On my way to Santeria

Upon entering a place that many different people of various races attended brought some attenttion to me. There were not only of different races but also of a different age groups. There was some form of formality because of the different dress attire that would identify the rank in religious order, Such as an Iyawo(newly ordained priest/priestess) which also means newborn of the religion. At first it appeared to be somewhat informal and as the night progressed I realized that was part of the ritual that I was about to experience.


Everyone who walked in to the basement where the tambor was taking place would first go to the alter to salute(lay on the floor, forehead flat on the ground, arms at your side with palms face up) if the person saluting was an elder then they would salute and ring a bell or maraca to salute and say a small prayer for the person who was hosting the ceremony. If the person saluting was not an elder the host/hostess would stand beside the saluter to raise the individual up with his/her blessing. At the end I sat down and interviewed one to the members.





After the individual would salute the alter, if there was any person who is older in the religion then the individual would throw themselves on the floor to salute in the same fashion as above to ask for their blessing.





The first set of music was an opening song which was instrumental that the drummers performed. It was somewhat like an opening prayer. Then they took a small calabash bowl(looked like a half coconut) with a little water and poured water on the center of the room. Everyone went to the center and touched the water with their index fingers and placed the wet finger on the forehead (Just as one would do upon entering a catholic church). Now the typical basement has now been reformed to a holy place. It is no longer jane doe's basement.