THE EPIPHANY AND THE CUBAN SANTERIA
Keywords:
EPIPHANY, CUBAN SANTERIAAbstract
Santeria, a religion of beauty and resilience, was able to survive and even prosper under very arduous conditions. Disguising their orlshes (deities) as Catholic saints, the santeros (Santeria priests and priestesses) Were able to continue the traditions they brought to Cuba from Africa right under the gaze of the Roman Catholic authorities which had pros- cribed their religion. For Complex reasons we will discuss ahead, the Catholic festival of the Epiphany became the most important festival for the practitioners of Santerla. Because Santeria, a religion practiced more or less secretly by millions of people.' mostly Cubans, has not received adequate scholarly attention, I Will pause here to briefly describe the religion.
References
Macumba. and Shango. Santeria. the Religion, (Harmony: New York. 1989) p. 9.
Lydia Cabrera. prologue to La Religion Afro-Cuban., Mercedee Cros Sandoval (Playor: Madrid. 1980) p, 6.
Philip Anthony Howard's, Culture, Nationalism,and Liberation,the Afro-Cuban Mutual Aid societies of the Nineteenth Century,Indiana University,198.8.
Joseph M. Murphy,Santeria,An African Religion In America (Beacon:Boston, 1988).p.30.
Fernando Ortiz, Le Fiesta Afro- Cubana del Dia de Reyes (Universal: Havens, 1925), p. 6.
