Santeria - African Spirits in America - Research Paper Example

Santeria: African Spirits in America: A Review Introduction The experience of discovering the way in which another culture approaches life is often centered upon its spiritual beliefs. In discovering the way in which Santeria becomes the core of the life of the Yoruba people, the nature of social interactions and cultural belief systems can help to understand the nature of Santeria worship in the United States. In researching the Yoruba people and their spiritual beliefs under Santeria, the book Santeria: African Spirits in America by Joseph Murphy allows for an exploration of the origins of Santeria which then creates a background for how the beliefs manifest in the United States. Through researching relevant literature to enhance topics within the framework of the subject, an exploration of the topic of the beliefs of Santeria creates a deeper understanding of the spiritual communities that celebrate the traditions of the religion. Background Santeria has been embraced through the Afro-Caribbean cultures that emerged due to migration of West African communities through slavery. The religion is practiced in North America, but has a large following in Cuba, Brazil, Haitii, and in West Africa (Brown 115). Among the multi-cultures in the United States, has provided a diverse place in which the practice and belief in Santeria has had a chance to flourish. Practicing communities can be found in Miami, New York, and in Havana Cuba. Urban cities in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti also have large size communities who share in the beliefs. There is an estimated 100 million people in the Americas that practice the worship of Santeria (De La Torre xiv). While the belief systems from West Africa have a very specific nature, the Santeria in the Americas has been changed to embrace a conglomeration of religions which are founded in Haitian Voodoo, Obeah, Brazilian Candomble, with high influences from the Catholic Church. When African slaves escaped their bondage from Brazil and reached Cuba, they were given the ability to marry, have property and to live in such a way to be trained and conduct free, contributing lives to society. The only stipulation was that they become baptized into the Roman Catholic religion (Murphy 28). The relationship that was formed between the religious beliefs of the West African form of spiritual life and the tenets of Catholicism formed the beginnings of the way in which it the beliefs are currently practiced, similar reformations creating the many influences that have combined to form the current forms of Santeria practice. Because of this mixture of religions from which the practices in the Americas were created, there is no individual who can be named for being the founder of the religion. The beliefs of Americanized Santeria still hold the worship of the orisha. The orisha are associated with the saints of the Catholic religion. Each of the saints is represented as an orisha with a principle, a color, a number, a food, a dance posture, and an emblem. The orisha are honored through sacrifice, often a ritualized taking of the life of an animal. The blood is used as an offering to the orisha to please the saints in order to bring good luck, purification and the forgiveness of sins. Other aspects of evoking spirits and creating possession by ancestors are accomplished through rhythmic dances that are freely expressed through fervent dances (De La Torre 126). Findings Santeria is a cultural religion that began in Africa among the Yoruba people who lived in the region now considered Nigeria. Among the many developments of the Yoruba people was the development of a complex understanding of their spiritual life that reached into a subtle envelopment of their way of life. God was called ‘Olodumare’ and was considered the “owner of all destinies”. He was also considered the ‘almighty’ and ‘the ground of life’ (7). The power that is the force of Olodumare has a name that identifies its association within the culture. Ashe is an incarnate life force that is the ‘blood of cosmic life’ which is the power through which Olodumare imbues life, strength and righteousness (Murphy 8). Ancestors have an important place in the culture of the Yoruba. The ancestors are called the ara orun which means ‘people of heaven’. The concept of the ara orun is a symbolized presence among the living through which the past can inform the present. Each year the Yoruba celebrate the return of their ancestors through a yam harvest called the Egungun which includes masked dancers and fantastical costumes in a celebration in the streets of the region in which Santeria is celebrated. The concept of the Egungun is that they will expose the bad within the villages, bringing to light dark intentions within the village. This does not happen within a single celebration, but throughout a week long period in which two or three of the masked dancers will appear so that people can send pleas to their ancestors through the masked conduits in order to gain favor or to settle issues. One of the problems that are often addressed is that of fertility as women will ask the representatives to ask heaven to send them children (Murphy 9). This type of belief that the ancestors