History of Santeria/Carribean Faiths

[Guest guest]

Did you know that Cromwell too women and children as slaves and sold them

into the islands and from their mixture of Celtic culture with African there

evolved Santaturia? now why don't we talk about the magic that comes from

integration rather than merely the suffering?

I think you have this mixed up with some history that ummmmm is not accurate.

My spouse was raised on Santeria (correct spelling) and was indoctrinated as a

Santeria and Palo priest. These are the Caribbean religions, hun. This

occurred when the blacks were taken from Africa and brought through the islands

where they mixed with the natives from those islands. The ROOT RELIGION of

Santeria is the Yoruba faith which is based on 7 main archetypes called the

'Orisha's'....Ellegua, Obatala, Oshun, Oya, Chango, Ogun, Yemaya who intercede

with the creator on man's behalf. This came from Africa and was 'hidden'

behind Catholicism for years until just in the last 100 years in America have

these different faiths started to 'come out' from hiding and be who they are,

worship what they wish and so on. This had nothing to do with the Celts so

whoever sold you that bill of goods was wrong. My partner is Puerto Rican and

his entire family is a mix of these cultures with a long tradition and history

of these particular faiths <G>. Amazing how these stories crop up.

Renee

[Guest guest]

Sorry for the misspelling, but boy, I'm certain I heard that the Irish were

brought in too. I know I can track this down. I was surprised to hear it but

do know that taking slaves by the Kels and the Brits was pretty common.

 

That was, afterall, how St. Patrick came to Ireland. I'm thinking I got the

reference from Caroline Casey on one of her tapes...if you don't get them they

are worth the time and money free radio program on the web on Thursdays

www.spiritualintrigue.com

 

She is a practitioner of Santeria (mia culpa mia culpa grins)

 

c

 

-

LaRAZZZA (AT) aol (DOT) com

gjlist

Wednesday, July 17, 2002 10:18 PM

[GJ] History of Santeria/Carribean Faiths

In a message dated 7/17/02 7:45:58 PM Pacific Daylight Time, c.a.novak (AT) worldnet (DOT) att.net writes:

Did you know that Cromwell too women and children as slaves and sold them into

the islands and from their mixture of Celtic culture with African there evolved

Santaturia? now why don't we talk about the magic that comes from integration

rather than merely the suffering? I think you have this mixed up with some

history that ummmmm is not accurate. My spouse was raised on Santeria (correct

spelling) and was indoctrinated as a Santeria and Palo priest. These are the

Caribbean religions, hun. This occurred when the blacks were taken from Africa

and brought through the islands where they mixed with the natives from those

islands. The ROOT RELIGION of Santeria is the Yoruba faith which is based on 7

main archetypes called the 'Orisha's'....Ellegua, Obatala, Oshun, Oya, Chango,

Ogun, Yemaya who intercede with the creator on man's behalf. This came from

Africa and was 'hidden' behind Catholicism for years until just in the last 100

years in America have these different faiths started to 'come out' from hiding

and be who they are, worship what they wish and so on. This had nothing to do

with the Celts so whoever sold you that bill of goods was wrong. My partner is

Puerto Rican and his entire family is a mix of these cultures with a long

tradition and history of these particular faiths <G>. Amazing how these

stories crop up. Renee Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya; Hare Krishna; Om Tat SatTo

, send an email to:

gjlist-http://www.goravani.comYour use of

is subject to the

[Guest guest]

She is a practitioner of Santeria (mia culpa mia culpa grins)

And how did she become initiated into the faith? It takes years before a priest

even considers a person (especially white) worthy to indoctrinate in the

islands. My spouse has been all over the islands on and off in his life and

called his aunts in Puerto Rico last night. NO one has ever heard of the Celts

mixing with the Santeria (one of many many Carribbean faiths) faiths unless

mixed islanders of African descent (where Santeria came from) were snatched

after practicing Santeria their whole lives and sent to Ireland to practice

there. However, your reference was this:

Did you know that Cromwell too women and children as slaves and sold them into

the islands and from their mixture of Celtic culture with African there evolved

Santaturia?

Giving credit SOLELY to the Celtic culture when it solidly came from Africa

first. Sounds like white myth is robbing the black culture of their roots.

Did you know that Yoruba (the original root faith) is one of the oldest

documented religions in the world...if not the oldest? It is at least 8000

years old in documented history. I don't see anything on that front page of

the link you sent me relating to this article and for a white person to be

accepted by a Santeria community and initiated is very very rare especially in

America where they are more likely to take your money and really teach you the

'bare minimum' with the contempt that they have for our culture here. Does she

practice animal sacrifice <GRIN>? Does she know who her Orisha parents are?

