Professor Trumbull:

Your commentary with regard to Santeria in Cuba was forwarded to our editorial department at Commercial Data International. We acknowledge and appreciate your observation that Santeria is an essentially African religion. Indeed, we are always obliged when anyone offers suggestions that help us improve our product. Nevertheless, we stand by our asseveration that Santeria is a syncretistic amalgamate of the African religion, Orisha, and Roman Catholicism.

While the format of our 1998 Country Review precluded any lengthy exposition to this effect, I am sure that some further explanation might be in order. As a provider of global intelligence information, we at Commercial Data International pride ourselves on the accuracy of the information that we disseminate. Consequently, we intend to refine our description of Santeria in our 1999 edition, so that its complexity might be understood with greater clarity.

For your general interest, our reasons for maintaining our position are delineated following:

Santeria evolved in the Caribbean as a mélange of Orisha (a West African, specifically Yoruba, – belief system based on devotion to spirits) with traditional Roman Catholicism. It emerged during the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade when African slaves were brought to the New World, systematically Christianized, and disallowed to practice their ancestral religions, including Orisha devotion.

In response, African slaves developed a method for retaining some semblance of their native beliefs by equating each Orisha deity with a corresponding Roman Catholic saint. Interestingly the correlation was easily applied, as exemplified by the alignment of the Orisha spirit of war, "Oggzn", with St. Peter, patron saint of war.

The University of Virginia’s web site link on religion notes that "Santeria is a syncretism of a West African religion and European Catholicism" and it explicitly states that the belief system blends the religious practices of the Yoruba peoples of West Africa with Catholicism.

Further to that point, anthropologist, Felipe Dalmou, a specialist on Santeria, notes that the syncretism of African and Catholic belief systems tend to characterize the cultural framework of the Caribbean, and Santeria’s manifestation is found in the relationship between Catholicism and Orisha representational deities (see Dalmau, 1978:6).

As is the case across the expanse of the New World, religious and cultural syncretism was-- and continues to be -- the norm. The Brazilian Candomble Jege-Nago is a religious equivalent, and the Caribbean process of cultural creolization is yet another example.

One of the curious anomalies about Santeria is that observers find it difficult to comprehend how practitioners of Santeria could also practice Catholicism. Some scholars claim that Santeria and Catholicism are intrinsically related, with Orishas and Catholic saints being interchangeable. Others view both religions are related but distinct, in and of themselves. Regardless of which interpretation is promulgated, the fact remains that Santeria is a derivative of both West African Orisha devotion and Roman Catholicism.

It is worth considering that all "facts" are to be understood within an epistemological framework. Thus, an "essentialist" argument, with a firmly rooted telos, such as the idea that Santeria is incontrovertibly African, and it cannot easily be reconciled with any Christian denomination, such as Catholicism, is representative of the functionalist school of thought. Conversely, the more contemporary, structuralist and post-structuralist paradigms take into account the notion of adaptation, the influences of infrastructures, and other dynamics by which civilizations and ideologies are formed.

In so far as these theoretical approaches are applied to this discussion of Santeria, it should be noted that "living" religions do not, and can not, possess total and inceptive qualities. That is to say, Santeria may have evolved via African origins, but only in relationship with Catholicism. In this way, it is clearly a syncretistic amalgamate of both Orisha and Catholic devotion, and a matter of Afro-Cuban religious beliefs and practices.

Interestingly, its alternate terminology seems to express this very syncretism. Although it is generally referred to as Santeria, a preferred terminology is actually La Regla Lucumi, with the etymology of the word "lucumi" being a referent for Afro-Cuban religious modalities.

If you choose to explore this subject further, some reliable online sources include:

In textual form, reliable sources include:

Santeria from Africa to the New World by George Brandon, 1993

Santeria: The Religion by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, 1998

Speaking with the Dead: Development of Afro-Latin Religion by Andres Isidoro Perez y Mena, 1991

Dancing with the Saints by Miguel Santiago, 1993

Obatala, Chango y Ochun: Elementos Espirituales de la Santeria by Felipe Dalmau, 1978

A useful bibliographic source is Cuban Santeria: A Guide to Bibliographic Sources by Diana Gonzalez-Kirby and Sara Maria Sanchez, 1990.

Please take some time to consider the aforementioned communiqué, and feel free to provide any further commentary or critique you deem appropriate. As aforementioned, we are always pleased to receive feedback, and as a global information provider, we strive to put forth the most accurate data possible. Your observations will invariably be welcomed in this regard.

Yours very sincerely,

N. Denise Youngblood

Director, Country Briefings

Co-Managing Editor, Country Reviews