The difference is artificial; the demon's intent is to secure the worship of the Santeria people above all else and will seem to do good in order to receive it. Consider the following: 1. But in Santeria only the good forces, so-called, are worshipped--the orishas. When the slaves reached the New World things changed, as for example, in the number of gods worshipped. Santeria desires to stay under the radar; it is an extremely secretive religion. Santería is an amorphous, practical, and oral tradition which promises wisdom and power in dealing with life's hardships. When the possession happens, the initiated person is said to be possessed by his guardian angel or ruling orisha. These possessions serve as direct evidence of contact with supernatural powers and are very convincing to onlookers. The santero charges a monetary fee for this, the derecho, and the bill for the santeroâs work can be quite expensive. The orishas, the holy dead, and all the host of Satan will only be cast into hell forever. Catholic Saints, including the Virgin Mary, are prayed to in the Catholic Church and these are thought to be able to grant certain favors including protection from accidents and injury. To a skeptic such revelation is overwhelming. The religion was called Santeria in Cuba, from which it migrated to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Panama, and other countries. Third are asiento offerings, where the blood of a sacrificed animal is offered to the saints. The rich man wanted Lazarus to help him warn his brothers, but God told him that there was a deep chasm fixed so that no one could cross it either way (see Luke 16:19-31). Those who practice Palo Monte or Palo Mayombe are the ones who directly engage in witchcraft and black magic, even the direct worship of Satan. Another initiation is the Ilekes or Necklaces (Collares in Spanish). For example, if something that belongs to the subject, a piece of clothing or a shoe, is procured, then the owner can be influenced. They recognize, after a period of time, that they are in direct contact with the devil and his angels. This cathedral is very special to Catholics too, and thus offers travelers a fascinating look at the intersection between Catholicism and Santería. The centre of the religion is Cuba, but it has spread to the USA and other nearby countries, particularly after the Cuban revolution in 1959. Orishas will talk "face to face," in that they can be talked to and will talk back. Vacation days are hard to come by. Changó is another popular saint. Feel free to ask people about the religion and, if given permission, take photographs. The Yoruba gods comprise an extremely complex structure not unlike the pantheon of the Greeks of ancient days. In this initiation one receives several orishas who actually are said to live by the person's front door and need to be placated in some way at least every Monday, but maybe more often, depending on what is decreed by the seashells. Their deities are known as orishas and were eventually given names borrowed from Roman Catholic saints. The animal is always eaten afterward, because it is believed that the orisha's ashe was in that animal. Santeria incorporates elements of several faiths and so is what's called a 'syncretic' religion. Santeria is also highly regimented and formalized, because magic depends on the precise carrying out of the ritual. •Itineraries•Company•Blog•Animals•Facebook•Instagram•Youtube•Trustpilot, •Itineraries•Company•Insurance•Blog•Animals•Facebook•Instagram•Youtube•Trustpilot. His Catholic avatar is Santa Barbara. A number of babalawos live in Regla, and while here, it’s possible to have them give you advice for a small fee. Actual necklaces are draped around the neck of the initiate. Baba means father; awo means divination. The soul, whose origin is in the house of God, or heaven, lives on and on in many reincarnations. Santería is popular throughout all of Cuba, but the cities of Santiago, Matanzas, and Havana have the largest number of followers. According to Migene Gonzalez-Wippler's book Santeria The Religion, there is a four-fold structure to Santeria: communication, possession, divine contact, and transformation. The possession brings communication, actual contact with spirits, after which one will never be the same. This form of magic centers around the so-called laws of similarity and contact. The rich man died and went to hell. Power, health, wealth, and prosperity are desirable indeed but are not the purpose nor goal of life, which is to know God and glorify him. In fact, each of the orishas (saints) are identified with a force of nature. Appeals are then made to the orisha in order to secure healing and wealth, to cast spells, and to perform other forms of magic. There is no communication from the dead to the living, and what seems to be the case is merely a deception of Satan. A large number of slaves were imported to Cuba via Matanzas during the 19th century, and Santería gained a strong following here. Obatalá, the goddess of creation and peace, dresses in white and associated with the Virgen de la Merced (the Virgin of Mercy). It must be noted that the Roman Catholic Church did not endorse Santeria and largely attempted to refute it, but Santeria became so influential that in some places, and to this day, there was a deliberate syncretization of the two systems. But in addition to a positive spiritual experience, I personally derive much enjoyment, relaxation, and peace from the process