Santería

Intercultural Experience Fieldwork Report: Santeria in the Cuban Culture The topic I chose to study and write my research paper about is the Santeria religion, specifically Cuban immigrants in Miami as well as some first generation Americans who are descendants of native Cubans. My goal was to learn more about the secretive religion that many people seem to automatically fear and hate and provide evidence that the religion is in fact a peaceful one that aims to improve humans to become the best persona they can be. In order to accurately depict the religion, I had to do much research online, only to find out that most of the information online is written by everyday people who do not practice the religion as their own, due to this, I had to begin searching for real people who practice Santeria as their religion. Santeria, (which I will attempt to explain as genuinely as possible with all the information I had gathered from family friends and people met in places where Santeria is found), is a religion that is very similar in structure to the Catholic religion, the order is one almighty God that has control over everything, then comes along the Saints that assist the God, and then come the Angels of all the spirits that were recognized as “good” people. All the Saints found in Santeria have a Catholic Saint that is equivalent to the “Santo”, which is how the followers of Santeria address their Saints. Each Santo has their own “Pataki”, which is the story of the “Orisha”,…