Who are the lucumi people?
The people that speak Lucumi are the Lucumi people – the descendants of people taken away from Nigeria by way of Badagry to the Americas. But Cuba is not the only place with people that speak Yoruba in the world. The Nagô people of Brazil and Aku people of Sierra Leone are also the descendants of Yoruba slaves.
What is a person who practices Santería called?
Practitioners of both Santería and other Afro-Cuban religions are called creyentes (“believers”). Some people external to the religion have referred to its practitioners as “santerians” although this is not used by adherents themselves.
What kind of religion is Santería?
Santeria (Way of the Saints) is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added. The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha. Santeria is a syncretic religion that grew out of the slave trade in Cuba.
What language do santeros speak?
Lucumí is a lexicon of words and short phrases derived from the Yoruba language and used for ritual purposes in Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora; it is used as the liturgical language of Santería in Cuba and other communities that practice Santería/Cuban Orisa/Lucumí religion/Regla de Ocha.
What is the difference between IFA and Santeria?
Ifa gives greater access to all the Orisha; Santeria links a follower predominantly with one. Santeria is rife with Catholic influences; Ifa makes no such concessions. Many view Ifa as the deepest form of divination in Santeria, and the highest form of expression within Orisha worship.
What are Orishas?
orisha, also spelled orixa or orisa, any of the deities of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria. They are also venerated by the Edo of southeastern Nigeria; the Ewe of Ghana, Benin, and Togo; and the Fon of Benin (who refer to them as voduns).
What does it mean to practice Santería?
Santería is based upon the development of personal relationships through divination, sacrifice, initiation, and mediumship (see medium) between practitioners of the religion and the orisha deities, who provide their devotees with protection, wisdom, and success and who guide devotees in times of crisis.
How many people are Santería?
The religion was brought to the United States during the 1940s by immigrants from Cuba. It has been estimated that approximately 10 million individuals in the Americas are adherents to the Afro-Cuban religion Santería; somewhere between half a million and 5 million of them are located in the United States.