When was santeria created

Priests still continue to follow certain taboos and restrictions that are for life. Every individual Santero has different taboos relating to them as an individual.

An Iyawo is a newly initiated Santero. There are two concepts that are vital to the core beliefs of Santeria. It means very simply life force. Ashe is generative energy that Olodumare has blessed us all with. It is energy; breath, life force and we cannot exist without it. Ashe gives us the power to create and the wisdom to see things through. Without Ashe there is no life. The second is Iwa Pele , which means good or gentle character. For Santeria followers, initiated as priests or not, It is important to grasp the meaning and entity of Iwa Pele.

Living with good grace is what gives us a purpose in life. As spiritual beings we are responsible for living the best life that we have been blessed with. Our life's work should be to evolve and to analyse our faults and improve upon them. It is important to strive to be a better person, a person with good character. By doing this one can change the energy flow around us. A title such as Babalawo , or Santero , means little, if that individual cannot show that they live and understand the concept of Iwa Pele.

Santeria is not witchcraft Many people are fearful of religions such as Santeria and Vodun since they equate the religion with practices of Witchcraft. Santeria is not Witchcraft.

It is not the study of spells or using spells to harm or affect anyone else. Anyone who thinks that Santeria can be used to keep a girlfriend, harm an enemy or win the lottery has not understood the principals of Santeria and is misguided. Santeria is about living the life that has been assigned to you the best way you possibly can. Followers of Santeria may use various tools to protect themselves such as spiritual baths or the wearing of sacred Necklaces.

They may use various herbs to cleanse or protect, or they may make offerings to their ancestors or to Orisha. That does not equate with Witchcraft. Much has been made about Animal Sacrifice in the Santeria religion. Offerings to an Orisha may include a glass of water, flowers, a candle, fruit or prepared items of food. More often than not a reading will recommend behavior modification or suggestions for improving ones behavior. It is rare that an animal would be marked for Sacrifice.

However it is a part of the practice of Santeria. There is nothing cruel about the sacrifices and more likely than not the animal is eaten and not thrown away. The animal is slaughtered in the same way that animals are slaughtered in Jewish and Moslem practice for Halal or Kosher meat.

Prayers accompany the sacrifice and more often than not, those attending the ceremony eat the animal. A Santeros house is their temple In general Santeros do not have a Church or a place of workshop as such. Their houses are their temples. They do not have anything such as a bible and commandments but each Santero has their own personal advice from the Orisha that they should follow.

They use systems of Divination as their guides and they also look to the ancestors for help and guidance. The stories and moral tales that derive from the Divination systems were passed down orally, but there are also now books that tell them.

Through divination rites it is possible for a person to attain a reading on current circumstances in relationship to their destiny; and through dedicated actions, it is possible to change or enhance their destiny. The departed egun may visit the living in dreams or imaginative visions, to provide guidance and give warnings; simply divination techniques obi can also be used to solicit advice.

Such beliefs are all consistent with African traditions. Family members communicate with the departed through prayer and also through simple family altars consisting of a lit candle, a cup of black coffee and a bit of favorite food.

Infertility is considered a curse that prevents reincarnations and children dying before birth stillborn many be an ancestral ori who prefers heaven or those infants who die immediately after birth may be abiku , a transient, trickster spirit who merges with the embryo but leaves when born, resulting in death. All over the Caribbean we find results of what has been termed "marriage" or "creation", both in music, dance and religion.

This "Cubanisation" occurred in the encounter between the different ethnic groups from Africa and the Catholic faith of the Spaniards. The gods that had been worshipped individually in Africa were gathered into a pantheon in Cuba. The African santos are, for example, compared to the Catholic saints.

The Spaniards hoped they would depart from their old beliefs. But things did not go quite as the slave-owners and clergy had envisioned. Instead of rejecting their own gods, the slaves continued worshipping them inside the church itself, disguised inside the Catholic cult of saints. The slaves found out that each of their African santos could be concealed behind a corresponding Catholic saint. The slaves could thereby continue their own beliefs and cults within the walls and countenance of the church, but still concealed from the clergy.

In this way, the encounter between slaves and slave-owners left their marks. However, researchers and believers disagree on how important these marks are. The santera Cristina represents one extreme, expressed for example in her statement "I am both a santera and a Catholic. The obba sacrificial priest Rolando was, on the other hand, more critical to the combination: "I cannot understand why we should warmly welcome the Catholic elements when you think of all the cruelty with which the Catholics treated our ancestors.

Most believers, however, have pictures of Catholic saints on their altar and use some of the Catholic names when they talk about or to the santos. There is a number of other religions in the Caribbean region that all bear the stamp of the encounter between the religions of the slaves and of the colonial power. Cuba has several other religions with roots in Africa. Palo monte , a religion with roots in Congo, is also relatively widespread in Cuba.

Slavery was abolished in Cuba in However, the black part of the population did not escape suppression and humiliation and they had far fewer rights than the white population. Even President Batista, a mulatto, was made to feel this racism as he was refused admission to the more elegant, white country clubs in Havana. Only a small number of white devotees existed or wished to come forward.