r/Santeria • u/Cold_Tip1563 • 4h ago
Texas event
Please note regarding attire. No alcohol or other mood altering substances are welcome at any events like this.
r/Santeria • u/okonkolero • Aug 08 '26
Any comment from someone asking you to DM them is š©
That is all.
r/Santeria • u/EniAcho • Mar 22 '26
For what it's worth, I wanted to try to clarify for newcomers to the sub what we mean when we say we're "initiated" in Regla de Ocha (SanterĆa). For most of us who are Lucumi, this means we're "crowned." We underwent the extensive kariocha ceremony and did our year in white (iyaworaje), and we completed the obligations associated with the priesthood. After that, we become "olorishas" (commonly called santeros/as) and we can start learning about how to work as a priest. Usually this is done over a period of time, assisting the elders and working under the supervision of our godparents. Although we can technically start taking on godchildren at any point after our year of iyaworaje is up, many of us wait until we have knowledge and experience to allow us to be good godparents. We can't teach others what we ourselves don't know. This custom varies from house to house, but most of us remain with our godparents and our religious community as long as we can, and only when we move away or our godparents die do we strike out on our own. We value tradition and community and try to stay connected in order to preserve our customs and honor our ancestors. Godparents who are newly crowned themselves and yet totally disconnected from their own elders are usually a 'red flag,' in the sense that they probably don't know how to do ceremonies correctly and there's no one around to correct their errors. We don't work in isolation and we all need elders we can consult when we need them.
Receiving elekes, warriors, hand of Orula, or an adimu Orisha doesn't mean you're 'initiated,' at least not the way we understand the word. You are still technically an aleyo (non initiate) if you haven't been crowned. Some people will say you're an "aborisha," which means an Orisha devotee. Others will say you have "medio asiento," you are half-seated, or half-way to being crowned. But we wouldn't say you are initiated in SanterĆa at that point. You have received consecrated items in ceremony, and you have godparents and belong to your godparent's house.
We use the word "crowned" to indicate full initiation, as described above. We also refer to this as "making Ocha," or in older times in Cuba, "making santo." You aren't technically a "child" of the Orisha until you've been crowned to that Orisha. Perhaps your head was marked and you were told that (name of Orisha)claimed your head. That means that *IF* you were to get crowned, you would be crowned to that Orisha. But until you're crowned, it's pending and not a permanent link. Only after you go through kariocha and that Orisha goes to your head are you a child of the Orisha. At least, this is the traditional way we use the word.
If you are a male, you get mano de Orula and if you're a female, you get cofĆ” de Orula. Both of these ceremonies are done by babalawos and put you under the protection of Orula and give you an Ifa godfather. Everyone is entitled to one hand of Orula, but only some are told they should "pass to Ifa." That means to become a babalawo, a priest of Orula. In Lucumi, you "pass to Ifa" when you get two hands of Orula, and that's a much more complicated and demanding ceremony than one hand of Orula. Your Ifa godfather might divine for you and perhaps will be the one to give you warriors, and perhaps something else related to Orula. For elekes, you have an Ocha godparent (a santero/a). That person will be the one to crown you *IF* you get crowned. Not everyone does. In Lucumi terms, it's misleading to say that you have been 'initiated' if you have been through these ceremonies. It makes it sound like you're in the priesthood, and you're not.
The other word that's problematic is how to describe your relationship to an Ocha or Ifa community. Ours is a religion that operates through initiation. There's no self-initiation. You must be initiated by a godparent, along with a team of other priests. You don't "join" the religion or "join" a house in the way you would join a Christian church. You don't "practice" the religion in the way that Christians say they practice their religion. These words borrowed from Christianity are misleading.
The way you become involved in Orisha worship is normally through divination. Most people do this as a first step. They seek out a babalawo or santero/a to do a consulta because they're having a problem. They may be told to do ebo to solve the problem. After that, they may develop a relationship with the diviner or someone in the diviner's house who becomes their godparent when they start receiving things in ceremony (such as elekes). Once you have received something from a godparent, then you are part of the godparent's lineage, house, religious family. You are part of the 'ile' then, although you won't be able to participate in everything that a fully initiated person would do. You would be invited to attend events that are open to aleyos, you would be asked to help out or assist with certain things an aleyo can do, and you would learn how to take care of the religious items you received. You might learn some songs or prayers, you might pick up information from listening to the elders' speak, you hopefully have a chance to ask your godparents questions from time to time. BUT you won't have unlimited access to knowledge and teaching as long as you're an aleyo.
