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Santeria - an ontology of dynamism

 

Joseph Murphy, in his classic Santeria says that “The sacred world of Santería is motivated by ashe. Ashe is growth, the force toward completeness and divinity. [This is a ] view of the world [as] an ontology of dynamism, that is, a belief that the real world is one of pure movement. In fact, the real world is one not of objects at all but of forces in continual process.”


Ashe is the movement of energy. Modern physics teaches us that everything is merely energy moving at different rates of speed. In the simplest example, adding energy to water changes it into steam, removing energy changes it into ice. In the same way, by understanding the principles of ashe I can dance my true destiny.

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