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Santeria Church of the Orishas

Dedicated to the religion of Santería and worship of the Orishas

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Ancestors

A Cuban olorisha – priest of Chango

Ancestral spirits are one of the most important aspects to Santeria both in daily practice and in every ritual we

perform. In the religion of Santeria (Lucumi/Lukumi) every newcomer begins their journey by learning to build arelationship with their ancestral spirits. We say that “if we stand tall it is because we stand on the shoulders of ourancestors and are reaching for the Orishas“.

To the Lucumi people and to their ancestors the Yoruba, the spirits of the dead were friendly allies. They didn’t fearthe spirits of the dead, they petitioned them for help and honored them with libations and offerings. Back in Yorubaland, families would bury their deceased loved ones in the floors of their homes. Their beloved ancestors wereliterally under their feet and still lived close to the family. The dead are considered spiritually close to humanity andhave a vested interest in our success.

The Lucumi (Lukumi) people have a very strong element of ancestral worship in their standard religious practice,but there was a marked lack of the worship of non-ancestral guide spirits. As the Lucumi people interacted with theCongo people who do have a strong non-ancestral spiritual tradition, and with Spiritualism (Espiritismo Cruzado),they began to incorporate more Spiritualist practices into the religion of Santeria to make room for non-ancestralspirits.

Egun (Blood and Religious Lineage Ancestors)

A traditional Lucumi Egun shrine with offerings

Ancestors of blood relation or of religious lineage are collectively called Egun. Egun are critical to our religiousfunctions in Santeria. They are always propitiated first (even before the Orisha Eleggua) because we say the deadgive birth to the orishas (The dead give way to the orishas). As part of our veneration of Egun, we call upon thenames of our religious ancestors and our blood ancestors every time we recite our moyuba (mojuba) prayer. We alsomake offerings of food, favorite drinks and songs to our Egun before any religious ceremony, and before theceremony can proceed, Egun must give us permission through Obi divination.

The Egun shrine in Santeria is not an altar with saint statues or glasses of water on it. It is drawn on the floor,typically against a wall, with cascarilla (powdered egg shell). A circle is drawn with half of it on the wall and thelower half on the ground. This symbolizes the sun setting in this world and rising in the world of the spirits. Thismarks an area where Egun can be propitiated, contacted and receive sacrifices. Typically nine different drinks areplaced in that circle. Any drinks that your Egun would have enjoyed are appropriate but commonly people offercoffee, rum, water, tea, juice, or even coca-cola. In addition to these items, a white candle is often lit and placed inthe circle to offer light and energy to Egun.

Finally, a special staff or cane is placed at the shine called the opá ikú (staff of death). The oká ikú is decorated withstrips of cloth or ribbons in nine different colors (nine is a number often associated with the dead), and often jinglebells are attached to the staff in some way. The opá iku is used when praying the moyuba (mojuba) to the ancestors,by tapping it on the ground to call up Egun to be present. In the Yoruba homeland, the tapping of this staff wasliterally done on top of the graves of the buried ancestors in the home to call them up and bear witness.

Egun are also venerated with special drum ceremonies where they can take possession of those present and danceand revel with the participants, or with other sacrifices or offerings at the Egun shrine. A strong relationship withEgun is important to spiritual evolution and in order for your path in life to be clear and easy. All Egun are araorún(citizens of heaven) but not all araorún are Egun (blood or religious ancestors).

Araorún (Ara Onú) – Non-Ancestral Spirits

A spiritualist altar to propitiate ouraraorún including Indian and Congospirit guides

As the Lucumi people in Cuba began to follow the practices of Spiritualism (Espiritismo Cruzado) they began towork more and more with spirit guides. These spirits are friendly spirits or guardian spirits that are not of bloodancestry, nor of religious lineage. These are known as araorún (or ara onú) meaning “citizens of heaven”. These caninclude indian spirit guides, pirate spirits, gypsy spirits, madama spirits, or spirit guardians of other traditions notassociated with the person they protect. These classes of spirits are commonly addressed through Spiritual Masses(Misas Espirituales) using Spiritualist practices of mediumship, prayer and transmission of psychic information.

Spiritual Masses are a result of a combination of traditonal Kardecian Spiritism (the spiritualist techniques taught byAllan Kardec in the 1800ʹ′s) blended with many of the Congolese spiritual traditions of using herbs for spiritualcleansings, using smoke of cigars or spirt possession. Spiritual masses allow the faithful to connect with theirguardian spirits, send healing energy to dark or troubled spirits that may need help in crossing into heaven, or togive and receive spiritual cleansings to assist in spiritual development. The development of mediumship skills arethe primary focus of spiritual masses and they are often led by an experienced medium who can guide and teachothers. They are heavily syncretized and the recitation of Catholic prayers is typically the mode used to enter intomeditation and trance.

The center of worship for araorún in Santeria is the Spiritualist Altar called a bóveda (BO-veh-dah). The bóveda istypically a table or altar covered with a white cloth upon which are placed 7 (or 9) goblets with clear water in them.Typically one of the glasses is larger than the rest. Commonly a crucifix is placed on the altar along with offeringsof flowers, photos of the deceased (only) and occasionally offerings of cigars or drinks that spirit guides may askfor. It is common for statues of indians, congo men, mammy-styled women, gypsies and other dolls to be placed onthe altar as representatives or vessels for guardian spirits. Worship at the bóveda is a strictly Spiritualist (EspiritismoCruzado) ritual function and in the strictest sense is not Lucumí (Lukumi) religion, but it has become an inseparablepart of most religious function in Santeria.

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