To the Santeros and to millions of practitioners, Santería is known simply as “the Religion.” Santería originated in Nigeria, with the Yoruba people who were brought to the New World by slave traders centuries ago. With the Yoruba came their religion, known in Cuba as Lucumí and in Brazil as Macumba and Candomblé. The Cuban Lucumís (Yoruba people) were also deeply influenced by the iconolatry of their Spanish masters, and to hide their religious practice for fear of persecution, they identified their deities with Catholic saints. Thus, Santería represents the syncretism between two different beliefs, the rites of the Yoruba and the traditions of the Catholic Church.

The deities, orishas, oversee each person's life and rule over all forces of nature and interact with humankind as ...