Santería Stories

For his new book, a clear and authoritative study of Santeria mythology, Luis Manuel Nunez, the author of Santeria: a practical guide to Afro-Caribbean magic, collected the ancient stories told in Santeria, a widely practiced religion resulting from the syncretism of Western African Yoruba religion and Catholicism.
These stories tell of the Orishas, the ancestral deities of the Yoruba. Versions of these stories have been retold for centuries by native-born Africans and by the descendents of the slaves imported throughout the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the New World. They are still told today during the sacred and secular dances, rituals, and festivals practiced by the millions who still honor the Orishas.
Yoruba religion was, and is, intimately tied to a concept of family, those living and the dead. The ancestors have control over the forces of nature and over everyday life. Historically, the most powerful ancestors were deified as Orishas. The Orishas can feel love and hate, be greedy or generous, and share in the everyday joys and sorrows of those who live on this earth, as these stories clearly demonstrate.