CUBAN TRANSITIONS

Religion transcends all barriers. We’ve known that for quite some time. Taking for example the religion of Santeria ( The Way of The Saints) (Alvarez, 1997). It was bought over by the slaves from Africa over to the New World. Majority of these slaves who were practicing this religion were shipped straight to the Carribean. Some of these followers were migrated to Cuba. As various other African families were brought to the New World through the slave trade, their religious practices became influenced by the surrounding beliefs, customs, and languages. This brought great diversity into the magical ceremonies of the African slaves. In Santeria, each person is born under a particular guardian saint (Orsha) that must be worshipped throughout life. (Bradley, 1996) The guardian saint is central to all rites and magic performed in Santeria. An essential part of those rituals involve the use of herbs, roots, flowers, plants, and animals.

In Cuba, Santeria or La Regla Lucumi, is a belief that helps its followers by providing them with guidance, wisdom and power in dealing with life’s hardships. Cuba nearly exists around Santeria. Santeria is a type of a syncretic religion due to its belief based on/around many religions. It has definitely become a strong symbol of the religious creativity of Afro-Cuban culture(Fernández Olmos, Margarite and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert, 2011).

During the Special Period, many people were put in difficult situations…economy was bad, survival was difficult for all citizens in the country. This in turn affected their psychological and emotional reasoning. To live on and have a peace of mind, they had to rely on Santeria for solace; as did their ancestors. This religion is based around doing good deeds and sacrifice, as are many other faiths. But the traditions of Santeria are fully preserved in songs, language, and rites.

At first, there were issues with Santeria and its followers by Revolutionary Cuba. In class readings it was revealed that the Afro-Cuban culture has survived the discriminations against the European hegemony of religion and culture in Cuba (Saunders, 2010). At one point, it was considered as a religion of the poor and uneducated. In recent years, Cuba
has noticed a vast majority of professionals and educated people who also have listed Santeria as being practiced. (Alvarez, 1997) The educated in Cuba were given a full responsibility to carry out methods by which they
could make improvement in the lives of all citizens. Their work and ethics combined with what Santeria has instilled in them, helped to improve society.

Santeria allows its followers to understand life and have it coexist with nature and all higher powers combined.  It is  about peaceful coexistance among all life. All living and non-living beings exist in harmony.