An Analysis of Embodiment of the Santeria Practice
Mason, in the article, emphasize on the embodiment and fluctuations of what the central character Jose a Santeria also known as Regla de Ocha, was expose too when trying to balance the perception of how people viewed him in society by negotiating his religious practices. When looking more into Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert’s view, they elaborate more on the embodiment of the enslaved West Africans migrating to Cuba during the slave trade; taking them from their mainland of existence to a new place where they need to adjust to a new lifestyle and religion. Also, they have to negotiate their identity and religious practice to be then able to intertwine their original religious practice Santeria
…show more content…
The embodiments of the Regla de Ocha, Santerian religion, is rooted in West African previous religious practice of their deities. Africans were forced to move to a new place, where to expose to a new language and new religious faith. They were able to have some ideas of how to continue to serve and maintain their religious practice. “Thus, the deities of the Cuban Creole world resulted from the “crossing” and mixing with those of others region of African and the Catholic saints; individuals choose or are chosen to receive initiation into one or several traditions” (Olmos and Paravisini-Gebert 33). Through being forced to adapt to the Cuban Catholics ways, they were able to interlink their religious practice within the Catholics ways of worshiping different saints. Meanwhile, they were then able to be accepted in society while maintaining their natural belief. The adoption of the transculturation allows the African to balance both their religious practice and …show more content…
These illustrate the embodiment of the challenges one has to encounter when associated with the practice of Santeria. Santerians lack the freedom of complete self-expression, and they have to deal with the secrecy of their rituals, values, and beliefs to be acknowledged in colonial society. Their real identity is suffering and can only be grasped by those who share similar religious values. This lack of complete self-expression touches my heart because I am proud to express my values, my belief without restrictions. It is indeed disturbing to see Santerians have to embody this types of challenges in their lives. One should be proud and feel free to express their belief without restrictions. The book and the article indicate, that even though they face challenges as practitioners of Santeria they are devoted and are willing to balance their life while separating their social life and their religious
The Yoruba people, who were brought over from Nigeria as slaves, came to the Caribbean in the 1500’s with their own religion, which was seen as unfit by the white slave owners. Most plantation owners in the Caribbean were members of the Roman Catholic Church, so they forced their slaves to disregard their native religions and become Catholic. Soon, the slaves realized that they could still practice their West African religion as long as it was disguised as Catholicism, and Santería was born. Now it’s practiced in the United States, Cuba, the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Great Britain, Canada, Venezuela, and Panama.
One of the most interesting aspects of Diaz’s narrative is towards the end when Cortés broaches the subject of Christianity with Montezuma. Conversion and missionary work was one of the most important and lasting goals of the conquistadors and other contemporary explorers, they were charged with this duty by the rulers who sent t...
Cuba has long since been considered as an island-nation without any necessary affiliation with the Catholic Church. In fact, prior to the 1960s, Cuba was considered the most "secularized" country within Latin America, with only a mere six percent of the population attending church on a regular basis. Instead, the practice of the African based voodoo religion of Santería has prevailed. Experts estimate that 70 percent of the Cuban population practices Santería. This religion was brought to Cuba by African slaves and combined the virtues of Christianity and with their native African beliefs. It is associated with Catholicism because Afro-Cuban deities have been associated with Catholic saints since colonial Cuba. The Afro-Cubans did this in order to evade religious persecution by the Spaniards who considered a...
When one first hears the word Vodou, immediately images of curses and little model dolls come to mind. We tend to synonymize it with words like sinister, evil and revenge. However, Vodou is nothing like what mainstream North American media has brainwashed people into believing. As best put by Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, “Vodou is far more than [a religion] it's a spiritual system” (Tippet and Bellegarde-Smith 145). Haitian Vodou is a spiritual system that syncretizes the practices of Roman Catholicism with West African spirituality. This paper will contextualize Vodou and give a brief history on what it is, explain how I came to gain an interest in Vodou and close off with an introduction to Chouk Bwa Libète a traditional Haitian Mizik Rasin—roots
of conversion will function as a tropological hinge between the unsettled (the ontological underdeterminacy of La Mancha) and the unsettling (its hauntology). Sheeps shall become bandits and giants will turn into windmills (or was it the other way around?) for the sake of offering a metaphorical displacement of the shortcomings of the State’s ontological plan. It is in this sense that as Henry Kamen observes, in Don Quixote I-II Cervantes presents us with “una perspectiva de una sociedad en que las cosas no parecen ser lo que son” (2005). Consequently, in this part of the essay my analysis of Cervantes’s magical rhetoric I will not be focusing on the State-enforced divine performatives (at the end the day, they have shown to be infelicitous).
