Origin & Beliefs
Also known as Regla de Ocha (Rule of the Orishas), the religious practice of Santería emerged as slaves from West Africa were traded and shipped to Cuba in the 16th Century. Carrying with them the Yoruba traditions (some slaves being priests of the religion), the slaves began to merge Yoruba tradition with Catholic theology, particularly associated orishas with their Catholic saint equivalents.
The main focus is to utilize the orishas/saints as intermediaries to the high god, Olodumare. Through this, they could openly worship as long as the incorporation of Catholicism helped to mask the Yoruba elements.
Rituals and Gods: Many practices such as divination that were prominent in West African Yoruba traditions remained essential in Santería.
Divination still served as a main line of communication to the orishas; priests, known as santeros/santeras, were not subject to dogma, but merely accumulated knowledge and built a reputation based on the productivity of their rituals.
The reason behind ritualistic practice was to ensure that followers felt protected and connected to the higher powers at be.
Animal sacrifice was utilized greatly, believing that giving the blood of animals such as goats as an offering to the gods was a custom that must be upheld. This came under much controversy during the 20th Century.
Ancestry played a key role; reverence for dead spirits of loved ones were included in rituals, and along with orishas were associated with spirits that protected living beings.
Orishas can be known to cause illnesses to followers when provoked or angry.
Many instances showing similar orishas, or santos (gods) or just minor variations in the name:
Oshun - goddess of the river
Yemaya - goddess of the sea
Chango - god of thunder
Santeria in 20th-Century Cuba
Prior to the mid-20th Century, Santería was unknown by many, having the bad reputation of being utilized only by lower-class, uneducated citizens. During the 1959 Cuban Revolution, it gained popularity as people turned to it as a way to deal with social change and culture shock, many Cuban immigrants carrying these traditions with them to America.
Traditions and history were mainly passed down through generations by santeros/santeras, though as of recent decades more of a cultural growth has been seen, and records are beginning to educate more people on the religion.
Readings/Resources
Drinan, Robert F., and Jennifer I. Huffman. "Religious Freedom and the Oregon v. Smith and Hialeah Cases." Journal of Church and State 35, no. 1 (1993): 19-35. www.jstor.org/stable/23920812.
Lefever, Harry G. "When the Saints Go Riding In: Santeria in Cuba and the United States." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 35, no. 3 (1996): 318-30. doi:10.2307/1386562.
Schmidt, Jalane D. "The Antidote to Wall Street? Cultural and Economic Mobilizations of Afro-Cuban Religions." Latin American Perspectives 43, no. 3 (2016): 163-85. www.jstor.org/stable/24765390.
