Afro-Caribbean Religions

                                                 Afro-Caribbean Religions

  

    Afro-Caribbean religions, an intricate tapestry of faiths, embody a profound synthesis of African spiritual traditions and the cultural influences of the Caribbean. Emerging from the crucible of the transatlantic slave trade and the subsequent blending of diverse African, Indigenous, and European elements, these religions offer a rich, vibrant spiritual landscape that has persisted through centuries of oppression and cultural transformation.

Kélé practiced primarily in Saint Lucia, represents a direct lineage to African spirituality, specifically drawing from the Yoruba traditions of Nigeria. It is characterized by the worship of Orishas, divine spirits, or deities, through elaborate drumming, singing, and dancing rituals. Kélé ceremonies are communal, fostering a sense of unity and continuity with ancestral legacies, serving to connect the physical and spiritual worlds.

Santería, also known as Lucumí, emerged in Cuba and is a syncretic religion combining Yoruba religious practices with Roman Catholicism. Central to Santería is the veneration of Orishas, each associated with specific Catholic saints. Rituals involve divination, animal sacrifice, drumming, and dance, where practitioners seek guidance, healing, and protection from the Orishas. The religion’s intricate cosmology and the practice of Ifá divination underscore a deep connection to African spiritual roots, while also adapting to the colonial context in which it evolved.

Obeah, a more covert practice, is widespread throughout the English-speaking Caribbean, particularly in Jamaica and Trinidad. Rooted in African magical and religious traditions, Obeah is a system of spiritual and healing practices often associated with folk medicine, protection, and justice. It involves the manipulation of natural and supernatural forces to achieve desired outcomes, blending African spiritual practices with elements of Christianity and European folklore.

Rastafari, emerging in Jamaica in the 1930s, is a spiritual movement that venerates Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as the returned Messiah. Rastafarianism is deeply intertwined with a socio-political consciousness, emphasizing black empowerment, resistance to oppression, and a return to an African homeland. Central to Rastafari is the use of ganja (cannabis) as a sacrament, the adherence to a natural lifestyle (Ital), and the spiritual importance of reggae music. Dreadlocks, worn as a symbol of the Lion of Judah, represent a physical manifestation of the Rastafari commitment to natural living and spiritual integrity.

Vodou, primarily practiced in Haiti, is a dynamic religion that integrates elements of West African Vodun, Catholicism, and Indigenous Taino beliefs. Vodouists believe in a supreme creator, Bondye, and a pantheon of spirits known as lwa, who govern various aspects of life. Rituals in Vodou include drumming, dance, spirit possession, and offerings, facilitating communication with the lwa. Vodou ceremonies are communal events that reinforce social bonds and cultural identity, embodying a rich tradition of resistance and resilience.

Montamentu, a spiritual tradition in Curacao, blends African, Indigenous, and Roman Catholic influences.  Some  Asian deities are revered in this religion. It is accompanied by music. There is Tambu drumming and music from Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela.

Trinidad Orisha, also rooted in Yoruba traditions, is practiced in Trinidad and Tobago. It involves the worship of Orishas through drumming, singing, and dancing, with rituals that often include offerings and animal sacrifices. This faith emphasizes the importance of maintaining harmony between the physical and spiritual realms, connecting practitioners with their African heritage.

Spiritual Baptists, predominantly found in Trinidad and Tobago, represent a syncretic religion that combines elements of Protestant Christianity with African religious practices. Known for their vibrant worship services, Spiritual Baptists engage in rituals involving singing, clapping, dancing, and "mourning" periods of fasting and seclusion. These practices aim to achieve spiritual purification, renewal, and closer communion with the Holy Spirit.

Moreover, the Caribbean is home to a myriad of other Afro-Caribbean religious beliefs, such as Palo, an Afro-Cuban religion that emphasizes the use of spirits and natural elements for divination and magic, and Dominican Vudú, which incorporates elements of Haitian Vodou, European Christianity, and Indigenous practices. This list is by no means exhaustive, as the Caribbean’s rich cultural tapestry continues to give rise to diverse and evolving spiritual traditions.

These Afro-Caribbean religions, while distinct in their practices and beliefs, collectively reflect a profound resilience and adaptability. They preserve the spiritual legacies of our African ancestors, adapting to the socio-cultural contexts of the Caribbean. Through rituals, music, dance, and communal practices, these religions offer a vibrant tapestry of spiritual expression, underscoring the enduring power of faith and cultural continuity in the Afro-Caribbean experience.

