Syncretism
“Syncretism: An
opinion from within”
CLBA Journal 1999-2005
By Oba Ernesto Pichardo
Copyright November 1999
What is Syncretism?
An academic definition is as follows- "the tendency to identify those elements in the new culture with similar elements in the old one, enabling the person experiencing the contact to move from one to the other and back again, with psychological ease". A simplified interpretation of syncretism refers to this cultural process as a "fusion" between the African Ayoba religion and the Catholic religion. This theoretical fusion has led some scholars to identify the Ayoba as a mixture with Catholicism causing the birth of a new religious system called Santeria in Cuba.
For decades scholars have documented and classified the Ayoba/Lukumi religion as a syncretic religion. The primary reason for the assertion is that Africans compared their deities to the Catholic saints, worshiped them, while hiding their African deities behind the Catholic. Scholars in their research have also noted that many in the priesthood include Catholic statues of saints in their African altars. For example, the Catholic Saint Barbara found at the altar placed next to the Ayoba/Lukumi deity Shango. Another point of reference is that adherents commonly refer to their deities using the names of their Catholic associations.
The terms "santeria" and "santero" originate in Spain, at approximately the time of the inquisition. It was used to denote a Catholic person that was deviated from orthodox religious practice. According to the Church if a Catholic would "worship" saints deviating from the Church position at that time--- or "attributed" the saints with deferring qualities, they would be called Santero(a). A second definition of "santero" is a carver or maker of Catholic saint statues. During colonial Cuba the term "santero" for a male, "santera" for a female person, was used to describe the enslaved Ayoba/Lukumi people. However, this term was extended denoting an Ayoba/Lukumi priest (santero), and its use of "santera" for a priestess. Early scholar work made use if this terminology, still widely used today. The traditional word for a priest or priestess is "Olosha," and omo-osha for the faithful.
The term santeria was used as a name that replaced our traditional Ayoba description. Eurocentric logic requires having a definitive name for a religion. Early writers branded our faith with "Santeria". This implies being a deviant Catholic. We are also called "la Regla de Ocha" -- the order of saints. In parallel, it sounds like the "order of Saint Francis" in the Catholic religion. These imposed terms have become not only an academic widely used reality, they have become widely accepted by our own people---especially by those that do not know of its derogatory meaning. We are not confused Catholic's and against all odds our African religion has survived.
Are We A Syncretic Religion or To What Extent?
The initial question of "syncretic religion" is simple to answer. The religion is not syncretic but a parallel can be made with several religions. However, some people manifest forms of syncretism to more or less degrees. Others do not manifest forms of syncretism. Research is needed to establish how many people exhibit forms of syncretism verses those that do not. The performance of Ayoba/Lukumi rituals and ceremonies are conducted using African traditional forms, free from Catholic or other influences. For example- prayers, invocations, hymns, symbols, materials, religious context and tenets are African. Parallelism would be a better definition than syncretism.
Are the forms manifested by people always in parallel to Catholic Saints? The forms are not always Catholic. The tendency to move from one religion to the other and back again, or associate elements in one with the new with "psychological ease" implies cultural diversity. If the Ayoba/Lukumi people were limited to only one new religion, there would be narrow diversity in form. Catholicism was the dominant imposed religion during colonial Cuba. There were other less influential belief systems as well. All enslaved Africans were forced to become Catholic. African religions were outlawed.
How does the diversity occur and to what extent? A simple way to measure diversity is through the practice of divination. Diversity in form is dictated by geography. A diviner living in a primary Catholic population will encounter a different population experience than one in a primary Buddhist population. The purpose of divination is to advise using understandable means of communication. The session is not the time or place to educate a querent that is not familiar with our religious terminology. If a querent is Catholic, and he or she does not understand who is the deity Shango, the diviner is forced to express a parallel. The same occurs when the querent is Buddhist or of another faith.
What becomes important are the communications skills of the divinor. Therefore, the theory of moving with "psychological ease" may become evident in the context of a divination session but it's confined to "circumstantial analogy" in form. In this context religious belief is not necessarily a factor. Psychological ease emanates from the possibilities of parallels, cultural contact, or individual intellectualism. The psychological components require detailed analysis that are not available in present research material.
