Free entry-level course

Santería Religious Literacy

Foundations Through Elekes

A self-paced public education course for people who want to understand Santería and the Orisha responsibly before making religious commitments.

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What the certificate means

Completion is education—not initiation.

The certificate recognizes completion of a public religious-literacy course. It is not practitioner certification, ordination, initiation, authority to divine, permission to perform ceremonies, proof of eligibility to receive elekes, or a substitute for an elder, godparent, or ilé.

Twelve modules

Learn before you commit.

Each module includes objectives, public lessons, key terms, reflection, related reading, and a knowledge check.

  1. 01

    What Santería Is—and Is Not

    Names, public definitions, living religion, and the limits of stereotypes.

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  2. 02

    Yoruba Roots, Cuba, and Diaspora

    Historical continuity, transformation, survival, and religious freedom.

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  3. 03

    The Sacred World: Creator, Orisha, and Ancestors

    A public map of sacred relationship without flattening theology.

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  4. 04

    House, Lineage, Elders, and Godparents

    How accountable relationships carry knowledge and responsibility.

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  5. 05

    Meeting the Orisha Through Public Study

    Names, contexts, stories, character lessons, and lineage variation.

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  6. 06

    Ori, Destiny, Choice, and Character

    Why destiny is not fatalism and power requires conduct.

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  7. 07

    Prayer, Reverence, and Moyuba

    Public principles of respectful address without publishing liturgical scripts.

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  8. 08

    Divination, Odù, and Responsible Counsel

    Obí, Diloggún, Ifá, interpretation, confidentiality, and limits.

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  9. 09

    Patakís, Proverbs, and Interpretation

    How sacred stories form moral attention without becoming recipes.

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  10. 10

    Spiritual Safety, Consent, and Red Flags

    Money, urgency, confidentiality, medical boundaries, and informed choice.

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  11. 11

    Pathways: Elekes, Warriors, and Other Receptions

    High-level purpose, relationships, obligations, and why sequence varies.

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  12. 12

    Preparing to Receive Elekes

    What elekes mean, what to ask, how to prepare, and why commitment matters.

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