Angel Luis Falcón Oyola Librarian Intern Academic Adviser: Lourdes Vazquez Latin America, Spanish & Portuguese, and Africa Librarian lvazquez@rci.rutgers.edu December 12, 2002

Research Resources: Subject Research Guides: Latin American Studies:
Finding Aids: African Diaspora Religious Practices: An Annotated Guide to Selected Reference, Microform, and Non-Circulating Sources

This guide is intended to serve as a selective and annotated source list to help the researcher locate some primary research points in the field of African Diaspora studies as it pertains to religious practices. This guide also hints at a small sample of the rich materials on the African Diaspora in general held by Rutgers University Libraries. All of these materials have records in IRIS.

Díaz Fabelo, Teodoro, 1916-
Diccionario de la lengua conga residual en Cuba / Teodoro Díaz Fabelo.

Santiago de Cuba: Casa del Caribe: Universidad de Alcalá: ORCALC, [1998]

165 p. ; 24 cm. Series: Colección Africanía

ALEXANDER REF PL8404.Z9C833 1998

This is a dictionary of the BaKongo/Bantu dialect as it exists among their descendents in Cuba. The dialect is primarily a sacerdotal language used among the practicioners of Palo Monte, a religion of West African origin found in Cuba. The dictionary provides definitions and, in many cases, short informative sketches of the various practices of Palo Monte.

Ann, Martha.
Goddesses in world mythology / Martha Ann, Dorothy Myers Imel.

Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c1993. x, 655 p. : ill. ; 29 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL473.5.A66 1993

ART REF BL473.5.A66 1993

DOUGLASS REF BL473.5.A66

KILMER REF BL473.5.A66 1993

This dictionary covers all the varieties of goddesses that exist throughout global religions. It has an extensive section on the goddess figures in both African and Latin American traditional religions.

Leeming, David Adams, 1937-
Encyclopedia of creation myths / David Adams Leeming with Margaret Adams Leeming.

Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c1994.

viii, 330 p. : ill. ; 27 cm.

Added author: Leeming, Margaret Adams, 1968-

ALEXANDER REF BL325.C7L44 1994

This encyclopedia is not exclusively devoted to Africa or Latin American religions, but includes several entries that cover African and Latin American traditional creation narratives. The entries are helpful for finding perspective subject headings and/or keywords. The entries also have a "sources" citation which links to relevant texts in the encyclopedia's bibliography.

Freedom of religion and belief: a world report / edited by Kevin Boyle and Juliet Sheen.

London; New York: Routledge, 1997.

xxxii, 475 p. ; 26 cm.

Added author: Boyle, Kevin.

Added author: Sheen, Juliet.

ALEXANDER REF BL640.F74 1997

This text is a series of reports on religious tolerance and intolerance throughout the world. They include reports on many of the issues facing traditional religions in Africa and the Americas as well as discussing persecution of traditional religions in these regions.

Barnet, Miguel, 1940-
Uniform title: [Cultos afrocubanos. English]
Afro-Cuban religions / Miguel Barnet; translated from Spanish by Christine Renata Ayorinde.

Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers; Kingston, Jamaica: Ian Randle Pub., 2001.

viii, 160 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL2530.C9B3713 2001

This is an important reference work in the field of African Diaspora studies. Barnet gives short, but detailed accounts of two major religions of African origin (La Regla de Ocha and La Regla de Palo Monte) that have persisted in Cuba since the African introduction to Cuba. Barnet also discusses some of the aesthetics and performance arts related to these African religions in Cuba.

Cysneiros, Israel.
Idolos e deuses da mitologia Afro-Brasileira.

[Rio de Janeiro] Conquista [1970]

32 p. col. illus. 31 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL2592.U5C9

This is a thin encyclopedic treatment of each of the major deities (Orixá) of the Umbanda faith as practiced in Brazil.

Cabrera, Lydia.
Anaforuana: ritual y símbolos de la iniciación en la sociedad secreta Abakuá / Lydia Cabrera.

Madrid: Ediciones R, 1975.

498 p.: ill. ; 25 cm.

Series: Los de hoy

ALEXANDER REF BL2566.C9C286 1975

This text is an important work on the religion of the Abakuas in Cuba. This Bantu-derived religion's chalk signatures are the focus of this text.

Oliver, Eileen C.
Afro-Brazilian religions: a selective annotated bibliography : 1900-1997 / Eileen C. Oliver.

Austin, Texas : SALALM Secretariat, Benson Latin American Collection, The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin, 1998.

xxiv, 197 p.; 28 cm.

ALEXANDER REF Z7835.A35O45 1998

This is an annotated bibliography summarizing a great number of scholarly works that have covered the various African religions of Brazil that include Candomble, Umbanda, and Macumba.

