Santería: Correcting the Myths and Uncovering the Realities of a Growing Religion Mary Ann Clark PRAEGER Santerı´a Santerı´a Correcting the Myths and Uncovering the Realities of a Growing Religion Mary Ann Clark LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Clark,MaryAnn. Santer´ıa:correctingthemythsanduncoveringtherealitiesofagrowingreligion/ MaryAnnClark. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–275–99079–4(alk.paper) 1.Santeria. I.Title. BL2532.S3C52 2007 299.6’74—dc22 2007000059 BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataisavailable. Copyright©2007byMaryAnnClark Allrightsreserved.Noportionofthisbookmaybe reproduced,byanyprocessortechnique,withoutthe expresswrittenconsentofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:2007000059 ISBN–10:0–275–99079–6 ISBN–13:978–0–275–99079–4 Firstpublishedin2007 PraegerPublishers,88PostRoadWest,Westport,CT06881 AnimprintofGreenwoodPublishingGroup,Inc. www.praeger.com PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Thepaperusedinthisbookcomplieswiththe PermanentPaperStandardissuedbytheNational InformationStandardsOrganization(Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CopyrightAcknowledgments Portionsoftheglossaryinthisvolumewereadaptedfrom:MaryAnnClark,WhereMenAre WivesandMothersRule:Santerı´aRitualPracticesandTheirGenderImplications(Gainesville: UniversityPressofFlorida,2005),pp.163–68.ReprintedwithpermissionoftheUniversity PressofFlorida. Contents Chapter1:Introduction 1 Chapter2:HistoryoftheTradition 15 Chapter3:Cosmology 31 Chapter4:TheOrishaandTheirMythology 45 Chapter5:Destiny,Divination,andSacrifice 67 Chapter6:Life,Death,andtheAfterlife 83 Chapter7:ReligiousRituals 97 Chapter8:InitiationRituals 117 Chapter9:TheReligiousFamily 131 Chapter10:OrishaReligionTodayandTomorrow 145 Glossary 159 Notes 165 Bibliography 173 Index 179 1 Introduction Manyyearsagomygodfathercalledme.Hehadjustdoneareadingforan AfricanAmericanwomanwhoknewpracticallynothingaboutthereligious traditioncommonlyknownasSanter´ıa.Althoughhewasverywellreadhim- self,hewantedtoknowifIcouldrecommendanybooksaboutthereligion suitableforhertoread.Webothknewthatalthoughthetraditionwasanoral oneinwhichnewcomerswereexpectedtolistenandlearn,Americansgener- allywantedtoreadaboutsubjectstheyhaddevelopedaninterestin.Aswe discussedthepossibilities,wedecided thattherewerenotverymanygood options.Manyfellintothe‘‘easyread’’categoryandcontainedmuchmisin- formationandfocusedtoomuchonthemostexoticelementsofthetradi- tion. Other scholarly works were well-researched but would put off some readers.AndthereweresomematerialsforSpanish-speakers,butoftenthere werenoEnglishversionsorthetranslationswerepoorlydone. Sincethattimetherehasbeenanexplosionof works aboutSanter´ıaand related traditions, most of it done by scholars who are also participants at some level in the traditions they are describing. Although these generally are quite well done, written to meet the rigorous demands of scholarly inquiry, they tend to focus on some important aspect of the tradition and oftendonotprovidetheintroductorymaterialnewcomersarelookingfor. Weremygodfathertocallmetodaywe’dstillhaveahardtimefindingsome- thingthatpresentsanaccurateandsympatheticintroductiontothisreligious traditionwhiledrawingonthecurrentscholarlyresearchbutisn’tfilledwith thejargonwescholarsaresofondofusing. 2 Santerı´a:Correcting theMythsand Uncovering theRealities of aGrowing Religion Santer´ıaisoneofthereligionsdevelopedbyAfricansandbroughttothe Americas.Itispartofareligioussystemgenericallycalled‘‘Orishaworship’’ that has spread from Africa to the Americas and around the world. There arevariantsofthesetraditionsthroughouttheAmericas,includingonmany islandsoftheCaribbeanandBrazil.AstheydevelopedinCuba,thesetradi- tionsarecommonlycalled Santer´ıa,butmayalso beknown as Lukumi(or Lucumı´),RegladeOcha,YorubaTraditionalReligion,orOrisha.Inthelate 1980sSandraBarnesestimatedthatmorethan70millionAfricanandAmeri- canpeopleparticipatedin,orwerefamiliarwith,thevariousformsofOrisha worship,includingtraditionalreligionsinWestAfrica,VoduninHaiti,Can- domble´ in Brazil, Shango religion in Trinidad, Santer´ıa in Cuba, and of coursevariantsofalloftheseintheUnitedStates.1Todaytherearepracti- tionersofthesetraditionsaroundtheworldincludingEuropeandAsia.Mary PatFisherestimatesthattherearecurrentlyabout100millionpractitioners intheU.S.andLatinAmericaalone.2 Orisha worship is based on the indigenous religious traditions of the