Seven African Powers

This entry describes SEVEN AFRICAN POWERS; these spirits belong to the Orisha Pantheon in the practice of santeria. Please see link below for
The owner of the roads and opportunities. He is the messenger between human beings and the other orishas. He is always the first one to be honored during any ceremony because without his approval, nothing can be accomplished. Also a healer and master magician, he can be extremely generous as well as cruel. That's why he is associated with the devil in the Brazilian CANDOMBLE TRADITION. However, in the Yoruba tradition he is not seen as evil. His tricks are simply opportunities to learn lessons. He is the trickster. In Santeria, ELEGGUA is the one who protects the home against dangers. Most santeros keep him in the house close to the front door. They give him offerings every Monday and on the third day of the month. His favorite gifts are candies, candles, toys, rum and cigars.

OBATALA

The orisha of peace, harmony and purity. He is the father of most orishas and the creator of humankind. He is the owner of the world. He represents clarity, justice and wisdom. Everything that is white on Earth belongs to him: the snow, the sky, the bones and the brain. In some paths, Obatala manifests as a female. Some people see him as an androgynous deity that contained both male and female energies representing respectively heaven and earth. Obatala is invoked for health, peace and harmony. An Altar to Obatala/Oxala

OLODDUMARE

The central creative force worshiped in the Yoruba tradition and in the Yoruba-based religions such as Santeria and Candomble. He is the concept of God.

OSHUN

The goddess of love, sexuality, beauty and diplomacy. She is the owner of the sweet waters. With her sweetness, she overcomes the most difficult tasks. She is the protector of the abdominal area and the teacher of pleasure and happiness. She is a great giver, but when she is angry, it is very difficult to calm her down. She is often invoked in matters of love and money.

OYA

is the goddess of the wind, fire and the thunderbolt. As the female warrior of the Yoruba pantheon, she represents female power. She is strong, assertive, courageous and independent and is always willing to take risks. When she is enraged, she can create tornadoes and hurricanes, but these also happened when she is ready to make changes. Oya is a great witch and the guardian of the gates of death. She is invoked when there are serious illness or when transformation is necessary.

YEMALLA

The goddess of the sea and the moon. She is the mother archetype and the provider of wealth. As the one who gives life and sustains the Earth, she is extremely generous and giving. She is the nurturing energy that sooth anyone. But like the ocean, when she is angry, she can be implacable. Therefore, she represents the mother who gives love, but does not give her power away. Yemaya is also the owner of the collective subconscious and ancient wisdom, since she holds the secrets that are hidden in the sea. She is often invoked in fertility rituals for women and in any ritual concerning women's issues.

SHANGO

Once the fourth king of Yoruba, and immortalized as the thunder god, Shango is legendary across the African Atlantic world. Shang's storms and lightning bring a purifying moral terror encapsulated by the boldness and immediacy of his art and altars. Shang attracts many followers, as his intensive entourage represented on his altar.


Source:: http://lilith-dark-moon.blogspot.com

Santeria Is Cubas New Favorite Religion

Santeria - or "the worship of saints" - is gaining ground as a popular religious practice in Cuba.Developed in the African slave communities of the island's 18th Century sugar plantations, it's a syncretic religion adopting elements of Spanish-imposed Catholicism while maintaining the central beliefs of Africa's kidnapped natives, primarily Nigeria's Yoruba tribe.

As a practice rooted within a world of oppression, Santeria is shrouded in secrecy, surviving first the ruthless command of slave masters and imperial governance, and later the religious intolerance of Castro's government.The religion owes its continued existence over the centuries to the prevalence of the oral tradition, with believers passing on, preserving, and nurturing its secrets through countless generations.

Today, Santeria has emerged from the shadows of a Cuban society now at liberty to practice religion, and is witnessing not only an increase of acceptance but also of popularity.In its earliest days Santeria was an exclusive slave practice - a rejection of the masters' Catholic saints and the colonial Christian God - and it was the slave social centers ("calbidos") of the tiny village of Palmira that witnessed its first inception.

Here, Cuban slaves congregated on a weekly basis in order to worship the spirit gods of Oloddumare and the Orishas, through whom they believed mortals communicated with the higher God.The Orishas are semi-divine beings, each expressing a specific aspect of human existence. Ochun is manifested in romantic love and money matters, while Oggun represents war, Chango embodies passion and virility, and Babalu Aye symbolizes healing.

In return, each enjoys one day of the year dedicated to his or her honor, on which "Santeros"will summon the Orisha through music, dance, and ceremonial performances in which offerings of food, rum, and animal blood are made to the present spirit.As the religion has evolved, each Orisha has become firmly associated with a specific Christian saint; Yoruban Chango, for example, is now synonymous with Christianity's young beheaded Santa Barbara.

This form of worship demonstrates the equal faith that many of Santeria's adherents have placed in both the Orishas and the Catholic saints. By accepting and adopting the beliefs of both Cuba's historic oppressor and oppressed, they have formed a religion that can neither be labeled as truly Christian nor Yoruba, but instead inherently Cuban.

As with other syncretic religions practiced in Latin America, Santeria offers an outlet through which modern Cubans can fuse together a ruptured past.After centuries of underground existence, Santeria is becoming an open practice, with participation coming from all levels of society. Representing a shared identity, Santeria is a cultural inheritance, a dynamic form of worship - and a uniquely Cuban religion.


Source: http://weakness tidings