Templo Yoruba

SWITCH TO SPANISH

La Regla de Ocha is one of the religions that survived the African Diaspora and grew stronger in the New World. This process was nourished in a melting pot of diverse African tribes or nations and to a lesser degree was influenced by indigenous religious beliefs such as those of the Amerindians of the Caribbean. In Addition to La Regla de Ocha, we can also name other "Reglas" or traditions that survived in the New World, such as Abakua, Kimbisa, Obeah, Vodoo, Macumba, Umbanda and Palo Monte.

The colonialists had no idea that by importing millions of slaves to work in the sugar, coffee and pineapple plantations, that the slaves brought with them religious voices that fought ferociously to survive. The slaves gave us their religious techniques of trance and possession, their music, their food and their unconditional love of their ancestors and deities. Some of these rites and ceremonies include the playing of consecrated drums or "Bata", their complex dances, the "Kariocha" or priestly coronation ceremony and a rich tradition of 'ebbós" designed to help believers to keep their balance between "ire" and "Osogbo".

Today, we sometimes refer to La Regla de Ocha using the term "Santeria", a pejorative term given by Spanish slave owners. This is because when the slaves arrived in the Americas, they were baptized and forced to adopt Christianity. In areas where Catholicism dominated, the slaves had the wisdom to hide their traditions behind the images of those Catholic Saints that in some way reminded them of the orishas. In such a manner while participating in Catholics rites, for example to those of Our Lady of Charity, they secretly continued to venerate Oshún, a deity of the rivers.

The Catholics saints became synchronized with the African deities by the slaves, but the African practitioners were always able to distinguish between saint and orisha. For example, the orisha Shango, is the representative of masculine virility and the owner of thunder and lightening ;however, he did not live under the skirt of Santa Barbara, but rather lives only in the "otanes" or consecrated stones of the religion.

Today, there are Oloshas from diverse nationalities, but in the past, the religion was composed of Africans, either as slaves or freemen. With the initiations of "criollos" or creoles, gradually the doors were opened to persons of other backgrounds. The Orishas do not discriminate when they select the heads of initiates.

This history of Regla de Ocha, Lukumi/Santeria would not be complete without talking about our religious history, the heroes, heroines, fathers and founders of our traditions. We invite you to view the page on our ancestors.