This week is holy week according to the christian calendar. I notice that a number of Santeros on this site list their religion as Catholic. I am wondering how they reconcile their faiths at this time. Across Orishaland there are many Orisha practitioners who “close shop” this week. Many people claim that during holy week, the Orishas have to covered, bovedas dismantled and all rituals suspended.
I try as best I can to follow the Regla de Ocha as practised by my mayores, but there is something in me that rejects this syncretic manisfestation. In my Ile, my madrina suspends all Ocha work, she however continues Palo work. My position is one of ambivalence, and it stems from my questioning whether this isn’t a matter of latent “cultural imperialism “, that is privileding one religous system over another. Where did we get the notion that Orisha has to be subsumed under Christ’s resurrection? No other religions alter their practices during holy week. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhist all carry on as normal, so why should Santeros and Lukumis not follow likewise.
This Orisha-Christian dichotomy is interesting, and believe me I have been there, I was born pentecostal, raised catholic, and now I am a practising Lukumi. I recognize and respect all religions. and would love to see the them coexisting without one interfering with the other.
Piedraderayo of MySanteria.com or Santeriareligion101.com
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