Santeria

Block discusses the histories of Spain and England and its call to Christian dominance. Christian rhetoric was central to survival in the Caribbean as told through the lives of the six different persons in the book. She tells the story of a plantation master that converted to Quakerism; one might ask “how does this relate to the difference in religion on the subject of the Dominican Republic?”

Besides the fact that the Quakers were amongst the first to denounce slavery, and he was a plantation owner, many individuals realized that conversion would grant them safety and also the opportunity to expand commercially. This was after the Protestant English failed to convert the natives, then attributed it racial inferiority. Europeans were concerned with colonization and conversion to Protestant and Catholic religions. She attempts to argue that over the course of time, monetary gain has led to an increase in toleration amongst various religions in the region. However, in my honest opinion and research, many Dominicans prefer the Afro-Dominican religion known as Santeria. This is a pantheistic religion that originated from the Yoruba, and includes some Catholic rituals.

Santeria can be viewed to Westerners as “Folk Catholicism”; many legends are rituals are passed down from generation to generation. These include shrines, voodoo dolls, and other forms of worship.  Historically this practice has been fueled by a patron-client relationship with the supernatural. The client will ask a favor of the patron in return for agreeing to endure some sort of suffering. It is similar to Catholicism because “the image of a saint is the ideological representation of a spiritual entity who lived at one time upon the earth as a human being , but for the santero, the Catholic image is the embodiment of a Yoruba God”. Santeria was appealing for colonized Africans because it allowed them to maintain their faith while appearing to have accepted Catholicism. Over time, the ability to maintain the religion of the motherland had allowed many Dominicans to accept their strong African roots. It is very important to note that antihaitianismo; which is literally the hate of Haitians, was rampant because they were darker and went to the extremes of practicing Santeria. Dominicans that were colonized by the Spanish grew to hate their Haitian counterparts due to belief that persons of darker complexion were inferior. They were looked down upon because they chose to worship spirits instead of converted to a “superior” religion.

Catholicism in the Dominican Republic was for the elites; those that were tied into politics and had a significant amount of wealth.  The difference in the religions ended up creating a gap between wealthy and poor; the haves were catholic and the have-nots continued to practice Santeria. This, of course, was under the rule of the Spanish. The population was able to assert its independence under French rule (due to it being neglected).  This is not to say that Catholicism is a negative thing, as much of the country is Catholic, however a great number of people stuck with and still stick with Santeria.

The Journal of American Folklore , Vol. 118, No. 469 (Summer, 2005), pp. 308-326

Published by: University of Illinois Press on behalf of American Folklore Society

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4137916

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , Vol. 37, No. 1 (Mar., 1998), pp. 74-89

Published by: Wiley on behalf of Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1388030