The Orishas in Cuban Santería during the 2010s diaspora

Record summary

Regla de Ocha, commonly called Santería or Lucumí, remains a major Afro-Cuban religious tradition involving orishas, initiation, divination, sacrifice, healing, and possession or spirit embodiment. The 2010s provide abundant identifiable material through ethnographies, practitioner manuals, museum collections, and disputes over animal sacrifice and religious freedom. It is a useful comparison case for how African-derived traditions are classified as religion, magic, heritage, or occultism. Sources differ in terminology and theological emphasis, so descriptions should preserve practitioners’ distinctions between orishas, ancestors, mediums, and diviners.