Please find attached several documents that refer to the Oricha or Orichas (spelled Orisha or Orix in some texts). According to these documents, Orichas are the deities of the Santería (which translates to "saint worshipping"), a religious practice that mixes traditional West African and Roman Catholic icons, beliefs and rituals.

One source, not attached to this response because of the brevity of its information on the subject, refers to religious minorities in Cuba stating that a number of Afro-Cuban mystery cults also flourish. The most widespread of these cults is Santería (thing of the Saints) practised by the Lucumi, descendants of the Nigerian Yoruba (Kurian 1992, 467).

A page from one of the attached articles from the National Geographic magazine states that the Casa de Africa museum in Havana houses a collection of paraphernalia used in the rituals of the African religions that slvaes brought with them to Cuba "and [that] never died" (Aug. 1989, 297). The article quotes the curator of the museum who explains that Santería "reflects the native religions of people like the Yoruba of Nigeria but has a lot of Roman Catholic liturgy and sacramentals" (Ibid.). The article explains that some Catholic figures are viewed as avatars of the divine Yoruban beings called Orichas. (This and the other attached documents suggest that each Oricha has a particular name and position in a hierarchy of divinities.) Like the encyclopedic attachments mentioned below, the article states that Santería can involve ritual sacrificing of animals and suggests that many Cubans believe in the Santería, including people who are nominally Catholic (Ibid.).

A more recent article states that "the government accepts such rites merging Christian and African beliefs" (Ibid. Aug 1991, 95).

The attached section of The Encyclopedia of Religion provides the most detailed description of Santería currently available to the DIRB (The Encyclopedia of Religion 1987, 66-67). This source coincides with the attached section of The Encyclopaedia Britannica in describing the Orichas as supernatural beings or spirits. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, however, describes the Orichas in the context of Afro-Brazilian cults (spelled orix s in the text, perhaps using a Portuguese-language spelling). The Encyclopedia of Religion concentrates on the Afro-Cuban Santería, explaining its different aspects, such as the four forms of devotion to the Orichas: divination, sacrifice, spirit mediumship and initiation (Ibid., 66). The source states that Santería's popularity "seems to have been little affected by the socialist revolution, and thanks to nearly one million Cuban exiles, it is thriving in Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the United States" (Ibid., 67). Finally, the source adds the number of full initiates is difficult to determine because of the tradition of secrecy that santeros have maintained in order to survive a history of oppression and misunderstanding. The presence of Santería in a given neighbourhood may be gauged by the profusion of bot nicas, small retail stores that sell the herbs and ritual paraphernalia of Santería ceremonies. In 1981, there were at least eighty bot nicas in Miami, Florida, and more than a hundred in New York City (Ibid., 67).

Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.

The Encyclopedia of Religion. 1987. Vol. 7. Mircea Eliade, ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.

Kurian, Thomas, ed. 1992. Encyclopedia of the Third World. 4th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File.

National Geographic. August 1991. "Cuba at a Crossroads." Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

. August 1989. "The Many Lives of Old Havana." Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1989. Macropaedia. 15th ed. Vol. 16. Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., p. 339.

The Encyclopedia of Religion. 1987. Vol. 7. Mircea Eliade, ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, pp. 66-67.

National Geographic. August 1991. "Cuba at a Crossroads." Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, pp. 94-95, 121.

. August 1989. "The Many Lives of Old Havana." Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, pp. 297, 299.