of smoking a good cigar. It may be that Jews who practiced Judaism's esoteric Kabballah found a linkage between that and Santeria. Â. Santeria is called a natural magico-religious system. The possessed individual acts and functions as if he were the personification of the orisha. If you visit the El Cobre Cathedral, you’ll see followers sporting yellow clothes and wearing yellow and white beads in homage to Ochún. Yemayá rules the ocean and is the goddess of motherhood. After a while, there would be a considerable host of spirits involved--a legion of demons in fact. For a long time Santeria was a secretive underground religion, but it's becoming increasingly visible in the Americas: Once dismissed as a ghetto religion practiced only by the Caribbean poor and uneducated, Santeria has a growing following among middle-class professionals, including white, black and Asian Americans. The numbers have been bulking up due to the Mexican drug cartels being drawn into it. Under the name of La Santa Muerte or The Holy Dead, this offshoot of Santeria is used  to prevent one from being caught when committing crimes, to avoid prison, and to be protected from bullets and knives. Cynics say that this is because Santeria brings considerable hard currency to the island. Fidel Castro is even rumored to be a believer.  It was not a large step to embrace the Yoruba belief system. In each of these places, there are opportunities to learn more about the religion. In Cuba it is known as Lucumi, in Brazil either Macumba or Candomble (or Condonble), and in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Mexico it became known as Santeria. Santeria is a fusion of Catholic practices and African folk beliefs. Often practitioners so blend the two that they do not recognize where one stops and the other begins. In Africa the list of the orishas surpasses 600, while in Latin America that number was reduced to between twenty and twenty-five. Â. Cuba is still the religious center of Santería, but the faith has spread to many other countries as well, including the U.S. Santería’s roots can be traced to the Lucumí religion, which was practiced by the Yoruba tribes of modern-day Benin and Nigeria. Direct and to the point. That orisha is said to watch over the initiated person throughout his (or her) life, guiding and protecting him. The outcome of the asiento is that the initiate is "mounted" by the orisha, like a rider mounts a horse. While here, you’ll see people wearing yellow clothes and buying sunflowers in honor of Ochún. First is the ritual cleansing: the santero rubs an animal over the body of a distressed client, thus taking away the source of the trouble, after which he sacrifices the animal. He must dispose of the animal's body; it may not be eaten. Santerians say the necklace ceremony is equivalent to the ceremony of baptism. In the minds of many Cubans, the two religions parallel one another, rather than existing as one unified religion. It has grown beyond its Yoruba and Catholic origins to become a religion in its own right, and a powerful symbol of the religious creativity of Afro-Cuban culture. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (see 1 John 3:8). The simulated figure is tortured, stabbed, and so on. There are basically three kinds of animal sacrifices. The séance is the spiritual mass of Santeria. It is for this reason, the need to hide the magical, witchcraft nature of the slavesâ religion, that led to the folding of Santeria into Catholic practices and observances. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha. Santeria is typical of what occurred so often in the coming together of different peoples with differing belief systems--there was a combining of systems. This will be made plain as we go along. Santeria (The way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, ... rum, cake and cigars to keep the gods happy and helpful.  After the reading of certain cleansing prayers, often from a book written by Allen Kardec, a French spiritualist, the spirits of various eggun will begin to appear and actually interact with the participants. If you do participate in one of these ceremonies, be sure to tip the babalawo afterwards—this not only pays for his time and effort, but also helps reimburse the costs of the ceremony, which includes the animals, rum, cigars, and more. Every follower is assigned to an orisha who will guide him or her throughout life. Whatever happens to the wax figure is expected to similarly happen to the victim of the spell or curse. We are told to, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. The santero makes the offering (ebbo) to the orisha in order to obtain ashe, the raw cosmic power, to work in favor of his client. When the African religion reached Brazil it morphed into what is now called either Candomble or Macumba. Marcea Eliade. Contact magic is a form in which physical contact is made with an object belonging to or associated with the subject of the spell. These orishas have African names: Eleggua, Orunmila, Obatala, Oddudua, Chango, Oggun, Ochosi, Aganyu, Babalu-aye, Osain, Yemaya, Oshun, Oya, Orisha-Oko, Yewa, Dada, Ibeyi, Oba, Inle, and Osun. Here is where the façade of Santeria is broken and its true face is evident. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. While here, you can sometimes see Santería ceremonies being performed in Plaza Dolores—these usually include dancing, chanting, and drumming.
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