Monthly Archive: June 2012

SAFE Alert! Fraudulent Diloggun Readings / Cold Readings

Santeros Against Fraud and Exploitation (SAFE) is an action committee of the Santeria Church of the Orishas

As part of the Santeria Church of the Orisha‘s mission to educate the public about traditional Santeria (Lucumi/Lukumi) practice, we are issuing a SAFE Alert regarding fraudulent diloggun readings and non-traditional Santeria practices in the greater Long Beach, California area.

Recently, members of SAFE (Santeros Against Fraud and Exploitation) visited an occult store located near our church in the greater Long Beach, California area. Upon visiting this store we were told that they offered Santeria classes as well as cowrie shell readings (diloggun readings) and initiations. We will not reveal the name of the store at this time, but we will discuss what is taking place at this store and the nature of their “Santeria” practice that is not in line with traditional practices as held by the culture bearers of Santeria (Lucumi/Lukumi).

Red Flags

While present at the store we were allowed to see their orisha room. The orisha room consisted of a series of shelves each containing a statue of a modern depiction of each orisha and some trinkets. There were no pots present with the items required for a shrine to be a legitimate orisha shrine. (otas, diloggun and tools were absent.)

Their resident Babalawo (who does all the readings and teaches the classes) spoke to me for a bit and told me some information about Santeria. About 60% of the information was accurate, the other 40% of it was completely incorrect and was either from poorly researched books or incorrect web sites. He also then explained that his lineage does not believe in animal sacrifice and that the religion has evolved past that.

Additionally he claimed that their classes work in such a way that after 12 weeks in their class you’ll receive the elekes initiation and be a Padrino or Madrina (a title only conferred upon a person when they have initiated ANOTHER person – i.e. once they are an olorisha and have godchildren). His class structure made it sound like a wiccan class with three degrees of initiation, only calling them “padrino, santero and babalawo“. He clarified that women were not eligible to be babalawos, but they do initiate gay men as babalawos – something HIGHLY non-traditional and not accepted in Santeria Lucumi. This babalawo claimed to be one of a small handful of gay babalawos in the United States.

The Cold Reading

This is the kind of statue in the store’s orisha room. This is NOT Oshún as received in Santeria.

The reading was conducted by their resident babalawo who apparently is the only person allowed to divine with the cowries in their store. This is not in alignment with traditional Lucumi practice (although they claim to be Lucumi). Babalawos do not read with cowrie shellsOlorishas do. Babalawos read either with a diviner’s chain called an okuele, or with palm nuts and the table of Ifá (ikin and the opón Ifá). During the reading this babalawo never asked for my name, nor did he pray the stipend required for the reading (as is traditional in Lucumí diloggun divination). He did not recite a traditional moyuba prayer where a person’s spiritual lineage is called out to invoke their ache in assistance for the reading. These are required traditional steps for divination with either diloggun or okuele. Instead the babalawo proceeded to touch his cowries to his own body mimicking a Cabbalistic Cross from Ceremonial Magic, transposing improper words in African for the traditional Hebrew words. This is completely illegitimate practice and is not considered valid in any form of Santeria, or other form of Orisha worship.

The reading was conducted on a table covered with a round brown rug. Diloggun readings and Ifá readings are traditionally conducted on a grass mat called an até, or estera in Santeria. This is due to the fact that the até calls down the presence of the orishas to speak. A brown rug does not do this nor is it any part of traditional Lucumi worship.

Additionally, this was supposed to be a reading to discern a person’s tutelary orisha (something they were very enthusiastic to discover). There are two and only two legitimate ways to divine a person’s tutelary orisha in traditional Santeria Lucumi/Lukumi practice.

  1. A minimum of three babalawos need to be present and use the palm nuts (ikin) and the opón Ifá (table of Ifá) to discern a person’s tutelary orisha by consulting Orunmila himself as witness of destiny.
  2. An olorisha, preferably an Obá Oriaté (although an oriaté is not required), sufficiently educated in odu can divine this using either Elegguá’s cowrie shells (diloggún) or the diloggún of the person’s godparent’s tutelary orisha. This is done on a woven grass mat wrapped in a white sheet.

This is Oshún’s pot as received in Santeria. The orishas are made of stones, shells and tools – not statues.