However, some basic aspects can be observed from the viewpoint of communications. The use of analogy, parallel, or association, in human communications would not constitute religious syncretism, or produce a new religious system. Forms of communication do extend to common speech or religious slang. Reference to an orisha using a Catholic saint name is found as part of popular slang. Rarely is this slang transferred over into ritual performance. Adherents and orisha ministers without Catholic backgrounds generally do not make use of such slang. A reason may be that orisha minister's with a Protestant background do not have a point of reference to the pantheon of Catholic saints. Moreover, they would not have Catholic saint statues in their home's. This same example applies to those minister's from other religious backgrounds. If the globalization of the religion is ignored and narrowed to the Cuban religious community, there are some basic aspects that need in-depth research.
Psychological change evolves over time and conditions of environment makes its contribution to the reshaping of psychological patterns. The colonial psychological hold on the Cuban people was predominantly Catholic up to 1959. Social norms and moral behavior were compatible with Yoruba culture to some extent, including religious structure. Enslavement of Africans evolved in ways that impacted on their psychology. The forced conversion to Catholicism and inclusion of a white population emanating from a predominant Catholic culture introduces psychological change to some extent.
Africans had to reconcile their values and reshape survival skills, while white's deviating from cultural norms entered the Ayoba/Lukumi religion. This cultural interaction produces new patterns in communication skills. To draw from "analogy" is a natural outcome. When limited to analogy using one predominant reference point, it could produce an illusion of "merging" two religions. By comparison the Cuban exile community, in a multi-cultural environment, presents a different scenario. Psychological ease in a diverse religious culture forces minister's to have the capability of drawing analogies from unlimited sources.
The new multi-cultural interaction generates adherents and new minister's from diverse backgrounds. An important feature that makes the interaction work through use of good communication skills is the concept of deity archetype. These are human characteristics attributed to each deity that makes a parallel or analogy possible in any environment, including colonial Cuba. However, it should not be confused with syncretism as the merging of two religions producing a new religious system. In divination sessions the minister may draw the analogy and substitute the name of an African deity as a matter of practicality not belief. He or she may use slang that is particular to the analogy source.
Another important feature can be observed from the perspective of the minister's state of conversion verses outside sources seeking religious counseling. The minister may be psychologically evolving from a Christian background to a clearly definable Ayoba/Lukumi form of expression. An example of this psychological process can be taken from bilingual children. It's where the child comes from another culture and begins formal education in the American school system. He or she has a first language and thinks in that language, yet begins to communicate and function using English. At some point a natural mix of languages occurs, loss of the first language, or a clear separate management of both matures over time.
In religion, as a matter of individual faith, psychological change is a slow process. There are many cultural and social factors that play a role during the transition. A complete transition or conversion requires a willingness to change. Many adherent's and ministers may fear change in full and settle for partial change. Change requires sacrifice and the exchange of important life norms or patterns of behavior. The individual person may want to avoid feelings of lack of control and attempt to reconcile two sets of life norms. In part this process would contribute to a balance between Ayoba/Lukumi and Catholic cultural dominance in Cuba. However, it produces a pattern of imitation that eventually becomes a norm in the new generations that may consider mixture in belief systems a tradition. There are priests and priestess in Ayoba/Lukumi that manifest this behavior and promote mixture as a norm. Lack of control feelings is generally accompanied by feelings of guilt or wrongful behavior. Change here is met with rejection and mixture is often validated.
Validation of mixture in this case is observed between Catholic and Ayoba/Lukumi ministers. The adherent will be lead to accept Catholic baptism before engaging important Ayoba/Lukumi rites of passage. He or she may be exposed to frequent slang in association to Catholic saints replacing the African deity names. Catholic saint statues are normally displayed next to the African deity representations. Catholic morals and values are acute compared to non-syncretic practitioners. In cases where mixture takes place with other religions or philosophy, the dynamics are similar.
In comparison to non-syncretic minister's analogy or association is limited to circumstantial occurrence. Emphasis is made on using analogy in communication only when practicality is deemed necessary. Moreover, its use focuses on making a clear distinction between the African and Catholic. The goal is to reach a practical momentary understanding while educating the faithful on the African faith, without a reliance on Christianity or other religions. The logic in this approach is more religiously neutral and consistent with Ayoba/Lukumi tenets. It makes no attempts to maintain colonial retention's that were only useful for survival in those time's.
In sum what actually occurs from the perspective of multi-cultural participation can be classified in the basic following terms.
Christian and Ayoba/Lukumi person that is not syncretic.
Primarily Christian person that makes secondary use of Ayoba/Lukumi resources.
Primarily Ayoba/Lukumi person with secondary use or reliance on Christianity, or other faiths.
