Keeping your Orisha happy

In order to keep a good relationship with your Orisha, you must practice certain rituals. Some examples of these are: 

Orisha Pots:



This is like a resting place for your Orisha, each Orisha has certain details that their respective pots must have. Below is a list of each Orishas's pot.

Ogun is placed in an iron black 3-legged cauldron which usually contains one or more smooth round black stones along with miniature iron tools, railroad spikes, horseshoes and a chain.

Oshun is generally put in a ceramic pot or ginger jar with the colors yellow and gold predominating. Often 5 yellow stones are placed in this  pot along with 18 cowrie shells and copper brass or goldtone tools are placed within or without the pot along with a small crown. Sometimes river water is added to this pot either in a bottle or the pot itself is filled covering the stones and shells or spring water can be added.

Yemaya is usually housed in a ceramic blue pot or a pot with blue and white predominating in the colors. Yemaya pots usually contain 7 black smooth stones, 18 cowrie shells and some miniature lead tools. Her pot may also contain sea water and sea shells.

Obatala is placed in an all white ceramic pot, which usually contains 8 smooth white stones, some silver miniature tools a white stone egg and 18 cowrie shells.

Oya is placed in a purple or rust-colored or multicolored ceramic pot that contains 9 smooth black stones. These stones are usually the so called thunderstones which are tear-dropped shape like Shango’s but smaller. Oya’s pot also contains 18 cowrie shells along with copper tools within the pot or outside along with a copper crown.

Shango’s container or bowl is usually made of cedar where his 6 or more thunderstones are placed inside along with 18 cowrie shells. His tools also made of cedar, are generally laid before him or on top of his covered bowl. The bowl is usually placed on top of a wooden pillion or inverted mortar made especially  for a Shango shrine.

Olokun’s pot is similar to Yemaya’s but contains many seashells and is much larger.

Babluaye’s pot varies but is usually a plain terra-cotta pot with holes in the top. It contains cowrie shells and usually 7 rough pockmarked stones along with iron dogs and crutches for the miniature tools.

Shrines:

These pots usually go on a shrine made by the Santero. In Orisha shrines these pots would be placed on low tables, shelves or sometimes on the floor. They are usually placed on cloth of the appropriate color or on straw mats. The colors are the same as those listed for the pots with Ogun taking green or black and Shango red. Candles will also be placed many times in front of the pots in the appropriate colors. Water will be placed in front of the Orisha also in bowls or glasses and changed daily. The Orisha are invoked using Lukumi or Yoruba prayers while at the same time shaking a rattle or bell.

Offerings:

The appropriate foods are often offered to the Orisha weekly. Some common offerings are toasted corn, smoked fish, bananas and plantains for Elegba and Ogun. Red apples, green bananas and chilies are given to Shango. Oranges, honey and sweet squash  are offered to Oshun. Melons and molasses or cane syrup are offered to Yemaya. Oya receives eggplant and purple plums. Obatala takes white rice, coconut milk and white potatoes or white yams. Olokun takes the same foods as Yemaya. Babluaye likes rice, beans and other grains. These foods are placed in bowls and set in front of the Orisha pots and left until they start to decay or otherwise changed weekly.

Tambor and Batá Drums

Drumming and dancing in Santería aren't just for entertainment. They're religious rituals performed to honor the Orichás and to entice them to interact with humans through trance possession.  During a tambor (drumming ceremony) the sacred batá drums are played. These are three hourglass shaped drums, each with two heads. They rest across the player's lap in a horizontal position, and and played with both hands.  These drums have been ceremoniously prepared and charged with the spirit of the drum, called Aña,  and they're only used for religious purposes.  They're considered holy objects because they communicate with the Orichás.  Drummers must undergo intensive training and special ceremonies in order to have the right to play the drums. In traditional Santería communities, the drums are played only by men.  The largest drum is called the iya, or mother drum.  It's the leader, and calls for changes in rhythms and songs as the ceremony progresses.  The middle sized drum is called the itotele, and it carries on a conversation with the iyadrum, to create a complex rhythm.  The smallest drum is the okonkolu, and this maintains the underlying beat of the syncopated rhythms.  For those unfamiliar with African style drumming, the complexity of the rhythms can be astounding. They reproduce the tonal language of the Yoruba people, speaking to the Orichás in their native tongue.  Generally, a singer known as the akpwonperforms with the drummers. He or she acts as master of ceremonies and leads the call and response singing of the assembled worshippers.  

  

The iya, the itotele, and the okonkolu

Ilé

There is no central organisation in Santeria.

A vital unit of the Santeria community is the 'house' called a casa or ilé. This is often the house of a senior Santeria priest, who heads an extended family.

The members of the ilé relate to each other in much the same way as members of an extended biological family. There may be an elaborate hierarchy based partly on the levels of spiritual development that family members have reached.

An ilé may be large or small. Ilés are independent but may join up for special occasions.

Membership is taken seriously, and members are expected to take part in the life of the ilé. Many people are involved with Santeria to a lesser extent, without becoming members of an ilé.

He, or more often, she, is the head of the ilé in the deeper sense of 'family'. She or he is 'godmother' or 'godfather' to a family of sisters and brothers en santo, in the spirit.

In the minds of its members, the core function of the ilé is to honor the spirits and receive from them in turn guidance and assistance in all of life's endeavours.

The Orishas offer their children spiritual experience and heavenly wisdom which is marked by progress in the initiatory hierarchy of the ilé. The ilé sets out a path of spiritual growth, a road en santo.

Joseph M. Murphy, Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora, 1994

Ceremony Praising Chango

Clearing Misconceptions

There are many misconceptions about Santeria. Perhaps the most popular is that it involves black magic or witchcraft. The fact of the matter is that there is witchcraft and black magic that are used in Santeria, just as there is darkness and evil throughout the world. Western history is rattled with Jihads and Crusades where people forced their religions and ideologies on others with the strength of a blade. Like any religion, there are people who use the forces of the universe for evil.

However, most people in Santeria use magic for good. Another misconception is that Santeria is used to hex people, to put a curse on others, or to cause adversity or misfortune. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, followers of Santeria only worship Orishas (saints). They obey the guidelines of the religion, observe important feasts, and carry out the rites that are expected of them. In return, those who follow Orishas are promised access to powers as well as protection from evil. A more controversial aspect of Santeria is the practice of animal sacrifices. While animal sacrifice is a fundamental part of Santeria religion, it is used in order to acquire what is considered a cosmic energy as well as to appease deities. Virtually all-traditional religions made animal sacrifices.

The truth of the matter is that sacrifice is a great component of spirituality. Some may call it creative destruction, when something has to die in order for something else to be created. However, the premise behind the act of making a sacrifice is to understand that everything in the universe is interconnected. In Santeria, worshippers understand that the world is perfectly balanced, and in order for something to be created, something else has to be destroyed. The basis of sacrifice in Santeria is for the worshippers to give something of themselves.

Worshipers are known to give charity, prayers, songs, foods, time, and money as a sacrifice. Worshippers also use dance, rituals, and tell stories as sacrifices. However, the best sacrifice that a worshiper could ever offer the Orishas is to sacrifice his or herself. They can do this by conducting a service that is totally self-less. This service could be in the form of charity, of giving, or merely sending out prayers and good intentions to others. Worshippers of Santeria understand the true value of sacrifice and have a profound respect for animals and nature. 

Animal Sacrifices

Altered State Of Consciousness