My mother is a witch like her mother before her. My magical heritage and tradition merged the Mexican Indian (An amalgam of Catholicism, various Meso-American tribal mysticisms, beliefs, rituals and deities blended with African indigenous and magical religions from Ghana, Nigeria and the Kongo. (Spanish Catholics were not only devoted their religion, they also were devoted to the African slave trade which brought The African people to the Shores of the lands they conquered and colonized. The African slaves brought their GODS.)
During the Spanish occupation of Mexico, the Aztec slaves and the African slaves intermingled over generations, sharing the knowledge of their ancestors, GODS, legends and magics. Over time three new hybrid magical systems were born incorporating the many Mexican Indian slaves and their tribes, their ancestors and their GODS as well as, the African tribes of the African slaves, their ancestors and their GODS. And so was born the magical systems of SANTERIA, VOODOO and PALO MAYOMBE.
Understanding how these religions were born will give you an understanding of why these religions were villified and feared by numerous plantation owners, conquistadors, priests, colonists and slave owners. These religions unified the Mexican Indian slaves and the African slaves in their hatred against their oppressors. It unified their GODS, their powers, their ancestors and merged with the new religion of their oppressors, which they were expected to convert too or die. Catholicism.
But while all were forced to their knees to worship a foreign fair skinned GOD, they saw their GODS in the Saints and Angels they were also forced to acknowledge. So, in public they acquiesced to the interloping religion but behind closed doors, they communed with their ancient GODS. They were told to multiply there numbers and have as many children as possible because the only way to fight a conquering force is to out number it. As they followed the advice of their GODS and their ancestors, the slaves began to outnumber the slave owners. This naturally lead to rebellions throughout the "slave trade" world. Where ever slavery was accepted, rebellions, uprisings and escapes took place giving rise to the derogatory term "Runaway slave" to describe an enslaved human being, escaping or attempting to escape, captivity. In 1851, a Physician and scientific racist by the name of Samuel A. Cartwright (1793–1863) coined the pseudoscientific term "Drapetomania" which he believed to be a mental malady of African-American slaves who ran away and sought freedom.
The hate, fear, hurt, psychological and emotional damage was passed down through the thousands of slaves and there generations the world over. This destructive energy found a home in Santeria, Voodoo and Palo Mayombe. The ire, rancor, lust for blood, punishment and retribution for crimes, abuses, indignities and humiliations suffered throughout genetic lines, infused the core of these once, originally peaceful indigenous religions. Santeria became the magical weapon of choice for the slaves in the colonies of Spain, England and America. Voodoo for the slaves in the colonies of France, England and America as well. These GODS became the avenging force that eventually freed all slaves, deifying those slaves who fought against slavery. For example;
Marinette Bwa Chèch or "Marinette of the dry arms" which she was named to denote that her skeletal arms and her association with death and endings. She is a voodoo Goddess / ancestor who is thought to have been a Haitian slave woman who was one of the first slaves to rise up and incite other slaves to rebel against their masters. It is believed by many practitioners that she was captured and burned alive making her very much voodoo equivalent of Joan of Ark archetype. Her Latin-American equivalent in Palo Mayombe would be "La Santisima Murete" or "Most Sacred Saint of Death", in Santeria she is called "Yewa" and is also associated with the cemetery and death. Her Aztec name would be Coatlicue and in her Aztec incarnation she is a sin eater. Latin American, Meso-American and African magics are just as related as Catholicism, Santeria, Voodoo and Palo Mayombe.
Santeria, Voodoo and Palo Mayombe share many similar characteristics which are hallmarks of their African origin such as; all three are original African religions pre-dating Christianity and Catholicism, all three have assimilated Catholic mythology, rituals and iconography and all three have incorporated the belief in the devil, demons and hell. Both Santeria and Voodoo retain the very African element of "benign" possession. This is when the African GODS possess their worshippers during religious ceremonies and rituals. This possession is mutual and seen as a union between the mundane and the divine worlds. Possession in voodoo and Santeria is sacred because it is not seen as evil or unnatural but rather, a gift or opportunity to commune with the divine.
The Mexican Indigenous people's GODS interacted with them in much the same way the African GODS did with the Africans. The Aztec magical practices, ceremonies and rituals involved dancing, music, singing and calling out to creator, creation, the ancestors and the gods inviting them to partake of the living energy they willfully sacrifice so that they, the GODS may taste life through "holy possession" which is the communion of both man or woman and the GODS.
All three religions include the dead and view the dead as still active participants in the evolution of humanity. They see the dead as ascended to the ranks of ancestors, teachers, protectors and guides. Also it must be noted that all three of these religions are still heavily reliant on blood and animal sacrifice, even in this modern era.
Though animal sacrifice is an integral part of these magical traditions, you can still work with these magical systems without sacrificing by offering, foods, candles, prayers, elements, gifts and above all else, respect. The entities and energies of Santeria, Voodoo and Palo Mayombe are living elemental beings and are infused with the struggles, challenges and pain as well as the love, joys, victories and survival that all oppressed people face. These religions predate most orthodox religions and should not be seen as specifically as "slave magics, peasant magics or solely as indigenous low magics as many magic workers like to reference them as. These traditions merge their practioners with the divine. It is also erroneously thought, that these traditions are ethnic incarnations of black magic or evil. These energies and entities and the practices that conjure and evokes them are aggressive and physical because it was aggression, oppression and violence that infused it and made these once peaceful and natural forces supernatural in there manifestations that can be beautiful or deadly. Again, as with all magic, pantheons, ancestors and religions, respect is key.
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