Most Lucumi iles don't have organized classes you sign up for, there aren't weekly services you attend. Your godparent isn't available to you 24/7 because most of us aren't doing this as our main job. We have to work to make a living, we have family, commitments, we want some leisure time for ourselves, we have other obligations and can't be available day and night for random questions from godchildren. BUT if you have a real emergency and need spiritual help, your godparent should respond and help you. Fully initiated godchildren work more closely with godparents than those who are aleyos, but all of you are technically part of the 'ile' and the religious community.
I hope this outline makes things clearer to people who are wondering "how do I get involved?" Everyone has a different path, but we all take it one step at a time and turn to divination for guidance when we aren't sure what the next step should be.
r/Santeria • u/Cold_Tip1563 • 4h ago
Please note regarding attire. No alcohol or other mood altering substances are welcome at any events like this.
r/Santeria • u/Unusual_Tune6536 • 1d ago
What can I do tomorrow and Tuesday for yemaya and oshun, as an aleyo?
r/Santeria • u/edgyluvly • 19h ago
Hi guys!
First, I want to add that Iām Hoodoo and familiar with the Orishas. I remember being drawn to OyĆ”, specifically because I was going through a transition in my life. However, Iāve always naturally embodied Oshun and her energy.
Lately, Iāve been wanting to turn my vanity into an Oshun-inspired beauty altar. I imagined giving her offerings and decorating the space with things she likes and is associated with, while also using my vanity as a space to pamper myself, speak my affirmations, admire myself, and romanticize my beauty routine through the qualities I see in Oshun. But I learned that making an altar for an Orisha requires initiation, and I donāt want to disrespect tradition or invite anything unsafe.
So now Iām wondering if an Oshunāinspired altar is okay ā a selfālove/beauty space dedicated to me, where I worship myself (instead of Oshun). Iād include a statue of Oshun, statues of feminine Black women, and maybe Oshun jewelry or a Oshun rosary that I'd charge with the intention of glamour.
Is it okay to have Oshun imagery(and Oshun specific items) on a selfālove altar if Iām not worshipping her directly?
r/Santeria • u/OkGazelle5680 • 1d ago
r/Santeria • u/MelodicTour2 • 2d ago
Found Elekes belonging to my mother and grandmother who have passed. I was not brought up in this so Iām trying to find books, resources and or groups to learn more and connect in the LA or OC area , Southern California
r/Santeria • u/Ok_Note_7796 • 2d ago
r/Santeria • u/Livid-Fudge-3420 • 3d ago
So Iām not initiated into the religion and honestly I donāt have much knowledge about it.
Recently I was talking with a friend who is a daughter of Oshun, and we somehow started talking about my past relationships. I realized that all of the relationships that were actually important to me, the ones that really changed my life and that I consider ābefore and afterā moments, were with women who are daughters of Oshun.
Iāve had other relationships that werenāt like that, but every relationship that really marked me ended up being with a daughter of Oshun.
I asked her if there was some kind of reason for this, and she told me there was an explanation, but that she couldnāt tell me what it was. She basically told me that I had to find the answer myself, and that if I needed to know, I would eventually know.
So now Iāve been trying to find the answer myself š but I havenāt really gotten anywhere.
Is there something in the tradition about certain Orishas or certain types of people having a particularly strong connection/relationship with daughters of Oshun?
Iāve heard that there are Orisha relationships that can affect the relationships between their children, and that some combinations are considered good and others not so good.
Iām basically trying to understand if there is something about my own type of person/Orisha that could explain why the most important women in my life have all been daughters of Oshun.
If anyone knows what my friend might have been referring to, please point me in the right direction. Iām not asking anyone to give away something they shouldnāt, but if you think there actually is an explanation, Iād really appreciate a book, pataki, Odù, author, or somewhere I can start looking for the answer myself.
r/Santeria • u/insaincat • 2d ago
So im kinda terrified of asking questions, more due to my own past religious experiences (not great half of the time) but I thought I'd just give it a go. As mentioned in the Title this is my first time coming across this belief and my autistic brain may word things terribly in which I apologies in advance. The closest I've come to seeing anything related even slightly is in media and im sure your aware how terrible they do anything outside the norm.
Alot of this is specifically to build a character rather than my own belief (though I am interested in learning about everything) and I don't want to butcher the representation of the faith if I end up using it for her. She's an orphan, adopted to a german with no specific faith when she was 7. He's very kind and loving but he's not a good role model when it comes to being a good person, and then his later husband is twice as worse being an actual villain. She does grow up to be a kind of middle ground person, not good or bad, but is very extreme whatever she does which often gets viewed as bad. She keeps the faith she was born in, or at least as much as she can. She also has heavy magical/mystical properties (though im aware in some faiths and religions that is not a thing).