In both instances the divination is done on the floor because the earth is a sacred and holy place and the most important divinations are done seated on the mat. The reading performed by this babalawo was done with cowrie shells (not used by Babalawos), on a table (not done for readings to determine a person’s tutelary orisha), on a brown rug (not used in Santeria for readings), with no ibos (no token items like a stone, efun, aye, goat astragalus bone) which are required for the client’s orí (higher self) to be engaged in the reading and lend its voice. It is also not usually considered a good thing to know your tutelary orisha until you are already making preparations and saving money for your kariocha initiation.

The babalawo threw the shells on the mat only once (two casts are required in Santeria Lucumí practice), he never counted odu, and instead began to perform a cold reading (a technique used by fraudulent readers and “spiritualists” that uses very general statements and watches a person’s reaction until something clicks) telling me general, unfocused and totally inapplicable statements about my past lives (a concept that is not a part of Santeria’s cosmology).

Traditional diloggún divination is a numerical system where the number of cowries that are mouth up are counted to discern an odu (from 1 to 16 – let’s use and example of 5), the shells are tossed a second time to get another number (again, 1 to 16 – let’s say the second toss was 7) and these two numbers become the composite odu. In this example our composite odu is 5-7, and contains a myriad of information, patakis, ebós, taboos, strengths and weaknesses. After the composite odu is determined, the diviner should hand the client two ibo (small items like a stone and a piece of cascarilla/efun) and tells the client to shake the two and separate them with one item in each hand. One represents yes, the other no. The diviner will manipulate the cowries and tell the client which hand to reveal. This indicates if the reading comes with blessings or misfortunes (Iré or osogbo). This also allows the client’s orí (higher self) to partake in the reading and give its opinion. To reiterate, this babalawo used NO IBO in his reading at any time and only threw the shells once.

The diloggún of Eleggua with the four ibo depicted. This is a proper set of diloggun.

After he was done giving me a cold reading the babalawo then declared who my tutelary orisha was. (The entire reading was done without ever having me manipulate any kind of ibo) He also identified the wrong orisha as my tutelary orisha. Had he taken a moment to ask me about my past or about my involvement in Santeria he might have found out that I am an initiated olorisha of ten years, crowned with Shangó instead of with the orisha he was claiming.

Harmless or Harmful?

What pained me the most about this experience is that the staff at the store and the babalawo were very friendly people. They were willing to show me what they had and genuinely have love for the orishas, but their practice was completely incorrect according to the traditions of Santeria. This leads me to believe two possible scenarios. In the best case scenario we are looking at people with real love for the religion being led by someone who was never taught nor initiated properly. At worst case we have a situation where someone is misinforming others who genuinely want to learn about Santeria and giving them fraudulent initiations for money.

While we cannot discern what their intentions may be, it is clear that they are trying to portray this operation as the only legitimate practice of Santeria in Southern California. What we perceived is that the followers of this babalawo seem to be people who come from neo-pagan backgrounds, are primarily anglo in their ancestry and are not familiar with the cultural elements of Santeria and don’t know what warning signs to look out for, but have genuine heart and want to learn. He is offering them an “experience” of the orishas with none of the uncomfortable things their pagan tenets won’t accept: like blood sacrifice or the dedication required of a year in white as an iyawo, etc.

The spiritual practices of this lineage (ilé) are not traditional according to those who bear the cultural values of Santeria, nor is it in alignment with the core concepts of Santería Lucumi/Lukumí. Yet, these individuals who have paid for classes and been initiated consider themselves Santeria initiates and will never be accepted by the public for what they practice. Worse, they’ll go into the public touting their “credentials” and be quickly shamed once they realize they are not practicing African-based spirituality, nor do they have a true priesthood in Santeria.

Education To Prevent Abuse

At the Santeria Church of the Orishas, we seek to educate the public about what proper practices look like in Santeria so that you have the tools needed to discern what is legitimate practice and what is unconventional, untraditional, illegitimate practice. We hope with this SAFE Alert that you’ll have a better understanding of what a real Santeria diloggún reading looks like versus this fraudulent practice being conducted at this store in our area.

Keep in touch with our SAFE Alerts and read all about our Santeros Against Fraud and Exploitation church action committee by clicking on the “SAFE Alerts” category on the right hand navigation.

**Follow Up**

We recently revisited the shop and discovered that they no longer offer Santeria classes nor do they have a Babalawo reading at their shop.

