Right now you may be considering your
options to visit clergy or a house in one of these religions, or evaluating your current involvement. It's really important that you think about what you are doing and keep some general rules in mind even if you decide to get involved. Let's go over a few sensible things to protect
yourself:
People generally start looking for "something more" in their lives when life isn't treating them so great. You may be depressed, have had a loss of some kind or even be physically ill. We can't stress enough the importance of NOT seeking out these religions when you are at a weak point in your life. There are many reasons for that which we will cover here, but the most important one is the fact that there is absolutely no governing body, no authority whatsoever to discipline any of these "priests" or the houses they operate. It's bad enough whe a big church like the Catholics fall to scandal, and even then, as is evidenced in the daily news, it's been like pulling teeth to get them to discipline their clergy and own up to their lack of ethics. Now multiply that by 1000, that is what it is like to get anyone in Santeria to take responsibility. Most priests that abuse victims encounter operate a hairline under the law to get away with as much as possible, but just because it isn't quite illegal doesn't make it wrong.
If you are in a vunerable state of mind or physically vunerable you will
have little or no defense against anyone taking advantage of you. You may not even realize you have been taken advantage of until years and thousands of dollars later, and because it was done in the name of "religion" it's all perfectly legal.
If you've made up your mind that we can't possibly be right about such a "wonderful" and "cultural" religion and you are going to do it anyways, the best of luck to you. But please, for your own sake, examine yourself carefully, making sure that you are in the best state of mind, that your health is good and your life is happy before visiting these priests or their houses. Let a real doctor or psychiatrist take care of your problems first with medication or therapy, or visit a career or financial counselor (many of which are FREE to visit) and do some real world planning and straightening out of your life. After you are on a solid foundation in your life, mentally and physically well, employed and happy, then go and seek them out if that is what you want to do. Any of these so-called "priests" that would tell you otherwise to forgo real world professional help for some snake oil, RUN AS FAR AND AS FAST AS YOU CAN. No credible person in ANY religion will try to convince you not to see professionals first to get your life straightend out.
The next thing to remember is that reputations and names mean absolutely 0 in the realm of credibility or honesty in these religions. As a matter of fact, it is often the biggest names and the "best" reputations which are the WORST OFFENDERS. That's right. "Baba Shit-Doesn't-Stink" will often have the most followers, the best reputation, and maybe even a few published books and be an absolutely scummy con-man, harasser, bigot and jerk. We've seen it multiple times. The biggest names are often the worst offenders in this religion simply because they have no one they have to be accountable to, no priest has anyone they have to be accountable to and when they get a lot of followers and a reputation they tend to be the most abusive.
Last but not least understand what these religions actually are; MADE UP. They are a hodge-podge of beliefs from Africa brought by the slaves to the new world. No two houses practice exactly the same and most of them make it up as they go along. They may have some "lineage" or even some relics of their lineage but when it comes down to brass tacks, it's all been made up throughout the years and none of it resembles what was really practiced in Africa 1000 years ago. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise or tries to convince you that their house has the "one true and authentic way" is a LIAR. They may be deceived themselves or deliberately trying to deceive you. These religions are strictly oral traditions similar to the child's game of "telephone" and by the time the word gets to you it's something completely different from what the original people said. There is no written history or records of these religions that you can fact check against to keep yourself from getting ripped off. If you feel a kinship to the people of Africa and their gods, you are better off reading up on anthropology and worshipping by yourself. Really.
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