Focusiong on the royal throne as a potent metaphor in Santeria belief and practice, Brown shows how negotiation among ideologically competing interests have shaped the religion's symbols, rituals and institutions from the 19th century to the present. Case studies of change in Cuba and the United States, including a New Jersey temple and South Carolina's Oyotunji Village, reveal patterns of innovation similar to those found among rival Yoruba kingdoms in Nigeria. Throughout, Brown argues for a theoretical perspective on culture as a field of potential strategies and "usable pasts" that actors draw upon to craft new forms and identities - a perspective that should be valuable to all students of the African Diaspora.