Community of Yoruba Religion

Four continents.

Santeria in Cuba, Candomble in Brazil, Orisha in Trinidad, Vodun in Benin, and Oyotunji village in South Carolina, founded in 1970 by African Americans reclaiming the practice. Initiations cross between them with arguments about validity, and the traffic now runs back toward Nigeria as often as away from it.

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How you joinInitiation anywhere is recognised almost everywhere, with arguments

Who leadsSanteria or Lucumi in Cuba, Candomble in Brazil, Trinidad Orisha, Vodun in Benin, and an African American Orisha movement founded at Oyotunji in South Carolina in 1970. Cuban and Brazilian priests now initiate in Nigeria; Nigerians travel to Havana and Bahia to recover practice that was better preserved in exile than at home

The unitFour continents, and the traffic goes both ways

Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

The Yoruba religious world now spans four continents and its centre of gravity is genuinely distributed. Santería or Lucumí in Cuba and its very large exile community; Candomblé in Brazil, particularly in Bahia, with several nations reflecting different African origins; Orisha or Shango religion in Trinidad; Vodun in Benin, closely related and separately rooted; and in the United States both Cuban-derived Santería and a distinct African American Orisha movement, of which Oyotunji African Village in Sheldon, South Carolina, founded in 1970 by Oseijeman Adefunmi, is the most visible institution. Recognition across these branches is not automatic and disputes about the validity of initiations performed elsewhere are constant. What is new in the last few decades is the reversal of flow: Cuban and Brazilian priests conducting initiations in Nigeria, Nigerians travelling to Havana and Salvador for training, and a live argument about who now holds the more complete tradition.

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