Knowra Santería Santería Santería is an Afro-Cuban religion that joins Yoruba-derived traditions with elements of Catholicism. Its practice centers on devotion to orishas through ritual, divination, music, and community life.
Orisha : A divine being in Yoruba religion and related traditions, associated with particular powers, stories, and forms of devotion. Santería’s central deities retain Yoruba identities while taking locally specific forms.
Ritual drumming in Santería : Ceremonial drumming that uses consecrated batá drums and prescribed rhythms in Santería worship. Drum rhythms praise orishas and can invite their presence during ceremonies.
Yoruba diaspora : The dispersal of Yoruba people and cultural traditions beyond Yorubaland, including through the Atlantic slave trade. Enslaved Yoruba people carried religious knowledge that shaped Cuba’s orisha traditions.
Candomblé : An Afro-Brazilian religion organized around devotion to orixás and shaped by West and Central African traditions. Both honor African-derived deities, but their histories, ritual languages, and institutions differ.
Afro-Cuban culture : The cultural traditions and identities formed by African-descended communities in Cuba. Santería is one expression of Afro-Cuban religious and cultural life.
Yoruba religion : The indigenous religious traditions of Yoruba-speaking peoples, centered on oriṣa, ancestors, divination, and ritual. Yoruba religious traditions supplied Santería’s principal spiritual framework.
Batá drums : A set of three double-headed drums used in Yoruba-derived religious music, including Santería ceremonies. These drums produce the sacred rhythms central to many orisha ceremonies.
Atlantic slave trade : The forced transportation of millions of Africans across the Atlantic from the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. The trade brought Yoruba people and other Africans to Cuba under colonial rule.
Vodou : A Haitian religion formed from African traditions, Catholic influences, and the historical experiences of enslaved people in Saint-Domingue. Vodou shares Atlantic-era religious adaptation with Santería but has distinct spirits and ceremonies.
Orisha worship in the Americas : Religious traditions across the Americas that preserve or adapt devotion to Yoruba-derived orishas. Santería belongs to a wider diaspora of orisha-centered traditions.
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