Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Botanicas-supply-stores-for-the-gods-2811367.php
On March 8, 2004 The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the changing nature of botanicas in America: "Botanicas used to be found almost exclusively in Latino neighborhoods such as San Francisco's Mission District or Fruitvale in Oakland. More and more, however, spiritualist shoppers need not go far to find a clean, well- lighted place for voodoo. Many of the gods and goddesses of the botanicas are African deities that first came to the New World via the Caribbean and the slave trade. Over the centuries, some blended with Catholic saints or the indigenous spirits of American Indian spirituality. But in today's marketplace of mix-and-match religion, people of all makes and models seem to follow the orishas, the relocated deities of the African pantheon."