African Vodun

African Vodun PDF Author: Suzanne Preston Blier
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226058603
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
"This book will be of critical importance not only to those concerned with African, African American, and Caribbean art, but also to anthropologists, scholars of the African diaspora, students of comparative religion and comparative psychology, and anyone fascinated by the traditions of vodou and vodun."--Jacket.

African Vodun

African Vodun PDF Author: Suzanne Preston Blier
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226058603
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 500

Get Book Here

Book Description
"This book will be of critical importance not only to those concerned with African, African American, and Caribbean art, but also to anthropologists, scholars of the African diaspora, students of comparative religion and comparative psychology, and anyone fascinated by the traditions of vodou and vodun."--Jacket.

Asen, Ancestors, and Vodun

Asen, Ancestors, and Vodun PDF Author: Edna G. Bay
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
ISBN: 0252032551
Category : Altars, Fon
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
A social and iconographic history of a West African sculptural form

African Science

African Science PDF Author: Douglas J. Falen
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 0299318907
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In this sensitive and personal investigation into Benin's occult world, Douglas J. Falen wrestles with the challenges of encountering a reality in which magic, science, and the Vodun religion converge into a single universal force. He takes seriously his Beninese interlocutors' insistence that the indigenous phenomenon known as àze ("witchcraft") is an African science, credited with fantastic and productive deeds, such as teleportation and supernatural healing. Although the Beninese understanding of àze reflects positive scientific properties in its use of specialized knowledge to harness nature's energy and realize economic success, its boundless power is inherently ambivalent because it can corrupt its users, who dispense death and destruction. Witches and healers are equivalent to supervillains and superheroes, locked in epic battles over malevolent and benevolent human desires. Beninese people's discourse about such mystical confrontations expresses a philosophy of moral duality and cosmic balance. Falen demonstrates how a deep engagement with another lived reality opens our minds and contributes to understanding across cultural difference.

The Formation of Candomble

The Formation of Candomble PDF Author: Luis Nicolau Parés
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469610922
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
Formation of Candomble: Vodun History and Ritual in Brazil"

Vodun

Vodun PDF Author: Monique Joiner Siedlak
Publisher: Oshun Publications, LLC
ISBN: 1950378624
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description
Understanding West African Vodun begins with knowledge. West African Vodun explores and explains this often-misunderstood religion. It invites readers to open their eyes and their minds to what Vodun is, where and why began, and how it’s practiced. You may think you know everything you need to know because you’ve seen Hollywood’s interpretation of these spiritual practices, but this book proves those theories, misconceptions, artistic licenses, and theories wrong. Inside, you’ll discover: Vodun’s early days and how it plays a pivotal role in how it’s practiced now How and why it’s been mis-characterized How to practice it properly Who the deities are and why they’re honored Who the Priestesses are and why they are held to such esteem And more! Finally learn how Vodun, Hindu, Shango, Jesus and the Buddha are far more alike than you may think and understand what role slavery and slaves play in this religion and why it should matter to you.

Vodún

Vodún PDF Author: Timothy R. Landry
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812295633
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Tourists to Ouidah, a city on the coast of the Republic of Bénin, in West Africa, typically visit a few well-known sites of significance to the Vodún religion—the Python Temple, where Dangbé, the python spirit, is worshipped, and King Kpasse's sacred forest, which is the seat of the Vodún deity known as Lokò. However, other, less familiar places, such as the palace of the so-called supreme chief of Vodún in Bénin, are also rising in popularity as tourists become increasingly adventurous and as more Vodún priests and temples make themselves available to foreigners in the hopes of earning extra money. Timothy R. Landry examines the connections between local Vodún priests and spiritual seekers who travel to Bénin—some for the snapshot, others for full-fledged initiation into the religion. He argues that the ways in which the Vodún priests and tourists negotiate the transfer of confidential, sacred knowledge create its value. The more secrecy that surrounds Vodún ritual practice and material culture, the more authentic, coveted, and, consequently, expensive that knowledge becomes. Landry writes as anthropologist and initiate, having participated in hundreds of Vodún ceremonies, rituals, and festivals. Examining the role of money, the incarnation of deities, the limits of adaptation for the transnational community, and the belief in spirits, sorcery, and witchcraft, Vodún ponders the ethical implications of producing and consuming culture by local and international agents. Highlighting the ways in which racialization, power, and the legacy of colonialism affect the procurement and transmission of secret knowledge in West Africa and beyond, Landry demonstrates how, paradoxically, secrecy is critically important to Vodún's global expansion.

