This week I wanted to talk of the religion of Santería. This religion is quite similar in many ways to Voodoo.
Santería is a tradition brought to the Americas by slaves. The word is derived from Santo, meaning “saint.” Santería is pantheistic meaning that it believes in multiple deities, called orishas. Because slaves were forced to adopt the religion of their masters (Catholicism), the orishas were disguised as saints. The basic practice is honor and care for the orishas in return for blessings. Other common practices within Santería include: healings, making charms, speaking with spirits, and holding ceremonies.
Initially the name Santería was meant to be derogatory; other names for this tradition include: Lucumi, the Way of the Saints, and Regla de Ocha. In Brazil it is known as Candomble and Nagos.
Santería honors a supreme deity, called Olorun, who created the orishas and from then on, withdrew his influence from the world. The orishas play various roles and these manifestations are known as caminos. The orishas are members of a family; they interact with each other and humans as well. Each orisha has parents, and the dominant orisha is the eledá. The Siete Potencias are the seven highest orishas and these reside within their devoted priests and lend these priests certain powers. Other orishas exist but they do not mingle with priests.
The power of the orishas is also believed to reside in otanes (sacred stones). These stones cannot be replaced, while images of the saints can because the saints are images to illustrate the corresponding orisha.
There is a good degree of ancestor worship in that ancestors have altars in their honor and may receive rituals. For Santería, ancestors are a source of advice.
Some significant orishas
Obatalá: rules purity and patience
Eleggua: governs the crossroads and the future
Shangó: rules thunder, lightning, dancing, and drumming
Yemayá: is the mother goddess and rules the oceans
Oshún: is the goddess of beauty, sensuality, pregnancy and rivers
Ogún: is the god of iron and war
Oyá: is the goddess of storms who resides at cemetery gates
Osian: is the god of all plants
Aña: is the spirit of the sacred bata drums
Iroko: is a tree spirit that lives within kapok trees
Babalú Ayé: is a god associated with diseases
I feel that knowing about Santería is important because there are some who believe that Santería is somewhat connected with Hurricane Katrina. The individuals who believe this refer to a few facts that make this theory interesting to consider.
For one, these traditions (Voodoo & Santería) are closely tied toNew Orleans. The forms of these traditions found in New Orleans, many believe, are bastardizations of the true practices. Almost everyone is familiar with the voodoo doll from the appearance of these in many movies.
According to the Santería/Katrina theory, one of the orishas reached a point where they were fed up with the disrespect to the practices. If one were to guess from the list given above, Yemayá would be a good guess as to who might have gotten miffed.
This is not to say that this is exactly what happened, but it is important to keep an open mind. Perhaps this was indeed the case; perhaps it wasn’t. The point of the matter is that there is much that we humans do not know, and it would be foolish to discredit anything.
Links of Interest
Religious Tolerance
Google Directory
A Pagan Response to Katrina
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