Search Results (3)

This article explores the emergence and development of Neo-santeria in Barcelona, a contemporary trend of Afro-Cuban religious practices characterized by the rejection of animal sacrifice, a central ritual in traditional Santeria. The study identifies and analyzes four key arguments employed by Neo-santeros to legitimize this rejection within the secular and modern European context: the scientistic, de-traditionalist, individualistic, and ecologist arguments. Drawing on over a decade of ethnographic research, the article demonstrates how Neo-santeros navigate the tension between distancing themselves from certain traditional spiritual roots—particularly the practice of animal sacrifice—and the intertwining with European and contemporary cultural logics, particularly those related to secularism. The article situates Neo-santeria within the broader landscape of European holistic spiritualities, highlighting its strategic positioning as a religion that aligns with and challenges secularist expectations in modern Europe. The findings contribute to a deeper understanding of how Afro-Cuban religions, particularly Neo-Santería, can be defined by the ongoing creativity of their practitioners. This distinctive feature not only defines the fluid nature of these traditions but also contributes to the diversification and increased complexity of the spiritual landscape in European contexts, where Afro-Cuban practices are being intertwined in local cultural and religious frameworks. Full article

I compare the status of a sacred language in two very different religious traditions. In Judaism, the Hebrew language is the language of liturgy, prayer, and the Written Law. The traditional way of reading Torah passages involved translating them into Aramaic, the everyday language of communication in the Middle East in the first half of the first millennium CE. Later, other Jewish languages, such as Yiddish, played a role similar to that of Aramaic in the Talmudic period, constituting a system referred to as the “Traditional Jewish Bilingualism”. Hebrew lexemes had denotations related to the realm of Biblical texts, while Aramaic/Yiddish lexemes had everyday references. Therefore, the act of translation connected the two realms or domains. The Lucumí (Santería) Afro-Cuban religion is a syncretic tradition combining Roman Catholicism with the Ifá tradition, which does not have a corpus of written sacred texts, however, it has its sacred language, the Lucumí (Anagó) language related to the Yoruba language of West Africa. While the Spanish-Lucumí bilingualism plays an important role in Santería rituals, the mechanisms of reference are very different from those of the Hebrew-Yiddish bilingualism in Judaism. In Santería, divinations about the meaning of Lucumí words play a role similar to the translations from Hebrew in Judaism. I further discuss the role of ritual dances in Santería for the transition from the sacred to the secular domain and a function of Hebrew epitaphs to connect the ideal world of Hebrew sacred texts to the everyday life of a Jewish community. Full article

The article draws on the Kongo term mpambu nzila of crossroads, that equally signifies altar, to discuss the paintings and drawings of Cuban-born artist José Bedia. He is a practitioner of Palo Briyumba, a syncretic Afro-Cuban religion that combines Kongo religious beliefs, Regla de Ocha, Spiritism, and Catholicism. The article examines six works by the artist from 1984 to 1999 and how Bedia represents Palo in his art. Additionally, the centrality of the nganga (a cauldron that paleros use to work for and protect them) is discussed historically, philosophically, and religiously as a physical and spiritual embodiment of the crossroads. Bedia’s work is also analyzed using the Sankofa bird as metaphor (of flying forward and looking back) and as an example of the West African notion of coolness. The article also examines Palo as a de-colonial way of knowing and ends with the crossroads through the example of Lucero Mundo (Elegguá). Full article