Cuba
Santeria is a local religion with its roots in West Africa and spread with the arrival of slaves. Forbidden by the Spanish the slaves found ways of hiding images of their gods (known as orishas) behind those of the Catholic saints. The goddess here is known as as Yemaya, queen of water and the sea and mother of all other orishas. She came to be the equivalent of the Virgen de Regla, whom the Spanish believed to protect sailors.There are some four hundred Afro-Cuban orishas in all.
Cuba
Santeria is a local religion with its roots in West Africa and spread with the arrival of slaves. Forbidden by the Spanish the slaves found ways of hiding images of their gods (known as orishas) behind those of the Catholic saints. The goddess here is known as as Yemaya, queen of water and the sea and mother of all other orishas. She came to be the equivalent of the Virgen de Regla, whom the Spanish believed to protect sailors.There are some four hundred Afro-Cuban orishas in all.