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Although African-based medicine in the Americas evolved specifically to blend in to European traditions,
differences also exist that distinguish European and African healing traditions.
For example, Georgetown University Professor, Isabel Castallanos notes the frequent use of terms such as
"exotic" and "bizarre" to describe the ritual sacrifice of animals in Santeria as symptoms of cultural distortion.
She writes, "Animal sacrifice in Santeria is part of a coherent, and might I add extremely complex
religious worldview and it is from this cultural perspective that it should be examined.
While sport hunting can certainly be considered within the context of animal sacrifice, it is not considered
bizarre or exotic simply because it is part of US culture
even while it's detractors denote it's cruelty and wastefulness."
While Santeria is intrinsically intertwined with Roman Catholicism, California State University Professor,
Robert Voeks note the sharp departure from the Christian worldview.
He writes, "Whereas Christianity emphasizes the topic, African religions expend little energy connecting this
world action with the afterworld response.
Heaven, hell, sin and redemption are alien concepts in the Yoruba-Dahomey worldview.
The overriding preoccupation is with realizing happiness during life.
The concept of "aché" is central to traditional Yoruba religion and its New World offspring.
Aché is understood as the blood or energy of cosmic life.
Spellman college Professor, Harry G. Lafever writes,
"Aché is like a divine current that finds many conductors of both greater or lesser receptivity. "
Essential to everyday existence, aché is channeled to humans through the Orishas, divinations, and the
rituals of sacrifice and dance possession.
"Egwe," are plants, herbs and weeds thought to have the power to help human beings
live helpful and abundant lives. In addition to ritual dance and sacrifice,
egwe manifest and make use of their various kinds of aché to heal disease and promote happiness and well-
being. Significantly, it is not cultivated but wild egwes that possess real powers for healing.
Homegrown plants and domesticated plants grown on farms or in gardens lack aché in the eyes of Santeras.
Ritual cleansing, or "despojos" are central to the practice of Santeria, and are the most common use of
plants and healing. Despojos utilize plants through fumigation with cigar smoke, baths and house cleaning's.
Despojos allow priests and believers to deal with the influences of malignant spirits they see as the
cause of a great deal of human suffering. In fumigation, the Santera blows cigar smoke all over the body
of person and the smoke list the bad spiritual influence believe to be clinging to them.
Santeras often prescribe herbal baths for the same purpose.
Another form of cleansing is known as "recogacíon de cabéza," a rite directed at the client's head.
Recogacíon de cabéza is used both as a curing rite, and the preparation for other rituals
when healing is accompanied by other rites.
Recogacíon de cabéza paves the way for healing by strengthening the mental and spiritual faculties of the
person seeking cure. It is done for the purpose of cooling and refreshing head
-- an ideal state of health in the eyes of the Santeras.
George Brandon writes that depression, mental confusion, witchcraft, high blood pressure and
violent temper are some of the problems treated in this way.
Santeras are accessible to those who may wish to seek them out in the United States largely because of the
growing Cuban community as a result of the 1959 Cuban revolution
and the establishment of botanicas where ritual products can be sold.
These stores specialize in the sale of religious goods such as candles,
statues and assorted herbs and plants.
By 1964 there were several thousand practitioners in New York City alone
In Miami, folk remedies can be purchased from Cuban grocers.
Santeria can also be placed within the context of black nationalism.
A common denominator of all nationalism is the high value placed on self-definition
and self-determination. Nationalists believe that the ethnic, religious or linguistic group to which they are most
intimately attached is undervalued and oppressed by a dominant society.
Four constant elements of black nationalism are defined as: racial consciousness, religious separatism,
a focus on cultural history (including promises of the reemergence of African greatness
and restoration of racial pride) and self-determination which centers on a quest for political autonomy.
Those who affirm police in black nationalism may also be interested in seeking out a Santera.
Great care must be taken in the collection of an application of healing plants and herbs.
If the wrong things are used, the intended cleansing may do more harm than good.
Hence the caution against commercial preparation, as one is never entirely sure what they contain.
In another departure from the European world view, Santeras believe that wild egwe
-- even plants found growing between cracks in cement -- are preferred to those cultivated for commercial use.
So, as we've seen, African cultural elements helped enslaved Africans survive in the Americas,
but some modification was necessary as a result of a change in their setting.
The result is a mode of survival which is neither African, nor European,
but African American.
My hope is that once you understand the process, African elements become easier to spot whether you are
walking into an African American church, or listening to a track from James Brown.
That’s it for this episode. You can see everything you’ve seen here as well as the entire archive of episodes at
my website www.africanelements.org. You can also join the discussion on our
Facebook Group African Elements.
Thank you for watching.