Rituals and customs
Rituals and customs
Dancer in Havana ©
Santeria rituals allow human beings to stay in contact with the Orishas - these rituals include dancing, drumming, speaking and eating with the spirits.
Santeria has few buildings devoted to the faith. Rituals often take place in halls rented for the purpose, or privately in Santeria homes which are may be fitted with altars for ritual purposes. During appropriate rituals the Orishas are able to meet believers at these sacred spaces.
Material for use in Santeria rituals can be bought in specialist outlets called botánicas.
These rituals can include Roman Catholic elements:
Lydia Cabrera notes that, in Santería, one ritual against evil eye combines a specially prepared herbal bath with three Our Fathers, Three Credos, and Three Ave Marias.Hector Avalos, Introduction to the U.S. Latina and Latino Religious Experience, 2004
Bembé
One major ritual is a bembé. This ceremony invites the Orisha to join the community in drumming, singing and dancing.
The Orisha may 'seize the head' of a person (or 'mount them' as if they were a horse), and cause that possessed person to perform 'spectacular dances', and to pass on various messages from the Orisha to community members.