orisha

thumb|Statues of Orishas in the water at Dique do Tororó Park, Salvador, Bahia|Salvador, [[Bahia, Brazil]]

Orishas (singular: orisha; plural may also be orisha) are divine spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The preferred spelling varies depending on the language in question: òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language (both singular and plural), orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries. In the Lucumí tradition, which evolved in Cuba, the orishas are syncretized with Catholic saints, forming a syncretic system of worship where Yoruba deities were hidden behind Christian iconography. This allowed enslaved Africans to preserve their traditions under colonial religious persecution.