NCJ Number
137194
Journal
Federal Prisons Journal Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (Winter 1992) Pages: 37- 42
Date Published
1992
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Correctional personnel need to understand the nature and practice of the Santeria religion, because many of the 5,000 Cuban nationals incarcerated in correctional facilities in the United States are devotees of this Caribbean religion.
Abstract
Information from historical sources, observations of Cuban inmates within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and interviews with 23 devotees of Santeria have indicated the sources and rituals of this religion. Santeria was developed in the early 1800's by Yoruba slaves as a blend in which ancient African ancestor reverence was concealed within the guise of Catholicism. The slaves maintained secrecy about their religion, in which the escape from slavery and oppression can be accomplished only through deep devotion to the "orisha" spirits. Promising both worldly success and heavenly wisdom, this devotion takes four main forms: divination, sacrifice, spriritual mediumship, and initiation. In prisons, devotees build altars with discarded cereal boxes and provide sacrifical offerings of apples, oranges, coffee, cigars, and pigeon feathers. One inmate also made a candle out of butter that had turned sour.