The Santeria Religion

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Santeria is a syncretic religion that developed out of the slave trade in Cuba (). Santeria is considered an Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Cuban, and Afro-Latino religion (). Its roots come from the Yoruba people in West Africa (). The religion has influences from Catholicism such as the idea of saints; Santeria means ‘way of the saints’ (). In the African aspect of Santeria the word Saint does not exist (). Instead they have deities called Orishas; ‘Ori’ meaning the unconscious mind and ‘Sha’ meaning protector or guide (). The main focus of the Santeria religion is to build relationships between human beings and the powerful yet mortal Orishas (). Orishas are the manifestation of God (). Followers believe that the spirits will give them help in life …show more content…
It has faced stigma, judgement, and negativity from those outside of the religion. The religion was “once dismissed as a ghetto religion practiced only by the Caribbean poor and uneducated”, but Santeria has followings from the middle-class and include White, Black, and Asian Americans (). Although, for Puerto Ricans who moved to the United States, the religious-cultural practices are a way of coping with discrimination based on racial, class and national origins (). The religion is very diverse and accepts people from all different walks of life (). Santeria is often practice along with other religions; it does not require you to drop one belief for the other (). There is often a misconception that Afro-Cubans combined Catholicism and Santeria into one single religion, but the truth is that Santeria is that the two religions continue parallel to on another; in the minds of the Afro-Cuban people, there is no contradiction (). Outsiders sometimes call Santeria a "primitive" or "esoteric" religion (). This is inaccurate because “the Yoruba people, who are the ancestors of the Lucumí religion, had a highly civilized kingdom in Africa with a rich culture. They were great philosophers with a profound sense of ethics, which carried over into the Regla de Ocha” (). Santeria is not an uncivilized religion and should not be classified as one. The judgements that people make tend to stem from their “own prejudices and [their] cultural filters” (). The rituals that involve animal sacrifice and the trance like state that those who have been possessed by an Orisha cause for critical reactions from those who are not believers
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