Product Description
Exploring the cultural lives of African slaves in the early colonial Portuguese world, with an emphasis on the more than 1 million Central Africans who survived the journey to Brazil, James Sweet lifts a curtain on their lives as Africans rather than as incipient Brazilians. Focusing first on the cultures of Central Africa from which the slaves came--Ndembu, Imbangala, Kongo, and others--Sweet identifies specific cultural rites and beliefs that survived their transplantation to the African-Portuguese diaspora, arguing that they did not give way to immediate creolization in the New World but remained distinctly African for some time.

Slaves transferred many cultural practices from their homelands to Brazil, including kinship structures, divination rituals, judicial ordeals, ritual burials, dietary restrictions, and secret societies. Sweet demonstrates that the structures of many of these practices remained constant during this early period, although the meanings of the rituals were often transformed as slaves coped with their new environment and status. Religious rituals in particular became potent forms of protest against the institution of slavery and its hardships. In addition, Sweet examines how certain African beliefs and customs challenged and ultimately influenced Brazilian Catholicism.

Sweet's analysis sheds new light on African culture in Brazil's slave society while also enriching our understanding of the complex process of creolization and cultural survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Original, fascinating
The ubject of the slave trade has been written about before but this bookcovers the more interesting topic of the Protuguese trade in the 15th-18th century, and particularly its affects on Africans and the relationship between the church and the slaves, as well as 'others'.This book is scholarly and perhaps slightly dry, but not startinly so, in fact it is also readable and interesting, refreshing and original.

Surely this book adds scholarship to the period, espcially illuminating the relationship between slaves, brazilian society and the church in both Brazil and Portugal.Of particular interest is the work regarding the inqusitions attempts to snuff out tribal religons that remained among slaves brought to the new world.

Seth J. Frantzman ... Read more

Product Description
The bones of Pierre Toussaint, the first proposed African-American Catholic saint, were disinterred and spread around in the New World.In his introduction, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith suggests the same is true of the religious practices that peoples of African descent and victims of the Atlantic slave trade brought with them.Fragments of Bone examines the evolution of these religions as they have been adapted and re-contextualized in various New World environments. The essays in Fragments of Bone discuss African religions as forms of resistance and survival in the face of Western cultural hegemony and imperialism. The collection is unique in presenting the voices of scholars primarily outside of the Western tradition, speaking on the issues they, as practitioners, regard as important. Bellegarde-Smith, himself a priest in the Haitian Vodou religion, brings together thirteen contributors from different disciplines, genders, and nationalities. The authors address the creolized African religions beginning with their evolution from Nigeria and Benin to New Orleans, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica, Brazil, and Guyana.The more familiar neo-African religions of Vodou and Santeria are also discussed, as are the less well-known religious practices of Kongo-Angolan martial arts, Candomble, Lukumi, and Palomonte. Fragments of Bone draws on an impressive range of sources including research, fieldwork, personal interviews, and spiritual introspection.Examining the theology, cosmology, rituals and their sociopolitical contexts, the authors demonstrate that the African ethos behind these religions remains true to the original theological beliefs of the ancestral practices. Bellegarde-Smith's provocative thesis claims that fragments of the ancestral traditions are fluidly interwoven in the New World African religions as creolized rituals, symbolic systems, and cultural identities.Today, African diasporic religions have become embedded in key social and political institutions. Fragments of Bone is an indispensable resource for scholars of the African and Afro-Caribbean diaspora, or anyone interested in religion, anthropology or African-American studies. ... Read more

Product Description
The first art historical study of Yoruba-descended, African Brazilian religious art based on an author's long-term participation in and observation of private and public rituals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Book
amazing book.
i am so happy to have found a great book on candomble. it is hard to find information in candomble in english due to the language barrier.
i adored everything, it goes beyond candomble, the author even writes about other minor afro-brazilian traditions.
i hope that the author writes another book on this great subject.

review for "manipulating the sacred"

i was very happy with the quality of this product as well as with the timely manner in which it arrived.

