On November 15th, Daniel Rodruiguez came to the Fleming Museum to give a talk on Cuban Santeria called “Thrones of the Gods, Altars of the Soul.” Rodruiguez is a Oba Oriate of the Santeria religion, or in other words a priest; more specifically, he is the priest of the Orisha Shango. A priest of Shango came to speak to the public to inform others of the truths of Santeria and discuss the idea behind the Birthday Altar present in the museum.

According to Rodruiguez, Santeria is the fastest growing non-stream religion that is based on an energy called ashe. While this religion follows a very strict set of rules and is about helping live one’s life to the fullest potential through gods called Orisha, it is not deemed a true religion and has a negative meaning to most non practitioners. As Rodruiguez explained, animal sacrifice, which is involved in Santeria, makes most people believe this religion involves satanic rituals. These accusations are far from true, as was discussed during the lecture. Practitioners of Santeria do not believe in the concept of the “devil” and sacrifice animals only to give ashe to the Orisha in ceremonial rituals. Elizabeth Perez describes what ashe is in her text, “Cooking for the Gods”, in the section The ache of ashes, “Such sacrificial offerings… have been seen to transfer the primordial energy called ache from the blood of animals to the orishas’ implements…” Perez also goes into detail about a topic Rodruiguez went over, animals used in sacrificed are also used to cook for the gods so they are not wasted, this is seen in the section Blessed butchery, “These animals then had to be cleaned, quartered, and roasted in a highly systematized manner, in order to convert the carcasses into meals for the gods.” When perez stated, “…in a highly systematized manner…”, it refers back to Rodruiguez’s description of Santeria having strict rules. After explaining the idea that animal sacrifice is done in a humane way, Rodruiguez went on to tell the public about an important altar in the religion. The Birthday Altar is created for priests to honor the day they were initiated into priesthood. The Priest’s Orisha are displayed on separate altars, organized by height to show the hierarchy between the gods, with the priest’s main Orisha in the center. For Rodruiguez, Shango would be the center of the Birthday Altar. Each tiny altar is decorated with objects and colors representing the Orisha. By the end of the lecture Rodruiguez had informed the audience on the true meanings of Santeria and the idea behind the Birthday Altar.

The altar concept is an important idea in African diaspora religions, it is “… a place consecrated to devotional exercises… Anchoring men and women at life’s deepest moments…”, as stated by Robert Farris Thompson in the first paragraph of his work, “Face of the Gods: Art and Altars of Africa and the African Americas.” Thompson’s idea of an altar was seen in the lecture given by Daniel Rodruiguez. Altars are used for devotional exercises towards Orisha, Rodruiguez showed this by performing a ceremonial prayer while shaking a maraca in front of the Birthday Altar to pray to the main goddess, Yemoja. Altars represent important moments in people’s lives, which is seen by Rodruiguez’s job. As a priest Rodruiguez travels across the country to do ceremonies involving altars to help people through important moments in their lives, an example is when one is initiated into Santeria. Without altars there is no way to embody an Orisha and in turn no way to honor them. Altars give Santeria practitioners a way to honor their gods and help them through their lives.

In conclusion, this lecture was very helpful in better understanding Cuban Santeria and the ideas behind the Birthday Altar. Before attending this lecture I did not agree with animals sacrifice as a religious practice, but Daniel Rodruiguez was able to change my opinion. Animal sacrifice in Santeria is no different than slaughtering animals for food, and the fact that every part of the animal is used during the ceremony gave me a whole new perspective on the traditions of the religion. Daniel Rodruiguez’s talk on Santeria will leave you with a better understanding of the religion and will change any previously negative views about the practices of Santeria. It was definitely a lecture worth attending and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about a new religion.

Thompson, Robert. Face of the Gods: The Artists and Their Altars. UCLA James S. Coleman African Studies Center, 1995. Page 20.

Perez, Elizabeth. Cooking for the gods: sensuous ethnography, sensory knowledge, and the kitchen in Lucumi tradition. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2011. Pages 667-668.