CLBA Journal 1999-2005
By Oba Ernesto Pichardo
Copyright November 1999
What is Syncretism?
An academic definition is as follows- "the tendency to identify those elements in the new culture with similar elements in the old one, enabling the person experiencing the contact to move from one to the other and back again, with psychological ease". A simplified interpretation of syncretism refers to this cultural process as a "fusion" between the African Ayoba religion and the Catholic religion. This theoretical fusion has led some scholars to identify the Ayoba as a mixture with Catholicism causing the birth of a new religious system called Santeria in Cuba.
For decades scholars have documented and classified the Ayoba/Lukumi religion as a syncretic religion. The primary reason for the assertion is that Africans compared their deities to the Catholic saints, worshiped them, while hiding their African deities behind the Catholic. Scholars in their research have also noted that many in the priesthood include Catholic statues of saints in their African altars. For example, the Catholic Saint Barbara found at the altar placed next to the Ayoba/Lukumi deity Shango. Another point of reference is that adherents commonly refer to their deities using the names of their Catholic associations.
The terms "santeria" and "santero" originate in Spain, at approximately the time of the inquisition. It was used to denote a Catholic person that was deviated from orthodox religious practice. According to the Church if a Catholic would "worship" saints deviating from the Church position at that time--- or "attributed" the saints with deferring qualities, they would be called Santero(a). A second definition of "santero" is a carver or maker of Catholic saint statues. During colonial Cuba the term "santero" for a male, "santera" for a female person, was used to describe the enslaved Ayoba/Lukumi people. However, this term was extended denoting an Ayoba/Lukumi priest (santero), and its use of "santera" for a priestess. Early scholar work made use if this terminology, still widely used today. The traditional word for a priest or priestess is "Olosha," and omo-osha for the faithful.
The term santeria was used as a name that replaced our traditional Ayoba description. Eurocentric logic requires having a definitive name for a religion. Early writers branded our faith with "Santeria". This implies being a deviant Catholic. We are also called "la Regla de Ocha" -- the order of saints. In parallel, it sounds like the "order of Saint Francis" in the Catholic religion. These imposed terms have become not only an academic widely used reality, they have become widely accepted by our own people---especially by those that do not know of its derogatory meaning. We are not confused Catholic's and against all odds our African religion has survived.
Are We A Syncretic Religion or To What Extent?
The initial question of "syncretic religion" is simple to answer. The religion is not syncretic but a parallel can be made with several religions. However, some people manifest forms of syncretism to more or less degrees. Others do not manifest forms of syncretism. Research is needed to establish how many people exhibit forms of syncretism verses those that do not. The performance of Ayoba/Lukumi rituals and ceremonies are conducted using African traditional forms, free from Catholic or other influences. For example- prayers, invocations, hymns, symbols, materials, religious context and tenets are African. Parallelism would be a better definition than syncretism.
Are the forms manifested by people always in parallel to Catholic Saints? The forms are not always Catholic. The tendency to move from one religion to the other and back again, or associate elements in one with the new with "psychological ease" implies cultural diversity. If the Ayoba/Lukumi people were limited to only one new religion, there would be narrow diversity in form. Catholicism was the dominant imposed religion during colonial Cuba. There were other less influential belief systems as well. All enslaved Africans were forced to become Catholic. African religions were outlawed.
How does the diversity occur and to what extent? A simple way to measure diversity is through the practice of divination. Diversity in form is dictated by geography. A diviner living in a primary Catholic population will encounter a different population experience than one in a primary Buddhist population. The purpose of divination is to advise using understandable means of communication. The session is not the time or place to educate a querent that is not familiar with our religious terminology. If a querent is Catholic, and he or she does not understand who is the deity Shango, the diviner is forced to express a parallel. The same occurs when the querent is Buddhist or of another faith.
What becomes important are the communications skills of the divinor. Therefore, the theory of moving with "psychological ease" may become evident in the context of a divination session but it's confined to "circumstantial analogy" in form. In this context religious belief is not necessarily a factor. Psychological ease emanates from the possibilities of parallels, cultural contact, or individual intellectualism. The psychological components require detailed analysis that are not available in present research material.
