Running head: SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 1

Santeria: Race and Religion in Cuba

Carol Burgman

University of Pittsburgh
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 2

Santeria: Race and Religion in Cuba

Introduction

In the study of the Santeria religion, we find a reflection of the struggle of Afro-Cuban

people as they were forced to acculturate to a white dominated society (Clark, 2007). The

blending, or mixing, of these races produced a third racial group: Mestizos (Morales, 2013).

Religiously, this same process produced a new faith: Santeria (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). The purpose

of this paper is to explore the Santeria religion in terms of its development and practice. Given

its racial origins of this faith must be viewed in light of historic racial issues.

As a former colony of Spain, Cuba has a long tradition of Catholic influence (Asante &

Mazama, 2007). Catholicism was the state religion during the colonial era (Clark, 2007). With

the influx of hundreds of thousands of slaves from Africa, and their Orisha worship traditions,

the country, its racial composition and its religious practices were altered (Clark, 2007). These

changes remain to this day and are exemplified in the practice of Santeria (Lopez-Sierra, 2012).

Developed by the descendants of slaves, Santeria became, and remains, the primary

religion of the mestizo and black working class Cubans (Clark, 2007). Catholicism is still

considered the religion of the white ruling class (Hearn, 2008).

A visitor to any working class Cuban home may note evidence of Santeria worship,

including a shrine with pictures of Catholic saints, offerings of food and drink, candles and an

area for meditation and prayer. Indeed, as we toured Cuba on our recent trip, we were offered a

glimpse of Santeria worship in several homes. In viewing these shrines, there appeared to be

elements of Catholicism combined with artifacts completely foreign to the practice of

Christianity. These domestic shrines seemed to be well tended by the primarily Afro-Cuban
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 3

families while nearby Catholic churches appeared to be empty and in need of repair. Though not

a scientific evaluation, this served as a visual indicator of the rising importance of Santeria

worship and Catholicism’s diminished relevance in Cuba today.

The Spanish settlement of Cuba began with Columbus’ arrival in 1492 and ultimately

resulted in the decimation of its native inhabitants through disease and cultural genocide

(Lefever, 1996). The resulting absence of a working class population necessitated import of

slaves from Africa (Lefever, 1996). Over the next 350 years, Cuba’s Spanish hegemonic leaders

brought approximately 702,000 slaves directly from Africa to Cuba (Lefever, 1996).

Slaves carried with them rich cultural traditions of their homeland, including religious

beliefs (Lefever, 1996). In particular, Yoruba speaking slaves brought religious practices of

Orisha (saint) worship and social traditions of West Africa, influenced by the kingdom of Benin

in Nigeria and the kingdom of Dahomey in the Republic of Benin (Asante & Mazama, 2007).

These religious traditions provided the foundation for Santeria as it is practiced in Cuba today

(Lopez-Sierra, 2012).

The Catholic faith has historically had a strong cultural influence in Cuban society

(Clark, 2007). In fact, Columbus’s voyage and claim to Cuba of 1492, occurred during the

Spanish Inquisition (1478 – 1820), a political and religious effort to “cleanse” the world of non-

believers (non-Christians). As a result, Spain claimed Cuba’s land for the monarchy and, in

addition, established the state’s religion, Catholicism (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). The dominance of

the Catholic faith remained in place until the Afro-Cuban working class wrestled control from

the white ruling class during the revolution in 1959 (Hearn, 2008).

Today, Cuba’s population is not just black and white (Morales, 2013). Mestizos, or

mixed race people represent a large portion of the population (Morales, 2013). As Cubans have
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 4

blurred lines of skin color, so has the religious community in Cuba blurred the lines of religion

(Asante & Mazama, 2007) to form Santeria.

The Development of Santeria

Cuba, under Spanish control at the time of its greatest slave importation, allowed only

one religion: Catholicism (Hearn, 2008). During the colonial period, slaves were offered a social

mechanism called Calibos maintain the culture of their homeland, ultimately, though, slaves

electing to practice Orisha worship faced prejudice, prosecution and incarceration at the hands of

the Spanish ruling class (Lefever, 1996).

Calibos were fraternities that acted as mutual aid societies for Cuba’s slave population

(Hearn, 2008). By some accounts, these groups were charged by the government to facilitate

conversion of Orisha worshipping slaves to Christianity (Hearn, 2008). This conversion attempt

encouraged Orisha followers to adopt aspects of Catholicism while continuing to practice their

religion of origin. The covert goal of these Calibos was to eliminate Orisha worship altogether

(Asante & Mazama, 2007). Despite these efforts, the Calibos enabled the Yoruba people to

maintain a cultural identity apart from their slave owners (Asante & Mazama, 2007). Calibos

also succeeded in leading people to adopt elements of Catholicism, thus creating the belief

system of Cuban Santeria as it is practiced today (Asante & Mazama, 2007). Calibo societies

eventually became the basis for an underground counterhegemonic challenge to Spanish rule

(Lefever, 1996).

