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