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Lukumí, Regla de Ocha or Afro-Cuba, most widely known as Santeria, (Santería in Spanish) is a set of related religious systems that superficially seem to fuse Catholic beliefs with traditional Yoruba beliefs. In the Yoruba language, Lukumí means "friends" and also applies to descendants of Yorùbá slaves in Cuba, their music and dance, and the cubanized dialect of the Yorùbá language.

History

The name Lucumi originated from present-day Nigeria. The Yoruba people of Nigeria were initially called the Lukumi which was supposed to be from the word "Olokun mi"(my dear one). The name Yoruba (Yariba by the Hausa) was later used by those who came in contact with the Yoruba from the North, having heard of the 'Yariba people in the South'.

Lukumí originated in Cuba and was historically practised by descendants of west African slaves, when slave owners purposely divided slave families and mixed members of different African ethnic groups as a way of maintaining control. Later, in the early 18th century, the Spanish Catholic church allowed for the creation of societies called cabildos to provide means for entertainment and reconstruction of many aspects of ethnic heritage for both sides. The slaves practised Yorùbá religious ceremonies in these cabildos, combining their masters' pantheon of Catholic saints with their own pantheon of Orisha. This combination would come to be known as Lukumí.

Lukumí's survival in Cuba was primarily due to this camouflaging of Yorùbá with a pretense of Catholicism. When slave owners observed Africans celebrating a Saint's Day, they were generally unaware that the slaves were actually worshiping the Orisha. Today, the terms saint and Orisha are often used interchangeably. The common bond between the Lukumí Orisha and the Catholic saints has become a part of Cuba's religious culture. It was originally referred to as Santería (literally, Way of the Saints), a derisive term applied by the Spanish to mock followers' seeming overdevotion to the saints and their perceived neglect of God. The slaves' Christian masters did not allow them to practise their various west African religions. The slaves found a way around this by masking the Orishas as Christian saints while maintaining their original identities. The masters thought their slaves had become good Christians and were praising the saints, when in actuality they were continuing their traditional practices.

Lukumí is now practised in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Panama, and in Latin American population centers in the United States such as Florida, New York, and California.

Beliefs and Rituals

Lukumí ritual is highly secretive and primarily transmitted orally. Known practices include animal offering, ecstatic dance, and sung invocations to the Orishas. Chickens and fruit are the most common forms of sacrifice; their blood is offered to the Orisha. Drum music and dancing are used to induce a trance state in specific participants, who may become (supposedly) possessed by an Orisha who then speaks through them (see Yoruba music). One's ancestors, egun, are held in high esteem in Lukumí.

Many animal rights activists take issue with the Lukumí practice of animal sacrifice, claiming that it is cruel. Followers of Lukumí point out that the killings are conducted in the same manner as many food animals are slaughtered and are not needlessly sadistic and that the priests charged with doing the sacrifice are trained in humane ways to kill the animals. Additionally, the animal is cooked and eaten afterwards. In 1993, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Lukumí were unconstitutional, and the practice has seen no significant legal challenges since then. Lukumi does not advocate human sacrifice.

See also

Santeria is also the name of a reggae-ska fusion band from Munich, Germany.

Santeria is also the name of a song by the reggae-ska-punk band Sublime.

External links

• OrishaNet: A website written by a Lukumi priest
• Santeria/Lukumi Resources
• Full text of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah
• www.travel-impressions Santeria Photos
• ReligiousTolerance.org Page on Santeria
• Lukumi website

• Cuban music history
• Afro-American religion
• Mystery religions