Santeria is a religion developed by enslaved peoples throughout the Spanish Caribbean. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. It was about "ancient" origins of all the Christmas traditions. Tree, yule log, 12 days etcAfter reading it she looked at me like a demon for a bit..lol. It means way of saints or honor of saints. Mohawk Native Americans are an Iroquois people with origins in Ontario, Quebec and New York State. My New Grimoire Goetia Rising is Now Available! The Spanish words for these priests are santero or santera. Eleggua is the gatekeeper between life and the afterlife in heaven and is the connection between the Orishas, humans, and god. ." Historically, Africa is heir to a triple heritage of religion and culture: namely African traditional religions, Islam, and Christianity. We call it in Spanish "rendir cuentas," which means "explain yourself, tell me why you lived the way you did." Santeria: The Soul Possessed: Directed by Benny Mathews. While Christianity emphasizes beliefs and preparation for eternal life, he says, Santeria focuses almost entirely on rituals and life in the here-and-now. Initially, human beings lived close to the sky and were therefore near enough to the world above to enjoy its benefits without struggle and labor. Wigington, Patti. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. What does Santeria believe about the afterlife? There is no central organisation in Santeria. Omissions? Managing editor at EthicsDaily.com from 2003-2009, Allen wrote more than 1,500 news stories during his tenure. It may seem that the Yoruba are patriarchal because men filled the role of a king and there were chiefs; however, the women ran the family and daily life. It is believed that access to the orishas can be achieved through various types of divination. This ceremony invites the Orisha to join the community in drumming, singing and dancing. The religion focuses on natural forces instead of the afterlife. My clients tend to be ambitious people from all walks of life. 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. The bottom line is that Santeria is not Voodoo, as many people believe, but they share a common history. 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. Santera altar in Cuba. Learn Religions. 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. 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. - Wikimedia Commons by Susanne Bollinger / CC-BY-SA-4.. Santera developed in Cuba during the 19 th century and has continued to spread in America, particularly in large cities like Miami, New York, and Los Angeles primarily through Caribbean island immigrants. They also adopted some features from Catholicism. Santeria for many years was considered to be a secret religion. Membership is taken seriously, and members are expected to take part in the life of the il. In general, within the African context, such a rigid dualism between body and soul is not found. Babalu Aye is known as the Father of the World, and is associated with sickness, epidemics and plagues. Discussing African notions of afterlife necessitates several preliminary and pertinent observations. Meanwhile, communities like those of the Swahili of East Africa present a religio-cultural hybridity a result of years of blending indigenous African cultures with Islamic ones. In some areas, African slaves learned that honoring their ancestral orishas was far safer if their Catholic owners believed they were worshiping saints instead - hence the tradition of overlap between the two. There may be an elaborate hierarchy based partly on the levels of spiritual development that family members have reached. Santeria (The way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. Many Christians, albeit in camouflaged or covert ways, continue to honor and remember their dead through ritual in spite of the formal doctrinal ban. . Of these ritual texts, the most notable are Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld; Ishtar 's Descent to the Netherworld; and Nergal and Ereshkigal. People have to be held accountable for their actions, and this is how we envision it. Discord: https://discord.gg/Tg3Cbwft, Press J to jump to the feed. This to me just reeks of Christian influence. Kenyatta, Jomo. Author of. Paradoxically, then, the dead are not dead, a paradox that led Mbiti to coin the phrase "the Living-Dead" (1969, p. 81). Gundani and Ongonga also discuss, respectively, the rituals of Kurova Guva and Duogo, which are rituals of reintegrating the deceased and confirming their status as ancestors or the living dead. The belief system of Santeria is reflected in its history. 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. The notion may be due to the strong influence of Islam and Christianity on Yoruba culture at the time Idowu collected his materials. More clues regarding African notions of afterlife can be gleaned from an examination of African concepts of the person. I can't help but think it has a Christian influence. Later still, in the nineteenth century, through Christian missionaries these ideas found their way into sub-Saharan Africa. They belong to the Six Nations, formerly known as the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy. 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. She is also affiliated with moon magic and witchcraft. Santeria, as explained to me, is supposed to be a nature-based religion. But someone who cold-bloodedly murders his family isn't going to have the same fate as a person who has gone through life trying to be supportive and helpful to his family. Santeria was created in Cuba by the mingling of Yoruba . Corrections? The Luo of Kenya, for example, use the yago fruit, which is several feet in length and is laid in the grave to represent the dead. 22 Feb. 2023 . Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. Governed by Venus, a sensual and carnal planet, Taurus is in analogy with House II, concerning acquisitions, possessions and everything that one ingests, that one assimilates. They are called upon by priests by a variety of methods, including trances and possession, divination, ritual, and even sacrifice. According to this myth, upon death people ascended to the sky via the rope for a short period and came back rejuvenated to earth. De La Torre also edited Handbook of U.S. Theologies of Liberation, examining Christian concepts and the interrelationship between religion, community and culture from the perspective of U.S. marginalized communities. Retrieved February 22, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/afterlife-african-concepts. Mosha contextualizes this education within the African theistic worldview with its emphasis on wholeness and interconnectedness of life as well its unfolding nature. New York, 1965. What most viewers didnt realize, says author Miguel De La Torre, is that the songs title referred to a deity of an Afro-Cuban religion called 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. This is primarily an account of Yoruba notions of God. 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. It would seem also that the emphasis by Africans on a this-worldly and corporate approach to salvation resonates significantly with the prior key affirmations about God and the world in the African worldview. (2020, August 28). thunder and power are two aspects of nature that are represented by the deity. ." Especially about birth, life, death and the Afterlife. Rites of Passage in Contemporary Africa: Interaction Between Christian and African Traditional Religions. Later on, the region came under Islamic influence, and today much of North Africa is Islamic and culturally Arabic. The traditional rituals of reinstating the dead into the world of the living, for example, seem to reappear camouflaged in the quite prevalent Christian rituals of "unveiling the tombstone" or "unveiling the cross." Oya is a warrior, and the guardian of the dead. Musicians, painters, sculptors, and writers have found in the Orisha tradition sources of African artistry and pride. Connected to healing magic,Babalu Aye is sometimes called upon as. There are a number of different orishas, and most of them correspond to a Catholic saint. Santeria is a syncretic religion that grew out of the slave trade in Cuba. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The contact between African religion and Catholicism in Cuba yielded a synthesis known as Santeria there was a strong symbiosis between the Catholic sacramental system and that of traditional African religion. Murphy, Joseph. Spiritual guides working to pay off karmic debt for elevation. Thus, petitionary prayer is often said through them. They believe that through this possessed individual, they can communicate directly with a lwa. On the one hand, death and burial signifies an end to one's physical life. Merced claimed he had been sacrificing animals for over a decade without any problems, and was willing to "quadruple bag the remains" and find a safe method of disposal. Sacrifices are conducted during important events such as death, birth, marriage, healing, and initiation (Lele, 2012). A vital unit of the Santeria community is the 'house' called a casa or il. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. It doesn't appear in any feeds, and anyone with a direct link to it will see a message like this one. Sun on the cross sacrificing your ego. Mbiti, John. Beliefs Santeria does not have one set of beliefs, it combines of a variety of different faiths and cultures In Santeria life on Earth is considered more desirable that the afterlife Santeria worship a number of worldly gods known as orishas Many of the Santeria beliefs is not disclosed outside of the faith The Heartbeat of Indigenous Africa. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. During appropriate rituals the Orishas are able to meet believers at these sacred spaces. Joseph M. Murphy Professor of Theology, Georgetown University. Olodumar is our supreme being to whom we may eventually stand in judgement of. "What is Santeria?" . Santeria is an Afro-Carribian religion that expanded during the time of the Cuban slave trade (Types of Religion, 2016). By at least one survey now a decade old, there were about 22,000 register active Santeria practitioners in the United States. Born in Cuba, he grew up in a home where both of his parents were santeros, or priests of Santeria. Santeria is not much different from any other religion. God (named differently by various ethnic groups) is the creative force behind the origins of the universe and human beings within it, a belief that appears in many African cosmogonic myths. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha. Open navigation menu. Once the spirit comes into the member, it can speak to the god (Bondye), dead people, heal, protect, and even do magic. Cubas government considered it ancient sorcery. 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). Sacrifices are performed for life events such as birth, marriage, and death. Furthermore, the deliberate invocation of ngoma or mizimu and fellowship with them through libations and prayer (Gikuyu, kurongoreria ) is in official Christian teaching outlawed because it is considered a breach of the First Commandment. 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