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In this poetic A-to-Z collection of traditions, languages, legends, and symbols, Gerald Hausman and Kelvin Rodriques capture the vast wisdom and beauty of African, Caribbean, and African-American heritage. 100+ photos. Black History Month promo. ... Read more

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Recorded in the early 20th century by an eminent anthropologist, these entertaining tales reflect the geographic and cultural backgrounds of their narrators. They range from Kabyl creation legends of the Berbers to ballads of the southern Sahara and the humorously exaggerated Improbable Tales from Sudan. Enhanced by illustrations adapted from prehistoric rock paintings, and by portraits of 20th-century Africans, this volume is of immense value to students of African culture as well as readers of folklore and mythology. 4 maps. 15 b/w illus. 6 photos.
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Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent introduction to African folk tales and myths.
Leo Frobenius and Douglas C. Fox's African Genesis covers the folk tales and myths of Africa, providing a range of simple stories and illustrating them with adaptations of prehistoric rock paintings and portraits of modern Africans. An excellent addition to any ethnic collection. ... Read more

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This popular introduction has been revised and updated to include a section on African proverbs, new photographs, and a fully expanded reading list. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Bit by Bit we learn about african faiths
This is THE starting point for inquiry into African Religion. Its written with enough familiarity and distance to make you feel comfortable...that is it wont scare you away while you're deciding if "african religion is for me".

its actually written as a classroom text, complete with Q&A sections. i have read it at least 5 times over the years and i thoroughly enjoy it each time. i recommend it to any that is presently considering practicing an african religion.

A Well Organized Book Dealing With The Religions of Africa
Mbiti has done a great job with the organization of this book. This book is very easy to just sit down and read for anyone, not just students. There is not a whole lot of texts that can provide insight into the world of African religions but Mbiti has put together a text that allows one to study the riches of the African hertiage. When a book like this is written it helps to put down the numberous stereotypes about the way Africans live there life. He does not go into great detail about any one culture specifically but shows how religion functions in their daily life.

Great Guide to African Religion South of the Sahara
If you have ever wanted to know about the religions of Africa in general, this is the book for you. This is sort of the beginners guide to African religions and spirituality. Its worth noting that this book focuses on the religions native to Africa, but does give some brief mention of Islam and Christianity as well as the role that other religions play in Africa today. Mbiti certainly knows what he is talking about, and gives us a overviews of some of the common themes and ideas that are widespread in African religion, and the ceremonies and customs that are still present in Africa. And, as he points out, almost all African religions are monotheistic. However, the part which I liked the most was the section of African proverbs at the end. If you would like to learn more about African religion, I suggest that you look at this book. ... Read more

Product Description
African traditional religion is a spiritual lifestyle followed by millions of people around the world. Some scholars argue it is related to the religion practiced by the African Egyptians during the Dynastic period. The Yoruba, Dagara, and Ibo cultures, particularly as they relate to cosmology, symbolism, and ritual, are fundamental to the traditional religious system.

This study examines the nature of African traditional religion in an effort to determine the common attributes of the religion of the continent, focusing on the West African experience. This study analyzes concepts in African traditional religion by isolating key elements in the Yoruba, Dagara, and Ibo cultures. Principal elements isolated include sacrifice, salvation, revelation and divination, as well as African resilience in the face of invasions, colonization and various outside religious assaults. The study also considers the influence of Christianity and Islam. ... Read more

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"Informative and a joy to read. . . . It strikes a balance between participation and observation in an explanation of Santería that will please believer and scholar alike." —Shaman's Drum ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

An open mind
This book was very easy to read and insightful into a very misunderstood religion.While reading it, one feels very close to the rituals and traditions.

Yoruba Religion in the Americas
The author investigates the Santería religion in the USA.This is a Cuban version of traditional Yoruba religion with some other aspects of the traditional religion of the Congo and Fon peoples, all of whom brought their religious practices with them when brought as slaves to the Spanish regions of the New World.

Santería is similar to Umbanda in Brazil.The slaves expressed their spirit religion in the form and guise of the Roman Catholic religion's prayers to the saints, with a saint standing for each of the African spirit-gods.This resulted in the Catholic Cult of the Saints.

