govern point

The details of Santeria are known by few, but this will attempt to provide a reasonable overview on What is Santeria.  Santeria or La Regla Lucumi originates from Africa in what is now Nigeria & Benin. It is an Afro-Caribbean religion that combines animism, pantheism, ancestor worship, and Roman Catholicism. It is a syncretistic religion that combines its belief in the Orishas – the gods of the Yoruba and Bantu pantheons of southwest Nigerian. Santeria has one god known as Olorun or Olodumare. Olorun is the source of  the spiritual energy that makes up the universe, all life and all things.

Olorun interacts with the world and humankind through emissaries. These emissaries/gods are called orishas. The orishas rule over every force of nature and every aspect of human life. Because the Yoruba people were baptized by the Catholic Church some componants of Catholocism exist through the rituals and symbolism. To that end, Santerians equate each of their Orisha with a Catholic saint.

Followers of Santeria are largely secretive about their religious practices. Some of their beliefs and rituals involve: Worship of Deities, Ritualistic animal sacrifices, Possessions and the Veneration of the dead. Because of some of their beliefs and rituals Santeria is often thought to be another from of Voodoo. Santeria is not Vodoo, it is a meshing of spirituality, ritual and Catholocism in context of Orisha.

Similar things happened in other parts of the Caribbean and other Catholic countries where the new religions was blended with the old traditions. For example in Haiti, various African religious traditions merged with one another, adopted some Catholic symbols, and formed the religion called Voudun or Voodoo. Other islands have their own variants like on the island of Jamaica where Shango exists. Santeria, Vudun and Shango are sometimes collectively called Afro-Caribbean religions, since they originated in Africa and developed their unique traits in the Caribbean based on slavery movement/migrations.

Other variants of Afro-Caribbean religions exist like Candomble and Umbanda from Brazil. While these could be called the “sister religions” of Santeria, since they all blend African beliefs with Catholic symbols and rituals.

The story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt is definitely an exciting one. I mean you couldn’t write a script that was more exciting.

• A baby is found in a basket adrift in the Egyptian Nile and is adopted into the pharaoh’s household.
• Moses rediscovers his roots and finds slavery to suck
• God sends down 10 plagues against Egypt
• Moses leads his enslaved Israelite brethren from bondage
• Moses parts the Red Sea to allow them to escape.

It doesn’t stop there, but that the action part. They continue to wander for 40 years in the wilderness and, under the leadership of Joshua, conquer the land of Canaan to enter their promised land It has dramatic triumphs, but what does it mean to me today? What relevance does the story of the Exodus have for me in my daily life?

So lets drill into the back story details.  The Exodus takes place around 1445 B.C. The Israelites are captives in Egypt and the time of Joseph, the Jew who became Prime Minister in Egypt are long forgotten. The Israelites are now slaves to Egypt and the ruling Pharaoh fears the strength of their numbers. They are now an estimated two million in number. Moses, who had been raised in Pharaoh’s court, is now living as a shepherd in the desert.

God instructs Moses, “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” (Exodus 11:2) God opened the hearts of the Egyptians, and they gave their belongings to the Israelites. God was providing His people with wealth to take with them to the Promised Land. Then the Lord told Moses that He would take the first born of every Egyptian and the first born of all the Egyptians animals. If the Israelites obeyed God’s instructions and sacrificed a lamb, prepared a special meal and marked their doorposts with the blood of the lamb, their firstborn would be spared; the angel of death would pass over their houses. Sure enough the first borns were killed and the Jews were soon out of there.

They assembled in groups to eat the roasted paschal lamb and the unleavened bread. After the sun rose on the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nissan, the Jewish nation rose together to leave the land of Egypt. The Egptians actaully told them to leave and gave them so stuff to enable them to leave.

After 3 days, Pharaoh started to regret that he had permitted the Israelites to leave. He mobilized his army in hot pursuit of his former slaves. He reached them near the banks of the Red Sea.

Moses led the Israelites onwards until they came to the very borders of the Red Sea.  Next God spoke to Moshe:

Lift up your rod, stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it; and the children shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground.

So Moshe did as God ordered. Then a strong east wind blew all night, and the waters of the Red Sea divided. The Jews marched along a dry path through the Red Sea until they reached the opposite side in safety.

The Egyptians continued their pursuit, but the waters of the Red Sea closed over them and drowned Pharaoh’s army. Then you are on to the 40 years thing.

So what is the importance is how I started this out. Well, it’s the metaphor that if you trust and believe in God good, miraculous and awe inspiring things can and do happen.

The Religion Newswriters Association announces the Top 10 News items for religion in 2008.  The majority of them for 2008 related to politics and the presidential election according to the survey participants.  Here is the religious Top 10 for 2008:

• Controversial sermons delivered in recent years by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright surface, resulting in pressure on Barack Obama, who eventually withdraws his membership in his church, Trinity UCC, Chicago. Meanwhile, John McCain rejects the endorsements of evangelists John Hagee, a critic of Catholicism, and Rod Parsley.
• Democrats, especially Barack Obama, make a conscious effort to woo faith-based voters. Obama participates in a faith-based debate with John McCain moderated by California mega-church pastor Rick Warren. Unusual attention is paid to evangelicals at the Democratic National Convention.
• Sarah Palin‘s nomination as Republican vice president leads many evangelicals, who had planned to sit out the election, to support the GOP ticket. The choice causes a dilemma for some religious conservatives who oppose women in leadership roles.
• The California Supreme Court rules gay marriage is legal, but voters in November approve a constitutional amendment overturning the decision. Gay marriage also fails at the polls in Arizona and Florida.
• In his first U.S. visit, Pope Benedict XVI brings a message of hope during stops in Washington and New York. During the trip, he meets with victims of clergy misconduct.
• U.S. conservatives alienated from the Episcopal Church say they will ask Anglican Communion leaders for permission to create the Anglican Church in North America, allowing dioceses unhappy in the Episcopal Church to operate under the authority of a North American bishop instead of Anglican bishops in Africa and Latin America, as is now done. The move is considered the most significant threat to the Episcopal Church’s unity since a gay clergyman was ordained bishop five years ago.
• Terrorism believed motivated at least in part by religious fervor results in the deaths of almost 200 people in a three-day siege in Mumbai, India; one of the major targets is a Jewish center, where an American rabbi and his wife are killed. Meanwhile, attacks on Christians in the eastern India state of Orissa and its neighbors, which began in late 2007, continue during 2008.
• China cracks down on Buddhists seeking Tibetan independence in a prelude to producing a peaceful Olympics games; demonstrations mar some of the torch passages.
• The crumbling economy and subsequent drop in contributions force many faith-based organizations to cut back on expenses, at the same time as the need for social services increases.
• Violence continues in Iraq as Sunnis and Shiites attack each other and Christians are also targeted; Chaledean Archbishop Paulos Rahho is kidnapped and murdered in Mosul. However, some progress toward peace is apparently made.

Other Articles of Interest

• Pope Appeals For “Authentic Solidarity” To Stop Global Ruin
• Donna Brazile & Sarah Palin: The Truth Is Black & White
• From Obama-mania to Palin power: 2008′s top political stories
• Palin goofs, Clinton loss, wrong Wright end ’08