African Spiritual Traditions

The Orishas are spiritual personifications of Olódumare's aspects, and each has a different aché. Orishas are received by initiates, and they have three components: implements, otanes, and diloggin. The diloggin is the most important component and houses the soul of the orisha. The Africans took the holy shells, diloggún, with them during commercial slavery, and priests and priestesses secreted them in their hair, vagina, or digestive tract. Slaves in both the Caribbean and Brazil were able to pass along their faith to their children under Catholic slavery. The orishas are actively worshipped in Cuba and Brazil, and the religion has evolved and amalgamated with Catholic beliefs. Santeria has become a flourishing faith, growing to encompass people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Palo Mayombe is another African faith from the Congo that heralds only two deities: Nsambi and Lucero. The entire basis for this cult is the worship, elevation, and propitiation of the dead. Paleros have drawn associations between the parts of nature and the orishas and are working with them spiritually.