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shrine image


botanica   botanicai  botanica  botanica

Display of santos and figures for sale in windows of a Miami botánica, 2007.

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<   Botánica, Miami, 2007.

A Santeria related botánica in front of a cementery offers medicinal plants, images of saints, religious consultations and divination in the tradition of "Ifa." The windows display a wide range of images for house altars and temples from the Christian tradition such as multiple Virgins, Saint Lazarus, and Saint Barbara as well as other figures from popular culture and oral tradition such as the North American Indian, the three monkeys, the slave woman. There is even a display of Chinese figures that may stand for the spirits of the 19th century Chinese diaspora which left its mark in the island. Some of these figures have been incorporated into the Santería pantheon, others to the espiritista tradition and yet others to more recent and eclectic cults. Botánicas tend to have their own loyal clientele of babalaos, priests and officiants as well as of lay devotees.