Kele

• ·       Anthony, Patrick AB. "The encounter between Christianity and culture: The case of the Kele Ceremony of St Lucia. “.” Kremser, Manfred/Wernhart, Karl (Hg.): Research in Ethnography and Ethnohistory of St. Lucia. A Preliminary Report. Horn: Berger & Söhne (1986): 103-120.
• ·       Kremser, Manfred. "Visiting ancestors: St. Lucian djine in communion with their African kin." Caribbean Quarterly 39, no. 3-4 (1993): 82-99.
• ·       Kremser, Manfred. "Kélé in St. Lucia—A Minority Cult Emerging from the Underground." In Alternative Cultures in the Caribbean: First International Conference of the Society of Caribbean Research, Berlin 1988, pp. 93-101. 1993.
• ·       Simpson, George Eaton. "The Kele (Chango) Cult in St. Lucia." Caribbean Studies 13, no. 3 (1973): 110-116.
• ·       Simpson, George Eaton. "The Kele (Chango) Cult in St. Lucia." Caribbean Studies 13, no. 3 (1973): 110-116.
• ·       Weekes, Travis. Bodies, memories and spirits: A discourse on selected cultural forms and practices of St. Lucia. Xlibris Corporation, 2014.

 

 

Trinidad Orisha

• ·       Aiyejina, Funso, and Rawle Gibbons. "Orisa (Orisha) Tradition in Trinidad." Caribbean Quarterly 45, no. 4 (1999): 35-50.
• ·       Castor, N. Fadeke. "Shifting multicultural citizenship: Trinidad Orisha opens the road." Cultural Anthropology 28, no. 3 (2013): 475-489.
• ·       Henry, Frances. Reclaiming African religions in Trinidad: The socio-political legitimation of the Orisha and Spiritual Baptist faiths. University of the West Indies Press, 2003.
• ·       Houk, James. Spirits, blood, and drums: the Orisha religion in Trinidad. Temple University Press, 1995.
• ·       Houk, James. "Chaos, compromise, and transformation in the Orisha religion in Trinidad." In Religion, Diaspora and Cultural Identity, pp. 295-310. Routledge, 2014.
• ·       Houk, James. "Orisha Religion." The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Religions (2024): 181.
• ·       Trotman, David V. "The Yoruba and Orisha Worship in Trinidad and British Guinea: 1838–1870." African Studies Review 19, no. 2 (1976): 1-18.

 

 

Spiritual Baptists

• ·       Forde, Maarit. "The Spiritual Baptist Religion." Caribbean Quarterly 65, no. 2 (2019): 212-240.
• ·       Henry, Frances. Reclaiming African religions in Trinidad: The socio-political legitimation of the Orisha and Spiritual Baptist faiths. University of the West Indies Press, 2003.
• ·       Laitinen, Maarit. "Marching to Zion: Creolisation in Spiritual Baptist rituals and cosmology." PhD diss., Helsingin yliopisto, 2002.
• ·       Mungal-Bissessar, Vidya. "Funeral and Burial Practices of Spiritual Baptists in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent." In Post-colonial Burial and Grieving Rituals of the Caribbean, pp. 25-38. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2024.
• ·       Rocklin, Alexander. "Imagining religions in a Trinidad village: The Africanity of the Spiritual Baptist movement and the politics of comparing religions." New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 86, no. 1-2 (2012): 55-79.

  

 

               Obeah

• ·       Bell, Hesketh. Obeah: Witchcraft in the West Indies. S. Low, Marston Limited, 1893.
• ·       Bryson, Sasha Turner. "The Art of Power: Poison and Obeah Accusations and the Struggle for Dominance and Survival in Jamaica's Slave Society." Caribbean Studies 41, no. 2 (2013): 61-90.
• ·       Browne, Randy M. "The “bad business” of obeah: Power, authority, and the politics of slave culture in the British Caribbean." The William and Mary Quarterly 68, no. 3 (2011): 451-480.
• ·       Bilby, Kenneth M., and Jerome S. Handler. "Obeah." The Journal of Caribbean History 38, no. 2 (2004): 153-183.
• ·       Crosson, J. Brent. Experiments with Power: Obeah and the Remaking of Religion in Trinidad. University of Chicago Press, 2020.
• ·       Crosson, J. Brent. "What Obeah Does Do: Healing, Harm, and the Limits of Religion." Journal of Africana Religions 3, no. 2 (2015): 151-176.
• ·       Handler, Jerome S. "Slave Medicine and Obeah in Barbados, circa 1650 to 1834." New West Indian Guide/Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 74, no. 1-2 (2000): 57-90.
• ·       Harvey, Alison. "West Indian Obeah and English'Obee': Race, Femininity, and Questions of Colonial Consolidation in Maria Edgeworth's Belinda 1." In New Essays on Maria Edgeworth, pp. 1-29. Routledge, 2018.
• ·       Meudec, Marie. "Ordinary ethics of spiritual work and healing in St. Lucia, or why not to use the term obeah." Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism 21, no. 1 (2017): 17-32.
• ·       Meudec, Marie. "The Cultural Politics of Obeah: Religion, Colonialism and Modernity in the Caribbean World." Religion and Society 8 (2017): 230-234.
• ·       Paton, Diana. "Obeah acts: Producing and policing the boundaries of religion in the Caribbean." Small Axe: A Caribbean Journal of Criticism 13, no. 1 (2009): 1-18.
• ·       Wisecup, Kelly. "Knowing obeah." Atlantic Studies 10, no. 3 (2013): 406-425.

