They are not totally different religions. They are derivative, both having the fusion of Catholic and African pagan traditions. Few social constructs are completely original.
These are the images, which history and (the bible) says was the face of Jesus on the cloth which was wrapped around Jesus head at his burial. In the bible it refers to the cloth lying by itself, away from the burial clothes. The second cloth was the cloth the woman wiped Jesus face with, which left a image. I believe that happened on the way to the cross. I don't know if these are real as I have seen pictures but never the actual cloth. They are hidden away in some monastery.
Because Santeria and voodoo are a mix of African religions and Christianity. They derive from African religions... but when slaves were brought to the Caribbean (and the Americas) they were forced to convert to Christianity.... so they hid they're African images within those of Christian saints so that they could still practice. Over the years it just stayed... but if you look it up-- a lot of the saints/images have two names.
There is more to it...but I pretty much summed it up.
Vodoun and Santeria are originally from Africa, and in order to keep alive some of the traditions that they were losing, (they were the slaves in the Americas) they would equate Orisha of their traditional religions with a corresponding Christian Saint. Many traditions within the religion recognize different equivalencies.
The Catholic Church does not condone Voodoo, and she is not a dictator either.
Early Christian missionaries found out that they would have an easier time "converting" people if they patterned Christian symbols to fit the local culture. They created analogs of Christian symbols to pagan imagery. Because Jesus died and allegedly resurrected, he was a natural analog to Vodoun's Legba, the keeper of the crossroads who's dominion was between the living and the dead.
There are examples of Christians supplanting existing religions throughout the world and it's not limited to Santeria or Vodoun.
Easter Sunday, before it became associated with Christ's resurrection was already observed as an important celebration of Spring and the fertility goddess, Astarte.
Throughout Europe, pagan gods were replaced by saints and other figures popularized through the spread of Christianity/Catholicism.
In each case, the "art" of the native people was slowly replaced by Christian images in an attempt to spread Christianity in form if not in truth.
During slavery the African religions were forbidden, but the African slaves found a smart solution to this problem.
Seemingly they converted to Christianity and started adoring an praying to the Christian Saints. What their owners and the Catholic Church did not know, was that in fact they still worshiped their own gods by assigning Christian names and personages to their African deities.
I'll give you one example: The African (Yorub?) god of thunder and war was (and still is) called Shang?. The Catholic Saint Barbara is the patron saint of certain things that have to do with war, that's why on ancient war ships the room where gunpowder and all kinds of weaponry were kept was called St. Barbara. Therefore Saint Barbara was the perfect candidate to "impersonate" Shang? and in today's Vodun, Santer?a and other pancreatic religions this still is true. Shang? and St. Barbara are the same god.
When you hear Cuban music, for instance by Celia Cruz or Celina Gonz?lez, you often hear them sing the name Santa B?rbara. Now you know who is really meant by that name.
When African slaves were brought to the West Indies, they were forced to convert to Catholicism. They complied, otherwise they'd be either whipped or killed. Okay, they gave the <impression> that they complied, but in their hearts they didn't. They use Catholic images as substitutes for the Lucumi Yoruba deities called Orishas. The slave owners didn't know what they were doing, because on the outside it looked like they were praying to the saints or to God. However, on the inside, things were different. Whereas a "good slave" were to kneel in prayer to, let's say, Santa Barbara, they would have the saint's statue and pray to it, but the statue of Santa Barbara was really a substitute for Yemay?, the sea Irish. They could have been very well praying for the death of their masters, while creating the illusion of piety.
These traditions stayed, now the symbols are mixed.
Why do followers of Vodoun and Santeria use Christian images?
