Santería is an African diasporic religion that developed among Afro-
Cuban communities during the late 19th century. It arose through the
syncretism of the Yoruba religion of West Africa, the Roman Catholic
form of Christianity, and Spiritism. Santería is an initiatory
tradition with no central authority. It is polytheistic and revolves
around deities called oricha. Deriving their names and attributes from
traditional Yoruba divinities, they are equated with Roman Catholic
saints. Each human is believed to have a personal link to a particular
oricha. Practitioners venerate the oricha at altars, where offerings
include fruit, liquor, flowers and sacrificial animals. A central ritual
involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an
oricha to possess one of their members and thus communicate with them.
Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies and talismans
also play a prominent role. The number of initiates is estimated to be
in the high hundreds of thousands.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%ADa>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1609:
Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei demonstrated his first
telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei>
1758:
Seven Years' War: Prussian forces engaged the Russians at the
Battle of Zorndorf in present-day Sarbinowo, Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Zorndorf>
1941:
Second World War: Soviet, British and Commonwealth armed forces
invaded Iran to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines for the Soviet
Union.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Soviet_invasion_of_Iran>
2001:
American singer Aaliyah and several members of her record
company were killed when their overloaded aircraft crashed shortly after
taking off from Marsh Harbour Airport in the Bahamas.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Marsh_Harbour_Cessna_402_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
or bust:
(chiefly US, informal) Used to indicate one's intention to do everything
possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/or_bust>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every writer hopes or boldly assumes that his life is in some
sense exemplary, that the particular will turn out to be universal.
--Martin Amis
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Amis>
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