Book excerpt: Over the last 35 years, practice of Santeria and the Yoruba religion in the United States has grown as the result of African American search for identity and large scale Cuban migration. While the ritual and belief systems of Santeria and the Yoruba Religion are essentially the same, the practical religion of both differs. Both center around questions of group identity and the concerns of their practitioners. This book focuses on the changes in the Yoruba Practical Religion of the Converted in the African American community. Through insighful attention to rich ethnographic detail, the author explores the beliefs, practices, and rituals of this religious community.