Santeria  ritual music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HLTzp3umlg

Santeria in Cuba interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xq3yxf0HvY

Film based on Santeria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aCNfPcfuy0

ART AND SYMBOLS OF SANTERIA

Santería is a religion combining traditional West African Yoruba beliefs with aspects of Iberian Catholicism. During the days of slavery in Cuba, slaves were prohibited from practicing their native religions. In order to maintain their faith, they secretly superimposed Catholic saints and personages on their own spiritual figures (called Orishas). Thus, it looked like they were praying to a saint or to the Virgin Mary, but they were also invoking one of their Orishas. In time, both belief systems merged. Not only was Santeria instrumental in slave liberation movements, but it also greatly influenced music, literature and other cultural manifestations throughout Latin America. Today, Santeria is practiced wherever its devotees migrate and is still comprised  of a complex mythology, a pantheon of hundreds of deities (orishas) and  a system of symbols, signs and ceremonies.  The exhibition on view in Toronto features more than 20 mixed media works whose content and aesthetic draw on the symbols, mythologies and practices of Santeria.

FAMOUS PEOPLE IN SANTERIA

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood movies, especially in the 1990s, including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro and Spy Kids. Banderas is also a voice artist, portraying the voice of Puss in Boots in the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots as well as the bee in the US Nasonex commercials. He is relacionated with Santeria. Because he lived in Cuba and practice that religion.

WORSHIP 

 Santeria includes the worship of the Orisha -- literally "head guardians," and religious beliefs of the Yoruba and Bantu people in Southern Nigeria, Senegal and Guinea Coast. These are combined with elements of Roman Catholicism. Arriving as slaves In the Caribbean, Santerians preserved the elements of their religion by equating each Orisha of their traditional religions with a corresponding Christian Saint. Many traditions within the religion recognize different equivalencies. One common example includes:

-Babalz Ayi became St. Lazarus (patron of the sick)
-Shangs became St. Barbara (controls thunder, lightning, fire...)
-Eleggua or Elegba became St. Anthony (controls roads, gates etc)
-Obatala became Our Lady of Las Mercedes, and the Resurrected Christ (father of creation; -source of spirituality)
-Oggzn became St. Peter (patron of war)
-Oshzn became Our Lady of Charity (controls money, sensuality...)

 PRAYERS

 Many Santerian beliefs are not freely discussed outside of the faith. In addition there are many religious leaders whose beliefs and practices differ significantly. The following is a general outline of what is known:

-Deities: God is referred to as Olorun, or Olódùmarè, the "owner of heaven". He is the supreme deity, the creator of the universe, and of the lesser guardians, called Orisha. Each of the latter has an associated Christian Saint, a principle, important number, color, food, dance posture and emblem. The Orishas need food in the form of animal sacrifice, and prepared dishes, as well as human praise in order to remain effective.
-Ritual Sacrifices: These form an integral part of many Santerian religious rituals. The animal's blood is collected and offered to the Orisha. Chickens are the most common animal used. Their sacrifice is believed to please the Saints, and to bring good luck, purification and forgiveness of sins.
-Possession: Rhythmic sounds and feverish dancing during Santerian rituals are believed to lead to possession of the individual by the particular Orisha being invoked. The individual then speaks and acts as the Orisha.
-Veneration of Ancestors: Ones ancestors, called Ara Orun (People of Heaven) are referred to for moral guidance and example. Their names are recited at family ceremonies.

 

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

Santeria was practiced by the former black slaves and their descendants in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia and places with large Hispanic population in the United States of America (Florida, New York).
Today the religion has also presence in Spain, especially in the Canary Islands for his close relationship with Cuba, Mexico, Netherlands, Germany, England, France, and other countries where there are significant numbers of Cuban immigrants.

ORIGENS

Santería, also known as Regla de Ocha, La Regla Lucumí or Lukumi, is a syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin influenced by Roman Catholic Christianity. Its liturgical language, a dialect of Yoruba, is also known as Lucumí.
Santería is a system of beliefs that merges the Yoruba religion (which was brought to the New World by enslaved West Africans sent to the Caribbean to work on sugar plantations) with Roman Catholic and Native American traditions. These Africans carried with them various religious customs, including a trance for communicating with their ancestors and deities, animal sacrifice and sacred drumming and dance.

DEVELOPMENT


It has grown beyond its Yoruba and Catholic origins to become a religion in its own right, and a powerful symbol of the religious creativity of Afro-Cuban culture.
The centre of the religion is Cuba, but it has spread to the USA and other nearby countries, particularly after the Cuban revolution in 1959.
For a long time Santeria was a secretive underground religion, but it's becoming increasingly visible in the Americas.
Revolutionary Cuba clamped-down on Santeria at first, but over the last 15 years or so the government tolerated it more and more and now allows it to flourish. Cynics say that this is because Santeria brings considerable hard currency to the island.

It's difficult to know how many people follow Santeria, as there's no central organisation, and the religion is often practised in private. Some estimates go as high as a hundred million Santeria believers worldwide.