Cacciatore, Olga Gudolle.
Dicionário de cultos afro-brasileiros : com origem das palavras / Olga Gudolle Cacciatore.

Rio de Janeiro: Forense Universitária, 1977.

279 p.; 18 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL2590.B7C3

This is a dictionary of terms used among the various religious groups of African origin that are to be found in Brazil with definitions of the terms in Portuguese.

Documentos para la historia y la cultura de Osha-Ifá en Cuba. Tratado enciclopédico de caminos.

Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba : Regla, 2000.

17 v.; 29 cm.

Added author: Valdés Janet, Ernesto.

Added author: Proyecto Orúnmila.

ALEXANDER REF BL2532.I4D36 2000 v.1-17

This large encyclopedia is a collection of the oral traditions passed down in Cuba of La Regla de Ocha and La Regla de Ifa traditions of Cuba. These two closely related religions are the predominant religions of African origin in Cuba and are also extremely important in the Americas in general. Each volume is dedicated to one of the sacred texts known as Odu and includes the history, mythology, legends, practices, and herbal remedies associated with each Odu.

Cabrera, Lydia.
Vocabulario Congo : el Bantu que se habla en Cuba / Lydia Cabrera.

Miami, Fla. : Distribuidor, Downtown Book Center, 1984.

164 p.; 2 cm.

Series: Colección del chicherekú en el exilio

Series: Cabrera, Lydia. Colección del chicherekú en el exilio.

ALEXANDER REF PL8404.Z9C33 1984

This is a dictionary of terms, primarily religious in nature, of the Palo Monte religion in Cuba as collected in field research by the Cuban ethnographer of Afro-Cuban culture Lydia Cabrera. The Palo Monte religion originates among the people of Kongo and Bantu heritage on the island and her seminal work on the practices of Palo Monte is called "El Monte".

Bolívar Aróstegui, Natalia.
Los orishas en Cuba / Natalia Bolívar Aróstegui.

La Habana, Cuba: PM Editiones, c1994.

301 p.: ill. ; 22 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL2530.C9B652 1994

This text serves as a ready reference material on the gods of the Afro-Cuban religions of La Regla de Ocha and La Regla de Ifa (both collectively called "Santeria"). It gives a short entry on each of the major gods (Orishas).

Cabrera, Lydia.
Anagó : vocabulario lucumi (el yoruba que se habla en Cuba) / Lydia Cabrera ; prôlogo de Roger Bastide.

Miami, Fla.: Cabrera y Rojas, 1970.

326 p.; 21 cm.

Series: Colección del chi[c]herekú

Series: Cabrera, Lydia. Colección del chicherekú.

ALEXANDER REF PL8824.Z9C8 1970

This is a dictionary (similar to Cabrera's Vocabulario Congo) that covers the dialect of the Yoruba descendants in Cuba. The language, known as Lucumi, is used primarily as a sacerdotal language for the manifestations of Yoruba religion in Cuba, La Regla de Ocha and La Regla de Ifa.

Dictionary of Third World theologies / Virginia Fabella and R.S. Sugirtharajah, editors.

Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, c2000.

xxiii, 261 p. ; 24 cm.

Added author: Fabella, Virginia.

Added author: Sugirtharajah, R. S. (Rasiah S.)

ALEXANDER REF BR95.D486 2000

CAMDEN REF BR95.D486 2000

This is more of an encyclopedia then a traditional dictionary on Christian theologies in the Third World. The articles do touch upon how indigenous religious practices, especially in Africa and Latin America, inform theologies in these contexts.

Lewis, James R.
The encyclopedia of cults, sects, and new religions / Jame R. Lewis.

Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1998.

595 p. ill. ; 24 cm.

ALEXANDER REF BL2525.L49 1998

KILMER REF BL2525.L49 1998

This encyclopedia covers many of the nascent religious movements, both offshoots of traditional mainstream faiths and others of traditional indigenous practices, primarily operating in the United States. It is included in this guide because it has multiple entries on religions of African descent, many of which migrated to the United States from Africa and Latin America, with good descriptions of the sects and descriptions of their beliefs and practices.

Afrocubanismo! [videorecording] / Les Productions LaGauchet Inc. ;Selwyn Enterprises Inc. with the Banff Centre for the Arts ; producer, Raymond Gravelle ; producer, Selwyn J. Jacob presents a film written and directed by Alejandro F. Escobar ; additional writers,

Alison Newall, Roland Ray Roth.

Carson City, Nev.: Filmwest Associates, c1995.

1 videocassette (53 min.): sd., col. with b&w sequences; 1/2 in.

Added author: Gravelle, Raymond.

Added author: Jacob, Selwyn J.

Added author: Escobar, Alejandro F.

Added author: Newall, Alison.

