Overview

The purpose of this book is to bring into context and greater accessibility the knowledge of the plants used in the Santeria Religion. Many books have been written about said plants, but there seems to be no standardized version where the plant in question can be narrowed down to a more common name and proper scientific taxonomy. When I say that this book is Ewe for the New Diaspora it is because we are now in a New Diaspora . The first great diaspora that occurred was when the natives from Africa were brought to the New World as slaves of the Spanish, Portuguese, English, etc. These natives brought with them a very ample religious macrocosm and an intimate knowledge of the plants that surrounded them. This knowledge was used in the New World by their ability to find equal or similar plants that had been used in Africa. Although people have moved between the United States and countries of Central and South America for centuries; the coming of Fidel Castro in Cuba caused a massive outflow of people and their religious beliefs. Since then, other nationalities have emigrated to the United States causing what can be called a New Diaspora . With this New Diaspora , unknown religious beliefs have been brought to the shores of the United States. Now, it is not unusual to find Botanicas (stores that cater to the Afro-Caribbean religious beliefs) in most big cities in the United States (or the world). Since the basis of this book is El Monte by Lydia Cabrera, most of the plant listings are from there with an updating as to the uses, the name of the Orisha that is the tutelary owner of the herbs/plants, the Odun from Ifa associated with it, and the names and usage in Brazil (with tutelary Orisha in the different sects). It should be noted that I have not offered an opinion on the tutelary Orisha or the usage of any of these plants. This is just a compilation of available information on each of these plants from available sources. It is the responsibility of the person using this book to get guidance from their elders as to what is the proper use of these plants and the tutelary Orisha it belongs to.

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