Spirit Service: Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World - Paperback

Known in the Dominican Republic and Togo as Vodu, in Benin as Vodún, and in Haiti as Vodou, West African religion has, for hundreds of years, served as a repository of sacred knowledge while simultaneously evolving in response to human experience and globalization. Spirit Service: Vodún and Vodou in the African Atlantic World explores this dynamic religion, its mobility, and its place in the modern world. By examining the systems--ritual practices, community-based spirit veneration, and spiritual means of securing opportunity and well-being--alongside the individuals who worship, this rich collection offers the first comprehensive ethnographic study of West African spirit service on a broad scale. Contributors consider social encounters between African/Haitian practitioners and European / North American spiritual seekers, economies and histories, funerary rites and spirit possessions, and examinations of gender and materiality. Offering much-needed perspective on this historically disparaged religion, Spirit Service reminds us all that the gods are growing, assimilating, and demanding recognition and respect.

• | Author: Eric James Montgomery, Timothy R. Landry, Christian N. Vannier
• | Publisher: Indiana University Press
• | Publication Date: Jun 07, 2022
• | Number of Pages: 346 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 0253061911
• | ISBN-13: 9780253061911