Coming This Saturday, 27 September - ESOTERIC CROSSROADS: SCHOLARS MEET PRACTITIONERS

Join us on Saturday, 27 September for a new Esoteric Crossroads: Scholars Meet Practitioners session - this time on Santería/ Regla de Osha! I'll be moderating this discussion, and will be joined by:

Dr. Sarah Nimführ is a cultural anthropologist specialising in forced migration, transnational memory cultures, and Island Studies, with a regional focus on the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Her further research interests include engaged anthropology, collaborative knowledge production, the decolonial entanglements of Caribbean music in the transatlantic context, and Jewish cemetery heritage. Currently, Sarah is affiliated with the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Arts Linz, where she works as principal investigator on a postdoctoral project exploring transgenerational memory work of Jewish exile.

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Raisel Tejeda is a practitioner of Afro-Cuban religions, especially the Regla de Osha, better known as the Lukumi or Santería religion. Within this tradition, he is called Obba Shekere (King of the Sound of Luck). As a consecrated Olorisha (possessor of Orishas), Raisel also serves as an Italero (interpreter of the sacred oracles) and guides others through the Obi and Erindilogún divination systems. In addition, he is recognised as a spiritualist and clairvoyant and as Engeyo within the Palo Monte tradition. Originally from Cuba, Raisel relocated to Austria three years ago. This transition inspired him to reflect deeply on his spiritual path, and led him to adapt his practices to life in the diaspora while staying true to the essence of his beliefs.

Some highlights of the upcoming discussion -

- Regla de Osha (often called Santería)- its contested naming, Yoruba roots, and oral transmission

- Orishas as energies of nature, guides through life, and mirrors of cosmology

- Research, secrecy, and gender: what scholars can (and can’t) access

- Rituals, initiation, and adaptation- how sacred practice meets local ecology

- Raisel’s journey across traditions and the deep training it requires

This one’s for the seekers, the scholars, and the spiritually curious! Esoteric Crossroads: Scholars Meet Practitioners is a collaboration between Rejected Religion and RENSEP -Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices. Link can be found at my Patreon page (for all members): www.patreon.com/RejectedReligion or at RENSEP (members only): www.rensep.org.