Santeria -- Santera [Queen of Pentacles]

afrosaxon

The santera is naked and kneels on a patch of grass by the side of a swamp. Large trees (cypress?) grow from the swamp. The santera’s right hand is outstretched to a snake that rises from the water. The snake appears to be eating out of her hand. Her left hand seems to be shooting magic/energy into the swamp  creating the swamp? Drawing energy from the swamp?

The snake eating out of her hand indicates a taming of the (potentially) dangerous elements; the santera has no fear. She is one with nature and the darkness.

The santera has a serene look on her face. The trees form a canopy and the resulting darkness, plus the water, provides a comfortable, womb-like place for her – a space for gestation, birth, growth. This underscores that the santera [Queen of Pentacles] is a lesser aspect of Ayizan [The Empress].

Her nakedness implies comfort and vulnerability. The trees indicate stability, strength, rootedness.

A santera is also called an iyalorisha or olorisha (“mother of orisha”).
 

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