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Who are the Santeria Orishas?

orishas

There are many Orishas in the Santeria tradition, some are very known: Elegua, Ogun, Ochosi, Obatala, Chango, Oshun, Yemaya, Oya, others are not as popular, but not least powerful.

Anyone can call the Orishas for help, the Orisha Spirits are everywhere and you do not need to be initiated to call for their help or favors.

You can prepare small altars, make offerings and pay homage to any Orisha, however, you must understand and acknowledge the fact that that building an altar or having an amulet done for any Orisha does not mean that you have that Orisha, you cannot self-initiate to Santeria. Santeria initiations and consultations must be done in person by a qualified Santero or Babalawo!

It is always a good idea to discuss what you want to do with an initiated priest, sometimes the Orishas may not want what you are offering or there may be other Orishas willing to come and help you.  In the Santeria Tradition, initiated priests have the tools to ask the Orishas what they want for every situation and we always ask them before we set any offerings. Sometimes the Orisha you feel attracted to may not be your guardian or ruling Orisha.

The Orisha’s energies are part of nature, Elegua is everywhere, but always work for him in the bushes, if you want to talk to Oshun, you go to the river, if you want to talk to Yemaya, go to the ocean, to reach for Obatala, go to the highest mountain close to you, works for Ogun are best if done in the railroads, for Oya in the Cemetery and so on ..

But It is not wise to invoke the energy of any Orisha if you are not initiated, even initiated priests have to train themselves how to work with their own Orishas, this is living energy and can cause huge problems in untrained hands or unprepared bodies.

The energy of the Orishas is everywhere, just look around you, they always protect and hear you even when you think they may not.

Ashe
Yaya Maria

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Prayer to The Orishas

May Elegua open the doors of opportunities and remove obstacles from your path
May Ogun to give you the courage to overcome your problems and defeat your enemies
May Oshosi bring Justice and Balance to your life
May Orula bestow his Wisdom upon you
May Obatala bring Peace, Tranquility, and Harmony to your life
May Babalu Aye heal your body and soul
May Olokun grant stability to your being
May Yemaya renovate and refresh your life with the powers of her waters
May Chango give you the strength to fight and win your battles
May Oshun fulfill your dreams of love and riches
May Oya bring with her Winds of change and prosperity to your realm

Ashe
Yaya Maria

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The Role of Women in Palo Mayombe

The rules of Palo Mayombe have limitations and restrictions on the role of women.tata

This is a well-known phenomenon suffered by women around the world in different spiritual practices. Mothers, Yayas, and Godmothers play a secondary role in the most important rites of Palo Mayombe: Initiation ceremonies The preparation of the fundamentos (Ngangas) The sacrifice of four-legged animals

Despite the above-mentioned limitations, the role of women in Palo Mayombe is very important and essential for numerous reasons. Yayas do not initiate, but they play important roles in the initiation ceremonials, they bring balance and support the Tatas and the godchildren of the house, Yayas are the godmothers who give strength and guidance, Yayas are a powerful source of light and spiritual development, Yayas often represent the maternal side of Palo Mayombe.

Women represent the universal source of life. Women represent the powers of birth and creation, we all come from women. It is an undeniable fact that when it comes to consultations, healing, spiritual baths, cleansings, protection works, love spells, amulets, makutos, spiritual development, and so on, Yayas are natural witches and their powers are unlimited when it comes to witchcraft, the works of the Yayas is as powerful as they come, never underestimate the powers of a Yaya when she works with her Nganga.

In Palo Mayombe women can have their fundamento (nganga), a Yaya who has her fundamento is called Yaya Nganga, it means Yaya who owns her Nganga, a Yaya who does not have her own fundamento is called Yaya Nkisi. Yayas Nganga can attend and work their ngangas as long as they are not in their menstrual cycle.

The relationship between Tatas and Yayas has been based on mutual respect, priests know they need and complement each other, there is no Yaya without a Tata, but there is no Tata without a Yaya.

By means of this article, I want to pay homage to two powerful and famous Yayas Na Secundina and Na Filomena.

These two women were native from Congo, brought as slaves to the Sugar Mill of Santa Amalia, founded in 1853 in the town of Cimarrones, Matanzas. The town became famous for its surrounding forests, a shelter for runaway slaves, and for the miracle cures practiced by means of herbs and leaves collected in this fertile area.

