There are so many beliefs and religions in the world that it would be madness (and I don’t mean that we are mad) if we didn’t read about each and every one of them in detail, but because there are so many of them. Today we are going to talk about Santeria and Spiritism (see also: Islam in the Middle Ages).
The difference between Santeria and Spiritism
Where would humanity be without its beliefs? This is quite an interesting question, in an alternate universe where no religion or doctrine existed, humanity might be more advanced or chaotic. Before talking about the differences between Santeria and Spiritism, it is good to define both:
Spiritism is based on the belief that the spirits of the dead retain a material body with which they can communicate with the living. They can communicate with them through a medium or tool such as tobacco, cards, crystal balls, etc.
On the other hand, we have Santeria, which is a set of religious systems that combines Catholic beliefs with the traditional cultures of the Yaruba. So we could define it as a religious belief born from the union of European and African religious elements.
It is important to mention that all Santeros are Spiritists, but not all Spiritists can be Santeros, we must remember that. One of the main differences between Santeria and Spiritism is that Santeria is like a religion, while Spiritism is a doctrine.
Santeria worships many different deities, it is a polytheistic religion, whereas in Spiritism people who are Spiritists are used to contact the spirits of the ancestors, they can also communicate with deceased relatives or family ancestors.
On the other hand, everyone has their own plaster figures that they worship and use to perform their rituals, and as mentioned before, a santero can do the work of a spiritualist, but a spiritualist cannot do the work of a santero, for that to happen, the spiritualist would have to be declared a saint by the other santeros.
History of the Ánima Sola
The Ánima Sola, also known as the abandoned soul, is a graphic representation of a suffering soul in purgatory. It is a very common belief in some parts of the world, for example in Latin America.
The figure is represented as a woman because, according to the legend, this woman, whose name was Celestina Abdégano, belonged to the group of pious women of Jerusalem. It was their duty to help the condemned, bringing them water until they died.
On Good Friday, the day of Jesus’ death, Celestina was ordered to go up to Calvary to give water to the three condemned of that day; Celestina, as usual, accepted the order and went up to give water to the condemned of Calvary.
It happened that Celestina gave water to Dimas and Gestas, who were crucified next to Jesus Christ. When Celestina came to Jesus to give him water, she was afraid because the Jews hated Jesus and she was afraid of reprisals.
For fear of being brutally attacked by the Jews, she decided not to give Jesus Christ to drink, and for this reason poor Celestina was condemned to eternal thirst and the constant heat of the infernal flames of Purgatory. (See also: Islamic art).
According to the legend, her deed condemned her to eternal damnation, and she lies there burning and dying of thirst, perhaps regretting that she did not give Jesus Christ something to drink. She has no hope of salvation, some say.
Appreciation today
Within Christianity, especially Catholicism, Celestina’s suffering in purgatory is taken into account, so some Catholics venerate her without failing in their Catholic faith, even though the Catholic Church has not and will not canonise Celestina.
Now, the figure of Celestina is used by many devotees for the side of evil, while there are others who use her for the side of good, that is, there are those who invoke the spirit of this tortured woman to bind another person or to wish evil upon a person.
On the other hand, we have the other group of Celestina’s followers who, instead of invoking her for evil, pray for her to alleviate their suffering, but in general, behind this good deed, they wait for her to respond in some way in the form of gratitude, that is, to grant them some kind of favour.