After slavery was abolished in 1898, the white ruling class became increasingly

concerned that the black and mulatto segments of the population would demand equality (Lopez-

Sierra, 2012) As a result, the government ended relationships with the Calibos and attempted to

wipe out the organizations and their influence (Clark, 2007). This caused, the Santeria
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 5

community to go underground and grow stronger, creating even more anxiety in the ruling class

(Clark, 2007).

To counter this underground rise of Afro-Cuban solidarity and power, a campaign

involving various forms of prejudicial misinformation, including charges of child sacrifice, were

leveled against the Santeria religion by Cuba’s hegemonic elite (Hearn, 2008). These stories

propagated the notion that Afro-Cubans were violent, primitive and, consequently, inferior

(Clark, 2007). In this way, early efforts to force religious conversion became the vehicle for

social division, a focus of ongoing racial discrimination, and a powerful source of support for

Afro-Cuban heritage that continues today.

Santeria in Cuba

Demographic studies and authorities consulted for this paper do not provide estimates of

Santeria’s prevalence in the Cuban population due to several factors. First, there is the secrecy

of the faith itself (Lefever, 1996). Santeria does not encourage its followers to identify

themselves (Clark, 2007). Secondly, Santeria is not documented (Clark, 2007). The faith does

not have registries, holy books or doctrinal teachings preserved in writing (Lefever, 1996).

Santeria’s history, teachings and practices are passed verbally, from generation to generation and

are carried in the memories of its adherents. Finally, Santeria followers venerate the Catholic

saints and cling to certain teaching of the Christian church (Lefever, 1996). These beliefs cause

many Santeria followers to identify themselves as Catholic when questioned about their

affiliation ("Freedom report, Cuba," 2012). Finally, Cuba does not keep records of its own

religious believers (Clark, 2007). In fact, the American government has been unable to

determine an estimate on the prevalence of Santeria faithful within Cuba as noted in the excerpt

from its most recent report of religions in Cuba ("Freedom report, Cuba," 2012):
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“(In Cuba) The Roman Catholic Church estimates that 60 to 70 percent of the population is Catholic, but

only 4 to 5 percent regularly attend mass.. Many people, particularly in the Afro-Cuban community,

consult with practitioners of religions with roots in West Africa and the Congo River basin, known as

Santeria. These religious practices are commonly intermingled with Catholicism, and some even require

Catholic baptism for full initiation, making it difficult to estimate accurately the total membership of these

syncretistic groups.”

The website notes that, though there are numerical estimates for many other religions in Cuba,

the estimate for Santeria is not given due to dual identification and doctrinal entanglement with

Catholicism ("Freedom report, Cuba," 2012).

Since the time of colonialism, Catholicism has maintained its affiliation with the white

ruling class while Santeria remains the faith of the black/mestizo working class in Cuba (Hearn,

2008). Scholars agree that Santeria is the traditional faith of workers most often associated with

African ancestors. Thus, Cubans view Santeria as the religion of the people (Hearn, 2008).

In the past, Cuban Catholics have treated Santeria followers with animosity (Hearn,

2008). Santeria, though borrowing from and claiming affiliation with the Catholic Church, also

has had an uneasy relationship with Catholics (Hearn, 2008). This prejudice can be traced to

religious attitudes of the colonial era (Clark, 2007).

Syncretization

In Cuba’s racially divided and religiously limited sociopolitical climate of colonialism,

Catholicism provided the framework that Yoruba speaking slaves used to mask their unorthodox

Orisha worship (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). This process involved superimposing the Orisha system of

worship upon the legal and acceptable Catholic structure. Social scientists call this process of

“borrowing” of one culture from another, syncretism (Lopez-Sierra, 2012) (Lefever, 1996).
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 7

Santeria is a religion governed by strict rules of behavior, but characterized by wide

latitude of interpretation due to the individualistic nature of worship (Clark, 2007). This includes

the adoption of philosophies from other faiths or movements (Asante & Mazama, 2007).

Consequently, in the late 1880’s, practitioners of Santeria incorporated spiritism (Asante &

Mazama, 2007).

