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.

Of course Stigmata is NOT contagious, unless your really religious, bumped into a yet to named saint who blessed you or you are in fact yourself a saint.

Stigmata (or the Crucifixion Complex) in the religious sense are the wounds of Christ appearing on the hands, feet and body of an individual, usually a Christian, but to be Christian is not a requisite for the appearance of stigmata. Sometimes the wounds are ulcerated wounds and at other times they are bleeding wounds. Essentially Bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus.

There are many recorded cases of stigmata occurring throughout history with the first recorded case being that of St Francis of Assissi in 1224. It is interesting to note that many of the people who exhibit these wounds are often fervently religious people and quite a number of them became sainted by the Catholic Church. The stigmata is, in effect, an imitation of Christ and it can occur by a pious obsession with the crucifixion and the suffering of Christ – a form of living martyrdom?

Or as Karen stated on her blog: “Stigmata is when Jesus gets his, you know, business all over you.”

There are no shortages of groups which have their own spin on Christianity. I hope to cover most if not all over time, but here is the list.

Catholicism

• Anglicanism
• Assyrian Church of the East
• Eastern Orthodoxy
• Oriental Orthodoxy
• Roman Catholicism

Protestantism

• Adventism
• Millerites
• Anabaptists
• Baptists
• Brethren
• Catholic Apostolic Church
• Charismatic movement
• Christadelphians
• Christian Israelite Church
• Christian Science
• Esoteric Christianity
• Iglesia ni Cristo
• Jehovah’s Witnesses
• Iglesia ni Cristo
• Latter Day Saint movement
• Lutheranism
• Methodism
• Messianic Judaism
• Most Holy Church of God in Christ Jesus
• New Thought
• Pentecostalism
• Oneness Pentecostalism
• Pietism
• Holiness movement
• Reformed Churches
• Puritans
• Presbyterianism
• Congregational church
• Religious Society of Friends
• Restorationism
• Spiritism
• Espiritismo
• Swedenborgianism
• Christian Spiritualism
• United and uniting churches
• Unitarianism
• Universalism

This is by no means a complete list of Christian groups, but should give you an idea of the scale.

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Lent is the Christian season of preparation before Easter. In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent, which begins 40 days prior to Easter. When counting the day, Sundays are not included in the count. The last week of Lent begins with Palm Sunday, which celebrates the day Jesus entered Jerusalem and the people lay down palms at his feet.

Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ – his suffering and his sacrifice, his life, death, burial and resurrection. Before Lent folks often kick it off with Fat Tuesday, which always occurs on the day before Ash Wednesday. The parties and parades will continue until Lent begins at midnight on Tuesday and kicks off Mardi Gras and Carnival.

Fat Tuesday is basically “last call” before the expected reflection and abstinence of the Christian Lenten traditions. This is a long held tradition. As early as the middle of the second century, the Romans observed a Fast of 40 Days, which was preceded by a brief season of feasting, costumes & general good times.

In the Roman Catholic Church, Lent officially ends at sundown on 9 April, Holy Thursday.

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