Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas

by Lundschien Conner; Randy P

• ISBN13: 9781560233510
• ISBN10: 1560233516
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2004-03-22
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

What roles do queer and transgender people play in the African diasporic religions? Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Participation in African-Inspired Traditions in the Americas is a groundbreaking scholarly exploration of this long-neglected subject. It offers clear insight into the complex dynamics of gender and sexual orientation, humans and deities, and race and ethnicity, within these richly nuanced spiritual practices. Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions explores the ways in which gender complexity and same-sex intimacy are integral to the primary beliefs and practices of these faiths. It begins with a comprehensive overview of Vodou, Santeria, and other African-based religions. The second section includes extensive, revealing interviews with practitioners who offer insight into the intersection of their beliefs, their sexual orientation, and their gender identity. Finally, it provides a powerful analysis of the ways these traditions have inspired artists, musicians, and writers such as Audre Lorde, as well as informative interviews with the artists themselves. In Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions, you will discover: how the presence of androgynous divinities affects both faith and practice in Vodou, Candomble, Santeria, and other Creole religions how the phenomenon of possession or embodiment by a god or goddess may validate queer identity and nurture gender complexity who practices the African-derived spiritual traditions, what they believe, and who their deities are how these faiths have influenced the art and aesthetic traditions of the West This landmark book opens a fascinating new world of thought and belief. The authors provide rigorous documentation and faultless scholarly method as well as personal experience and the testimony of believers. Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions sheds new light on two widely different fields: LGBT studies and the theology of the African diaspora. A thorough bibliography points the way to further study, and an extensive photograph gallery provides a unique look at the believers and their practices. Every library with holdings in queer theory, African mythology, or sociology of religion should have this landmark volume.

Author Biography

Randy P. Conner, MA, PhD candidate, has taught at the University of Texas, Austin Community College, Florida Atlantic University, and in northern California. David Hatfield Sparks, MM, MLIS, is a musician, ethnomusicologist, educator, and librarian in northern California.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Joseph M. Murphy
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(18)
Background	1	(7)
Overview of Book	8	(5)
A Note About Terms	13	(6)
Chapter 1. Sources	19	(32)
Creole Spiritual Traditions: A Bird's-Eye View	19	(2)
Sexual and Gender Complexity in Yorùbáland?	21	(10)
Other Possible African Influences	31	(13)
Possible Indigenous Influences of the Western Hemisphere	44	(7)
Chapter 2. Divinities and Spirits	51	(38)
Lwa of Vodou	55	(10)
Orishás of Yorùbá-Diasporic Spiritual Traditions	65	(16)
Spirits of Brazil	81	(8)
Chapter 3. Children of the Spirits	89	(68)
Divine Horses	89	(6)
Masisi and Madivin	95	(3)
Bigotry in the Vodou Community	98	(1)
A Bridge of the Spirits	99	(2)
Adés, Ekedes, and Others	101	(5)
Practitioners of Lucumi/Santeria and Related Religions	106	(6)
Drag Queens, Transgender Persons, Transsexuals	112	(3)
Prohibitions and Discrimination within Yorùbá-Diasporic and Allied Communities	115	(14)
Divination and Interpretation	129	(6)
Challenges and Transformations	135	(5)
Relationships and Ceremonies of Union	140	(1)
HIV/AIDS, Afro Ashé, and Odô Yá	141	(9)
Notions of Self in African-Inspired Spiritual Traditions	150	(7)
Chapter 4. Snapshots	157	(72)
Practitioners of Vodou	158	(3)
Practitioners of Lucumi/Santeria/Regla de Ocha, and Other Cuban- and Puerto Rican-Linked Traditions	161	(27)
Practitioners of Candomblé and Other Brazilian Traditions	188	(6)
Practitioners of Orishá Reverence, the Ifá Tradition, and Bridge-Builders	194	(35)
Chapter 5. To Make the Spirit Manifest	229	(90)
Literature	235	(26)
Music	261	(14)
Visual Arts	275	(32)
Conclusion	307	(12)
Appendix A. Questionnaire	319	(4)
Appendix B. Interviews and Correspondence	323	(2)
Glossary	325	(14)
Bibliography	339	(22)
Index	361