The Importance of Women in Santeria

Powerful women have always been at the center of Santeria

Historically, culturally and liturgically speaking, Santería has always been a religion that honors women and upholds their importance in society. Some of the most important and pivotal figures in the history of Santeria have been women. Women shaped the way our religion evolved in the new world. Women preserved the lore of our religion by passing on the secrets of our ceremonies, our sacred songs, and the lexicon of information found in our divination systems. Plainly put, Santería is a women’s religion.

The Yoruba were always a matrilineal people. Women held great power in the function of their culture and politics. While the Yoruba tribes were patriarchal in the sense that men held the roles of kings and chiefs, the women of the tribes ran the family and orchestrated daily life. The importance of women can even be seen in the powerful female orishas that are found in the pantheon of Santeria. Yemayá is the mother of all living things, who owns all waters and is queen of heaven and of the earth. Oshún, her younger sister is the orisha of the river, the essence of femininity, sensuality, beauty and is a powerful witch and seductress. Oyá is a fierce female warrior orisha who rides the whirlwind, wields a machete, throws lightning and fights by Shangó’s side as his equal. Obba is the queen orisha who descended into the underworld and transformed herself from a rejected outcast, to a powerful sorceress wielding the powers of life and death. While not an orisha, Ikú – the force of death – is often portrayed as female in our patakis (legends). Even Olodumare – the creator deity – is gender-neutral leaning female in Her role as creator of the universe. Women are known to be powerful and important at the heart of Santeria’s religious practice.

Influential Women in Santeria

Many women have played important roles in the history of Santeria. These are some of the more well known women – many of whom are found in the moyuba prayer that all initiates recite in our religious practice. Know that when you call upon the names of these mighty ancestors, you are calling upon the ache of women and the important contributions they made in Santeria.

Oba Tero (Ma Monserrate González), a Yoruban slave from the city of Egbado and priestess of Shangó, was brought to Havana, Cuba in the 1840’s and made her way to Matanzas after a conflict with Efunché Warikondo and Latuan (who dominated Santeria practice in Havana). She was one of the most influential founders of Santeria in Matanzas. She carried the “asiento” style initiation and her unique Egbado-centric practices to Matanzas, establishing the differences between Matanzas lineages and Havana lineages. She was a prominent oriate in our religion.

Ferminita Gómez “Ocha Bí” –  preserver of the Olokun tradition in Santeria

Her goddaughter, Ocha Bi (Ferminita Gómez) a priestess of Yemayá was instrumental in preserving the Lukumí tradition of Olokun worship and most santeros who have received Olokun have received their orisha from her lineage of descendants. This was especially important because she wrestled the control of Olokun’s mysteries away from the Babalawos, preserving an Ocha-centric lineage of his mysteries.

Efunché Warikondó (Rosalía Abreú) a powerful priestess and head of the Cabildo San Jose 80 (a mutual aid society for slaves) was one of the most influential figures in establishing the asiento style of kariocha (crowning as a priest) in Santeria. The slaves of Havana worked together to buy her freedom from slavery. She claimed to be of royal Yoruban blood. She along with Ayají Latuán (Timotea Albear – a powerful and prominent oriaté) at one point controlled the entire religion of Santeria’s practice within the city of Havana, Cuba. No one could operate in the city without their approval. These two women worked together to standardize and establish the Oyo-centric “asiento” style of kariocha in Santeria. This style of initiation, where the new priest receives multiple orishas in addition to his tutelary orisha, has become the standard practice for those being initiated into the priesthood for 95% of Olorishas. There is a minor variant that comes out of Matanzas as established by Oba Tero (previously mentioned) – but that ceremony is also an “asiento” style of initiation.

Aurora Lamar – Founder of the Ataré lineage

Aurora Lamar (goddaughter of Efunché and a priestess of Aggayú) was the founder of the Ataré Lineage (Pimienta Lineage) of Santeria named after the Atare neighborhood of Havana, Cuba in which she lived. She had hundreds or even thousands of godchildren that she initiated, and was known for initiating people and allowing them to pay in installments. This resulted in her nickname of “La China del Ten Cent” (The Chinese-looking woman of the ten-cent store) because you could pay in ten-cent installments for your initiation.

Women were oriates and are still able to be oriates in Santeria. Women were mighty godmothers initiating hundreds of people. Women divined with diloggún and gave orishas to people. Women truly consolidated Santeria’s practices from the fragments of various tribal religious traditions into one cohesive religion.

