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Santeria and Cuba Most people think that Catholicism is the main religion in the region of Central America. But if we look closer, we will see that there are other important religions besides Catholicism in these countries. Santeria is a religion, which gain more and more members the last years. Santeria the way of the saints is a combination of Nigerian Yoruba folk religion and Catholicism. The Yoruba people was a small nation in Nigeria, farmers and hunters, with a complex of believes. The nation was formed as a series of kingdoms, the most important one was known as Benin.
Benin had an advanced culture, similar to Greek civilization, with well-made bronze and ivory works. The Yoruba people worshiped about six hundreds gods and goddesses, called Santeria. In the colonial period yorubian's were brought to the Caribbean islands as slaves. Slavery was practiced throughout the Central America then. When the slaves reached the Caribbeans, they were baptized into the Roman Catholic Church. Not wanting to give up their native religion, they combined their folk religion with the catholic beliefs.
The Yoruba people equate Santeria with the Catholic saints. Eventually, this mixed religion was influenced by new surrounding and languages. The influence of Catholic Church can be recognized in marriage ritual and the concept of heaven and hell. It is usually thought, that yorubian's combined two religions in order to protect beliefs of their ancestors. The most important role Santeria plays in Cuba. During the long period till 1942 worshippers of Santeria had to hide their beliefs.
Strangers knew nothing exactly about this religion, thus a birth was given to the great number of gossips and pseudo scientific works about Santeria. It was called religion of fetishism, witchcraft and cruelty. After the revolution in 1959 the attitude towards the Santeria religion has not changed much. Government tried to turn Santeria from a true religion into a simple folklore. The discrimination marked this unique religion: if a person was of the Santeria religion, it was impossible to find a job. Strange, that Santeria was favorable to communism compared to the Catholic Church.
Santeria was called to weaken the positions of the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba. This means only one thing: Santeria was less persecuted then Catholicism. But the real interests of the religion were not taken into account. The happiest time for the worshippers of Santeria came during the eighties and nineties. Religious freedom came to Cuba. More and more people started to adhere to Santeria.
Santeria was becoming commercialized in order to attract more tourists. Nowadays Santeria in Cuba is even more popular then Catholicism. You can find devotees of Santeria in almost every house in Cuba. Sometimes it is even called The third force in Cuba.
In fact, millions of Cubans dont find any contradiction between the demands of the Vatican and the rules of Santeria. People are very liberal about the dogmas of two main religions in Cuba. This is a result of a very careful politics of Santerian's priests. Due to their clever way now Santeria can be characterized also as an international religion. The attitude of the official Catholic Church towards the Santeria religion is different. The Catholic priests are not very happy, but on the other hand it is better to be on board, then to repress it completely and thus lose huge influence they had in this region.
But still it is very closed and mysterious religion. For example we still do not know the real number of the worshippers of Santeria. It is quite spread all around the world, but people from other parts of the world do not adhere completely. They could only sympathies or respect. The number of real believers is still unknown.
There are two main reasons of this secrecy: hard past of the religion and complicated rituals of initiation. Secrecy is not an original product of the religion; it appears lately as a mode of survival for the worshippers. Santerian's are very uncomfortable about informing the general public about their religious practice. They try to hide all the information on their beliefs, ritual and symbolism.
From the mists of time their traditions are preserved and passed on through oral tradition. Rituals begin with drumming consisting of African rhythms and dancing. Santerian's believe that through rhythmic sounds and dancing in rituals will provoke possession of the individual by the Orisha. The rhythm changes with the Orisha that is being called forth. Only specially trained people, priests and priestesses, can be possessed by Orisha. They undergo a special training before the ritual.
The initiation ritual is kept in total secrecy. To become initiated into the Santeria faith, a person must answer only to Olorun and the Orisha's for his actions. To be considered for initiation, a person must have a great knowledge of Santeria myths and rites. A person that is a potential candidate for initiation must have sponsorship from an initiated Santeria, usually a priest or priestess. As soon as a person received sponsorship, they must get the acceptance from the Orisha's, who decide how high in the religious structure he is allowed to advance. During the first year of initiation person must dress in white, as a bride.
