Cuban Santeria: Walking with the Night [Paperback]

A revealing window into the secret and seductive world of Santeria.

• A Santeria priest discloses information never before revealed to outsiders.

• Removes the veil of occultism from Santeria to show it as a highly spiritual, thriving religion.

Initiated into the Santeria priesthood at the age of seven, Raul Canizares unveils inCuban Santeriathe secret and seductive world of this rapidly growing, yet largely misunderstood, Afro-Cuban religion. With the knowledge of an insider and the insight of a scholar, Canizares astutely examines the practice of Santeria, revealing many of its hidden dimensions while simultaneously providing a fascinating account of its unique textured mix of African, Cuban, and Catholic traditions.

The Cuban-born author describes the practices and rituals of the followers of Santeria--from magical herbal prescription and healing to spiritism and animal sacrifice--and explains how for many years the religion has been maintained under the guise of Catholicism to avoid religious persecution. Most initiates are sworn to a code of silence, but Canizares believes that the time has come to move Santeria, a religion of beauty and resilience, out of the darkness and into the light so that a more accurate picture of this rich tradition can emerge.Raul Canizares (1955-2002) was head of the Santeria Temple Orisha Consciousness Movement in Manhattan and the author ofShango: An African-American Titan.Cuban Santeria
Walking with the Night
Preface
Acknowledgments
Foreword by William J. Heim
Introduction
Chapter 1 Mantilla
Chapter 2 Legacy
Chapter 3 Evolution and Survival of Santeria
Chapter 4 Hierarchy
Chapter 5 Syncretism or Dissimulation
Chapter 6 Santeria's Orishas
Chapter 7 Oro: Divine Music
Chapter 8 Santeria and Espiritismo
Chapter 9 Ebbo: Sacrifice
Chapter 10 The Secret of the Werewolf
Chapter 11 Ewe Orisha: The Use of Herbs and Plants in SanlÓ"