page_title: Santería
section_title: Shrines and otanes
hierarchical_section_title: Santería / Practices / Shrines and otanes
caption_attribution_description: English: Santería altar in Cuba. Deutsch: Santería-Altar in Kuba.
context_page_description: Santería, also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diasporic religion that was developed in Cuba between the 16th and 19th centuries. It arose through a process of syncretism between the traditional Yoruba religion of West Africa and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of the movement, which comprises adherents known as creyente and initiates known as santeros and santeras.
  Santería is polytheistic, involving the veneration of deities known as oricha. These are often identified both as Yoruba gods as well as Roman Catholic saints. Various myths are told about these oricha, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Olodumare. Each individual is believed to have a specific oricha who has been connected to them since before birth and who informs their personality. Santería's members usually meet in the homes of santeros or santeras to venerate specific oricha at altars set up for that purpose. A central ritual is the toque de santo, in which practitioners drum, sing, and dance to encourage an oricha to possess one of their members.
context_section_description: The igbodu within the casa will typically contain an altar, while individual practitioners will also often have altars to specific oricha in their own homes. The process of creating these altars is considered to be expensive and time-consuming. Specific items will be placed on the altar that have particular relevance to the oricha it is devoted to. Sacred objects used in Santería are known as fundamentos (foundations); any ritual paraphernalia that is not anointed through the bautismo rite is referred to as judia (Jewish). 
  Typically placed on the altar are the sopera porcelain vessels, often tureens, which contain various sacred items, most notably the otán stones (pl. otanes). The otán stones are regarded as both containing and representing the oricha; they have been described as the "primary representation" of the oricha in Santería. They are therefore understood as being alive. Many of the stones will have been collected from the landscape and then divination used to determine which ones contain an oricha and, if so, which oricha it is. Specific otanes sometimes display traits linking them to particular oricha; for example ocean stones are linked with Yemaya, river pebbles with Ochún, and meteorite fragments with Chango. Each oricha is deemed to prefer a particular color and number of otanes in sopera devoted to them; Chango has six or ten black stones, Obatala has eight white stones, while Ochun favors five yellow stones, for instance. Many practitioners place great emphasis on the stones, perceived as being sources of power, something linked to aché. Adherents believe that older stones have more aché than younger ones. Some of the most powerful stones are claimed to have been brought to Cuba from Africa by enslaved persons who concealed them within their stomachs during the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.
  The otanes undergo a bautismo (baptism) rite; this allows them to be "born" and involves the being washed in osain, a mixture of herbs and water, after which they are "fed" with animal blood. When a santero or santera receives their stones, they take an oath to protect them at all times and to feed them at least annually. By feeding them, initiates believe that the stones gain the strength to aid people. Also placed within the sopera, alongside the otanes, are a series of cowrie shells; usually 18 are added although the precise number differs depending on which oricha the sopera is devoted to.
  The sopera will often be covered by a cloth known as a pañuelo that is colored in accordance with the oricha in question. Often laid over the sopera are necklaces known as collares, representing various oricha. Various artefacts might be selected to represent the oricha; a wooden axe for Changó or a fan for Ochún, for instance. The anthropologist Ysamur Flores found Chinese Taoist figurines being used to represent the oricha on one Cuban altar. A particularly ornate altar used in the ceremonial space is known as a trono ("throne"). In an igbodu there is a display of three distinct thrones (draped with royal blue, white, and red satin) that represent the seats of the queens, kings, and the deified warriors. Also placed on the altar are offerings of food and flowers.
  In addition to their altar to the oricha, many practitioners also have altars set aside for the spirits of the dead. Such altars typically consist of a white-covered table known as a bóveda, something derived from the White Table of Kardecian Spiritism. These often contain photographs of deceased relatives as well as offerings placed to them. Popular offerings for the spirits of the dead include seven glasses of water, a Cafecito coffee, and the aguardiente liquor. Many practitioners will also enshrine their family ancestors on the floor of the bathroom, under the sink. This location is chosen so that the ancestors are located below the vertical water pipes, allowing the spirits to transition between the realms via water, which is their preferred medium for travel.
caption: An outdoor Cuban altar photographed in 2015
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