Spiritism added a mystical element to Santeria practice (Lefever, 1996). This layer of

mysticism was borrowed from a French movement introduced worldwide just before the turn of

the twentieth century (Lefever, 1996) by Hippolyte Rivail (pen name: Allan Kardec) (Hearn,

2008). Spiritism contributed elements of enlightenment, spiritual possession, divination and

spiritual ascendency that have become syncretized with the Santeria practice (Asante & Mazama,

2007). This, the third element of Santeria religion, with its rituals and cosmology, provides the

notable supernatural and sometimes controversial quality of its practice. Thus, Santeria as it is

practiced today, is an amalgamation or syncretization of Catholicism, Orisha worship and French

spiritism (Hearn, 2008).

Orisha worship and Catholicism have many parallels that allowed this syncretization

(Lefever, 1996). Both faiths ascribe to the belief that there is one high god (Olodumare/God)

responsible for the creation and maintenance of the world (Lefever, 1996). In addition, both

religions teach that there are intermediaries between the believer and their god (Lefever, 1996).

These intermediaries are known as saints in the Catholic tradition and Orisha for Santeria

adherents (Lefever, 1996).

Originally, hundreds of Orisha saints were venerated, but currently only sixteen are

recognized (Lefever, 1996). These sixteen were paired with Catholic saints in the Spanish

tradition and both became affiliated with a principle, noted in table 1(Lefever, 1996).
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 8

Table 1

(Lefever, 1996, p. 320)

The Practice of Santeria

Santeria devotees believe that there is one god, known as Oodumare (also Olorun and

Olofi). As in Christianity, this Supreme Being is the creator (Asante & Mazama, 2007). Orisha

are powerful guardians of certain aspects of life and have corresponding saint identities in the

Catholic Church (Clark, 2007). On days typically devoted to Christian saints, the Orisha gods as

well as the saint are venerated (Asante & Mazama, 2007). As a result, Catholicism, once a

“cover” for Orisha worship, has become an acceptable part of Santeria doctrine (Lefever, 1996).
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 9

In fact, many of the Santeria faithful are regular attendees of Catholic celebrations and identify

as Catholic (Asante & Mazama, 2007).

Ancestors are integral to the practice of Santeria, according to faith doctrine (Clark,

2007). Dead relatives are powerful influences on the living and can be called upon to intercede

in affairs along with the Orisha (Asante & Mazama, 2007). The ancestors and personal Orisha

(saints) possess a powerful ashe, or life energy, that can be tapped for the purposes of good or

evil (Clark, 2007).

Santeria is a highly individualistic practice (Clark, 2007). Each person discovers his or

her personal Orisha (saint) through contact with a high priest and devises his or her own manner

of worshipping this guardian (Clark, 2007). Orisha are treated as though they are living beings,

and are “fed” through offerings of food and drink in the home shrine (Clark, 2007).

Shrines are often constructed in a corner of the home here space can be devoted to

meditation and prayer (Clark, 2007). The area may include photographs of ancestors along with

representations of saints and Orisha (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). Offerings of food and drink should be

fresh and of good quality to respectfully pass on ashe or life energy (Clark, 2007). Orisha are

closely aligned with the Supreme Being and through home and community rituals, individuals

can align themselves with the Supreme Being through veneration (Asante & Mazama, 2007).

Santeria Worship

Bembes are drum and dance festivals designed to “attain a sacred state of consciousness”

described as spirit possession (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). The ritual or worship festival is

accomplished with the help of a babalawo (high priest) or other Santeria elders (Asante &

Mazama, 2007). Dancing, singing and drumming give way to frenzied activity (Clark, 2007).

Possession occurs when the subject performs specific movements and drumming patterns
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(Asante & Mazama, 2007). Once the trance-like state has been achieved, the subject (now

possessed by the Orisha) is said to speak truth and may approach attendees to offer advice

(Clark, 2007).

One of the most controversial elements of Santeria is the adherence to the use of

sacrifices and the symbolic use of animal blood (Lefever, 1996). The blood from animal

sacrifices is sprinkled on stones representing the head of Orisha and is a ceremonial method of

connecting with personal saints (Lefever, 1996). In addition to small animal sacrifices, food is

offered to the Orisha (Lefever, 1996).

All elements of nature, including food are considered to have life energy or ashe

(Lefever, 1996). Food offerings are given to the Orisha, but eaten by humans only after a time

period has passed in which the Orisha has consumed the life energy of the offering (Lefever,

1996).

The babalawo in Santeria tradition is the high priest and is capable of great insight

through the use of manipulated items such as shells, nuts or chains (Hearn, 2008). The

divination ceremony involves tossing artifacts and assessing positions in which these artifacts

fall (Hearn, 2008). Artifacts of divination indicate for the babalawo which fables, songs and

prayers will give insight to the subject’s problems (Lefever, 1996). Since Santeria is not

preserved in books, but in the memories of its devotees, high priests must memorize thousands of

these chants and stories in order to carry out divination activities (Lefever, 1996).