The Decline of Women’s Power in Santeria

As the Lucumi people were immersed in Spanish colonial culture, there was a marked clash of values between their women-centered native culture, and male-centered Cuban culture. This along with the interference of Ifa’s male-centered culture in the early 1900’s caused women to lose power and position in Santeria over time.

Spanish colonial influence is also evident in the roles that women are typically assigned in modern Santeria. Women are usually left to be cooks, cleaners in the igbodu (sacred room) or as seamstresses for garments and altar decorations. While all of these roles are sacred and important, historically women were the leaders and lore-keepers of Santeria. They were oriates, they officiated initiations, sacrificed animals with the knife, butchered animals, and performed all of the other tasks stereotypically relegated to men. Women were some of the most powerful diviners using the diloggun, yet this role is now typically assigned to men.

Clearing Up Misconceptions About Women in Santeria

There are many misconceptions about women in Santeria and many superstitions have arisen around what women can and can’t do in the religion. At the Santeria Church of the Orishas we strive to dispel any misconceptions that are not firmly rooted in our cultural, historic or liturgical traditions. We also work actively to restore women to their honored role as leaders in Santeria (Lucumi/Lukumi).

Misconception: A woman cannot be an oriate
Truth: Due to the patriarchal Cuban culture that pervades modern Santeria, women have been mistakenly taught that they cannot be oriates (masters of ceremonies). Women like those mentioned above were oriates in the past and women can still be oriates today. In fact there are currently female oriates in the United States (at least two that I know of) and there are several more in Cuba. There is nothing to prohibit or prevent a woman from being an oriate. Often people will claim that a menstruating woman cannot be an oriate. This is a misconception as well. When women are on their period they cannot be near the sacred vessels of the orishas – this is true. There is a traditional taboo that prohibits menstruating women from touching our sacred orisha vessels and implements, but women are not constantly on their period. When they are not actively bleeding, they can still participate fully in religious ceremonies: they can divine and they can be oriates, including sitting on the mat and performing itá. This misconception is probably rooted in the misogynist taboos inherited from Spanish male-centered culture or from fear around the natural processes of a woman’s body.

Women can give warriors to their godchildren

Misconception: Women cannot make an Eleggua, give Warriors or wash Eleggua
Truth: This is a misconception with roots in Ifá and in Cuban patriarchal culture. In Ifá the construction of Eshu (mistakenly equated with Eleggua) is relegated to Babalawos only. But this is not Eleggua. Eleggua of Ocha is constructed by an Olorisha not a Babalawo. It is birthed in a special ceremony by olorishas (not babalawos) and is used in the Kariocha ceremony when a person is made a priest/priestess in Santeria. The Eshu of Ifá is not used in that ceremony and should never go to a person’s head in Kariocha (ordination ceremony). Elegguá of Ocha can indeed be made by women. Women can be initiated into the sect of Eleggua as a priestess. Women can initiate another individual as a priest or priestess of Elegguá as well. If they can do these things, they can most certainly make the “small version” of Eleggua given in the reception of The Warriors (Guerreros). They can also wash Elegguá in the sacred room when he is being birthed, and can wash his diloggun too. There is no taboo against women doing this, and the excuse that “the energy of a man must be present to make Eleggua” is misogynistic superstition perpetuated by Ifá and patriarchal Cuban culture. Many will argue this point and I expect to receive much backlash on this point alone.

Misconception: Women cannot read diloggún
Truth: Women can indeed read diloggún and have been some of the most powerful readers in our religion’s past. Women also have the ability and right to perform itá (a life reading), providing they are not actively on their period. They can read on a table or on the mat. Some will dispute this claiming that a woman of menstruating age cannot read on the mat. To refute this claim I offer patakis that describe both Oshún and Yemayá reading with diloggún on the mat. There’s even a pataki (legend) describing Yemayá performing ebó até (ebó of the mat) which requires the reader to be seated on the mat. If these powerful female orishas did it, then women can certainly do it. In fact, because of her mastery of the tool, the diloggún was given to Yemayá for her to use, and her husband (at the time) Orunmila, was given the okuele by Olofi to divine. Women can read diloggun, always have, and should always be allowed to. (Keeping in mind the exception for women who are actively having their period.)