Added author: Roth, Roland Ray.

Added author: Selwyn Enterprises.

Added author: Banff Centre for the Arts.

Added author: Productions LaGauchet.

Added author: Filmwest Associates.

Technical details: VHS.

MUSIC

This video traces the history of Afro-Cuban music. It specifically addresses how all Afro-Cuban musics descend directly from the ritual practices of the various Afro-Cuban religions.

Brown, David Hilary.
Garden in the machine : Afro-Cuban sacred art and performance in urban New Jersey and New York / by David Hilary Brown.

1989.

2 v. (xxiii, 602 leaves): ill.

SPCOL/UA BL2532.S3.B87 1989

This dissertation from the History of Art Department at Yale covers the ritual life of one Regla de Ocha temple in New Jersey. It is unique because of its focus on one temple's practices, yet it also deals with some of the commonly held beliefs of Ocha practicioners.

The King does not lie [videorecording] : the initiation of a priest of Shango / by Judith Gleason, Elisa Mereghetti, with the collaboration of Yrmino Valdez Garriz, Marco Mensa.

New York, NY: Filmakers Library, c1992.

1 videocassette (43 min.): sd., col.; 1/2 in.

Added author: Gleason, Judith Illsley.

Added author: Mereghetti, Elisa.

Added author: Valdés, Yrmino.

Added author: Mensa, Marco.

Added author: Filmakers Library, inc.

Technical details: VHS.

MEDIA

This video is a documentary of the initiation of a Shango priest into the Regla de Ocha religion. It documents all the rituals involved with the initiation in a community of believers in the Bronx, New York.

Epega, Afolabi A.
The sacred Ifa oracle / Afolabi A. Epega and Philip John Neimark.

1st ed.

San Francisco : HarperSanFrancisco, c1995.

xvii, 549 p. ; 24 cm.

Added author: Neimark, Philip John.

ALEXANDER REF BF1779.I4E64 1995

This is a short text which gives a ready reference to each sacred text of the Yoruba religious texts known as Odu.

Santería aesthetics in contemporary Latin American art / edited by Arturo Lindsay.

Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, c1996.

xxvii, 306 p.: ill. (some col.), maps; 27 cm.

Added author: Lindsay, Arturo.

ART N72.R4S26 1996

CAMDEN N72.R4S26 1996

DOUGLASS N72.R4S26 1996

This is a collection of essays on the theological aesthetics of Santeria (La Regla de Ocha) religious art. It contains several plates of Santeria ritualistic installations and Santeria inspired art.

Flores-Peña, Ysamur.
Santería garments and altars : speaking without a voice / Ysamur Flores-Peña and Roberta J. Evanchuk.

Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, c1994.

72 p.: ill. (some col.); 22 cm.

Series: Folk art and artists series

Added author: Evanchuk, Roberta J.

DOUGLASS BL2532.S3F56 1994

This text treats the artistry of Santeria initiatory garments and ritual altars. It has several plates with theological and functional explanations of each piece.

Marcelin, Milo.
Mythologie vodou (rite arada)

Port-au-Prince, Éditions haïtiennes [1949]-50.

2 v. illus., port. 24 cm.

JAZZ BL2490.M28 v.1

This text delineates the religious rituals and beliefs of the Arada sect of Haitian Vodou, the predominant Vodou sect in Haiti.

McAlister, Elizabeth A.
Rara! : vodou, power, and performance in Haiti and its diaspora / Elizabeth McAlister.

Berkeley, Calif.; London : University of California Press, 2002.

xviii, 259 p.: ill. ; 24 cm. + 1 sound disc (4 ¾ in.)

MUSIC ML3565.M384 2002 (TEXT)

This is a CD and BOOK combination that documents the ritual music of Haitian vodou. The text delves further into the importance of Vodou religious culture upon the political and social history of Haiti itself.

Sacred arts of Haitian vodou / Donald J. Cosentino, editor.

Los Angeles, Calif.: UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1995.

443 p.: ill. ; 32 cm.

Added author: Cosentino, Donald, 1941-

Added author: University of California, Los Angeles. Fowler Museum of Cultural History.

ART N6606.S23 1995

This is a museum catalog for the traveling exhibit of the same name. It has hundreds of plates of various Vodou artifacts and places them in both religious and historical contexts. The catalog includes in-depth articles and bibliographies on various aspects of the Haitian Vodou religious practices.

Cosentino, Donald, 1941-
Vodou things : the art of Pierrot Barra and Marie Cassaise / Donald J. Cosentino.

Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, c1998.

72 p.: col. ill. ; 21 cm.

Series: Folk art and artists series

ART N6608.B274C67 1998

This text discusses the work of two artists whose work, though secular in nature, are intimately inspired by Haitian Vodou practices.