- Feb 26, 2005
- 2,578
- 19
Cloaked in Secrecy, Santeria Spreads
http://bv.channel.aol.com/lifemain/...anvas/feature_article?id=20050428112709990001
By Yanick Rice Lamb, Special to AOL BlackVoices
When Africans were shipped to the new world, slave owners literally tried to beat their culture out of them to maximize control. Still, many slaves were able to preserve some of their traditions in creative ways, passing them down to their descendants through word of mouth.
Today, Yoruba-based religions like Santeria -- and its cousins Candomble, Palo Mayombe and Voudon -- are on the rise in the United States and throughout the Americas, according to scholars and practitioners.
In Santeria, which means “saints” in Spanish, Olodumare, the owner of Heaven, creation and all destinies, is akin to the Christian version of God. Under Olodumare are the Orishas, powerful spiritual beings representing the forces of nature. Humans use prayer, music, rituals and Ebo, offerings that can be as simple as herbs, to feed the Orishas, worship them and call upon them when in need. Also powerful are the Egun, or ancestral spirits, in whom family ties remain strong.
Africans who practiced Yoruba-based religions in what is now Nigeria or Benin led their captors in the Caribbean and South America to believe that they had successfully imposed Catholicism upon them. Since their Orishas had much in common with Catholic saints, they could openly appeal to Shango and not St. Barbara, both of whom were associated with lightning, thunder and fire, while secretly passing on the teachings of religions like Santeria.
The Origins of Santeria
“These traditions are global,” explains Marta Moreno Vega, a Santeria priestess who is founder and president of the Caribbean Cultural Center in New York. “Why would people fight to keep these traditions alive in spite of being penalized and having the possibility of being beaten or killed?”
Although Santeria is on the rise, it remains cloaked in secrecy, experts say, partly because of misconceptions and negative portrayals in news stories as well as on television and film.
“Sensational accounts portray Santeria as paganistic at best and satanic at worst,” explains Ian Straker, Ph.D., assistant professor and historian at the Howard University School of Divinity.
A disciple of Santeria holds a Catholic statue during a 1997 ceremony. Santeria was created by African slaves who used attributes of Catholicism to disguise the deities of their traditional faiths. They did so to fool their captors, who forbade them to practice their own religions.
Sonike Holly of Chicago is bothered by such images, whether in films like ‘Angel Heart,’ past TV episodes of the now-canceled dramatic series ‘New York Undercover’ and reports of wanna-be priests who prey on those in need. The single mother of two says she is happier and more at peace since she began practicing Santeria and Palo, a Bantu tradition, three years ago in addition to Catholicism. But some of her friends and co-workers have raised eyebrows.
No one knows exactly how many people in the United States practice Santeria, also known as Lukumi, which means “friend” in Yoruba. Estimates range from 22,000 based on the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) to a few million, which includes devoted followers, many of whom also practice Christianity like Holly; the casual believer who may seek out a santera or santeros (priestess or priest) from time to time; and members of the Oyotunji African Village in Sheldon, S.C.
ARIS researchers at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York acknowledge possible undercounting in their phone interviews, because of language barriers and the refusal of some people of color -- particularly African Americans and recent immigrants -- to answer questions about religion.
Experts attribute the reluctance to fear of being discriminated by those who don’t understand Santeria. Growing up in a Cuban family, Manuel De La Torre, Ph.D., knows this firsthand. “I went to Catholic school during the day, but at night we worshipped the orishas,” he says
“Santeria is secretive for its own survival; it has been persecuted for centuries.” says De La Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the Ilift School of Theology in Denver and author of ‘Santeria: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America.’
He and others attribute lingering stigmas to news accounts that dwell on the use of mercury as a folk medicine in some areas and especially tales of animal sacrifice, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld as a religious freedom in 1993. “It’s not the major aspect of the faith, but it’s a part of it and that’s what gets the most attention,” says De La Torre.
“When you make a supplication to a deity, you offer them ashe (pronounced ah-SHAY),” explained De La Torre, who no longer practices Santeria, but acknowledges that it’s part of his culture and identity. “Ashe is the life force of everything. Ashe could be the fire that burns in a candle. It could be certain herbs. The most powerful ashe is blood.”
Joseph Murphy, Ph.D., a “casual practitioner” and professor of theology at Georgetown University, says that Santeria has many attractive aspects from its ability to heal to the power of the music. “I find the aesthetics of it very beautiful,” said Murphy, author of ‘Osun Across the Waters’ and ‘Santeria and African Religions in America.’
On the Pulse
Many people are also drawn to the aesthetics and historical aspects of Santeria and other Yoruba-based religions, but remain firmly rooted in their Christian beliefs. They honor their ancestors and heritage in small ways, such as pouring libations or repeating “ashe” at cultural gatherings. A number of them, Straker said, have been influenced by people like Iyanla Vanzant, the popular author, motivational speaker and Yoruba priestess.
Vega encourages people to study to learn more about Santeria. She is the author of ‘The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria’ and has also produced a documentary, ‘When the Spirits Dance Mambo.’ She will participate in a screening and lecture at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 10.
One benefit of Santeria is that it “allows our communities to see themselves as healed and not having to be healed,” Vega says. “You’re living the sacred all of the time. It’s not something you go to on Sunday. It’s something you are continuously.”
