Because from the beginning the Catholic Church in Latin America prohibited African religions, Santeria had to be practiced in secrecy for a long time. Eventually the Catholic Church came to tolerate this syncretism among the slaves. Santeros, as the practitioners of Santeria are now called, worship one supreme being and a group of deities, or orisha, that form the Yoruba pantheon. The orisha's will is interpreted by Santeria priests through divination. It is said that sometimes orisha possess the worshipers in order to voice their counsel.
Followers can appeal to the orisha through prayers, music, proper behavior, and offerings.
Each deity represents an aspect of nature, like thunder, and a human characteristic, like power. These are not Catholic priests, and their ordinary Santeria rituals are held in homes rather than temples. However, bad people live in hell on earth and suffer in ikole orun. A god who created human life and consciousness out of the substance of the earth. The supreme being, who created the universe.