Title: The altar of my soul : the living traditions of Santería /
Authors: Vega, Marta Moreno.
Publisher: One World, the Ballantine Publishing Group,
Year: 2000
Subjects: Vega, Marta Moreno.; Santeria.; Women priests Biography.
Abstract: Long cloaked in protective secrecy, demonized by Western society, and distorted by Hollywood, Santeria is now emerging from the shadows. In this book, the author recounts the compelling true story of her journey from ignorance and skepticism to initiation as a Yoruba priestess in the Santeria religion. This unforgettable spiritual memoir reveals the long hidden roots and traditions of a faith that originated on the shores of West Africa and was transported to the Caribbean and the Americas via the trans Atlantic slave trade that started in the fifteenth century. Today, with an estimated 75 million followers worldwide, Santeria is being recognized as one of Africa's gifts to the world. But gaining such acceptance was not easy. As an Afro Puerto Rican child in the New York barrio, the author paid little heed to the storefront botanicas full of spiritual paraphernalia or to the Catholic style images her parents turned to in times of trouble.^
Contents: Olodumare: the unknown is the path to knowledge -- Yemayá: no one knows what tomorrow will bring -- Obatalá: power resides in cool heads -- Ellegua: the obvious is not always the correct answer -- Ochun: the goddess of honey -- Oyá: in order to live you must die -- Shangó: born to make war -- Orula: guardian of knowledge -- Orí: we all have our personal Orisha -- Ochosi: in unity there is power -- Orishaoko: guardian of the earth -- Ayáguna: Yo tengo mi Aché: on having Aché.