Misconception: Women cannot sacrifice animals with the knife
Truth: Women can receive the initiation of Pinaldo (Pinadu) where they receive the knife and are given the permission to sacrifice animals with the knife. As part of this initiation, the initiate must sacrifice animals with the knife. If a woman can receive pinaldo she must sacrifice an animal as part of the initiation and therefore is given license to sacrifice animals. Some will dispute and say that sacrificing animals carries to “hot” or chaotic of spiritual energy to it and it could cause the woman to have menstrual issues. This is particularly damning evidence of misogynist patriarchal misunderstandings of women’s menstruation, perhaps fear of a woman’s mysteries, and is total nonsense. In traditional African society women sacrificed animals and butchered them for food. If a woman can receive the knife or be crowned as a priestess of Ogún (the embodiment of the knife’s cutting edge) she can certainly wield the knife for eyebale (blood sacrifice).

A traditional oshe depicting a woman propitiating Chango by holding her bare breasts up in supplication.

Misconception: Women cannot be initiated as a priestess of Chango. It will give her manly characteristics or make her into a lesbian.
Truth: The fact that this misconception even exists is ridiculous. The orisha to whom one is initiated does not change one’s sexual orientation. It does not change a person’s characteristics either. In fact, a person’s tutelary orisha is the one in best alignment with that person’s natural energy and destiny. You aren’t changing someone by initiating them, you are lining them up with their destiny. If a woman is legitimately a child of Changó then she should be initiated as a priestess of Chango. Additionally, in Yoruba practice women lead the worship of Chango. They would kneel before his shrine and hold up their bare breasts to him in supplication. Any men crowned as priests of Chango would grow their hair out long and braid it like women, then wear skirts when worshipping Chango. The thought was that Changó was such a “ladies’ man” that he would only answer the prayers of a woman. The misconception that women will become manly if crowned as a priestess of Chango is something that flies in the direct face of cultural tradition and historical evidence. It is nothing more than misogyny and homophobia in action.

At the Santeria Church of the Orishas, we strive to educate others about the misconceptions that are commonly found in Santeria and to give historical and cultural evidence to disprove these misconceptions. We hope that you’ll think about what we’ve provided here in this article and determine for yourselves what makes sense and what is just superstition. Women have always been at the heart of Santeria and they, like our powerful female orishas, deserve to be treated with respect, honor and held in the highest regard.

Espiritismo Cruzado

Our spiritualist altar to propitiate spirit guides through Espiritismo Cruzado

One of the most colorful aspects of the Santeria faith is the way in which we work with spirits of the dead. Traditionally speaking, the Lucumi/Lukumí way of honoring the dead takes place around the offering of cooked foods, prayers, libations and drumming ceremonies to the spirits of ancestors by blood or spiritual lineage. These ancestors are called Egun, and the center of ancestral worship is the opá ikú (staff of the dead). Around the opá ikú ebós and offerings of food, candles and libations are left for the ancestors.

Kardecian Spiritism

While the worship of egun has always been alive and well with the Lucumi/Lukumi people, there is not a very strong practice for working with guiding spiritsArá Orún (spirits not of ancestral lineage – spirit guides). Thus began the introduction of Kardecian Spiritism (Espiritismo) into Santeria Lucumi/Lukumi.  Within the ritual structure of Kardecian Spiritism, participants are called mediums and work toward development of psychic abilities, perception of spirits, communication with spirits, and transmission of their messages either through channeling or through direct possession. Kardecian Spiritism places a heavy emphasis on the use of Catholic prayers during the spiritual mass (misa espiritual) or seance as a way of creating a divine protective presence while the mediums make themselves open and vulnerable to the spirits.

Traditional Kardecian Spiritism became very popular in the mid to late 1800’s as the author Allan Kardec began publishing his books on spiritism. His message was originally intended as a way of cultivating spiritual awareness within the elite members of society, but the elite only engaged in spiritist masses and spiritual seances as a parlor game for entertainment. Sadly, his message of spiritual enlightenment and development of mediumship was lost on the elite classes. His work, however, was embraced by the slaves, the poor and the working class.

The Development of Espiritismo Cruzado

Espiritismo grew incredibly popular in Cuba during the Ten Years War, 1868-1878, (which later moved into the Cuban Independence War). During the Ten Years War, Cuban military leaders used misas espirituales to communicate with the spirits of deceased soldiers in order to reveal enemy troop movements and to identify whether beloved family members had died in battle. At the same time, Cuban military leaders were also engaging the assistance of Paleros (priests of the Congo-Cuban religion Palo Monte) for magical charms to protect their troops, defeat their enemy and to gain advantage on the battle field. By engaging both Espiritistas and Paleros, a curious blend of spiritism evolved in Cuba as a result: Espiritismo Cruzado.

