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ikhet_sekhmetA couple of notes from Sacred Possessions.
I'm really interested by the apparent anarchy of the Vodoun gods - there's a huge number of them, they don't have ranks, they can appear in "many emanations", they have many names, they're constantly being added or forgotten. (p 21) Similarly, one author describes Santería as "a chaotic and unstoppable amalgam" (p 97). This is apparently also true of the religion's African sources. (p 80)
In the Yoruba religion, an oricha is created "in a moment of passion preserved as legend" - a great emotional crisis which caused a "metamorphosis", bestowing on them their aché or power. For example, Oggún became an oricha when he realised he'd killed everyone in the city he'd founded in a moment of wrath. "What was material in them disappeared, burned by that passion, and only the aché remained - power in a state of pure energy." (p 82)
In Santería it's thought that although the one God of Christianity created the world, he then distributed His powers throughout the orichas so He wouldn't have to interfere in human affairs. (p 87)
The personalities of the Vodoun and Santería gods are so distinct, rich, and powerful!
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Olmos, Margarite Fernández and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (eds). Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean. Rutgers, New Jersey, 1997.
I'm really interested by the apparent anarchy of the Vodoun gods - there's a huge number of them, they don't have ranks, they can appear in "many emanations", they have many names, they're constantly being added or forgotten. (p 21) Similarly, one author describes Santería as "a chaotic and unstoppable amalgam" (p 97). This is apparently also true of the religion's African sources. (p 80)
In the Yoruba religion, an oricha is created "in a moment of passion preserved as legend" - a great emotional crisis which caused a "metamorphosis", bestowing on them their aché or power. For example, Oggún became an oricha when he realised he'd killed everyone in the city he'd founded in a moment of wrath. "What was material in them disappeared, burned by that passion, and only the aché remained - power in a state of pure energy." (p 82)
In Santería it's thought that although the one God of Christianity created the world, he then distributed His powers throughout the orichas so He wouldn't have to interfere in human affairs. (p 87)
The personalities of the Vodoun and Santería gods are so distinct, rich, and powerful!
__
Olmos, Margarite Fernández and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert (eds). Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean. Rutgers, New Jersey, 1997.
