In Santiago de Cuba, I met Elvis, a 61-year-old Santera who welcomed me into her world with ease and trust.
For seven days, I lived alongside her, following her every move and during the Santeria rituals, participating as an observer but also as part of the rite itself. I met the Padrini and the Babalao, the priests who lead ancient and symbol-laden ceremonies, and I visited the markets where sacred objects, candles, herbs, and animals for sacrifices are sold.
Santeria is a religion born from the forced encounter between African traditions and the Catholicism imposed by colonizers. A faith of resistance, which hid African deities behind Christian saints, transforming submission into a form of spiritual freedom.
Today, this practice permeates the lives of half the Cuban population: it unites men and women from all social backgrounds, guardians of an identity rooted in ancestral Africa.
I wanted to tell the story of this fusion of faith and magic, of the sacred and the everyday, where every gesture, every prayer, every color, every dance or offering becomes a bridge between worlds.
A journey into Cuban spirituality, guided by a woman who, through her rituals, gives shape and voice to a cultural heritage that continues to live, pulse, and transform.