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Vodou
• Vodou was carried to the
Americas within the bodies, minds and souls of enslaved Africans
of many ethnic lineages during the Diaspora of the slave trade.
It is the general term for a number of similar African religions
which mutated in the Americas.
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Vodoun recognizes one supreme unknowable all-powerful god.
Below this force is a pantheon of spirits, or Loa, that rule
over earthly existence. Each of these spirits is called upon
for help and offerings are made to them to ensure success
in all matters of health, love and money.
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West Africa is acknowledged as the holyland that gives rise
to the Loas (spirits) and to humanity.
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Commonalities of the many spiritual traditions include the
importance of ancestors, the belief in an Omnipresent Creator
and the many spirits (Loas or Orishas)that can enter the human
body and believed to be present in all realms of nature. Loa
establish links between human activities and various aspects
of the natural world.
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Voodoo has syncretized with Western traditions including Catholicism.
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Santeria
• Santeria is an African-based
religious system of Caribbean origin. It embodies beliefs
of the Yoruba and Bantu people of West Africa.
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Santeria's roots date back to the slave trade when Yoruba
natives were transported from Africa to the Caribbean. Suppressed
by the Roman Catholic church, they found a way of keeping
their old beliefs alive by equating each African deity (Orishas)
of their traditional religions with a corresponding Christian
Saint. This created a fusion of the two religions.
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