Good book for Americans interested in Candomblé
Most of the books on Candomblé are written in Portuguese. This is an informative book for those wanting to understand the Candomblé tradition in Brazil. This book gives a lot of details and insight into the practices and procedures of the Candomblé Terreiros, which up until a few years ago has always been very private. There is a website that seeks to give an understanding this tradition to the American public: www.orixas.org. Big thanks to the author for writing this book. A `must have' book for the serious seeker. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 7239 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

Product Description
Afro-Brazilian. History of Brazil, Religion in Brazil, Capoeira, Music of Brazil, Macumba, Umbanda, Brazilian cuisine, List of Brazilians of Black African descent, Chica da Silva (person) ... Read more

Product Description

Sàngó in Africa and the African Diaspora is a multidisciplinary, transregional exploration of Sàngó religious traditions in West Africa and beyond. Sàngó -- the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning -- is a powerful, fearful deity who controls the forces of nature, but has not received the same attention as other Yoruba orishas. This volume considers the spread of polytheistic religious traditions from West Africa, the mythic Sàngó, the historical Sàngó, and syncretic traditions of Sàngó worship. Readers with an interest in the Yoruba and their religious cultures will find a diverse, complex, and comprehensive portrait of Sàngó worship in Africa and the African world.

Customer Reviews (2)

A very good book
In this book you find information about Sango in Africa, Cuba and Brazil.
The best part in this book is about Ara and Sango.

great book on orisa tradition
finally these compilation books are representing west african orisa tradition well...which has historically been underrepresented and misrepresented in this country. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History, 2nd ed., brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 2521 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the regions of the American continents in which two of the world's first civilizations developed: Mesoamerica (the name for the lands in which ancient civilizations arose in Central America and Mexico) and the Andes Mountains region of South America (in present-day Peru and parts of Bolivia, northern Argentina, and Ecuador). In both regions, the history of civilization goes back thousands of years. ... Read more

Product Description
Nago Grandma and White Papa is a signal work in Brazilian anthropology and African diaspora studies originally published in Brazil in 1988. This edition makes Beatriz Gois Dantas's historioethnographic study available to an English-speaking audience for the first time.

Dantas compares the formation of Yoruba (Nago) religious traditions and ethnic identities in the Brazilian states of Sergipe and Bahia, revealing how they diverged from each other due to their different social and political contexts and needs. By tracking how markers of supposedly "pure" ethnic identity and religious practice differed radically from one place to another, Dantas shows the social construction of identity within a network of class-related demands and alliances. She demonstrates how the shape and meaning of "purity" have been affected by prolonged and complex social and cultural mixing, compromise, and struggle over time. Ethnic identity, as well as social identity in general, is formed in the crucible of political relations between social groups that purposefully mobilize and manipulate cultural markers to define their respective boundaries—a process, Dantas argues, that must be applied to understanding the experience of African-descended people in Brazil. ... Read more

Product Description
In his first novel, Khafra Om-Ra-Seti flows with the spirit of ancient African wisdom and martial arts mastership. This book brings together many of his beliefs and visions regarding the search for a true meaning in life. The saga of the Dogon family, and the ancient beauty and spirit of Capoeira, moves the reader into the realms of mysticism, power and deceit, love and hate, freedom and redemption, and the burning passion to reach the highest level of self-mastery in one’s lifetime. This is the story that Khafra has wanted to tell for a long time!
Ptah, a versatile and highly confident martial artist, has been the welterweight champion of his division for the past five years. His prowess in the ring is near legendary and he is popularly known as Ptah the Wizard. As a member of the Dogon clan, Ptah’s family has been instrumental in establishing the multi-million dollar earnings for fighters that truly proved themselves in the arena.
But lying just below the competitive struggles in the arena is a universal struggle of good vs. evil, of revenge and deception, of mysticism and history, and of the ultimate test to achieve mastership in one’s life. Ptah’s confrontation with the ancient beauty and brilliance of Capoeira is the ultimate test to discover the true master in himself.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

I agree
As a Screenplay, this book gets three stars.As a book, one and as a Capoeira manual (I play Capoeira), none.This being said, Om-Ra-Seti has the germ of a really interesting story which could be made into a great action/martial arts picture.I would *love* to see the final battle envisioned here with all of the Orishas attending on the big screen - with the talents of a better writer.

