THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR BELIEFS, DOCTRINES AND RELIGIONS
4. YORUBA RELIGION OR SANTERÍA
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Estimated year of creation: 1800.
Supreme Deity of Santeria: Olofi, who is also called Olodumare and Olorun.
Headquarters / Capital in the world: Africa and Cuba.
Number of faithful around the world: 5.3 million.
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Main symbol of Santeria: In Santeria a specific symbol is not identified, however, people who practice Santeria usually always have a yellow bracelet with green or brown with green, eleke (this is placed on the santeros in a ceremony ).
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The people who are in Santeria who are in one of the most important ceremonies of the religion last a whole year dressed completely in white . In the house of the people who practice this religion, they keep stones, colored vessels with shells , maracas or other objects in their houses that are given to the santeros in the ceremonies.
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Reference: https://www.euston96.com/santeria/
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Main books of Santeria: Ifá.
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Main deities of Santeria:
Obatalá , represented by the Catholic saint of the Virgen de las Mercedes, is the father of the Orishas, the patron of peace and purity.
Orunla , also known as Ifá and Orúnmila, is the patron of the priests (babalawos) and the main diviner of the Yoruba pantheon. It is represented by the Catholic saint of San Francisco de Asís.
Yemayá , the patron saint of the seas and motherhood for being the first mother of humanity, is the mother of fourteen of the most important orishas, including Chango. It is usually represented by the Virgin of Regla.
Ochún , Yemayá's younger sister and the prodigal owner of love, marriage, gold, and rivers, is Chango's favorite concubine. She is represented as the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba.
Oyá , the queen of the dead, owner of the flame (fire) and patron saint of the cemetery, is one of Chango's darling favorites and this daughter of Yemayá is usually represented by Santa Teresa and the Virgen de la Candelaria. It is known in Puerto Rico as the land of Oyá.
Chango , the divinity of virility, the patron of fire, lightning and thunder, provides victory over enemies and all difficulties. This son of Yemayá is represented with the image of Santa Bárbara. He committed incest with his mother and had three other women including Ochún and Oyá.
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Four deities form the group identified as the Warriors. They are Elewá (Elegua, Eleguá or Elegguá), Ogún, Ochosi and Ozún .
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Basic principles of Santeria: All Yoruba belief centers on the God of the universe who is given the name of Olodumare to which the Ashe (All new energies and blessings) is attributed, which is presented by extensions of light that descend to the land. At the same time there are different Orishas or saints to which different particularities are attributed such as: Healing diseases, giving the blessing of motherhood among others.
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Within Santeria there are different hierarchical ranks: The first are the Babalawos who are the priests and prophets within Santeria, the babalorishas and iyalorisas which are direct godchildren of the priests and lastly the aleyos who have belief in said religion but they have no consecration.
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Reference: https://www.euston96.com/santeria/
Short description of Santeria.
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Yoruba religion, popularly known as " Santeria " is a term that in this space of diffusion refers to the inheritance of brave religious enslaved and stripped of their roots in Africa , and who, adapting to the exile that they lived several centuries ago in America , left us as religious culture and standard of life. It is considered an Afro-Caribbean sect that combines animist and pantheistic aspects with ancestor worship and Cuban Catholicism. It is a syncretistic vision that mixes the belief in the orishas or the gods of the Yoruba pantheon, a town in southwestern Nigeria, with the Catholic saints. It is sometimes identified as the religion of the Orishas. It contains a large number of myths, stories or legends (patakí) that give reason for the existence of many of its ceremonies and customs and make them more understandable. Although there are more than 400 divinities of which sixteen are actively worshiped, those that form the main base are Obatalá, Ochún, Yemayá, Oyá, Changó and the Warriors that are Elewá, Ogún, Ochosi and Ozún. Initiation rites, divination and magic are celebrated around these orishas, which are themselves deities and saints.
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Reference:
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https://www.ecured.cu/Religi%C3%B3n_yoruba
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