The 1950s–1960s Santería public-representation controversy

Record summary

During the postwar period, Santería, also called Regla de Ocha or Lucumí, continued to develop through Afro-Cuban family networks, initiatory houses, healing practices, divination, and diaspora transmission. Published descriptions often framed the tradition through exoticizing or occult categories, while practitioners maintained complex relationships with Catholic forms and Yoruba-derived ritual. This lead supports comparison of secrecy, possession, material religion, and migration. Terminology, regional variation, and the dates of particular publications or initiations require careful local and archival verification.