Santeria and Politics

In January of 1959, when Fidel Castro gave his first televised address, a white dove

perched on his shoulder and another landed on the rostrum where he spoke (Hearn, 2008). Both

birds stayed for the entirety of Castro’s two-hour speech (Hearn, 2008). White doves are the
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 11

symbol of Obatalá, a divine African Santeria king who molds humans from clay in heaven

(Clark, 2007). In addition, Christians believe that the white dove symbolizes peace (Clark,

2007). The faithful, particularly Santeria adherents, saw this unusual spectacle as an indication

that supernatural forces selected Castro to rule the country (Clark, 2007). This theory has been

offered as rationale for Fidel Castro’s survival of numerous assassination attempts (Hearn, 2008).

Castro is himself is said to be a follower of Santeria (Hearn, 2008). Despite being

baptized, raised and educated by Catholics, it is no secret that Castro practices Santeria and uses

high priests to treat illnesses of his loved ones (Hearn, 2008). Consequently, it is not surprising

that Castro has used religious symbolism in his speeches and public ceremonies (Lopez-Sierra,

2012).

Santeria in the US, a Racial Difference

diverse group of followers with greater emphasis on universalism (Lefever, 1996). In fact,

American Babalawos (high priests), in contrast to their Cuban counterparts, are more frequently

white, educated, upper middle class individuals (Lefever, 1996). In addition, the US Santeria

religion has gone “mainstream”, suspending its secrecy dictates to win recognition of legitimacy

as a religion by the Supreme Court (Lefever, 1996).

Santeria is known to have existed in the United States prior to 1959 with just a small

number of followers (Lefever, 1996). The influx of Cubans fleeing the revolution enabled a

small number of devotees to immigrate here (Lefever, 1996). These early immigrants were

mostly white ruling class Cubans, and more likely to have been followers of Catholicism

(Lefever, 1996). It wasn’t until the Mariel boatlift of 1980 occurred that a functioning group of

Santeria followers were able to establish themselves in the United States (Lefever, 1996).
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 12

This most recent group of US Cuban immigrants has been characterized, racially and

economically, as lower class Afro-Cuban or mestizo (Lopez-Sierra, 2012). These people, unlike

the ruling class that immigrated at the time of the revolution, did not adhere completely to

Catholicism, but brought with them the basis of today’s American Santeria practices (Lefever,

1996). Due to Santeria’s secrecy, devotees do not often identify their religion (Clark, 2007).

Therefore, accurate statistics on the Santeria church in America are unavailable (Lefever, 1996),

but an estimate of US Santeria followers was attempted in 1993 (Lefever, 1996). This study

suggested there were as many as 500,000 Santeria faithful in the United States (Lefever, 1996).

In the eleven years that have elapsed, since this study, it is reasonable to assume, given the

popularity of this practice, that the number of adherents may have increased (Clark, 2007).

Most American Santeria followers (approximately 300,00) are located in New York City

with a much smaller number (approximately 70,000) living in south Florida (Lefever, 1996).

Researchers agree that the structure of Santeria in the United States is very different from that in

Cuba due to differences in racial and socio-economic attitudes related to development of the

religion in environment (Clark, 2007).

Conclusion

Cuba is a country of contrast and syncretization. It is deeply divided by race, but

its large mestizo population is evidence that races have found uneasy, but common, ground

(Morales, 2013). As a result, perhaps Cuba is the only place in the world where two opposing

religions could combine to form a cohesive, yet ever changing system of faith.

Politics and an evolving religious climate have set the stage for more changes in Santeria

traditions in Cuba and around the world (Clark, 2007). This diverse religion, developed by

descendants of Afro-Cuban slaves and influenced by the faith practices of white slave owners,
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 13

has traveled beyond the country’s borders to the neighborhoods of wealthy white Americans

where it is likely to continue to change and grow (Clark, 2007).

Cuba, with its racial tension and economic strain is currently in transition (Hearn, 2008).

As we examine the impact of Cuba’s challenging demographic structure and the resulting

evolution of its primary religions, it is clear that more changes are on the horizon.

Santeria is a product of faith, social manipulation and racial discord. Morales makes it

clear to us that this discord is not over, it is simply underground (Morales, 2013). As a result,

Hearn anticipates an official break between the Catholic Church and Santeria (Hearn, 2008),

while Clark envisions the growth of Santeria to establish itself as a strong worldwide religion

(Clark, 2007). Whatever the outcome of future societal, religious and political actions, it is clear

that the Santeria faith will adapt to changing tides and these adaptations will be reflected in its

practice.
SANTERIA: RACE AND RELIGION IN CUBA 14

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