"Discover the Magic of the African Orishas in Cuba: A Visual and Explanatory Guide" Delve into the fascinating world of the Orishas with this unique work, which reveals the secrets and richness of the Afro-descendant tradition in Cuba in a clear and accessible way. "Synthesis of the African Orishas in Cuba" is your gateway to an ancestral culture that has endured throughout the centuries. In its pages, you will explore: - The Main Orishas: Get to know the central deities of this tradition, their characteristics and their influence on daily life. - Religious Synchronization and Mythology: Discover how the Orishas integrate with other traditions and explore the legends that bring their stories to life. - Settlements and Avatars: Learn about the different places where they are found and their symbolic representations. - Tools and Herbs: A full-color photo gallery illustrates the sacred objects and plants associated with each Orisha, revealing their uses and meanings. This book not only offers you a comprehensive explanation of the fundamental elements of Afro-descendant religion in Cuba, but also provides you with a rich visual experience that enriches your understanding of these fascinating spiritual beings. Ideal for those who wish to delve deeper into the culture, history, and art of the Orishas.

"A comprehensive, almost encyclopedic, introduction to Santeria . . . Cros Sandoval's greatest contribution is in tackling the question of why Santeria's Yoruba cosmology has proven so durable and compelling over time, even as it has been transplanted across an ocean and brought into contact with very different traditions in very different societies than its place of origin."--Kristina Wirtz, Western Michigan University "A broad and deep synthesis of scholarship on Santeria . . . fully recognizes the heterogeneous nature of Afro-Cuban religious belief and successfully explores the origins of that heterogeneity."--Theron Corse, Tennessee State University Cros Sandoval's authoritative introduction to the Afro-Cuban religion called Santeria explores how it emerged and developed in Cuba out of transplanted Yoruba beliefs and continues to spread and adjust to changing times and contexts. Systematically exploring every facet of Santeria's worldview, Sandoval examines how practitioners have adapted received beliefs and practices to reconcile them with new environments, from plantation slavery to exile in the United States. Offering a distinctive perspective based on a lifetime of extensive research and firsthand knowledge, Cros Sandoval illuminates Santeria as a theological system and as a vital, continuously evolving community. The adaptation process that gave birth to Santeria was not the singular result of cultural resistance, she argues, but a successful attempt to find meaning linked to alien religious elements in a way that appealed to a diverse following. Beginning with the transatlantic history of how Yoruba traditions came to Cuba and were established and adapted to Cuban society, Sandoval provides a comprehensive comparison of Yoruba and Cuban mythologies, followed by an overview of how Santeria has continued to diffuse and change in response to new contexts and adherents--with an especially illuminating perspective on Santeria among Cubans in Miami. As a reference work and historical treatment of Santeria, Sandoval's work will appeal to both scholars and nonscholars alike, ranging from anthropologists and students of religion and the African Diaspora to psychologists, social workers, and those curious about or inspired by this remarkably durable and adaptable belief system.

First published in 1996. Currently there is a strong trend in the metal health professions to look at the whole picture when dealing with clients. Religion and spirituality are now officially accepted as a major portion of this picture. In keeping with this trend this book assesses the role of spiritually oriented assessments and interventions in clinical practice. By providing examples of both spiritual cosmologies and anthropologies, it offers a cross-cultural theoretical orientation and therapeutic rationale for spirituality in clinical settings. The book is an essential resource for social workers, mental health counsels, bereavement specialists, professional clergy, and others in the helping professions.

This book by Miguel De La Torre offers a fascinating guide to the history, beliefs, rituals, and culture of Santería — a religious tradition that, despite persecution, suppression, and its own secretive nature, has close to a million adherents in the United States alone. Santería is a religion with Afro-Cuban roots, rising out of the cultural clash between the Yoruba people of West Africa and the Spanish Catholics who brought them to the Americas as slaves. As a faith of the marginalized and persecuted, it gave oppressed men and women strength and the will to survive. With the exile of thousands of Cubans in the wake of Castro's revolution in 1959, Santería came to the United States, where it is gradually coming to be recognized as a legitimate faith tradition. Apart from vague suspicions that Santería's rituals include animal sacrifice and notions that it is a “syncretistic” form of Catholicism, most people in America's cultural and religious mainstream know very little about this rich faith tradition — in fact, many have never heard of it at all. De La Torre, who was reared in Santería, sets out in this book to provide a basic understanding of its inner workings. He clearly explains the particular worldview, myths, rituals, and practices of Santería, and he discusses what role the religion typically plays in the life of its practitioners as well as the cultural influence it continues to exert in Latin American communities today. In offering a balanced, informed survey of Santería from his unique “insider-outsider” perspective, De La Torre also provides insight into how Christianity and Santería can enter into dialogue — a dialogue that will challenge Christians to consider what this emerging faith tradition can teach them about their own. Enhanced with illustrations, tables, and a glossary, De La Torre's Santería sheds light on a religion all too often shrouded in mystery and misunderstanding.