Legends say that Na Secundina and Na Filomena were able to bring men back to life; they used to spend nights of prayers, cleansings, and works with the spirits to make people come back to life. The stories of the powers of healing and resurrections performed by these two powerful Yayas have been passed verbally from generation to generation. Na Filomena and Na Secundina were Yayas Nganga, they prepared their fundamentos (ngangas) by themselves using the knowledge they brought from their natal Congo.

We should never forget to honor and respect our ancestors, all the men, and women who planted the roots of Palo Mayombe, despite being taken from their natal lands and the resentments caused by their condition as slaves.

Vocabulary:
Tata – Palo Mayombe High Priest
Tata Nganga – Tata who has his fundamento
Tata Nkisi – Tata who does not have his fundamento
Yaya – Palo Mayombe Initiated High Priestess
Yaya Nganga – Yaya who has her fundamento
Yaya Nkisi – Yaya who does not have her fundamento
Fundamento – Nganga – Cauldron of the Spirits

Ashe

Yaya Maria

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The Important Role and Legacy of Women in Santeria

Women were the shapers of the Santeria traditions we practice today.

Nowadays Santeria, The Ocha Rule, is practiced all over the world, Santeria originated in Cuba, every single Santeria Priest anywhere in the world has a link of origin to a Santeria house in Cuba and most of those houses have a woman at its root, it is very important to learn to respect our religion, its roots and the women who made it possible.

Up until the mid-1930s, women wielded tremendous power as heads of almost all of the most influential Santeria houses and almost all of Santeria’s family trees have a woman as the root.

Women, in fact, held most of the power in the religion, ruling as heads of houses and as Oriatés until well into the 20th century.

It was relatively recently that men have come to take over the roles that were exclusively held by women. Since the 1800s most houses of Santo were formed and ruled by women.

Women were the real movers and shakers and they were the main force who shaped Santeria and its initiations into what it is today. Almost all the branches of the religion were founded by women.

Today I want to honor tribute and my respects to all the women who created the legacy of the Santeria religion, the famous and the not so famous, they are an important part of our history and I feel empowered and honored every time I name them in my prayers.

Today I Mojugba (I give praise) to the effort, hard work, and contributions of all the important Santeras (Santeria High Priestess) who left their legacy to the new generations and I hope the new generations of Santeros do not forget their roots and learn to respect the role of women and the roots of the Santeria tradition.

Aurora Lamar (Obá Tolá) – Founder of Branch La Pimienta
Timotea “Latuán” Albear – Founder of the Branch La Pimienta.
Ña Belén Gonzales (Apoto) – Root of the pimienta, culo verde, and trapito branches
Rosalía Gramosa (Efuché Warikondó) – Founder of La Rama de los Millonarios- The Reformer of the Religion
Susana Cantero (Omí Toké) Founder of the Rama Coral
Ña Margarita Armenteros (Aina) Founder of the house San Jose 80
Ña Caridad Argudín founded the Cabildo Africano Lucumí
Josefa Herrera ruled The Cabildo de Yemayá in Regla
Susana Cantero ruled another Cabildo de Yemayá.
Fermenita Gómez (Ocha Bí), founded the Cabildo de Ferminita Gómez, one of the great centers of Olokun worship.
Ma Monserrate Gonzales (Obá Tero) a core foundation of the religion in Matanzas

And so many more…..

The founders and leaders of most of the Santeria houses were women who ruled entirely or shared that rule with their Babalawo husbands.

Women traditionally led all the major ceremonies and performed all the rites involved in the initiation of new Santeros that are now the province of the Oriaté and the role of Oriaté was first held by women.

Notorious woman oriatés wereTeresita Ariosa Eni Ochún and Guillermina Castel.

Timotea Albear (Ayayí La Tuán) was the Oriaté used by almost all of the houses up until the time of her death. She, in fact, was the one who trained the first male Oriaté Octavio Samar Rodriguez (Obadimeyi).

It was only after the death of Timotea Albear in 1935 that Obadimeyi began to gain power as an Oriaté, but before long all the Oriatés were male.

But now we are beginning to see more women training to become Oriatés. Perhaps before long Santeria will be ruled over by women once more.

Ashe
Yaya Maria