The author presents the African and Cuban background, giving historical and social factors and then probes the religion in the US, having been brought largely by the Cuban refugees after the Communist revolution in Cuba in 1959.

Murphy lists the names of the original Yoruba gods, their role and character in the original religion, and the way these beliefs operate in the mystical possession cult of Santería.

Useful to a variety of people for a variety of reasons.
This was the first actual book on Santeria I ever read, so I was almost completely ignorant about all aspects of Santeria and Ifa when I got it.Murphy started the book as a graduate student looking for something to write his dissertation about.A friend pointed him toward a respected babalawo in the Bronx, and Murphy began observing and participating in different rituals and ceremonies.Other reviewers point out that Murphy is not initiated into the religion, and they're right; he's not.Murphy even says that he's not initiated and can therefore only write about the parts of the religion he's familiar with.The beginning student of west African religion will get historical background on both the African and the Cuban branches of the faith, a basic understanding of the major orishas, the ori, or Yoruban concept of destiny, and an engaging personal account of Murphy's experiences with his padrino and ile.A scholar of west African religion would also find three more academically geared essays after the personal account dealing with how Santeria fits into the world as a whole.The book is interesting, readable, and a handy reference to have.

Not Bad,Not Great Either
I am somewhat indifferent to this book. I bought it a couple of years ago and have read it a few times. It is divided into three parts and parts one and three read like a college text book giving way to much dry information which is fine if your doing a research paper. The second part however is much more interesting giving a very vivid description of a botanica, elekes, warriors, and more. I would suggest buying this book for reference but also taking it with a grain of salt, dont believe everything you read.

Good intro to the history, reads like a History Book
There are mix reviews of this book, some like it; some do not, as everything in life.But if you want to learn this "History" of the Lucumi religion known as Santeria as practiced in Cuba, then this is really not that bad of a book. This is not one of those, "How to Books", it is as I have said, more of a historical prospective.Good for those who just want a basic understanding of the Santeria. It also touches on the Palo Mayombe, and Monte, and gives a bit of the differences between the different people of Africa and their Spiritual backgrounds.

A lot of people do not like it, or like to discredit it,but honestly the information is well researched, and aquarate.All done in the most High Respects and in good taste to the Santeria Lucumi Religion. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of traditional tales from Africa, reflecting the cultures and religions from which the stories come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

This one deserves plenty of attention, gorgeously illustrated and written
Not only are the stories vivid and engaging, but each page of this full color book includes a gorgeous border inspired by African design. There are a few pages at the front explaining the difference between myths and legend and then there are the mysths and legends themselves - how The Animals Came, The Race to Be King, THe Lion Man and His Cattle, etc. Each contains plenty enough action and details to keep readers riveted to the page! A wonderful way to discuss how and why people created myths and/or legends - and WHY.

Excellentfor the classroom
This was a wonderful book.It really stirs childrens imagination.They are eager to create their own stories afterwards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Put this book up as the book of the Week for Amozon
From the moment I started reading I was spellbound.

The greatness of this writer is being hidden.Everyone need to read this book.I can't wait for part 2. Read this book ASAP.You will not be able to put it down.

A must have for you book case.
Words in the Wind, byDemon L. A. Wood.

Words in the WindDemon L. A. Wood

Adult Fiction Fantasy Adventure Published 1996,Part 1 of 2ISBN # 0-9648402-2-7 5.5 x 8.5 Soft Trade 414 Pages

This book claims to be an African fantasy,a work of fiction based on the mythologyand legends of the ancient Cushites andNubians of Abyssinia (North East Africa) but,you won't believe it because it all seems justthat real. It is engrossing and entertaining. Amust have for the library and your state of mind,that is, if you want to be enlightened anduplifted, as well as entertained.

The story's action runs steady in allthe races, and the adventure is ever changing and unpredictable. You won'tbe able to put this book down once you get into it, but it does take somegetting into because you've got to learn the lingo, like "feeder"for woman, and "slave" for a child, and "hangingdangle" for an old man, get it?