can assist in the daily lives of the living can be seen in many religions and specifically many of the religions that come out of Africa. They are often referred to as the ‘living dead’ and have a vital part of daily life, their influence sometimes higher once they have passed from life than in life (Saayman 171). In different examples of the same type of worship, the Nyakyusa worship and sacrifice in a banana grove because it is their main source of sustenance. Therefore, the banana is a symbol of growth and fertility of the ancestors when they are beseeched to grant fertility to the village. For the Bantu and the Zulu, the cow represents fertility as both women and cows give birth in the tenth month. Therefore, the ancestors are said to either reside in cows, or in the place where cows sleep (Sundermeier 132). The connection between the ancestors and fertility is a strong part of many of the cultures and religions of Africa, and the Yoruba believed in this connection as a way of defining their future through the traditions of their past. The spiritual force that binds the being is a force that is called ‘Ori’, which is ‘the head’. The many characteristics through which a person finds their destiny are through ‘iwa’, which is a name for religious devotion. The ‘iwa’ and the ‘ori’ are in concert from which the person is identified, their spiritual beliefs interlaced with their identity in such a way that that they are is as much a result of the spirit world as it is of individual achievement. Within the belief system, the ‘ori’ kneels before Olodumare and chooses the destiny they would like to live and that destiny is personified by the ‘iwa’ (Murphy 10). The spiritual leaders of Yoruba worship are priest and priestesses who personify deities called the orisha. All of the important activities within the human experience, as many as 1700, are represented by ‘orishas which provide an underlying power. However, only a few priests and priestesses will lead at any one time, thus emphasizing the power that they personify for the orisha (Murphy 12). In American worship of orisha, there are sixteen main forms of the orisha that are worshipped. In both the origins of Santeria and the Americanized version, the stories of the orisha are not collected anywhere in a bound volume of stories, but are important parts of an oral tradition of storytelling with the intent of passing the beliefs from one generation to the next. The importance and connections that are made to the stories will help a practitioner form their own faith through which aspects provide the best framework for the life they are living (Clark 45). Conclusions Santeria is a religion that is designed for rich and heavily spiritualized interactions between practitioners and the supernatural through prayer and ritual performance. The orisha are considered to be available and for the aide of those who seek their guidance, giving to the believer material and spiritual gifts to enrich their lives. The design of the religion comes from a development of beliefs as cultures influenced each other so that the current practice of Santeria is an amalgamation of various systems that came together through force or convenience to create a larger scheme of influence upon believers. The Catholic religion, as it has been interpreted through Santeria, involves a heavy belief in the saints and the influence that they have upon the lives of those who believe. While still reflecting the aesthetics of ritual practiced by the origins of the beliefs system as brought from Africa, the religion has evolved to embrace the similarities that different cultures in which practitioners were immersed could be reinterpreted. Santeria represents a rich heritage of belief systems that have evolved to embrace a wide variety of cultures. While the way in which the original beliefs came to the new world were through oppression and shameful behaviors of the ancestors of European settlers in the Americas, the culture that has emerged represents a rich and diverse spiritual community that has evolved into a belief system that is both exotic and conforming to the existing religions. Santeria is a study in cultural melding, the way in which one culture will influence another so that something new is infused with the spiritual awakenings of the ancient. Works Cited Brown, David H. Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion. Chicago, Ill: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2003. Print. Clark, Mary Ann. Santeria: correcting the myths and uncovering the realities of a growing religion. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers, 2007. Print De La Torre, M. A. Santeria: The Beliefs and Rituals of a Growing Religion in America. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2004. Print. Murphy, Joseph M. Santería: African spirits in America : with a new preface. Boston: Beacon Press, 1993. Print. Saayman, Willem. Embracing the baobab tree the African proverb in the 21st century ; proceedings of an Interdisciplinary Symposium on the African Proverb in the 21st Century ; University of South Africa, Pretoria, 2 - 7 October 1996. Pretoria: Unisa Press, 1997. Print. Sundermeier, Theo. The individual and community in African traditional religions. Hamburg: Lit., 1998. Print. Read More