Orisha Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
This article is about the god. Orishas is also the name of a hip-hop/latino fusion band whose members are Cubans living in Spain. Orixa is also the name of a rock en español/alternative rock band.An Orisha (orixa) is a spirit reflecting a particular aspect of God in the belief systems Candomble in Brazil, and Santería and Luccumi in Cuba and Puerto Rico among others. Luccumi is practiced extensively throughout those areas of the United States heavily populated by Cubanos, Puerto Ricians, and African-Americans.
These traditions originated several thousand years ago from the Yoruba people of West Africa. Orí translates as head, and in the traditions the head and mind are sacred and not to be touched by strangers. Axé, also spelled "Ashe" or "Ache" is the life-force that runs though all things, living and inanimate. Axé thus has become a common greeting in northeastern Brazil.
Yoruba religious leaders were brought into the New World as slaves along with the larger Yoruba populations. Yoruba's central religion, Ifa, tended to dominate African populations of the New World, because the people of Yoruba were the prodiminate ethnic groups encountered by slave-traders on the Ivory Coast. Yoruba religious leaders were, consequently, captured in large numbers.
In Haiti, practitioners of Vodun celebrate spirits very similar to the Orishas called loa. During rituals, worshippers are said to be possessed (or "ridden") by the loa in Vodun. In the Luccumi traditions, only priests become possessed by the Orisha or Ocha.
Orishas include Shango and Eshu, among countless others.