The book has two main and seeminglyseparate stories, one based here in the near future and one from the farancient past. It opens up in the House of Mandara with a kidnaped victim,Ebbie Farmer, a vanilla- fudge beauty, whose being forcibly indoc- trinatedinto a secrete society of world renown women called the Pagangenearchs -something like the Eastern Stars, with fewer secret hand signs and moredetermined to bring Africans back into their full glory.

There are avariety of fascinating characters in this first story surrounding EbbieFarmer, like the elderly oracle, Cleopatra Mandara a'la Hedrin, a truequeen bee who tends to be a little too dangerous for her age. She's thetype of woman who'll make the most effeminate man dig down deep for somemore manhood. Then there's Michael Blackamore, who has a real problem withhaving to stay chase during his initiation, and an even bigger problem withthe homosex- uality in the history he must learn. But the one to watch outfor is Feegarmardar, who I see as a lusciously dark and deadly mix of PamGrier and Grace Jones, now you know that combination truly has the killerkiss. She's the Assistant Regent Ambassador and Special Agent to Ethiopia,who likes to tease men with her magnificent body as well as beat them downwith it.

The ancient story, which is the much larger and definitely morealluring tale, is where we meet the real stars of the book: Shhaha, Mah,Odrak, Keishlee and Ramaa, all of whom I got to know and care for as ifthey were close friends. Mah and Odrak, who are at the focus, are two youngstudents bound together in spiritual love and physical danger. Soul mates,who are also the last of three surviving apprentices of the deadly scienceof "blood-keeping." Under the tutelage of Shhaha, the clan'sKeeper of the Blood, who can cure or kill with only the power of his voice,they must pass the deadly "Test of Blood" in order to save theirclan from total extinction which Shhaha has foreseen.

Chosen by Shhaha togo with him on a long overdue journey to a "Great Sharing," ameeting of all the great elders, these five characters encounter a clan ofmystical giant snakes, a wild dog tribe made up mostly of discardedchildren, a tribe of female warriors whose company they survive onlybecause of Keishlee, who has to become one of them to keep the others frombeing killed. Later they run into another really interesting character,"She Who Has No Name," who I can't stop thinking of as WhoopiGoldberg, even though I'm sure this character is going to be one of thegreat villains.

The whole scene at the Kamituian Village where they mether is a turning point for the reader, because it is here that I began tounderstand some of the many clues Demon provides as to who these people arein real history. Loving history the way I do, the book, which was already atruly magical fantasy, now became an enticing historical mystery as well. Idon't want to give anything away, but one of the easy clues is that Mah'sname is Ham spelled backwards.

The book seemed like it was going to be abit long at first, but once you get pulled into its totally realisticcultures and all its wonderful characters, it becomes more like a moviethan a book. Demon's writing will transport you to another time and place,to a world so real and compelling that it will truly come to life aroundyou. I was enraptured being at the lake of oil and meeting the human-likebirds, the Great Mahs, and it was a real thrill to fight alongside thecourageous women of Tuk Village, and even bargaining over the slimy spiceseeds with the business like Obeys was one of the most hilarious scenes inthe book, not to mention the seduction of the hermaphrodites and the blackmale nymphs of the Misty Mountains, and I was even enjoying the regrettableTimbutikata, but then before you know it your only a few pages from the endand you curse the author, promising yourself his head if he ends this storybefore reaching the Valley of Names, and he does, with an ending that meansyou have to buy another book. But trust me-you will buy it. ... Read more

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"... de Heusch has achieved a significant advance over Lévi-Strauss's formulations.... [A] landmark contribution to anthropological theory, historical methodology, structural analysis, and African studies." -- Choice

A major work that modifies and extends Lévi-Straussian myth analysis in profound and exciting ways. Roy Willis's masterful translation makes technical terms accessible to the general reader.

