Santeria Religion La Santeria

Santeria Religion La Santeria.
The power of faith is the power of miracles to the true believer.
Santeria (The way of the Saints) is a religion based on the traditional religious belief of the Yoruba people in Nigeria-West Africa.  Santeria is also known as La Regla Lukumi, Regla de Ocha, Lukumi.  It is composed of Orishas or Saints.  Each Orishas has a specific power that he or she specializes in.  Most practitioners of Santeria focus on the most famous or common known Orishas or Saints (Eleggua, Eshu or Esu, Chango or Shango, Ochun or Oshun, Obatala, Ogun, Oya, Yemaya or Yemaja and Oshosi or Ochosi, Babalu Aye, Obba, Ibeji).  The Orishas descend  to earth to help humans accomplish their destiny planned out by Olodumare (God).  Humans can achieve their destiny by carrying out the correct rituals.  Rituals are prescribed after a priest (Santero) or priestess (Santera) divines.  The most accurate divination will be from a Babalawo (Father of all Secrets).
Santeria is a combination of Roman Catholic religion and traditional Yoruba religious beliefs.  When slaves came to the Caribbean islands, Cuba, Brazil, Puerto Rico, South American  and Latin American countries, they brought with them their own religious believes.  Once in their new world they incorporated what they believed with the new Roman Catholic religion being thought to them.  Santeria was born from the synchronism of Catholic Saints with Orisha deities.  Practitioners would disguise their Orishas as Catholic saints and actually worship their sacred Orishas instead of saints.   This was a way Santeria flourished and was not stopped by the Catholic church.
Santeria is practiced by thousands of people world wide.  They actual number of people is unknown.  Some estimates run high and other not so high.  The actual number will never be known due to the negative stereotypes some people put on the religion.   Santeria is practiced out in public by many especially in Latin communities.  But some practitioners still fear public scrutiny and prefer to worship in private.   Santeria is found all over the world, in America, South America, Latin America, Caribbean, United Kingdom and Europe.   Santeria is easily found in Botanicas in Latin communities.