Saturday, September 1, 2018

A Guide to Santería: from "It's Your Funeral" by Wolcott Wheeler




A Santeria ritual in Venezuela


This entry, from the content-rich Resource Guide of my supernatural short story, "It's Your Funeral," introduces the mysterious world of Santeria, the Hispanic version of the ancient Yoruban nature religion mixed with Catholicism in the Caribbean. 



"It's Your Funeral" is about a certain famed Hollywood superstar who is alleged to secretly practice Santería—to further her career.



You can order it as an ebook here on Amazon for only $.99.


Learning More About the World of It’s Your Funeral


Santería



The Believers: This 1987 horror masterpiece directed by the great John Schlesinger is by far the best film ever made about the arcane world of Santería. Martin Sheen, Helen Shaver, Robert Loggia, and Jimmy Smits all turn in stellar performances, with a brilliant script by Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost. Don’t miss Harris Yulin impersonating a terrifying and prescient version of Donald Trump! (No kidding.) Ultimately, a chilling parable about the soulless American cult of success—at any sacrifice.

The Donald Trump character is on the right, a magnate played by Harris Yulin who performed human sacrifice on his first-born son to gain material success from the gods



Santería: African Spirits in America (1993, Beacon Press): Joseph M. Murphy’s scholarly yet personal study is the finest serious introduction to this widely misunderstood and unfairly vilified faith.




Sacred Rhythms of Cuban Santería: Ever wonder what the real music of the holy Santería religion sounds like? This 1995 Smithsonian Folkways record opens a mystical doorway into the shimmering world of this uniquely New World syncretic faith combining ancient African Yoruban nature religion with colonial European Catholicism.




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