Product Description
Elizabeth Isichei explores the Atlantic slave trade, as reflected in the poetics of rumourand the poetics of memory - an approach different from the quantitative and demographic studies which have transformed the subject over the past twenty years. To this and to her study of popular consciousness in the colony and postcolony,shebrings together a wide range of disciplines - ethnography, art and art history,and contemporary literary theory among them - to look at the intellectual history of Africa, from African rather than European premisses. Theresult is a history of popular consciousness which shows the experiences of ordinary people, often in protest to an ongoingexperience of exploitation. ... Read more

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"Isichei's fine book points the way to further integration between anthropology and history, providing a rich example of the meansby which scholars can investigate popular consciousness by taking seriously the world of symbolic meaning." INTL J OF AFRICAN HISTORICAL STUDIES Vol 36 No 2 (2003)Elizabeth Isichei explores the Atlantic slave trade, as reflected in the poetics of rumour and the poetics of memory - an approach different from the quantitative and demographic studies which have transformed the subject over the past twenty years. She brings together a wide range of disciplines - anthropology, fiction, art and art history, philosophy, and contemporary literary theory - to look at the intellectual history of Africa, from African rather than European premisses. The result is a history of popular consciousness which shows the experiences of ordinary people, often in protest at their exploitation by generation after generation of powerful foreigners and locals.ELIZABETH ISICHEI is Professor of Religious Studies, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand, and author of over a dozen books on African history and political thought. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

eloquent perspectives
Isichei gives us a sweeping survey of African views and folktales. Perspectives that are often ignored outside the continent. Yet here, as in fragments of poetry that she translates, they shine through in eloquence.

Grim subjects also appear. Especially the sourge of AIDS, which ravages southern Africa. An irony is that traditional folk healers' influences are sometimes reinforced by AIDS. Mostly because of the lack of an affordable cure, since the protease inhibitors are largely out of the peasants' budgets. ... Read more

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This mythology study from Cameroon illuminates the performance contexts of the oral narratives in Subsaharan Africa. The study of the narrator, narrative pattern, audience interaction and details about language, setting ,date ,time of the performance of eact tale is very imporatant and helps to recreate the atmosphere of live performance. THrough translated inot ENglish, the author has made an effort to give to the oral narratives an indigenous flavour. This book is divided into categories such as origin stories, stories about men and women, and trickster cycles. ... Read more

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When he opposes French colonialism in his native Africa, regal Behanzin is exiled to the far-off island of Martinique. In the course of her novel, renowned author Maryse Conde tells the story of Behanzin's scattered offspring and their lives in the Caribbean and the United States. She skillfully intertwines themes of exile, lost origins, and hope--with Africa hovering in the background . ... Read more

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I Loved this Book
This is one of the best books I have ever read.I felt like I was pulled into this book and placed right before the characters. Conde is a wonderful writer who takes the reader on an exciting and thrilling journey. Potentialreaders, don't be put off because this book is not an easy read. It is wellworth your time and you'll be surprised at how very interesting it is. ... Read more

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The church has always been a vital cultural center in the African American community. Sankofa offers a framework of African spritual consciousness, provides a blueprint for various ritual ceremonies, and shows how they can be used in churches. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Insightful
This is an excellent exploration and analysis of African Religious thoughts and practices. The author's expositions are detailed, especially when speaking about the usually more obscure African societies. What's extremely interesting is the logic behind the practices such as (before entering 'rites of passage') leaving a child in the wilderness temporarily in order to teach the child that alone they are nothing, they literally do not exist. They can only BE within the context of a community. Needless to say, these lessons are invaluable. How one personally feels about the methods used is a matter of one's stance on right and wrong. What's disconcerting at times is the African's reliance on supernatural explanations when a predicament's causal factors aren't ostensible. You wish they'd use a logic correlate with superstition as the latter is not going to be the path to ensure the continent's resurgence. Still, the reliance on the purely ethereal is not as common as the public assumes. I felt that Magesa's writing may occassionally be a little too didactic . The target audience should be the layman African as to foster more inter-ethnic solidarity and Africans abroad in order to de-program and relinquish themselves from the dogmatic and rigid Religions that have them in a perpetual state of psychological enslavement. In this regard, the book may be a little over-written and too erudite. At any rate, it's more than worth the read and should be a part of every African's library. It will give you spiritual direction and what the Rastas say, "Guidance".