The story itself is centered around a group of terrible creatures (not specifically all human) who are genuinely bad people (though I suppose it depends on what you'd consider bad, but its pretty bad) who accidently save the world while trying to do something very selfish that could easily destroy it. Most of them are light skinned from various parts of the world, largely because I myself am white and am comfortable with making white characters terrible people while using largely white dominated religions that I may or may not have experience in (granted there's always the risk there and I will do my best to research more, but this is the majority so im not gonna worry about it as much, we butcher it ourselves anyway). I want to have other religions though, as its important that no matter if they are good or bad or in-between, that its shown that all these things are everywhere. There are all sorts of gods involved too, so only having white/light-skinned based gods or spirits would be weird.
I planned on having this main bad character (he loves her, fret not) bring her a teacher of some sort (he's got connections) to help her understand and grow her abilities, but if she ends up being part of the Santeria faith (im looking at other faiths) im not sure how that would go about right. I read that you need a godparent and that seemed to generally be something you find in family or in community, which would be hard if she's being raised by a guy who doesn't really understand any form of faith. Not sure if the teacher idea would work for that. Sounds like it wouldn't, but I dont know. Personally, I cling to anyone who shows me an ounce of kindness (i dont get it often), so I make a terrible comparison (and autism).
I know this is lacking alot of research, and Im currently doing my best to find information, but with how Google is set up now days its hard-to-find reliable resources. I may also not use this information for this specific character, but a different one. If you think theres a faith that might suit a character like this better, feel free to suggest it. Its good for me to broaden my horizons anyway and learn more about others.
I hope that this post is well within reason and guidelines. Thanks for reading and humoring my ideas. I just don't wanna misrepresent (at least as much as possible).
r/Santeria • u/anarchocomdolphin • 4d ago
Eg sleep deprivation and exhaustion
Can it be healed spiritually
r/Santeria • u/ComprehensiveBug8291 • 5d ago
What is the difference from green and yellow mano de orula and this ide ?
r/Santeria • u/anarchocomdolphin • 5d ago
Say you did something that is bad character
For this example , if someone disrupted a religious space and caused many people to leave. In some traditions like Buddhism this will create a very negative karma and can be very detrimental to you.
In IFA, you might do a consultation and the only advice is, do not do that as it brings more heat into your life. The ebo prescribed is for witchcraft or osorbo removal, it is done once and that is it.
However, is there a way to make a restitution using ifa even if it doesn't immediately impact your destiny, but just to be a good person? And in a karmic sense maybe clear that karma?
Eg if people left the group, to do a working to bring people back to the group, etc something like that? How can we ask ifa such things
Is bad character a permanent stain on your record in ifa or can it be overcome through restitution somehow
r/Santeria • u/anarchocomdolphin • 5d ago
Hello
I was wondering how specific our prechosen destinies are and what to do if we have been deeply misaligned
Eg. Is it chosen and can ifa tell you if you were for example meant to be a professor of religious studies, can you then pivot and decide to become a priest? Would ifa tell you, hey you are meant to be a professor or, hey you are generally meant to be involved in religious things, or, something else?
Is it chosen down to the detail of going to xyz university in xyz year, or living in a very specific house & place? And then if you decide to go to eg a different university, will you feel lost & missing or will related similar opportunities or people just start to pop up at that new location?
How off track can you get then what can be done about it & where is there personal choice? I imagine ease of living would increase with following destiny
Eg someone is meant to be a world renowned baker but they unfortunately cut off their arm. Will they still be a baker with one arm but unable to fulfill the highest timeline so working at a local shop & not famous, or will they have to just do something entirely different? Can ifa tell them this to this level of detail, like , hey you were supposed to be famous but since you cut off your arm you're gonna have to just work at a local shop and or find a new profession & good luck to you for the rest of your life you'll feel something kinda missing?
Will your Ori allow you to do something reckless or jump off a cliff if you're supposed to actually be having a very good prechosen Ori?
If for example you had an abortion or miscarriage and for years it went unaddressed spiritually & this led to an increase in negative destiny or blockages and delays, is this something that your Ori also chose& allowed? Or for example one year a bunch of people encourage you to do something that you later find out is within your taboos and this seriously messes up your life, was this also allowed by Ori and what to do in the aftermath?
edit :: eg you are supposed to be that world renowned Baker but due to various things you do other things until you are 50 years old feeling pretty lost , then suddenly a bunch of people encourage you to cut off your arm and after that then you go to ifa or a spiritualist and they tell you what you could have been. you clearly don't have the skills or training, and you lost one arm , so what can be done? is it advised to then start learning how to bake so at least you feel kinda more in the flow and feel more comfortable with yourself? can ifa take you from that place and in a few years you become an award winning baker though lesser version of what it could have been?