Espiritismo Cruzado literally means “crossed” or “hybridized” Spiritism. Espiritismo Cruzado still utilizes the traditional prayers and ritual structure of Kardecian Spiritism, but it also incorporates many elements from Bantú (Congo) religious practice including the use of spirit dolls to represent spirit guides, the smoking of cigars, drinking of rum and other spirits, the use of herbs to cleanse people, the use of perfumes and other potions to cleanse or bless those present, and the channeling and African-style possessions of mediums by spirits including Congo slaves, former priests in either Palo or Santeria, or even possession by the spirits of the dead worked within the ritual context of Palo (Nfumbes). Espiritismo Cruzado is notably African in nature and traditional Kardecian Spiritists wouldn’t even recognize its practices.

The Bóveda

A typical bóveda with glasses of water and a crucifix

The center of religious worship in Espiritismo Cruzado is the bóveda. The boveda is an altar usually made on a table or a shelf, covered in a white cloth, upon which 7 or 9 glasses of water have been placed. Typically there is a central larger glass that represents the medium’s main spirit guardian. In addition to these glasses of water it is common to find a crucifix, a rosary, flowers, images or statues of saints, or dolls depicting male or female slaves, gypsies, indians, nuns, or other spirits. Many espiritistas will also keep offerings to their spirits on the table like cigars, perfumes, fans, handkerchiefs or other items. Mediums will gather at the bóveda typically once a week to recite catholic prayers, saint prayers, prayers asking for assistance and protection, and prayers for the development of their mediumship skills.

The Spirits (Ara Orún)

The kinds of spirits commonly contacted within Espiritismo Cruzado are a blend of the typical guide spirits contacted through conventional Kardecian Spiritism (Gypsies, Pirates, Indians, Asian masters, elevated spirits like saints) with the kinds of spirits worked through Congolese spiritual work with the deceased (congo slave men, madama type spirits,  or dark spirits needing assistance or seeking work). These are usually not ancestors of blood nor of initiatory lineage (Egun), these are spirits of the dead or citizens of heaven called Ara Orún (sometimes mistakenly called Ara Onú). These spirits seek to work with people as guides, guardians or agents for magical spells. It is also common for practitioners of Espiritismo Cruzado to work with the Seven African Powers – which are not orishas, but are actually seven different spirits unique to that individual medium; one from each of the seven tribes of people brought to Cuba in the slave trade.

When spirits possess their mediums, they enter into their mediums in a very African style of possession. These are distinguished by the spinning, jumping or thrashing about of the medium as the spirit enters that person’s body. Once fully possessing the body of the medium they often share drinks, smoke cigars or request specific clothing that they want to wear. Some spirits recommend spiritual cleansing or spells for those present to perform in order to better their lives. Occasionally the spirits themselves will take possession of a medium and spiritually cleanse another person by passing herbs over the body, whisking perfume-laden cloths across a person’s aura, or by spinning the person receiving the cleansing (to lift their malady off of them). These are very African experiences of possession in direct comparison to the types of possession you will see in a Kardecian Spiritist gathering where mediums typically remain seated, shake a bit, and trance out in order to dictate wisdom to those present for a period of time.

The Role of Espiritismo Cruzado in Santeria

While most Santeros are also Espiritistas who practice Espiritismo Cruzado it is important to note that Espiritismo is a foreign import into Lucumi/Lukumí practice. It is not native practice within Santeria and most importantly, it is not a requirement to practice Santeria, although 99% of Santeria practitioners do participate in Espiritismo. Some houses (spiritual lineages) make the mistake of saying that it is a requirement for people to do spiritual masses before becoming a priest in Santeria – this is not true. It is not required, but it is a good idea just in case any issues arise within that person’s spiritual court prior to initiation. Espiritismo Cruzado is not a fundamental part of Santeria but it does do a lot of good. It helps aleyos experience possession and it gives them a spiritual practice to begin cultivating prior to any initiations, because anyone can work with spirits of the dead (initiation is not required to do it). In modern times, more and more Santeria lineages are moving away from the practice of Espiritismo Cruzado as they embrace a more Lucumí/African way of worship. This is a further example of the Catholic syncretized elements of Santeria making their way slowly out of the practice of Santeria.

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