SANTERIA: AN EXAMINATION OF A RELIGION AND ITS PRACTICES
This research examines the Santeria religion and its practices. Throughout this examination, both similarities and differences between (1) Santeria as the religion is practiced in Cuba (where it developed) and (2) Santeria as the religion is practiced in Puerto Rico (one of the many other Latin American populations in which the religion became rooted) are identified and reviewed.
The origins of Santeria may be traced to the Yoruba people who are native to Nigeria (JAcobs, 1990, pp. 349-370). The Yoruba practiced a mythological, animist religion which made its way to the Western Hemisphere through the slave trade. The first population of Yoruba slaves in the Western Hemisphere was established in Cuba. In Cuba, the Yoruba religion was given the name Lucumi (Martinez, 1982, pp. 32-38).
The Yoruban deities were known as orishas, and were considered to be extraordinarily human in their behavior (Bascom, 1969, p. 29). The Yoruba religion is characterized by a multitude of deities upwards of 600. As the Santeria religion has developed in Cuba and among other Latin American populations, the number of deities has varied between 20 and 25 (Gleason, 1993, pp. 113-121). When the Yoruba were transplanted to Cuba, they borrowed freely from the customs and religious practices of the peoples of Cuba (Fleming, 1993, pp. 32-34). In Cuba, thus, the Yoruba slaves borrowed from both the Native Indian populations on the island and their Spanish conquerors. As Santeria spread from Cuba to other Latin American populations, the religion and its practices began to vary from the Cuban version of Santeria as customs and religious practices of the new populations were incorporated into the religion (Murphy, 1988, p. 54).
In both Cuba and Puerto Rico, the Yoruba slaves were influenced by the Roman Catholic religious beliefs and practices of the Spanish occupiers and conquerors (Gonz...