Books on Voodoo: Recommendations???

[Little Baron]

I am studying the New Orleans Voodoo Deck.

And to make it a little easier, I would like to get a few books on Voodoo, which may go over some of the symbols and characters in the deck. I already checked - there is no dummies book for this.

Alissa already recommended a good book about Marie Laveau, which I will be looking for. But I wanted some more general ones.

I am aware that some are to be steared clear of. I already have one by Tallant, which I stopped reading when Alissa told me it was 'full of bull'. On further flipping about the web, she is not the only one to have this opinion.

But being new to all of this, is there some really good overviews out there that are obtainable and will go through things in a simple but thorough way? Is there some to avoid?

LB

 

[Scion]

Hey LB,

Randomly I did a chunk of my degree in African-based religions of the Caribbean. My tastes sometimes run to the academic in rsesearch, but these are all pretty juicy:

I can't recommend Flash of the Spirit by Robert Farris Thompson highly enough for a terrific sense behind the visual iconography and the matrix of African beliefs that form the basis of the ne world traditions.
Mama Lola by Karen Black is by one of my favorite professors at Columbia and manages to be anecdotal and scholarly at the same time. Really readable and meaty.
And for straight anthrolopology (that seems slightly dated now because so many people refer to her) Maya Deren's Divine Horsemen which is one of the main study texts on the Vodoun tradition.

None of these are "Quick overviews" in the Llewellyn sense, but I'd especially recommend the 1st two to really get a sense of the traditions. Let me see what else I have on my shelves at home later on.

Scion

 

[Little Baron]

Thanks Scion. Will look out for these.

LB

 

[Ross G Caldwell]

Here's my "library" on the subject:

METRAUX, Alfred "Voodoo in Haiti" (Schocken, 1972; rpt. of Oxford University Press 1st ed., 1959). Dated but still eminently useful account of the subject, with glossary and 13-page bibliography.

RODMAN, Selden and Carole Cleaver, "Spirits of the Night: The Vaudun Gods of Haiti" (Spring Publications, 1992). Artists and journalists, these two lived long periods in Haiti and this book is mostly an account of the materials and artistic aspects of Haitian voodoo. Plenty of illustrations, glossary and short bibliography (3 pages).

GALEMBO, Phyllis, "Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti" (Ten Speed Press, 1998), introduction by Gerdès Fleurant. Both academics, one a professor of art at U. of Albany and photographer, one a musicologist at Wellesley College. Fleurant is also a Vodou priest. Rich in illustrations and informed descriptions of rituals and songs.

More "popular" type books -

GONZALEZ-WIPPLER, Migene, "Santeria, The Religion" (Llewellyn, 1994). Gonzalez-Wippler is an initiate and writes well, and while some consider her too much of a popularizer, in fact she gives fine first-hand accounts, informed and sympathetic. Illustrated, with glossary and bibliography.

Note that "Santeria" is commonly used as a synonym for "Voodoo"; Santeria (working with the saints) is a kind of euphemism for the syncretism of Roman Catholic saints with the Yoruba gods which happened among the African slaves in the Hispanic New World.

GONZALEZ-WIPPLER, Migene, "Legends of Santeria" (Llewellyn, 1994), this book is an account of the stories of the Orishas, "patakis". Appendices, glossary, bibliography.

I have other books, herbal books and grimoires, that are popular in this religion (and used by people who don't practice the religion), but you can find these everywhere.

Of course, it is always good to visit herbal medicine shops in Hispanic or African places where you live, where you will always find books and a lot more information than you can get from books.

Good luck!

 

[Little Baron]

Thankyou very much Ross. That is a great list. I will be printing this thread out for my shopping trip!

Cheers, LB

 

[RubyV]

I second the recommendation of Divine Horsemen. There is also a documentary film by the same name that the author made, which you may be able to access at a university library.

I'll have to dissagree with Ross though. Santeria and Voudoun, while both eamples of syncritism, and share similarities, are two different religions. I think learning about Santeria can be hellpful as a way to study the development of these kinds of religions, but the structure of the deities os very different.

 

[prudence]

hi LB,

I recently got an interesting book on this subject, "African Vodun; Art, Psychology, and Power" by Suzanne Preston Blier (she teaches African art and archetecture at Harvard) - it's got a lot of information and lots of photos of sculpture etc. While it's mostly about African Vodun, it also covers some of the other related traditions of Haiti, New Orleans and such.

Thanks everyone here who posted, I am making a list from the books you've all recommended.

 

[Deana]

Hey, there may not be a dummies book on it, but I saw a Complete Idiot's Guide to Voodoo at Barnes & Noble. I'm not recommending it, mind you, but I was pretty shocked to see it there. It was shelved next to a Complete Idiot's Guide to Elves and Fairies. I kid you not.

 

[shaveling]

About ten years ago, UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History put together an amazing exibition of Voodoo art, which traveled to several US museums. I saw it in Chicago.

The catalogue of the exhibit is more than a catalogue, it's a wonderful book on the topic, lavishly illustrated with all sorts of helpful and enlightning artwork. If you can lay your hands on a copy, it's well worth having. The title is Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou, and it was edited by Donald J. Cosentino.

Chapter Eight is an interview with Mama Lola with lots of pictures of her personal altars, several of them in color. It's a great supplement to the book Scion recommends.

P.S. I just did a search, and there's a website from the American Museum of Natural History that seems to be a spinoff of the exhibit. I don't have time to check it before adding the link, but you might want to see what's there.

 

[Little Baron]

Thanks Shavelling and to all others. That is a great list that I will go looking for.

LB