These are basic practices of santeria or any of the many Carribbean faiths.

Even 'outsiders' who marry in are initiated later on in the relationship and

their spiritual guardians or parents are discerned by the head priests (as in

the case of myself and my children). The only parallel I can see with the

Catholic saints is this....when the people of the Yoruba faith came in slave

ships, they were forced to worship Catholicism and of the many 'saints' the

Catholic's believed in and prayed to, a few stuck out that were similar in

nature to their own Orisha's. The African's then 'hid' their own Gods behind

these saints to seemingly and innocently still pray to their Orisha's but

without attracting attention of their Spanish captors. Each Orisha has a

corresponding saint or 'had' a corresponding saint. Now that the faith has

'come out'...there are activists of the pure and original faith that are trying

to separate out the Catholic practices from the Yoruba practices. Here is an

article on the history and then links further down:

History of Santeria

With the slave trade coming to the new world also came the orishas. The slaves

brought with them their gods, customs, music,language and other traditions.

These slaves were primarily concentrated in the Caribbean and in south

America.The slaves were mostly from western Africa in what today we call

Nigeria, and from a tribe called Yoruba. The Yoruba were named Lucumi in Cuba

and Macumba in Brazil. Being slaves the Yoruba people were expected to adopt

the customs and traditions of their Spanish masters. This involved not only the

Spanish language but also Catholicism. This presented a problem to the Yoruba

people who insisted on holding on to their traditions. It was this need to hold

on to their traditions which became known as what we today call santeria. Being

forced to convert to Catholicism forced the the Yoruba to worship catholic

saints and a catholic God. It did not take long for the Yoruba to see the

similarities between their orishas and the catholic saints. Soon the various

orishas were assigned catholic saints to represent them. In this manner when

their Spanish masters saw them worshipping say St. Barbara they were secretly

worshipping Chango,the god of thunder. Also the mixture of the Spanish and

Yoruba languages is why today santeria is intermixed with both Spanish and

African terminology. The language today has been corrupted in such a way as to

not being actually either language and would not be identified as Yoruba in

Africa. This need to disguise their orishas in the catholic faith is the

primary reason why today santeria is ripe with images of catholic saints. When

a santero is seen praying to an image of St. Anthony he is actually praying to

the orisha which the image of St. Anthony embodies, that being Eleggua or the

lord of the crossroads. The Yoruban pantheon is a complex system of the orishas

and God. Each orisha, aside from their personal attributes, has their own legend

into how they came to be. These legends are called Pataki. The stories serve to

make the orisha more human to his followers and also serves to explain why each

orisha is assigned the attributes that they are. These Pataki are a beautiful

illustration into the culture of the Yoruba people and are rich in symbolism.

The patakis tell of how the earth was created,how man came to be and of course

how the orishas came into being as well. While there are many orishas 7 have

gained the most worship and popularity. These are sometimes refereed to as the

7 African powers or Siete Potencias. It is generally one of these orishas that

one receives when one makes the saint or becomes a priest in the religion,a

santero.

[me]

This was taken from:

Santeria Article

Santeria - Palo and Lukumi Organization of America

the peak (8/9/1998) features: World Religions: a Santeria Primer

OrishaNet

Santeria developed from mixing African and Cuban religious practices and not

from mixing with the 'Celt's'.

Renee

[Guest guest]

One of the things I love about these lists is the richness of information and

the great gift of learning.

Thanks again

c

 

No problem. I love history and because so many minority (if you want to call it

that for lack of a better word) faiths have been maligned and history has been

'changed' by the White Races such as the Celtic faith/beliefs itself no

less....we should all actively honor all faiths with the correct information.

I don't dispute that the Celt's were slaves on the islands too however that

historical fact has been swallowed up with time and should also be uncovered

and discussed so that people can be educated. The British and the Spanish (and

America later on) have done SO much in destroying beautiful cultures and

religions. It really is a crime. Look at how maligned Islam has been

portrayed over the years as if all these faiths are somehow evil and

heretical...like grow up!

Renee

[Guest guest]

Boy was I wrong!

 

Thanks Renee. BTW she was taken in by elders for study and unless I am wrong

again it has been for many years. I may have taken more literally a comment

that was more temporal.

 

anyway, I apologize for my ignorance and speaking and will read the references

 

One of the things I love about these lists is the richness of information and

the great gift of learning.

 

Thanks again

 

c