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Afro-Caribbean

Lucumi

The African Yoruba-inspired tradition in Cuba came to be called La Regla Lucumi or Santería, the way of the “saints,” so named because of the correspondence established by worshippers between Yoruba orisha (in Spanish, oricha) and the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. Of late, the term Santería has fallen out of fashion. Ritual communication with the orisha for guidance, well-being, and healing is at the heart of the Lucumi tradition.

Danballah

Danballah is an African deity associated with rain, the serpent, and fecundity. In the Americas, Haiti is his main home. He is also associated with the ancestors and ancestral knowledge. In Haitian Vodou syncretism, he came to be identified with St. Patrick.

Toque de Santo

A ceremony of drumming and dancing to celebrate the orichas of the Cuban Lucumi tradition.

Elegba

Elegba or Legba is the guardian god of gates and doorways and is thus associated with communication between the Divine and human realms. Often propitiated at the outset of rituals. In Haiti, this important deity is often identified with St. Peter who is also the keeper of keys and guardian of the doorway. In Cuba, he is called Eleggua and is associated with roads and cross-roads, often identified with St. Anthony, the transmigrating soul, or the Child Jesus of Prague.

Rastafarian

The Rastafarian tradition arose in the 1930s in Jamaica as an African-identified, anti-colonial religious movement that saw Haile Selassie, the ruler of Ethiopia, as a savior. They took his name—Ras Tafari or Prince of Tafari—as the name of this movement.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa is a seven-day African-American festival observed from December 26 to January 1. The festival was started by Maulana Karenga in 1966 and has taken hold as a popular African-American holiday. It celebrates family and community, includes songs and gift-giving, and features the lighting of a seven branched candelabrum, with a candle for each day and each of seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.

Afro-Caribbean religions

Afro-Caribbean religions include a wide range of religious traditions that have roots in Africa, came to the islands of the Caribbean with African captives, and developed distinctive forms in this new environment: Santería or the Lucumi tradition in Cuba, Shango in Trinidad, Obeah and Myalism in Jamaica, and Vodou in Haiti.

Toque de Egun

Eggun are the spirits of ancestors or the spirits of the dead more generally, especially including the spirits of guides or teachers. Eggun are saluted and honored in many Lucumi ceremonies.

The Kingdom of Oyotunji

Oyotunji African village was founded in 1970 in Sheldon, South Carolina by Walter Eugene King. It is a religious and cultural community for African American practitioners of the West African Yoruba faith. At its height, the village was home to over 200 people.... Read more about The Kingdom of Oyotunji

Jamaican Religion

Jamaican religious traditions in the United States include Obeah, Jamaican Revivalism or Pukumina, and Rastafari. Obeah is a system of herbal and spiritual technology to cure diseases and offer protection. The Pukumina tradition is more structured than the Obeah tradition, and its rituals share some characteristics with Haitian Vodou. Rastafari, known within the U.S. through its reggae music and its characteristic hairstyle of locs, interprets Africans and African Americans as successors to Biblical prophets.... Read more about Jamaican Religion

Vodou, Serving the Spirits

Vodou or Vodún (meaning "spirit" or "god" in the Fon and Ewe languages of West Africa) is a blending (syncretism) of African religious traditions and Catholicism. In the United States, Vodou religious ceremonies are often performed in private community settings where spirits manifest by "mounting" practitioners.... Read more about Vodou, Serving the Spirits

"Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi

Once known as "Santería,"  La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí came to the United States with Cuban immigrants. Typically practiced in private ritual communities rather than public worship spaces, many practitioners  in the U.S. encounter a lack of knowledge about--and hostility to--their tradition. This serves as a brief, but not comprehensive, introduction to this religious and spiritual tradition with roots in Africa and the Caribbean. ... Read more about "Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi

From Africa to America

During the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade many enslaved Africans brought their spiritual and religious traditions to the United States and the Caribbean. These traditions were maintained in subtle ways in the United States, most notably in the Christianity of Black Americans. Over the next two centuries, Black Americans have explored their connection to African heritage and religions.... Read more about From Africa to America

West African religions like Ifa and Vodou are on the rise in Maryland, as practitioners connect with roots 

April 4, 2019
hey gathered in a clearing by a stream in Baltimore County one chilly early-spring day, some in the colorful African head ties known as geles, others wearing bracelets trimmed in shells or carved in wood.One by one, they stepped forward to toss offerings into the Gwynns Falls – a pineapple, four oranges, a bouquet of tulips.And when the lead priestess of these African-American women dropped a handful of shells to the ground and scrutinized their pattern, a message came through: Their celebration of the

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Read more about West African religions like Ifa and Vodou are on the rise in Maryland, as practitioners connect with roots 

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