About the Author Yanick Rice Lamb, who teaches journalism at Howard University, is the co-author of ‘Born to Win: The Authorized Biography of Althea Gibson ‘(Wiley, 2004) and the forthcoming ‘Rise & Fly: Tall Tales and Mostly True Rules of Bid Whist’ (Crown, 2005).
http://bv.channel.aol.com/lifemain/...anvas/feature_article?id=20050428112709990001
By Yanick Rice Lamb, Special to AOL BlackVoices
When Africans were shipped to the new world, slave owners literally tried to beat their culture out of them to maximize control. Still, many slaves were able to preserve some of their traditions in creative ways, passing them down to their descendants through word of mouth.
Today, Yoruba-based religions like Santeria -- and its cousins Candomble, Palo Mayombe and Voudon -- are on the rise in the United States and throughout the Americas, according to scholars and practitioners.
In Santeria, which means “saints” in Spanish, Olodumare, the owner of Heaven, creation and all destinies, is akin to the Christian version of God. Under Olodumare are the Orishas, powerful spiritual beings representing the forces of nature. Humans use prayer, music, rituals and Ebo, offerings that can be as simple as herbs, to feed the Orishas, worship them and call upon them when in need. Also powerful are the Egun, or ancestral spirits, in whom family ties remain strong.
Africans who practiced Yoruba-based religions in what is now Nigeria or Benin led their captors in the Caribbean and South America to believe that they had successfully imposed Catholicism upon them. Since their Orishas had much in common with Catholic saints, they could openly appeal to Shango and not St. Barbara, both of whom were associated with lightning, thunder and fire, while secretly passing on the teachings of religions like Santeria.
The Origins of Santeria
“These traditions are global,” explains Marta Moreno Vega, a Santeria priestess who is founder and president of the Caribbean Cultural Center in New York. “Why would people fight to keep these traditions alive in spite of being penalized and having the possibility of being beaten or killed?”
Although Santeria is on the rise, it remains cloaked in secrecy, experts say, partly because of misconceptions and negative portrayals in news stories as well as on television and film.
“Sensational accounts portray Santeria as paganistic at best and satanic at worst,” explains Ian Straker, Ph.D., assistant professor and historian at the Howard University School of Divinity.
A disciple of Santeria holds a Catholic statue during a 1997 ceremony. Santeria was created by African slaves who used attributes of Catholicism to disguise the deities of their traditional faiths. They did so to fool their captors, who forbade them to practice their own religions.
Sonike Holly of Chicago is bothered by such images, whether in films like ‘Angel Heart,’ past TV episodes of the now-canceled dramatic series ‘New York Undercover’ and reports of wanna-be priests who prey on those in need. The single mother of two says she is happier and more at peace since she began practicing Santeria and Palo, a Bantu tradition, three years ago in addition to Catholicism. But some of her friends and co-workers have raised eyebrows.
No one knows exactly how many people in the United States practice Santeria, also known as Lukumi, which means “friend” in Yoruba. Estimates range from 22,000 based on the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) to a few million, which includes devoted followers, many of whom also practice Christianity like Holly; the casual believer who may seek out a santera or santeros (priestess or priest) from time to time; and members of the Oyotunji African Village in Sheldon, S.C.
ARIS researchers at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York acknowledge possible undercounting in their phone interviews, because of language barriers and the refusal of some people of color -- particularly African Americans and recent immigrants -- to answer questions about religion.
Experts attribute the reluctance to fear of being discriminated by those who don’t understand Santeria. Growing up in a Cuban family, Manuel De La Torre, Ph.D., knows this firsthand. “I went to Catholic school during the day, but at night we worshipped the orishas,” he says
“Santeria is secretive for its own survival; it has been persecuted for centuries.” says De La Torre, associate professor of social ethics at the Ilift School of Theology in Denver and author of ‘Santeria: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America.’
He and others attribute lingering stigmas to news accounts that dwell on the use of mercury as a folk medicine in some areas and especially tales of animal sacrifice, which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld as a religious freedom in 1993. “It’s not the major aspect of the faith, but it’s a part of it and that’s what gets the most attention,” says De La Torre.
“When you make a supplication to a deity, you offer them ashe (pronounced ah-SHAY),” explained De La Torre, who no longer practices Santeria, but acknowledges that it’s part of his culture and identity. “Ashe is the life force of everything. Ashe could be the fire that burns in a candle. It could be certain herbs. The most powerful ashe is blood.”
Joseph Murphy, Ph.D., a “casual practitioner” and professor of theology at Georgetown University, says that Santeria has many attractive aspects from its ability to heal to the power of the music. “I find the aesthetics of it very beautiful,” said Murphy, author of ‘Osun Across the Waters’ and ‘Santeria and African Religions in America.’
On the Pulse
Many people are also drawn to the aesthetics and historical aspects of Santeria and other Yoruba-based religions, but remain firmly rooted in their Christian beliefs. They honor their ancestors and heritage in small ways, such as pouring libations or repeating “ashe” at cultural gatherings. A number of them, Straker said, have been influenced by people like Iyanla Vanzant, the popular author, motivational speaker and Yoruba priestess.
Vega encourages people to study to learn more about Santeria. She is the author of ‘The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria’ and has also produced a documentary, ‘When the Spirits Dance Mambo.’ She will participate in a screening and lecture at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 10.
One benefit of Santeria is that it “allows our communities to see themselves as healed and not having to be healed,” Vega says. “You’re living the sacred all of the time. It’s not something you go to on Sunday. It’s something you are continuously.”
About the Author Yanick Rice Lamb, who teaches journalism at Howard University, is the co-author of ‘Born to Win: The Authorized Biography of Althea Gibson ‘(Wiley, 2004) and the forthcoming ‘Rise & Fly: Tall Tales and Mostly True Rules of Bid Whist’ (Crown, 2005).