Ebo. In the oratures, the fact of dying is often described using the metaphor of a journey. Santeria fought its way up, and even after the Constitution in Cuba proclaimed freedom of religion, the religion continued to face much opposition. Mosha, Sambuli. Each deity represents an aspect of nature, like thunder, and a human characteristic, like power." Santeria is a religion developed by enslaved peoples throughout the Spanish Caribbean. 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. "The religion is something you are part of and see on a daily basis. . Discussing African notions of afterlife necessitates several preliminary and pertinent observations. You can subscribe to the Occultist Newsletter to be informed of the books release via email and to receive other important announcements. Such theologians assert the compatibility of African beliefs with Christian ones if only the latter can shed their Western garb and be clothed afresh in terms of African culture, a process called "inculturation." The name derives from the similarities that some practitioners found between the deities called orisha s of the West African Yoruba people and the . 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. Revolutionary Cuba clamped-down on Santeria at first, but over the last 15 years or so the government tolerated it more and more and now allows it to flourish. Summarizing distinctive markers of this African worldview, Sambuli Mosha isolates four key ideas, namely: (1) the centrality of belief in God, (2) an acknowledgment of the intrinsic unity between individuals and communities, (3) viewing the universe as an interconnected, interdependent whole, (4) embracing life as a process of spiritual formation and transformation (Mosha, 2000). The city claimed "animal sacrifices jeopardize public health and violate its slaughterhouse and animal cruelty ordinances." There may be an elaborate hierarchy based partly on the levels of spiritual development that family members have reached. Santera, or La Regla Lucum (or Lukum) as it is more properly known, is one of the African Diaspora; religions spread around the world with the scattering of the enslaved African people brought to the new world. The name Santera derives from the correspondences made by some devotees between the Yoruba deities called orishas and the saints (santos) of Roman Catholic piety. For decades, Santeria has. Margarite Fernandez Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert), 1997, The understanding of death and dying as seen by different religions. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. The religion focuses on building relationships between human beings and powerful, but mortal, spirits, called Orishas. When Yoruba were taken to the Caribbean islands as slaves between the 1770's . For Ela, such a reclamation is not only doctrinally valid and acceptable but would serve as one possible antidote to "this worldly" problems that thrive on radical individualism (Ela, 1990, pp. A Santero, or high priest, traditionally presides over rituals and ceremonies. Both religions have beliefs in possession by certain spirits Orishas in Santeria and Loas in Voodoo. Benefits of Santeria Santeria "focuses on improving the quality of adherents' everyday life, rather than merely providing them with salvation when they approach death." Vega, the religion professor, said Santeria is a way of life. See you on the other side! Ancestorhood is therefore a status of honor reserved for the exemplary dead. There are also deities known as Oricha or Orisha, who are perceived as the facets of Olodumare by some practitioners. Santeria means the way of saints, whereas the term voodoo meaning moral fiber has its origin in African-Haitian religious, traditional practices. Arteries with a single knife stroke in a similar way to format page numbers and retrieval dates he,! A single knife stroke in a landmark 1993 case, the fact of dying is often with! Human world and the community in drumming, singing and dancing Christianity Judaism! By different religions to ensure the proper functionality of our platform the `` inner and outer person. die. 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