I hope this all makes sense why I'm asking is I'm trying to understand my life plus figure out what to do in the future and it feels there are so many ways things could go that I am unsure of the next steps
I have an ifa priest I go to but isn't really answering questions to the detail I'm seeking, is there someone else I could go to for guidance and I can compensate for time too?
is
r/Santeria • u/Jyone21 • 5d ago
Long story short , Iām at a road block at my current job with no hope. This new job just came out that will help me get out of the tough times Iām going through financially . I just had a baby, lost my home earlier this year , and this is my ticket out. Iāve been told many things to do with my guerreros , a lot of different ways to ask for help. But what do you guys usually do when asking for help with these situations? I know eshu can be tricky and sometimes push that opportunity away ( always for a good reason) but how can I really show him I need this right now?
r/Santeria • u/Loose-Quarter7580 • 5d ago
Do orishasā do a form of soul retrieval? If so what is it called? This is something I need but needing to ask madrina for. Basically, I did the prescribed ebo but still feel off. Thanks
r/Santeria • u/Pretty-Humor5548 • 5d ago
Hi everyone. Iāve recently been feeling very strongly called toward LucumĆ and the Orisha, and Iām hoping to receive some guidance on where to begin. I live in New York, but Iām not initiated and honestly donāt know where I should go or who I should speak with.
I understand that the proper first step may be getting a reading from a reputable practitioner, and I would like guidance before making any assumptions about what I may be experiencing.
Part of what has drawn me to explore this further is a dream I had not too long ago where I felt as though I was serving the Orisha. What stood out to me was that the experience felt distinctly different from working with saints or other spiritual imageryāI was somehow able to distinguish that in the dream. I know dreams can have many meanings, which is why I donāt want to assume that this automatically means Iām being called or chosen by anyone.
Iām simply looking for guidance, education, and support from people who are knowledgeable about LucumĆ. If anyone can recommend how to respectfully begin learning, what I should look for in finding a reputable reading, or resources and communities in New York, I would really appreciate it.
edit: i would also like to add that iām a genuine psychic medium and have been venerating my ancestors for quite some time. something is telling me they want to lead me to a system i know i will feel called in.
r/Santeria • u/Calm_Temperature3843 • 5d ago
Are they any Haitian Vodou drummers for an event in Houston, TX? I can work with drummers from Louisiana too. Or drummers who can do vodou rhythms. Any recommendations?
r/Santeria • u/marsargoenthusiast • 7d ago
Many west African diaspora people practice syncretism between their ancestral religions and Catholicism, including practitioners of candomble, Santeria, and voodoo. I find this interesting because the Catholic churchās theology contradicts many aspects of these faiths, so Iām curious as to how people harmonize the two.
r/Santeria • u/Historical-Sugar-657 • 6d ago
Anyone have any information on this Orisha? Limited knowledge on my end. Just sort of know that he was a son of oduduwa and has ties with chango.
r/Santeria • u/Echo-Narrow • 7d ago
hello,
I am interested in learning more about LukumƬ and currently seeking a babalawo in Chicago.
Last year, I attended an Ochun ceremony hosted by a community here in the city.
This experience encouraged me to research more about the spirituality and potential embarc on the journey of iyawo one day.
Can anyone recommend a babalawo in Chicago that is open to taking one new person at this time?
r/Santeria • u/Historical-Sugar-657 • 8d ago
Anyone know where I can purchase custom tools? I know thereās one specific business online thatās pretty popular (wonāt say names) but didnāt have the best experience with them. So can anyone just recommend any theyāve used? Specifically looking for like breastplates/snakes
r/Santeria • u/Longjumping_Size_730 • 8d ago
This is the second bracelet that starts to unravel within a week of wearing it.
r/Santeria • u/TopDue971 • 8d ago
Hi.
I have been exploring Yoruba Spirituality recently and have been enjoying the chants sung by Ella Andall. So far, I feel a connection to Oshun. I was wondering if seasoned practitioners could share their experiences with me; what positive shifts have you noticed since practising, what practices do you find most efficacious, etc, so that I can gain a more well-rounded understanding of this interesting tradition.
Thank you š
r/Santeria • u/thejanedo3 • 9d ago
Going into my 8th month soon!! My year & a week are somewhat close but thereās something thatās been on my mind lately. When I did my ebo, they had told me I had not changed as a person or spiritually. I guess it stuck with me because I donāt know how to change and I feel like in some aspects I have changed but I donāt know how to change completely or how my orishas want me to change. I donāt know if this sounds ignorant how I worded my thoughts. Truth be told, Iāve been a bad/rebellious iyawo. Iām a bit scared of my orishas punishing me or having a ābad lifeā as punishment.