Haitian Vodou

Haitian Vodou PDF Author: Patrick Bellegarde-Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Haitian Vodou breaks away from European and American heuristic models for understanding a religio-philosophical system such as Vodou in order to form new approaches with an African ethos. The contributors to this volume, all Haitians, examine the potentially radical and transformative possibilities of the religious and philosophical ideologies of Vodou and locate its foundations more clearly within an African heritage. Essays examine Vodou's roles in organizing rural resistance; forming political values for the transformation of Haiti; teaching social norms, values, and standards; influencing Haitian culture through art and music; merging science with philosophy, both theoretically and in the healing arts; and forming the Haitian "manbo," or priest.

Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World

Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World PDF Author: James Hoke Sweet
Publisher: Univ of North Carolina Press
ISBN: 0807834491
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Between 1730 and 1750, Domingos Alvares traversed the colonial Atlantic world like few Africans of his time--from Africa to South America to Europe. By tracing the steps of this powerful African healer and vodun priest, James Sweet finds dramatic means fo

Secrets of Voodoo

Secrets of Voodoo PDF Author: Milo Rigaud
Publisher: City Lights Books
ISBN: 9780872861718
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Secrets of Voodoo traces the development of this complex religion (in Haiti and the Americas) from its sources in the brilliant civilizations of ancient Africa. This book presents a straightforward account of the gods or loas and their function, the symbols and signs, rituals, the ceremonial calendar of Voodoo, and the procedures for performing magical rites are given. "Voodoo," derived from words meaning "introspection" and "mystery," is a system of belief about the formation of the world and human destiny with clear correspondences in other world religions. Rigaud makes these connections and discloses the esoteric meaning underlying Voodoo's outward manifestations, which are often misinterpreted. Translated from the French by Robert B. Cross. Drawings and photographs by Odette Mennesson-Rigaud. Milo Rigaud was born in Port au Prince, Haiti, in 1903, where he spent the greater part of his life studying the Voodoo tradition. In Haiti he studied law, and in France ethnology, psychology, and theology. The involvement of Voodoo in the political struggle of Haitian blacks for independence was one of his main concerns.

The Spirits and the Law

The Spirits and the Law PDF Author: Kate Ramsey
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226703819
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
Vodou has often served as a scapegoat for Haiti’s problems, from political upheavals to natural disasters. This tradition of scapegoating stretches back to the nation’s founding and forms part of a contest over the legitimacy of the religion, both beyond and within Haiti’s borders. The Spirits and the Law examines that vexed history, asking why, from 1835 to 1987, Haiti banned many popular ritual practices. To find out, Kate Ramsey begins with the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath. Fearful of an independent black nation inspiring similar revolts, the United States, France, and the rest of Europe ostracized Haiti. Successive Haitian governments, seeking to counter the image of Haiti as primitive as well as contain popular organization and leadership, outlawed “spells” and, later, “superstitious practices.” While not often strictly enforced, these laws were at times the basis for attacks on Vodou by the Haitian state, the Catholic Church, and occupying U.S. forces. Beyond such offensives, Ramsey argues that in prohibiting practices considered essential for maintaining relations with the spirits, anti-Vodou laws reinforced the political marginalization, social stigmatization, and economic exploitation of the Haitian majority. At the same time, she examines the ways communities across Haiti evaded, subverted, redirected, and shaped enforcement of the laws. Analyzing the long genealogy of anti-Vodou rhetoric, Ramsey thoroughly dissects claims that the religion has impeded Haiti’s development.