He must not look into the mirror, touch anyone, wear a make-up or go out at night. Also Santeria has a huge variety of gods, rituals and practices. This also does not bring more light to the understanding the problem of the Santeria religion. In fact, animal sacrifice is a part of the santerian's rituals. The blood is given to Orisha's to please them, to bring good luck and for forgiveness of sins. They have been using the animal sacrifice for more then thousand year, it is a part of their religions and it can not be judged negatively.
The cult of ancestors is also very important for the Santerian's. The prime god of santerian's is called Olorun, owner of heaven. He is a creator of everything and the father of Orisha's, lesser gods and goddesses. The Orisha's rule over every force of nature and every aspect in human life, but they have no power of their own. They have to beg all their power from Olorun. They are easily reached with the help of rituals, prayer and sacrifice.
Each Orisha has his own favorable day. This is the best time to make sacrifice, to read a prayer, to burn candles. Also every Orisha has its own color. Every Orisha prefer blood of a special animal.
Every Orisha has a mortal fear of some animal. Also they have some preferences in food and drinks. Each Orisha has a power over a group of healing or magician herbs. For example, Obatala, the equivalent of Catholic Our Lady of Mercy, prefers white color, female goat for sacrifice, rice for food, cotton and almonds for herbs.
Obatala is the only Orisha, who knows, where Olorun lives. The second powerful Orisha is Orunmilla, equivalent to st. Francis. He likes plums, jasmine, pitch apple and ginger. The next known Orisha is Elegua. He protects cities, houses and temples by residing in a helmet-shaped construction made out of stone or cement.
His statue is placed near the entrance way. Change is a warlike Orisha; he likes a lot of meat, cold weapon and huge sacrifices. Change is a famous lover. When he was king in Africa, he had two wives. He ruled them, the same as he ruled his country, for he is hard-tempered.
Oshun, Our Lady of Charity, is a patron for lovers. Now she is a wife of Change. Before she was married to Orunmilla. She loves parties and celebrations, no one have ever seen her crying. Oya has such a terrible face that anyone who looked at her can become mad or blind.
When she possesses someone, nobody looked at her. She only dances warrior dances. Yemaya is an Orisha of game, joke and sorcery. She is very graceful and very kind-hearted. She is full of love and tenderness, as a mother of all mankind. She dances with movements that are like the movement of the wave.
Babalu-aye is a great healer. Once upon a time he brought a lot of diseases to his tribe, but now he is saving the people he has hurt before. His cures are always miraculous, especially among the people, who can not walk. He is full of understanding of human sufferings and misery. He knows more about pain than any other Orisha. As we can see, Santeria is an important part of life in the region of Central America, especially Cuba.
Many people throughout the world adhere Santeria, big quantity sympathies the rules of this mysterious cult, which combine the ancient rituals of Yoruba people with dogmas of Roman Catholic Church. Santeria is very important for Cubans; it is even called The Third Power, together with Che Guevara and Jesus Christ. The history of Santeria in Cuba was very dramatic and even bloody. The first yoruba slaves had to hide their beliefs under the guise of the Catholic religion. With the coming of the communists Santeria could breath easily, but not for long. Communist government used santerian's in order to weaken the positions of the Catholics.
Only nowadays the Santeria religion does not have to hide, people can freely maintain their rituals and say their prayers. I think no religion in the world had had such an impetuous history of development with such a happy conclusion. Sources: Castellanos, Isabel, (1996). From Ulkumi to Lucumi: A Historical Overview of Religious Acculturation in Cuba.
In: Santeria Aesthetics in Contemporary Latin American Art. Arturo Lindsey, ed. Washington, D. C. : Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 25 - 34. Rigaud, Milo, (1971). Secrets of Voodoo.
Translated from the French by Robert A. Cross. New York: Pocket Books. La guerre, (1989). Voodoo and Politics in Haiti. New York: St.
Martins Press. P. 23. Home, James T. , (1995). Spirits, Blood, and Drums: the Orisha Religion in Trinidad. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Raboteu, Albert J. , (1978).
Slave Religion. New York: Oxford University Press.
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