Anthropologist James Houk described Trinidad Orisha as an "Afro-American religious complex",[2] incorporating elements mainly from traditional African religion and Yoruba and including some elements from Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism), Hinduism, Islam (especially Sufism), Buddhism, Judaism (especially Kabbalah), Baháʼí, and Amerindian mythologies.
"The religious practice involves a music-centered worship service, in which collective singing and drumming accompany spirit possession and animal sacrifice (typically goats, sheep, and fowl).
"[3] Trinidad Orisha's beginnings and development in the Caribbean "can be traced back to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries when Africans were brought to the island to work on colonial sugar plantations.
"[4] Over time, as local religions were suppressed under colonial rule, Orisha practitioners disguised places of worship using Christian paraphernalia, which eventually began to be used in some ceremonies.
[8] Orisha spirits, also referred to as gods, are the messengers of Oludumare, communicating through possession during spiritual rituals such as the feast.
[12] Women in Orisha-Baptist events are required to follow a strict dress code including floor length skirts, long sleeve blouses, and wrapping their hair in head scarves.
While not completely taboo for women to be ceremonial drummers, it is rare and generally frowned upon due to social convention.