9/21/10
I just saw a message from the author on another forum - looks like the book *was* originally intended as a screenplay.I'll stand by my original assesment: as a Screenplay, this rocks!Great story, just not translated well into book form.

A speculative mystical event!
Science fiction and mysticism fused in a timeless spiritual embrace. Heroes and villains, conspiracies and revelations, are what best describe this compelling and all around off-the-hook novel. Capoeira possesses a sublime 'deepness'. It's author is a weaver of literary magic. He
tells several stories on many levels, while entertaining and informing the reader.

The world in which this epic journey unfolds, is for some, already here, and for others, not too hard to envision. It's a place where the subculture of Extreme Combat, and the Battle Mania Brawls seen on Pay-per-view, have grown into the dominant sports attraction.

The people who populate this place of African themes and inner discovery, are important and multi-faceted. Is Ptah; the main character, an arrogant fighting machine, or is he a spiritual phenomenon, destined to pierce the veil of human consciousness? What of the Dogon Clan, his powerful family? And then there are the Akans. Arch rivals to the Dogons.

Capoeira is replete with symbolism, inner visions, and spiritual attainment. It is a speculative panorama. Like the Martial Arts that permeates It's pages, this book is fast paced and snags you immediately. It is a complete tale of epic proportions. The conclusion; mature and appropriate. Capoeira is simply, essential reading.

Martial Arts and More
CAPOEIRA takes us on a journey through time, where past and present collide in a page turning series of events.It is 2010 and the World Free Style Martial Arts Association has gained a huge fan base and following and has brought martial arts to a whole new level ofpopularity.The main character in the story, Ptah, is the champion of the welterweight division and part of the Dogon Clan.The Dogon�s are part of a long family line of people with special spiritual powers and abilities.Soon readers learn that the Dogon Clan is not without enemies, and that Ptah�s journey to remain a champion will delve deeper than his bouts in the ring.Indeed they become part of his deeper journey into mysticism and to further his spiritual development.Ptah, along with the other members of the Dogon Clan, are involved in the universal fight against good and evil, but they have to fight these battles in both the physical and supernatural realms.

CAPOEIRA is a book that has a little of everything.Drama, suspense, and fantasy are all wrapped up in this interesting story.For fans of martial arts, this book is a must read, as the author takes us to a time when martial arts is a sport that can gather arena size crowds like football or boxing can today.The author carefully weaves in a lot of information about various types of martial arts and incorporates it into the story so well that readers who are not already fans will learn a lot, but still enjoy an otherwise fast paced story.The elements of fantasy and spirituality add additional depth to the story while the drama and suspense will keep you turning pages.My only complaint was that at times the author seemed a bit repetitive.This is a must read for martial arts fans and a book many others will truly enjoy.

Reviewed by Stacey Seay
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

A Product for the Big Screen
This novel is simply a product for the "big screen," because the settings, and the energy are absolute vehicles.Today, most young people (all races) are into the martial arts and the struggles of physical fitness and survival.The energy in "Capoeira" is profound, and it captures the black family as a strong institution.This is significant, because family structures prevail againist the odds for the betterment of society. Therefore, people can benefit in many ways from this interesting story.

Worse than terrible...
I practice the art form known as capoeira, and this just isn't it. if you want to be misguided, buy the book. if you like pulp afro-fiction, rent the book. if you like good books, buy a case of these, then take them to the recycling center so they can see some use. ... Read more