Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean

Front Cover
Margarite Fernández Olmos, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert
Rutgers University Press, 1997 - Religion - 312 pages

Sacred Possessions is an unprecedented collection of thirteen comparative and interdisciplinary essays exploring the cross-cultural dynamics of African-based religious systems in the Caribbean. The contributors analyze the nature and liturgies of Vodou, Santeria, Obeah, Quimbois, and Gaga as they form one central cultural matrix in the region. They ask how these belief systems were affected by differing colonial histories and landscapes, and how they affected other cultural expressions (from the oral tradition to popular art and literature), and how they have been perceived and (mis)represented by the West.

The book is a unique contribution to the study of the Caribbean as a site of multiculturalism, demonstrating the linkages between anthropology, religion, literature, and popular culture. Also included are a stunning photoessay on Cuban Santeria, a glossary of terms, and an insightful introduction by the editors.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Vodoun or the Voice of the Gods
13
Eroticism and Exoticism in
37
The Religous System of Santería
79
Santería in Cuba Today
101
On Signification
122
An AfroCaribbean Literary Practice
151
Obeah and British Culture 17971807
171
Obeah and Hybrid Identities
195
Jean Rhys
216
Glossary
283
Works Cited
289
Notes on Contributors
301
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean
Margarite Fernández Olmos,Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert
No preview available - 1997

Common terms and phrases

African Afro-Caribbean Afro-Cuban babalao Bascom batá drums beliefs British Caribbean Catholic ceremony Changó Cia's client Clotaire Clotaire's colonial Creole Cuba Cuban cult cultural dance dead death deity discourse Dominican drums Elegguá Emilia English Erzulie Eshu European female figure flags Gagá gods Hadriana Haiti Haitian human identity Ifá Divination images Indian island Jean Rhys Jiwe land Legba Léonora literary literature lives Lucumí magic Marina Mayra Montero Miguel Barnet Monkey Montero mother myth narrative Negro novel Nunez-Harrell Obbatalá Obeah Ochún Oggún orichas Orúmila oungan patakí Pluie et vent Port-au-Prince possession practice priest Quimboiseur religion religious René Depestre Rhys's ritual role sacred sacrifice Saint Santería santos shaman Signifying slavery slaves social society sorcerer spirit story symbol syncretism Télumée tion tradition trans University Press Virginia Vodou Voodoo West White Zombie Wide Sargasso Sea woman women word writing Yoruba Zetou zombie

References to this book

About the author (1997)

MARGARITE FERNANDEZ OLMOS is the author or coeditor of many books, including The Latino Reader: An American Literary Tradition from 1542 to the Present, U.S. Latino Literature: A Critical Guide for Students and Teachers, Healing Cultures: Art and Religion as Curative Practices in the Caribbean and Its Diaspora, Sacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean, and Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo.

Bibliographic information

TitleSacred Possessions: Vodou, Santería, Obeah, and the Caribbean
Studies of Great Texts in Science
EditorsMargarite Fernández Olmos, Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherRutgers University Press, 1997
ISBN0813523613, 9780813523613
Length312 pages
Subjects › 

Religion / General
Religion / Indigenous, Folk & Tribal
Social Science / General
  
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