Teachings of the Santería Gods

Teachings of the Santería Gods
Author: Ócha'ni Lele
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2010-06-24
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1594779082

The first book to explore the sacred myths of Santería • Includes more than 100 myths, stories, and histories about the odu and the orishas • Reassembles the oral fragments from the African diaspora into coherent stories • Demonstrates that the African peoples, specifically the Yoruba, were deeply spiritual At the core of the diloggún--the sacred divination system of Santería--are the sacred stories known as the patakís, narratives whose themes are as powerful and relevant today as they were in the minds of the ancient Yoruba who safeguarded them. Each patakí is connected to one or more of the 16 odu, the principal creative forces of Santería. Some recount the lives of orishas on earth, others the lives of individuals in heaven, and some tell of the odu themselves, for even they once walked the earth as mortals. The first book to explore these ancient African stories in English, Teachings of the Santería Gods recounts more than 100 of these sacred parables, including many stories reassembled from the oral tradition of the African diaspora. Ranging from creation myths to what happens when a love potion works far too well, these stories share the wisdom and spirituality of the Yoruba people of ancient Africa and form the living, oral bible of one of the world’s fastest-growing faiths.

Sacrificial Ceremonies of Santería

Sacrificial Ceremonies of Santería
Author: Ócha'ni Lele
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2012-08-22
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1594775001

The first book to explore the history, methods, and thinking behind sacrifice in the growing Santería faith • Explains the animal sacrifice ceremony in step-by-step detail • Shares the ancient African sacred stories that reveal the well-thought-out metaphysics and spirituality behind the practice of animal sacrifice • Chronicles the legal fight all the way to its 1993 U.S. Supreme Court victory to establish legal protection for the Santería faith and its practitioners Tackling the biggest controversy surrounding his faith, Santería priest Ócha’ni Lele explains for the first time in print the practice and importance of animal sacrifice as a religious sacrament. Describing the animal sacrifice ceremony in step-by-step detail, including the songs and chants used, he examines the thinking and metaphysics behind the ritual and reveals the deep connections to the odu of the diloggún--the source of all practices in this Afro-Cuban faith. Tracing the legal battle spearheaded by Oba Ernesto Pichardo, head of the Church of the Lukumi of Babaluaiye, over the right to practice animal sacrifice as a religious sacrament, Lele chronicles the fight all the way to its 1993 U.S. Supreme Court victory, which established legal protection for the Santería faith and its practitioners. Weaving together oral fragments stemming from the ancient Yoruba of West Africa, the author reconstructs their sacred stories, or patakís, that demonstrate the well-thought-out metaphysics and spirituality behind the practice of animal sacrifice in the Yoruba and Santería religion, including explanations about why each animal can be regarded as food for both humans and the orisha as well as how sacrifice is not limited to animals. Shedding light on the extraordinary global growth of this religion over the past 50 years, Lele’s guide to the sacrificial ceremonies of Santería enables initiates to learn proper ceremony protocol as well as gives outsiders a glimpse into this most secretive world of the santeros.

The Diloggún

The Diloggún
Author: Ócha'ni Lele
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Co
Total Pages: 636
Release: 2003-07-28
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780892819126

The first book on Santer�s holiest divination system, the Diloggun. Explores the lore surrounding this mysterious oracle, the living Bible of one of the world's fastest growing faiths. Examines each family of " odu" and how their actions affect the spiritual development of the individual. An indispensable guide to the mysteries of the orishas.

Macumba

Macumba
Author: Serge Bramly
Publisher: City Lights Publishers
Total Pages: 240
Release: 1994-05-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9780872862869

Every January millions of people crowd the seashore to receive the blessings of lemanja, goddess of the sea. All year long in terreiros in Brazil and around the world, Orixa worshipers revel in the divine presence of the living Gods, directly...

Obí

Obí
Author: Ócha'ni Lele
Publisher: Destiny Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2001-06-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 9780892818648

