Daniel Rodríguez is an initiated Santería priest, specifically a priest of Shango. His talk given on November 15th was focused on Cuban Santeria and was titled “Thrones of the Gods, Altars of the Soul. Rodríguez discussed the concept of Santería in today’s society and went over the significance of the Orishas represented in each piece in the birthday altar created in the Fleming Museum.
Due to recent events in our society, one major point of Rodríguez lecture was the negative notation associated with Santería. This is the reason why the word Santería has a negative reaction when said in today’s society because they associate this word with witchcraft. Rodríguez believed this was a very important topic to discuss to further understand the religion as a whole. He makes a point about the benefits that come from speakers like himself talking to a crowd about what is true about this religion.
The Afro-Cuban religion Santeria translated into “the way of Orisha” is a religion that was brought from Africa by slavery to the Caribbean. It is today the fasted nonmainstream religion in the world. It is based on a hierarchy which can be achieved by years of commitment to the religion and the Orishas. Rodríguez was initiated for 31 years, and over the years he has built himself to be a higher individual in the religion of Santeria, as a priest. When discussing the altar itself that is present in the exhibit in the Fleming Museum, Rodríguez makes a point to note that this is not what to expect for an individual like himself even though he has been a practitioner of Santeria since he was seven. When first initiated, an individual receives a few objects of a few specific Orisha. Initially, a practitioner only worships a small amount of Orisha and gradually can build up to gain more Orisha to worship. In sum, the altar in the Fleming Museum is a big extravagant representation of Santeria, but it does not represent the personal and simple altars found in homes of common initiates.
Yemoja is the goddess of this altar. Depicted by the arrangement of the altar, her high stance above all the other gods and goddesses surrounding her tells of her importance. The altar is also framed by blue fabrics, and her vessel is covered with white. Both these colors are associated with Yemoja. The other vessels are representing other gods and goddesses, but due to the shrine being devoted to Yemoja they must lie lower in height to honor her importance. This is an example of how the hierarchy is present in the religion of Cuman Santeria. Specific gods have positions in the religion. It is believed that Obatala is equivalent to Jesus. He is believed to have created all humans and all other Orisha. His high position is represented not only by their height in the altar but also their position from the center. Those closest to the center are thought to be higher in power.
Daniel Rodríguez’s talk on Cuban Santeria titled “Thrones of the Gods, Altars of the Soul was well worth attending. His topics of how Santeria is seen globally was fascinating to hear. I also took a lot from his analysis of the birthday altar. I knew previously that this was not an ordinary altar presented in average homes, but I was intrigued to hear that an initiate only starts out with very few Orisha to worship. I am curious to know how one gains Orisha to worship, how do individuals know which Orisha are right for them?