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Everywhere you look in Baltimore there is a church. It is impossible to ignore the religious diversity of Charm City, so what about Santería?
“I need three pigeons and a rooster for the sacrifice as soon as possible.”
This wasn’t the greeting I expected on my first meeting with a Santero… or ever, under any circumstance. I mean, I save insects from drowning in the pool. I can’t bear watching their struggling little legs, so I was not prepared to watch four animals beheaded and sacrificed for the sake of my spiritual cleansing. What could I have done or what could possibly happen to me that I needed all of this? Needless to say, I was about to turn around and run for it until a smile broke out on the Santero’s scruffy face. It was all for a ritual they were dedicating to Yemaya, the ocean goddess.
As I looked around the decorated room, I knew this was going to be an unforgettable experience. There was a turtle walking around, Bacardi rum was offered to some of the saints and this Santero had a huge tobacco clenched between his lips. Every second in this room made me more intrigued about the religion that was born with the Yoruba people of Africa and what is now Nigeria. As a Catholic, I was very curious about how this religion had turned from the worshiping of deities to the worshiping of saints. Both religions share saints, the differences are the names, the rituals, the meetings and essentially how they express their beliefs. It was quite an experience comparing the statues made out of wood, leaves and shells, to the ones in the Basilica.
The Santero pointed at St. Lazarus and told me his African name. He spoke in another tongue as he prayed and I was hooked on the strange sounds. As the meeting continued I not only learned about the religion, but also about myself, more than I had ever anticipated. For instance, I was the daughter of Obatala, the father figure, the chief and judge. This lead to a very detailed description of who I was as a person and to many warnings about my future. Everything I was told made perfect sense, he told me things about my character that I could not deny. It was kind of unnerving, at points overwhelming, but always enticing.
Since I had taken an interest in learning more about Santeria, I met with the owners of a store on Baltimore St. (the place where multiculturalism in Baltimore was born since the slave trade) Botánica Chango sells many religious artifacts and an unlimited amount of the ingredients Santero’s use in their rituals. I asked the woman working there to explain the coconuts and the water bowl next to the door and the hangings around the exit sign. She said they were to keep the curses other people had on them from entering the store, an expulsion of bad vibes. Everything had a meaning and a duty according to their believers. The artifacts ranged from beautiful to intimidating. It is a very detailed and interesting way of life that is often misunderstood. I encourage everyone to visit the store, to ask as many questions as I did, and to explore the religious diversity in Baltimore a little further. If you ask the right questions, you just might get an invitation to experience something phenomenally new. Their religion is their art and it is a wonder to behold.
Tags: Baltimore, Botánica Chango, diversity, religion, Religious Art, santeria
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