Religious Education
This site was created specifically for students of Religion in Secondary Schools and other persons who may be interested in learning more about the Gospels and some of the major world religions.
Santería
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Discussions of Santería can be confusing for several reasons. First, "Santería" is the popular name for the religion. More properly the religion is referred to as Regla de Ocha, or sometimes just Ocha, meaning "The Rule of the Orisha," referring to the gods of Santería. Other names given to the religion include Lukumi, an African Yoruba word that means "friend," and La Regla Lucumi. Yoruba is an African language spoken primarily in Nigeria and in parts of Togo and Benin.
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Further complicating matters is that worship of the orishas, or lesser gods, is also a feature of Candomble, a Brazilian religion very similar to Santería. African religious beliefs were carried to the New World and evolved into different religious traditions in different geographical regions.
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Santeros (those who practice Santería) themselves sometimes regard the name "Santería" as offensive. The word, meaning "the way of the saints," was an insulting term that Spanish colonists applied to the religion practiced by their African slaves.
When these slaves were brought to Central and South America in the 1700s, they were immediately baptized into the Catholic Church, meaning they were made a member of the Church. Practice of their African religious beliefs was forbidden. The slaves, however, quickly discovered that they could continue to practice their religion by disguising it with Catholic images and symbols. Many of the orishas were worshipped as if they were Catholic saints. For example, the orisha Babalz Ayi became Saint Lazarus, the patron saint of the sick. Oggzn became Saint Peter, and Shangs became Saint Barbara. For this reason, the Spanish coined the term Santería to suggest that the Africans worshipped saints at the expense of God. Although the term can be potentially offensive and hurtful, many who practice the religion have accepted it. It continues to be widely used.
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Santería blends the beliefs of the traditional Yoruba and Bantu peoples of West Africa with Catholicism. A principal belief of Santeros is that the universe is motivated by ashe, a growth and movement forward to divinity. Ashe, often translated as "energy," is the cosmic force that binds all of creation into a web. Santeros believe that this ever-changing force leads to a principal deity called Olódùmarè, the "owner of heaven" or sometimes the "owner of all destinies." Olódùmarè, the supreme creator-god, is the object of ashe, the direction in which the energy of the universe moves.
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In addition, Santeros honor a number of orishas. The orishas are spirits that represent the forces of nature. Each of the orishas is associated with a Christian saint, as well as with an important number, a principle (such as sensuality, war, money, roads and gates, illness, or thunder and lightning), a dance posture, an emblem, a color, and food. It is believed that for an orisha to remain effective, it must be offered animal sacrifices, as well as pre-pared food dishes. Orishas are not distant from or inaccessible to humans. On the contrary, they are intimately involved with human life, acting as messengers for Olódùmarè.
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Developing Religions
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Santería is thought to be one of the elements of Dominican folk religious life. This Cuban tradition came about through the combination of African beliefs and the imposition of Spanish Catholicism. Field laborers were given only the most basic introduction to the Catholic faith and "Creolized" the beliefs, mixing the Catholic practice of saint worship with the worship of many African gods and goddesses. Vodou came about in much the same way, but this occurred in what is now Haiti, a French-speaking nation.
Changing Beliefs
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The deities of both Vodou and Santería often have similar names, but both religions include the relation of African gods or spirits with Catholic saints. Both also feature the African belief in a main creator god who oversees the gods and goddesses that worshipers may contact – this helped to make the Creolization of these two religious systems easy as the African beliefs are essentially monotheistic.
Orisha of Candomblé
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Like Central American Santeros, practitioners of Candomblé worship orishas, or lesser gods. A few of the important orishas include the following:
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Ésù: The messenger of the orisha, an intermediary between the orishas and humans.
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Ògún: The god of war, battles, metal, roads, agriculture, and justice.
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Osun: The goddess of fresh water, beauty, and health, in contrast to Nàná, the goddess of swamp mud and stagnant water.
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Shàngó: The god of fire and thunder.
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Osòosì: The god of the hunt, who lives in the forest.
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Accordingly, Santeros take part in animal sacrifices. These sacrifices are an important part of Santerían religious rituals. The most commonly used animals are chickens, which are generally cooked and eaten after the ritual. Sacrificing the animal is believed to please the orishas, which brings good luck, forgiveness of sins, and purification. This belief in animal sacrifice has caused a number of animal rights groups to oppose the practice of Santería.
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The Santerían Eleven Commandments
Just as Christianity and Judaism follow the Ten Commandments delivered to the Jewish people by Moses (c. 1392–1272 bce), Santeros follow the Eleven Commandments of Olódùmarè, who handed them down through the orisha Obatala, the father of the orisha:
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You will not steal.
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You will not kill, except in self-defense and for your sustenance.
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You will not eat human flesh.
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Santerían rituals
Many of the rituals and practices of Santería are kept as secret as possible. A person can gain full and accurate information about Santería only by being initiated into the religion. Such a person is called an "ab'orisha." Santería, unlike such religions as Christianity and Judaism, does not have a sacred book or formalized set of teachings. Traditions are maintained orally (by word of mouth) through the generations.
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A typical Santerian ritual begins by invoking Olódùmarè, while drums beat in traditional African rhythms. These rhythms, called oru, change to one associated with a particular orisha. Dance and animal sacrifice are important parts of the rituals. Priests in Santería are called babalochas. Priestesses are called lyalochas or santeras.
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