However, some basic aspects can be observed from the viewpoint of communications. The use of analogy, parallel, or association, in human communications would not constitute religious syncretism, or produce a new religious system. Forms of communication do extend to common speech or religious slang. Reference to an orisha using a Catholic saint name is found as part of popular slang. Rarely is this slang transferred over into ritual performance. Adherents and orisha ministers without Catholic backgrounds generally do not make use of such slang. A reason may be that orisha minister's with a Protestant background do not have a point of reference to the pantheon of Catholic saints. Moreover, they would not have Catholic saint statues in their home's. This same example applies to those minister's from other religious backgrounds. If the globalization of the religion is ignored and narrowed to the Cuban religious community, there are some basic aspects that need in-depth research.
Psychological change evolves over time and conditions of environment makes its contribution to the reshaping of psychological patterns. The colonial psychological hold on the Cuban people was predominantly Catholic up to 1959. Social norms and moral behavior were compatible with Yoruba culture to some extent, including religious structure. Enslavement of Africans evolved in ways that impacted on their psychology. The forced conversion to Catholicism and inclusion of a white population emanating from a predominant Catholic culture introduces psychological change to some extent.
Africans had to reconcile their values and reshape survival skills, while white's deviating from cultural norms entered the Ayoba/Lukumi religion. This cultural interaction produces new patterns in communication skills. To draw from "analogy" is a natural outcome. When limited to analogy using one predominant reference point, it could produce an illusion of "merging" two religions. By comparison the Cuban exile community, in a multi-cultural environment, presents a different scenario. Psychological ease in a diverse religious culture forces minister's to have the capability of drawing analogies from unlimited sources.
The new multi-cultural interaction generates adherents and new minister's from diverse backgrounds. An important feature that makes the interaction work through use of good communication skills is the concept of deity archetype. These are human characteristics attributed to each deity that makes a parallel or analogy possible in any environment, including colonial Cuba. However, it should not be confused with syncretism as the merging of two religions producing a new religious system. In divination sessions the minister may draw the analogy and substitute the name of an African deity as a matter of practicality not belief. He or she may use slang that is particular to the analogy source.
Another important feature can be observed from the perspective of the minister's state of conversion verses outside sources seeking religious counseling. The minister may be psychologically evolving from a Christian background to a clearly definable Ayoba/Lukumi form of expression. An example of this psychological process can be taken from bilingual children. It's where the child comes from another culture and begins formal education in the American school system. He or she has a first language and thinks in that language, yet begins to communicate and function using English. At some point a natural mix of languages occurs, loss of the first language, or a clear separate management of both matures over time.
In religion, as a matter of individual faith, psychological change is a slow process. There are many cultural and social factors that play a role during the transition. A complete transition or conversion requires a willingness to change. Many adherent's and ministers may fear change in full and settle for partial change. Change requires sacrifice and the exchange of important life norms or patterns of behavior. The individual person may want to avoid feelings of lack of control and attempt to reconcile two sets of life norms. In part this process would contribute to a balance between Ayoba/Lukumi and Catholic cultural dominance in Cuba. However, it produces a pattern of imitation that eventually becomes a norm in the new generations that may consider mixture in belief systems a tradition. There are priests and priestess in Ayoba/Lukumi that manifest this behavior and promote mixture as a norm. Lack of control feelings is generally accompanied by feelings of guilt or wrongful behavior. Change here is met with rejection and mixture is often validated.
Validation of mixture in this case is observed between Catholic and Ayoba/Lukumi ministers. The adherent will be lead to accept Catholic baptism before engaging important Ayoba/Lukumi rites of passage. He or she may be exposed to frequent slang in association to Catholic saints replacing the African deity names. Catholic saint statues are normally displayed next to the African deity representations. Catholic morals and values are acute compared to non-syncretic practitioners. In cases where mixture takes place with other religions or philosophy, the dynamics are similar.
In comparison to non-syncretic minister's analogy or association is limited to circumstantial occurrence. Emphasis is made on using analogy in communication only when practicality is deemed necessary. Moreover, its use focuses on making a clear distinction between the African and Catholic. The goal is to reach a practical momentary understanding while educating the faithful on the African faith, without a reliance on Christianity or other religions. The logic in this approach is more religiously neutral and consistent with Ayoba/Lukumi tenets. It makes no attempts to maintain colonial retention's that were only useful for survival in those time's.
In sum what actually occurs from the perspective of multi-cultural participation can be classified in the basic following terms.
Christian and Ayoba/Lukumi person that is not syncretic.
Primarily Christian person that makes secondary use of Ayoba/Lukumi resources.
Primarily Ayoba/Lukumi person with secondary use or reliance on Christianity, or other faiths.