Interesting but seemingly too general.
In my opinion, Magesa presents a solid understanding of the African religious psyche.However, I have a hard time agreeing with his notion of African religion (in the singular) as he proposes it.He might have dug out some base beliefs common throughout Africa (and if you want to be real honest, Asia, and South America).Yet, I still think that his commitment to ignoring culturally specific differences limits the value of this book.If you're interested in Mbiti and the theories in that circle, this might be a good book to read.If you could care less about those views or know nothing about them, Magesa's book isn't the one to convince you.

Volted tron
Tron missed the whole point of what Magesa was expressing about African religion being the world religion... considering that there is a lot of information that shows that Hinduism, Judaism, Christinaity, Islam, etc...,were all religions that evolved from African spiritual philosophy... When shepherd kings saught refuge in Egypt they adopted African customs and spirtiual philosophy in Egypt (KMT) which, doing that time was Africa's main society of commerce and interest to foreigners...The so-called semites were nothing more than farmers until their contact with the African Egyptians, which led to the construction of Judaism yrs later... followed by the Greek invasion which brought about Coptic Gnosticism, that later evolved into Christianity doing the Roman invasion of Greek territories via seizing Alexandria... which started the Greco-Roman era which eventually gave rise to Catholicism after different rulers, Church heads had parted ways... do to political and spiritual indifferences... it should be of no surprise that Africa is at the center of the 3 most popular religions...When the Arabs invaded Egypt and Ethiopia... they left with a new concept of spirituality from coming into contact with Christianity that was fused with African spirtuality, that led to the writings of Islam by Mohammed at a later time...The evidence can be found throughout todays Middle East, in Iraq, in Ethiopia, and Egypt....Keep in mind that the so-called Semites and Indo-Aryans are the same ppl just from a different related-intermingled paternal clan... which is why they are fighting over their holy land today...a old dispute amongst siblings who chose to live a different life style...As far as Hinduism... the Dravidians or African Daro (Ethiopic ppl) were the original inhabitors of India which was later settled by Aryan ppl from ancient Iran via central Asia... who brought with them a color based caste system that was set up for the sake of social class discrimination as it was not purely based on some reincarnated karmic rank.... From this unwanted union the Brahman was born from of the Aryan preisthood which stigmitized the Dravidians by using their version of spiritual perfection against the Dravidians, inwhich the Aryan Brahmans believe that they were above who they conqured as they went on to create a perverted caste system unlike most caste systems of that time... which was truly a caste system based around skin color and not lifestyle occupancy or spiritual endowment... as so, putting white skin above black skin... but obviously that didnt stop the Brahman from sleeping with the black skin Dravidain women (Tamils) and taking them as concubines...The Dravidians ( Tamils ) were a Ethiopic Colony that spreaded the territory to India creating a Unique society in the Indus Valley that was latered regressed to ruin doing the Aryan(Iranian Ancestors) invasions of Northern India driving most of its city dwellers back to the the Southern forest areas of India for refuge...Of the Ancient Indus valley one would find more of the old ways of the Ethiopians than you would of the later more improved Eygptian (KMT) setup, which was just another colony of Ethiopia but, which became more advance do to different influences with foreigners who frequent lower Egypt more so than Ethiopia... as it was easier to get to through the Sinai Peninsula as well as to invade...


Magesa proves his case regardless of poor researchers....

Good documentation, Bad metholodology and silly conclusions
This is an interesting book, and one can learn much from it concerning the value of African Religion.However, the author's methodology is horrible.The first chapter he makes all kind of assertions without adequate evidenceto support his views.The main one being that African Religion is amongthe world religions.African religion cannot be a world religion becauseone: it has no canon or standard text, is culturally bound, and three isbarely cohesive.He continues to examine tribes randomly to support hisview, but the question is in your mind, "Is he making the evidencefit?"The actual conclusion chapter is only a few pages long. Why?--he already gave his conclusions in the intro!You haven't convincedme bub. ... Read more