Every Orisha example essay topic

The cult of ancestors is also very important for the Santeria ns. The prime god of santeria ns is called Olorun, owner of heaven. He is a creator of everything and the father of Orishas, lesser gods and goddesses. The Orishas rule over every force of nature and every aspect in human life, but they have no power of their own. They have to beg all their power from Olorun.

They are easily reached with the help of rituals, prayer and sacrifice. Each Orisha has his own favorable day. This is the best time to make sacrifice, to read a prayer, to burn candles. Also every Orisha has its own color. Every Orisha prefer blood of a special animal. Every Orisha has a mortal fear of some animal.

Also they have some preferences in food and drinks. Each Orisha has a power over a group of healing or magician herbs. For example, Obatala, the equivalent of Catholic Our Lady of Mercy, prefers white color, female goat for sacrifice, rice for food, cotton and almonds for herbs. Obatala is the only Orisha, who knows, where Olorun lives. The second powerful Orisha is Orunmilla, equivalent to st. Francis.

He likes plums, jasmine, pitch apple and ginger. The next known Orisha is Ele gua. He protects cities, houses and temples by residing in a helmet-shaped construction made out of stone or cement. His statue is placed near the entrance way. Chango is a warlike Orisha; he likes a lot of meat, cold weapon and huge sacrifices. Chango is a famous lover.

When he was king in Africa, he had two wives. He ruled them, the same as he ruled his country, for he is hard-tempered. O shun, Our Lady of Charity, is a patron for lovers. Now she is a wife of Chango.

Before she was married to Orunmilla. She loves parties and celebrations, no one have ever seen her crying. Oya has such a terrible face that anyone who looked at her can become mad or blind. When she possesses someone, nobody looked at her. She only dances warrior dances. Ye maya is an Orisha of game, joke and sorcery.

She is very graceful and very kind-hearted. She is full of love and tenderness, as a mother of all mankind. She dances with movements that are like the movement of the wave. Babalu-aye is a great healer. Once upon a time he brought a lot of diseases to his tribe, but now he is saving the people he has hurt before. His cures are always miraculous, especially among the people, who can not walk.

He is full of understanding of human sufferings and misery. He knows more about pain than any other Orisha. As we can see, Santeria is an important part of life in the region of Central America, especially Cuba. Many people throughout the world adhere Santeria, big quantity sympathies the rules of this mysterious cult, which combine the ancient rituals of Yoruban people with dogmas of Roman Catholic Church. Santeria is very important for Cubans; it is even called The Third Power, together with Che Guevara and Jesus Christ. The history of Santeria in Cuba was very dramatic and even bloody.

The first yoruban slaves had to hide their beliefs under the guise of the Catholic religion. With the coming of the communists Santeria could breath easily, but not for long. Communist government used santeria ns in order to weaken the positions of the Catholics. Only nowadays the Santeria religion does not have to hide, people can freely maintain their rituals and say their prayers. I think no religion in the world had had such an impetuous history of development with such a happy conclusion.