Santería is a newly recognized religion within the United States. Many Americans who practice more traditional religions, such as Catholicism, and Judaism, find the practice of Santeria very odd and quite obscure. The preponderance of our society feels that the practice of animal sacrifice, prevalent in Santeria, is immoral and possibly offensive. One reason for this reaction could be that there is a major lack of understanding of this religion in our society.
“Religion is a set of rituals, rationalized by myth, which mobilizes supernatural powers for the purpose of achieving or preventing transformations of state in man and nature” (107). When the Europeans colonized Haiti, they brought over African slaves with them. These slaves had already established African religious practices, prior to being brought to Haiti. As the French got acquainted with Haiti, they were also forcing Roman Catholic traditions upon the slaves. As a result, there was the birth of the religion Haitian Vodou. These enslaved Africans were not allowed to practice Haitian Vodou openly because it offended those that practiced Catholicism, the French wanted full control over the slaves in every aspect, and anyone outside of
Santeria, Voodoo, the Cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and Rastafari all embody syncretism of Christian influence and traditional Indigenous beliefs of their followers. While the religions all express their syncretism in various manners, all regularly conduct rituals that deviate from traditional Christianity. These rituals exemplify the influence of the native cultures on these religions, and maintain the importance of tradition culture with the necessity of practicing Christianity during colonial times of religious oppression. Likewise, all of these religions frame their concept of what a “religion” is through their various unique rituals that serve to connect them to their native deities, as well as to the Christian God and Saints.
Not only were the slaves' bodies brought over. Their souls, culture, and religion were brought to the Americas as well. In the early years, when the slaves had just begun arriving, there was a great deal of pressure placed on them, by the European plantation owners and missionaries, to convert to Catholicism. Despite these attempts by the plantation owners, Santería was still openly practiced, and the number of practitioners was increasing. Since in performing openly their religion many harsh beatings and punishments were administered, the religious followers tended to incorporate many Catholic elements into their religion. One factor that helped to make the two religions look similar to the plantation owners was that many of the orishas, the primary gods, shared many of the same physical characteristics that the Catholic saints possessed. This made the slaves appear to be practicing Catholicism although they were practicing their native, African religions.
The article by Villa-Flores provides insight of slavery in New Spain, telling the different kinds of abuse faced by the Spaniards and how slaves tried to earn freedom. Many slaves who were Christian saw the act of renouncing God and their Christian faith was the only way to seek a chance for freedom. Slaves often faced physical, emotional and verbal abuse of their masters. The author of the article is Javier Villa-Flores who compiled the article based on different resources to visibly define blasphemy and slavery in New Spain. He had received a doctorate in Latin American history at the University of California and San Diego. His work focuses on the problems of religion, colonialism, performance studies and social history of language in colonial
In Santeria, Yorubas then continue to worship and honor the Orishas and to practice their strong religious beliefs. The Yoruba rituals are modified and made similar to that of the Catholic religion. As aforementioned , when the Africans where brought to Cuba and the other New Lands they saw themselves forced to disguise theri ancestral religion and to embrace the church of theri captors. This created a complex religious mixture of beliefs. Because of its roots in Africa the worship of the saints has been a misunderstood religion, sometimes reffered to as unciviliazed and almost always viewed as a dark religion or a devil worshipping religion.
Finally, when it came down to the types of ceremonies and views both civilizations had, they were on two different pages. The Natives believed happiness was the key to good fortune. So, in order to get that fortune, they’d do sacrifices, and rituals to please the “mighty ones”. Then, as stated in the book “A History of Latin America”, it says, “Jews publicly converted to Christianity to avoid the torture…”, In which, this showed how religion and the spiritual views were forced upon people in the Spanish civilization.
Participants in Santeria, as in any faith, can be involved to a greater or lesser degree in the practice of their religion. However, serious believers who want to gain the benefits of divine revelation and protection must be willing to listen to and obey the will of the orishas. Through ritual purification and communion with fellow believers and orishas, santeros can taste what Murphy calls “the heart of religion…a harmony of the human and the divine in dance and joy.”
The first Catholic priests came to South America with the conquistadors and through social and political force superimposed 16th century Catholicism upon conquered peoples and in subsequent generations upon slaves arriving in the New World. Catholicism has, likewise, frequently absorbed, rather than confronted, popular folk religious beliefs. The resulting religion is often overtly Catholic but covertly pagan. Behind the Catholic facade, the foundations and building structure reflect varying folk religious traditions. (2)
Winzeler R. L. 2012. Anthropology and religion what we know, think, and question. Rowman Littlefield Publsihers, AltaMira