The Altar Of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria

Beautiful book of personal experience based on fact. I enjoyed reading the book

A very engaging tale, part biography and part introduction to Santeria.

Great biography ! Very enlightened, learned a lot from this book . Great autor , Couldn't put it down .

Beautiful, back to my roots.

I hesitated buying this book after reading some of the other reviews. We all know there is a lot of bunk out there about the religion and that even some of the better books don't always live up to expectations or do the religion justice. But this book, in my personal opinion, is one of the best books about the religion I have read. At first I wasn't sure I liked the way Vega organized the book. Each chapter introduces you to an aspect of the religion and then a snippet of her personal journey from childhood into the religion and beyond. But I became okay with that after a while, even though I struggled sometimes to make the connection between the topic and where it connected to her story. Each of us in the religion have our own path that brought us here. I enjoy hearing about others' paths. No two are the same and I find them all fascinating. I liked reading her story. I like her, and I have a lot of admiration for her work in the religion. I thought the information she presented about the religion was accurate. And because that isn't always the case I rate that first and foremost when reading a new book about the religion. I'm not familiar with Candomble or other similar religions but what she presented about Santeria was accurate to my knowledge and experience with a few minor difference - and you will always have those. I like the patakis she chose to retell. They are, in my personal opinion, some of the best. I like feeling her love for the religion come through the pages. I love the devotees she allows us to meet through her narrative and their lifelong devotion to the religion. Imagine being initiated at 7 or 8!! This is not a book that lays out information about the religion like a text book. Instead, it is interwoven with her story. So in a sense you are learning about Santeria just as any of us do, and follow the path forward in the way we do. First you become aware, then you receive the elekes, the guerreros, Orunla, initiation, etc. So by using her own story to go step by step through the religion works for me. And I think she gives a good amount of introductory information about many aspects of the religion. We have to remember that this religion is not learned or practiced by reading. You have to experience it. And when you become involved or initiated on any level, you understand how so much of it is simply oral and experiential and that it will never ever be fully represented in a bood of any kind. To me, this is a great book and a great read for newcomers.

A Must READ!!!

This book was recommended to me by my babalawo. I was struggling with learning the religion and felt like I wasn't exposed to it often enough to learn its concepts and ideas. Merely going for readings wasn't enough to satisfy my desire to learn more. My spirit yearned to be drawn in closer so I decided to read altar of my soul. Following Marta through her journey was powerful. It gave a personal insight of the different phases of your spiritual discovery and more so that of the journey of discovering the Orishas. It gave a very simple breakdown of the different practices and customs of Santeria. The read was so much more fluid than the technical books of Yoruba that uses jargon you can barely interpret if you are not a babalawo or santero/a. I def recommend the read.

For starters, there aren't enough books out there on Santeria...at least not ones told from the point of view of a practitioner and with such in-depth information on certain rituals. This is real deal, and it is a powerful book if you allow yourself to be open-minded. Not everyone will get it or relate to it on any level but for those of us with a certain background (or those who are truly open to a different way of approaching spirituality), this book is a true gem. The writer is an amazing woman full of knowledge and wisdom. Highly recommend this book!

This womans words carry ASHE. I feel that this book is perfect for those who are completely new to the religion and also for those soon to be initiated, like myself. The conversional dialogue makes this an easy yet extremely informative read. Her words resonated with my soul and really reminded me of my love for the orishas, my eggun/ara orun and my godparents. Overall, this left me feeling inspired and like I am on the right path to destiny.