• The first book to provide complete, specific instructions for casting the obi oracle of the Santería faith. • Uses the shell of a coconut, which embodies the spirit of Obí, as a divination tool. • Includes a detailed “mojuba” or prayer that awakens the orishas and invites them to speak. • Examines in depth the five basic patterns that appear when obí is cast and explains how to interpret the oracle's answer. • Explores the fifty additional patterns and meanings contributed by ten orishas closely associated with the orisha Obí One of the paths to the spirits within Santeria is through a divination technique known as obi, the coconut oracle, which gives the petitioner access to the orisha of the same name. The orisha Obí began as a mortal human who ascended to become an orisha as a reward for good deeds done on Earth, then fell from grace because of excessive pride. When he descended back to Earth, his spirit was embodied in the coconut palm. Though he no longer has a tongue, he can answer questions posed to him through the patterns made by four pieces of coconut shell cast as a divination tool. Obí: Oracle of Cuban Santería is the first book to fully explore the sacred body of lore surrounding Obí, as well as his particular rituals and customs, including opening considerations, casting and interpreting the oracle, and employing advanced methods of divination. Also explained are the previously unpublished secrets of closing the oracle properly so that any negative vibrations will be absorbed by the coconuts and permanently removed from the diviner's home.

Santeria

Santeria
Author: Miguel A. De La Torre
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2004-08-23
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 146743177X

This book by Miguel De La Torre offers a fascinating guide to the history, beliefs, rituals, and culture of Santería — a religious tradition that, despite persecution, suppression, and its own secretive nature, has close to a million adherents in the United States alone. Santería is a religion with Afro-Cuban roots, rising out of the cultural clash between the Yoruba people of West Africa and the Spanish Catholics who brought them to the Americas as slaves. As a faith of the marginalized and persecuted, it gave oppressed men and women strength and the will to survive. With the exile of thousands of Cubans in the wake of Castro's revolution in 1959, Santería came to the United States, where it is gradually coming to be recognized as a legitimate faith tradition. Apart from vague suspicions that Santería's rituals include animal sacrifice and notions that it is a “syncretistic” form of Catholicism, most people in America's cultural and religious mainstream know very little about this rich faith tradition — in fact, many have never heard of it at all. De La Torre, who was reared in Santería, sets out in this book to provide a basic understanding of its inner workings. He clearly explains the particular worldview, myths, rituals, and practices of Santería, and he discusses what role the religion typically plays in the life of its practitioners as well as the cultural influence it continues to exert in Latin American communities today. In offering a balanced, informed survey of Santería from his unique “insider-outsider” perspective, De La Torre also provides insight into how Christianity and Santería can enter into dialogue — a dialogue that will challenge Christians to consider what this emerging faith tradition can teach them about their own. Enhanced with illustrations, tables, and a glossary, De La Torre's Santería sheds light on a religion all too often shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding.

Santeria

Santeria
Author: Joseph M. Murphy
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 212
Release: 1993-04-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780807010211

Santería represents the first in-depth, scholarly account of a profound way of wisdom that is growing in importance in America today. A professional academic and himself a participant in the Santería community of the Bronx for several years, Joseph Murphy offers a powerful description and insightful analysis of this African/Cuban religion. He traces the survival of an ancient spiritual path from its West African Yoruba origins, through nearly two centuries of slavery in the New World, to its presence in the urban centers of the United States, where it continues to inspire seekers with its compelling vision.

The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts

The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts
Author: Baba Ifa Karade
Publisher: Weiser Books
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2020-04-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1633411346

An introduction to the spiritual source of the beliefs and practices that have so profoundly shaped African American religious traditions. Most of the Africans who were enslaved and brought to the Americas were from the Yoruba nation of West Africa, an ancient and vast civilization. In the diaspora caused by the slave trade, the guiding concepts of the Yoruba spiritual tradition took root in Haiti, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Brazil, and the United States. In this accessible introduction, Baba Ifa Karade provides an overview of the Yoruba tradition and its influence in the West. He describes the sixteen Orisha, or spirit gods, and shows us how to work with divination, use the energy centers of the body to internalize the teachings of Yoruba, and create a sacred place of worship. The book also includes prayers, dances, songs, offerings, and sacrifices to honor the Orisha.

Divining the Self

Divining the Self
Author: Velma E. Love
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2015-06-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0271061456

Divining the Self weaves elements of personal narrative, myth, history, and interpretive analysis into a vibrant tapestry that reflects the textured, embodied, and performative nature of scripture and scripturalizing practices. Velma Love examines the Odu—the Yoruba sacred scriptures—along with the accompanying mythology, philosophy, and ritual technologies engaged by African Americans. Drawing from the personal narratives of African American Ifa practitioners along with additional ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Oyotunji African Village, South Carolina, and New York City, Love’s work explores the ways in which an ancient worldview survives in modern times. Divining the Self also takes up the challenge of determining what it means for the scholar of religion to study scripture as both text and performance. This work provides an excellent case study of the sociocultural phenomenon of scripturalizing practices.