Yoruba-speakingpeoplefromwhatisnowsouthwesternNigeriaandeastern Benin.ItwasbroughttotheAmericasbyenslavedpeoplesdestinedforthe Caribbean and South America. Santer´ıa was developed in Cuba in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries principally by the gente de color, thatisthefreepeopleofcolor,livinginHavanaandthesurroundingcities. Like many traditional religions Orisha worship is based on a cosmological systemthatrecognizesasinglegreatgod,knownasOlodumare,andmany subsidiarydeities.Thesesecondarydeities,knownastheOrisha,arethefocus ofritualattention,andevery portionofthereligionrevolvesaroundthem. Although in their original African context most people were henotheistic, worshippingonlyafewoftheinnumerableOrisha,asthereligiondeveloped inCubatheprimarypantheonnarrowedtoencompassabout20nameddei- tieswhoareknown and worshipped bymostpractitioners,as wellasmany othersthatarerarerandlesswell-known. ThereligionwasbroughttotheUnitedStatesintwoprincipalwaves.One was in the early 1960s after the Cuban Revolution, and a second with the Marielitos who escaped from the island in the 1980s during the so-called Marielboatlift.SincethenithasspreadtothelargerHispaniccommunity, totheAfricanAmericancommunity,andtoAmericaatlarge.Todaypracti- tionerscanbefoundineverystateintheunion,andcoursesonOrishaand relatedtraditionsaretaughtinmanycollegesanduniversities.Asthenumber ofpractitionershasgrown,sohaspublicawareness. Thisbookisintendedtobeabasicintroductiontothesetraditionsinthe United States. It is designed to be appropriate for seekers like the young womanmentionedabovesinceitassumesnopriorfamiliaritywiththereli- gionoritstraditions.BecauseofthesecretivenatureoftheOrishatraditions (therearefewpublicreligiouscentersandmosteventsarehome-basedand private), books such as this can provide an important servicebyanswering Introduction 3 basic questions about the tradition. It cannot, of course, take the place of interaction with knowledgeable members ofthese religious traditions. My hopeisthatthisbook willhelp seekerstolearnmoreaboutbasicelements of the religion including the Orisha, the place of divination and sacrifice, andtheworkingsofreligiouscongregations.However,thosewhowantto participateinoneofthesetraditionswillneedtoseekoutareligiouscommu- nityandaskforguidancefromaproperlyinitiatedandtrainedpriest. Those who have been invited to a religious event and need a quick eti- quetteguide,whattowear,whattobringandwhattoexpect,canturntoa list of do’s and don’ts for participation at the event in the Basic Etiquette forNewcomerssectionattheendofChapter7,‘‘ReligiousRituals.’’ WHAT’S IN A NAME? Although Santer´ıa is thepopular name for this religious tradition,many practitionersfindthatnameoffensiveandprefertouseotherterms,including RegladeOcha(orsimplyOcha),Lukumi(orLucumi),YorubaTraditional Religion,Ifa,orsimplyOrishareligion.Eachofthesetermsrepresentsacer- tain agenda and understanding of the tradition. The terminology used by OrishapractitionersisamixofYoruba(designatedasYr.),Spanish(Sp.),a creolizedversionofYorubaknownasLukumi(Lk.),English,andsomeKon- golese(Kg.)words.AlthoughcallingtheOrisha,thedeities,santosorholy beingsbeganquiteearlyinCuba,itappearsthattheterminologySanterı´a, alongwiththecorrespondingidentificationofthepriestsassanteroandsan- tera, was developed in the mid 1930s by the Afro-Cuban scholar Ro´mula Lachatan˜ere´ toreplacetheearlieruseofthetermsbrujerı´a(witchcraft)and brujo/a (witch) in the popular press.3 The terms santero and santera were existingSpanishwordsusedtorefertopeoplewhodedicatedtheirlivesto themaintenanceofcertainshrinesortothosewhomadetheirlivingcreating thestatuesofthesaintsthatweresopopularatthetime.Theproblemwith attemptingtoreplaceaderogatorytermwithamoreneutraloneisthatthe neutraltermoftenpicks uptheoffensivenatureoftheoriginalterm.Thus ithasbeenwithSanterı´a.Formanypractitioners,thenewtermisasinsulting astheoldtermwas. For practitioners who are Spanish-speaking or who are associated with Spanish-speakingreligiouscommunities,the‘‘official’’nameofthereligion isRegladeOcha.ThisisamixedYoruba-Spanishphrase.‘‘Regla’’or‘‘rule’’ is used throughout Cuba to refer to different religious organizations, not onlytheAfro-CubangroupsbutalsothedifferentCatholicreligiousorders. For example, the Central African traditions of Palo Monte and Palo Mayombe are known as Regla de Congo and the Franciscans as Regla de SanFrancisco(RuleofSaintFrancis).‘‘Ocha’’isacontractionoftheword ‘‘Orisha,’’sothatRegladeOchameanstheruleororderoftheOrisha.This