Major Differences Between Blood and Animal Sacrifice in Cuban Lucumi IFA and Traditional IFA Please allow me to start this commentary with who I am and the fact that I am not speaking for the entire culture or religion, but for me, and me alone. It is a difficult article, not so much for the delicate subject matter of animal or blood sacrifices, but because I am addressing those outside my culture and those inside of it. The first thing to do is identify the situation and give some history and then I will suggest some solutions and assign some blame. The fact of the matter is I do not expect to change the minds or earn the forgiveness of vegetarians or PETA. My goal is to explain and teach. Historically almost every religion or spirituality had or has blood sacrifice and certainly that does not excuse or make it correct. There is a right way and a wrong way to sacrifice animals humanly. Indeed I have seen the internet pictures of dogs reportedly being pulled apart at an annual festival in Ogun, Nigeria by followers of the traditional Yoruba religion. I have seen other photos in other parts of the world depicting similar images in traditional IFA. Just like you, these were deeply disturbing to me. Let us start with an overview of the Yoruba and West African cultures and religions. There are many segments of the religions and cultures that are fragmented all over the world; there is no central authority like a pope. The religion is the seventh largest in the world and has an estimated 175,000,000 followers; however most of these combine Catholicism and only practice certain aspects of the religion. In Nigeria and Western Africa the Yoruba people and their neighbors practice what we call Traditional IFA. This is the manifestation of the ancient religion. Traditional IFA