Posted on October 5th, 2022.

With what appears to be a spate of animal sacrifices in Florida, many are wondering about the underlying spiritual traditions behind them.

Sometimes feared and often misunderstood, Santería and other Afro-Cuban spiritual traditions still persist in the U.S. – especially in South Florida.

Derived from African religions brought by Yoruban slaves to the New World, what’s now called Santería simply means “the way of the saints” in Spanish. Santería is a monotheistic religion with a god named Olodumare, "owner of all destinies," writes Joseph Murphy in his book "Santería An African Religion in America."

However, the Yorubans also forged relationships with more than 1,000 spiritual beings called orishas, which established Yoruban arts and sciences such as farming, hunting and divination, Murphy writes. Orishas are present throughout nature in objects like shells and stones. The faithful give the objects ritual baths and meals of blood through animal sacrifice, as well as infusions of herbs, he writes.

Forced to convert to Catholicism, practitioners simply merged the orishas with the identities of Catholic saints who can intercede on behalf of the faithful when asked. It was a way to preserve their traditional beliefs without defying the dominant culture (scholars call this blending process syncretism).

“(Orishas) make connections between the sort of transcendent creator God (Olodumare), and the natural physical world, and individual people,” said Landon Frim, FGCU associate professor of philosophy. “They really do function in a very similar way to the saint function in orthodox Catholicism.”

For example, the deity Shango, also spelled Chango, was connected with, so that identity was transferred to the Catholic Santa Barbara, whose legend involves a lightning strike. Orishas possess human traits, with earthly likes and dislikes. Each has associated colors, numbers and symbols. Some favor fish over chicken. Some enjoy rum. Others like tobacco.

Because of its association with divination, spells and trances – not to mention animal sacrifice – many Christians have impugned its traditions.

“Santería is often mistakenly depicted as an evil religion that worships demons, engages in blood-thirsty rituals and seeks to do evil on others,” according to the California-based Church of the Orishas website. “This is further racist, colonial depiction of the beautiful and complex African religious tradition of Santería. ... There is a strong ethic of helping others and working cooperatively to lift people out of poverty and sickness toward blessings, health, prosperity and longevity.”

The Church of the Orishas site acknowledges “Every initiation in Santería requires animal sacrifice. The reason why animal sacrifice must be present is because every initiation is a birth into a new life and destiny. The act of birth has blood associated with it. In order for the new orishas that are being birthed for the initiate to exist, they must consume the blood of sacrificed animals. If there is no animal sacrifice there is no real Santería and no legitimate African Traditional Religion.”

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld their right to perform them.

In 1987, a Hialeah church announced plans to build a church, school and cultural center in the city. Alarmed Hialeah officials asked then-Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth to decide whether animal sacrifice was legal. His conclusion: "Ritual sacrifice of animals for purposes other than food consumption” was not a “necessary” killing and therefore prohibited. 

The church fought back and the case eventually made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, where in 1993, the justices ruled in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah that animal sacrifice is a protected religious sacrament of Santería.

FGCU’s Frim says, “Whether or not we consider it to be humane, I think it's a legitimate question, as we live in a secular society. But it's also a legitimate question as to whether the industrial slaughter of animals, which happens billions of times every year, is humane … Neither dilemma washes out the other, but it’s a point of reflection.”

Ultimately, Frim said, “A lot of the misunderstanding, ironically, has to do with the history of persecution. The entire religion being syncretic is based on this history of persecution – the secrecy and the mystery, and the fear. And so I think it's really ironic that the continued persecution is just because of this legacy of trying to persevere.”

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