An iconic symbol and sound of the Lucum'/Santer'a religion, Afro-Cuban batá are talking drums that express the epic mythological narratives of the West African Yoruba deities known as orisha. By imitating aspects of speech and song, and by metaphorically referencing salient attributes of the deities, batá drummers facilitate the communal praising of orisha in a music ritual known as a toque de santo. In The Artistry of Afro-Cuban Batá Drumming, Kenneth Schweitzer blends musical transcription, musical analysis, interviews, ethnographic descriptions, and observations from his own experience as a ritual drummer to highlight the complex variables at work during a live Lucum' performance. Integral in enabling trance possessions by the orisha, by far the most dramatic expressions of Lucum' faith, batá drummers are also entrusted with controlling the overall ebb and flow of the four- to six-hour toque de santo. During these events, batá drummers combine their knowledge of ritual with an extensive repertoire of rhythms and songs. Musicians focus on the many thematic acts that unfold both concurrently and in quick succession. In addition to creating an emotionally charged environment, playing salute rhythms for the orisha, and supporting the playful song competitions that erupt between singers, batá drummers are equally dedicated to nurturing their own drumming community by creating a variety of opportunities for the musicians to grow artistically and creatively.

Alejandro de la Fuente and George Reid Andrews offer the first systematic, book-length survey of humanities and social science scholarship on the exciting field of Afro-Latin American studies. Organized by topic, these essays synthesize and present the current state of knowledge on a broad variety of topics, including Afro-Latin American music, religions, literature, art history, political thought, social movements, legal history, environmental history, and ideologies of racial inclusion. This volume connects the region's long history of slavery to the major political, social, cultural, and economic developments of the last two centuries. Written by leading scholars in each of those topics, the volume provides an introduction to the field of Afro-Latin American studies that is not available from any other source and reflects the disciplinary and thematic richness of this emerging field.

After generations of being rendered virtually invisible by the US academy in critical anthologies and literary histories, writing by Latin Americans of African ancestry has become represented by a booming corpus of intellectual and critical investigation. This volume aims to provide an introduction to the literary worlds and perceptions of national culture and identity of authors from Spanish-America, Brazil, and uniquely, Equatorial Guinea, thus contextually connecting Africa to the history of Spanish colonization. The importance of Latin America literature to the discipline of African Diaspora studies is immeasurable, and this edited collection provides a ripe cultural context for critical comparative analysis among the vast geographies that encompass African and African Diaspora studies. Scholars in the area of African Diaspora Studies, Black Studies, Latin American Studies, and American literature will be able to utilize the eleven essays in this edition to enhance classroom instruction and further academic research.

Honorable Mention, 2019 Barbara T. Christian Literary Award, given by the Caribbean Studies Association Winner, 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion, presented by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion section of the American Anthropological Association Finalist, 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions presented by the Journal of Africana Religions An examination of the religious importance of food among Caribbean and Latin American communities Before honey can be offered to the Afro-Cuban deity Ochún, it must be tasted, to prove to her that it is good. In African-inspired religions throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States, such gestures instill the attitudes that turn participants into practitioners. Acquiring deep knowledge of the diets of the gods and ancestors constructs adherents’ identities; to learn to fix the gods’ favorite dishes is to be “seasoned” into their service. In this innovative work, Elizabeth Pérez reveals how seemingly trivial "micropractices" such as the preparation of sacred foods, are complex rituals in their own right. Drawing on years of ethnographic research in Chicago among practitioners of Lucumí, the transnational tradition popularly known as Santería, Pérez focuses on the behind-the-scenes work of the primarily women and gay men responsible for feeding the gods. She reveals how cooking and talking around the kitchen table have played vital socializing roles in Black Atlantic religions. Entering the world of divine desires and the varied flavors that speak to them, this volume takes a fresh approach to the anthropology of religion. Its richly textured portrait of a predominantly African-American Lucumí community reconceptualizes race, gender, sexuality, and affect in the formation of religious identity, proposing that every religion coalesces and sustains itself through its own secret recipe of micropractices.

"Shango de Ima is a series of legends or histories edited, abridged, and linked together to illustrate one aspect of the orisha Shango. The material on which the play is based is part of an oral tradition that has its roots in Nigeria, and it appears here for the first time in written form ... Shango typifies man and his struggle to gain mastery of himself. Most practitioners of the Yoruba religion consider him the most important orisha to urban living ... He must, as in the beginning of the play, search for his true father and struggle, as must all mankind, to seek out and comprehend his own origins”--From introduction by Edward James, pages 43-44.

Monografie van de Cubaanse beeldend kunstenaar (1955).