Working the Spirit: Ceremonies of the African Diaspora
"A brilliant comparative study of the workings of the Spirit among practitioners of African-derived religions. . . . A 'must read' for students of African, Caribbean, Brazilian, and African American religions." —Choice\ \ \ Offering portraits of five often misunderstood religions of the African diaspora--Vodun, Candomble, Revival Zion, Santeria, and the Black Church in the United States--the acclaimed author of Santeria examines the history and rituals of each, and...
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"A brilliant comparative study of the workings of the Spirit among practitioners of African-derived religions. . . . A 'must read' for students of African, Caribbean, Brazilian, and African American religions." —ChoicePublishers WeeklyBlending personal observation with analysis of numerous secondary sources, Murphy, an associate professor of theology at Georgetown University, looks closely at five diasporan religions: Haitian voodoo; Brazilian candomble; Cuban and Cuban-American santeria; Jamaican Revival Zion; and the American ``Black Church.'' He is a sensitive and close observer, offering much valuable detail on the history and development of religious practice. Most important, though, is the final chapter in which Murphy explores the similarities among the religions, such as the interdependence of human and spirit, the relationship between the one God and the multiple spirits, and the retention of certain African inflections despite the obvious syncretism. It is the ``work of rhythm, song and movement'' that animates such traditions in public ceremonies, he writes. (Dec.)
PrefaceNote on Orthographies1Introduction12Haitian Vodou103Candomble in Brazil444Cuban and Cuban American Santeria815Revival Zion in Jamaica1146The Black Church in the United States1457Working the Spirit176Acknowledgments201Notes203Glossary239Selected Bibliography247Index257
\ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Blending personal observation with analysis of numerous secondary sources, Murphy, an associate professor of theology at Georgetown University, looks closely at five diasporan religions: Haitian voodoo; Brazilian candomble; Cuban and Cuban-American santeria; Jamaican Revival Zion; and the American ``Black Church.'' He is a sensitive and close observer, offering much valuable detail on the history and development of religious practice. Most important, though, is the final chapter in which Murphy explores the similarities among the religions, such as the interdependence of human and spirit, the relationship between the one God and the multiple spirits, and the retention of certain African inflections despite the obvious syncretism. It is the ``work of rhythm, song and movement'' that animates such traditions in public ceremonies, he writes. (Dec.)\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalMurphy ( Santeria: African Spirits in America , Beacon, 1988) casts his net wider in this work, examining and experiencing the commonalities of African traditions found in five cases of black religious rituals in the Western hemisphere. The reader is exposed to santeria in Haiti and Cuba, a Revival Zion church in Jamaica, candomble in Brazil, and African American church services in Washington, D.C. Running through all of them, he feels, is an African ``spirituality of incarnation'' through which each of them, despite their differences, celebrates a spiritual freedom from an oppressive world. Recommended for black studies and religion collections.-- Paul H. Thomas, Hoover Inst. Lib., Stanford, Cal.\ \
