The Spanish colonization of the Caribbean, from the sixteenth century through the nineteenth, was accompanied by the importation of large numbers of African slaves. In Cuba, many of the slaves were Yorubas, from what is now Nigeria, and they brought with them their religion, an ancient polytheistic system in which gods and humans freely interact. The staunchly Roman Catholic Spaniards did not look favorably on this pagan import and forbade its observance. Penalties for practicing the old beliefs could be severe and this drove the African religion underground where it developed into the religion of Santeria. But the religion imposed on the slaves by the white man lacked the immediacy and passion of Yoruba belief. The Catholic "gods" (saints) did not talk to their people or "mount" (possess) them: They didn't eat and drink and rejected the world and its pleasures. So the Yoruba gods began a remarkable transformation: Their numbers were reduced, their characteristics intermingled and combined, and they became equated with Christian saints. While many hundreds of gods had flourished in Africa, only three dozen were established in the pantheon of Santeria and in its modern form, Santeria focuses almost exclusively on the "Seven Powers," or principal composite gods.
Ostensibly Christian, the practitioners of Santeria openly worshipped the Catholic saints (the Christian saints were considered very powerful since Christians were the masters and Africans were the slaves) while retaining the essence of their native beliefs. In this guise, Santeria flourished.
For their part, white people generally turned a blind eye toward the new practices. The Catholic priests were satisfied with the outward show of conversion and faith, and the sugar plantations were quieter when the ceremonies were not repressed (the white masters feared revolution and were willing to make small concessions to keep the peace).
Thus, in Cuba, a new faith had been born. Santeria became the force that gave enslaved blacks self-respect and a sense of unity. A hybrid of Western and African traditions, the new religion had dropped gods who had no raison d'etre in Cuba, eliminated prohibited Yoruba rites, borrowed some beliefs from other African slave tribes, and adopted Christian, Spanish, and Cuban cultural elements.
Over time, the new cult could be found in all quarters of Cuban society. White children brought up by slave nannies learned the Old Yoruba stories, racial intermixture gradually eliminated the distinction between African and Cuba, and the old names and songs eventually became part of the island's cultural heritage. Santeria never replaced the dominant Catholic Church, but few Cubans remained oblivious to its presence, and most harbored some degree of respect for it.
Nonetheless, Santeria remained an underground religion, attacked periodically by the press. Its priests kept the most sacred knowledge secret, passing it orally only to those with many years' initiation. Believers continued to practice Catholic rituals, careful not to discuss their other faith in public. Holy objects, rites, and words were used only in private.
Over time, Santeria has spread to other parts of the Western world, becoming more commonly known. It flourishes in Brazil, throughout the Caribbean islands (especially Puerto Rico), and in parts of the United
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