 

 

Rastafarianism

• ·       Campbell, Horace. "Rastafari as Pan Africanism in the Caribbean and Africa." African Journal of Political Economy/Revue Africaine d'Economie Politique 2, no. 1 (1988): 75-88.
• ·       Daynes, Sarah. "The musical construction of the diaspora: the case of reggae and Rastafari 1." In Music, Space, and Place, pp. 25-41. Routledge, 2017.
• ·       Edmonds, Ennis Barrington. Rastafari: from outcasts to culture bearers. Oxford University Press, 2003.
• ·       Forsythe, Dennis. "West Indian culture through the prism of Rastafarianism." Caribbean Quarterly 26, no. 4 (1980): 62-81.
• ·       King, Stephen A. "International reggae, democratic socialism, and the secularization of the Rastafarian movement, 1972–1980." Popular Music & Society 22, no. 3 (1998): 39-60.
• ·       King, Stephen, and Richard J. Jensen. "Bob Marley's" Redemption Song": The Rhetoric of Reggae and Rastafari." Journal of Popular Culture 29, no. 3 (1995): 17.
• ·       King, Stephen A. "Protest music as ‘ego-enhancement’: reggae music, the Rastafarian movement and the re-examination of race and identity in Jamaica." In The resisting muse: Popular music and social protest, pp. 105-118. Routledge, 2017.
• ·         Lee, Hélène. The first Rasta: Leonard Howell and the rise of Rastafarianism. Chicago Review Press, 2003.
• ·       King, Stephen A. "The Co-Optation of a" Revolution": Rastafari, Reggae, and the Rhetoric of Social Control." Howard Journal of Communication 10, no. 2 (1999): 77-95.
• ·       Morgan, Kai AD. "Rastafari: Cultural healing in the Caribbean." In Caribbean Healing Traditions, pp. 164-175. Routledge, 2013.
• ·       Waters, Anita M. Race, class, and political symbols: Rastafari and reggae in Jamaican politics. Routledge, 2017.
• ·       Winders, James A. "Reggae, Rastafarians, and revolution: Rock music in the Third World." Journal of Popular Culture 17, no. 1 (1983): 61
• ·       Warner, Keith Q. "Calypso, Reggae, and Rastafarianism: Authentic Caribbean Voices." Popular Music & Society 12, no. 1 (1988): 53-62.
• ·       Warner-Lewis, Maureen. "African continuities in the Rastafari belief system." Caribbean Quarterly 39, no. 3-4 (1993): 108-123.
• ·       Yawney, Carole D. "Tell out King Rasta doctrine around the whole world: Rastafari in global perspective." The Reordering of Culture: Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada in the Hood (1995): 57-73.

 

Santeria

• ·       Ayorinde, Christine. "Santería in Cuba: Tradition and Transformation." The Yoruba Diaspora in the Atlantic World (2004): 209-230.
• ·       Ayorinde, Christine (2004). Afro-Cuban Religiosity, Revolution, and National Identity. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
• ·       Bascom, William R. "The focus of Cuban santeria." Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 6, no. 1 (1950): 64-68.
• ·       Brown, David H. Santería enthroned: art, ritual, and innovation in an Afro-Cuban religion. Routledge, 2021.
• ·       Guerra, Jorge Castillo. "The dialogue between Christianity and Afro-Cuban religions." Exchange 32, no. 3 (2003): 250-259.
• ·       Miguel, A. Santeria: The beliefs and rituals of a growing religion in America. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004.
• ·       Murphy, Joseph M. RITUAL SYSTEMS IN CUBAN SANTERIA. Temple University, 1981.
• ·       Peralta, Nora Erro. "Latin American Studies 11.20. 2008 Santeria, Not Witchcraft Santeria is a polytheistic Afro-Cuban religion generated from a combination of the Yoruba religion and Catholicism. Santeria consists of the Catholic Saints combined with the attributes."

 

Montamentu

•    De Jong, Nanette. Tambú: Curaçao's African-Caribbean ritual and the politics of memory. Indiana University Press, 2012.
• ·       Gibbs, Jazondré Kaniela Renee. "Vibrations, Memory, and Identity: The embodiment of Tambú and the Afro-Curacaoan Identity in Curacao." (2019).
• ·       Lampe, Armando. "The popular use of the charismatic movement in Curaçao." Social Compass 45, no. 3 (1998): 429-436.

 

Vodou

•     Apter, Andrew (2002). "On African Origins: Creolization and Connaissance in Haitian Vodou". American Ethnologist. 
•      Beasley, Myron M. (2010). "Vodou, Penises, and Bones: Ritual Performances of Death and Eroticism in the Cemetery and the Junk Yard of Port-au-Prince". Performance Research. 15 (1): 41–47
•    Benoît, Catherine (2007). "The Politics of Vodou: Aids, Access to Health Care and the Use of Culture in Haiti". Anthropology in Action. 14 (3): 59–68.
•   Brendbekken, Marit (2002). "Beyond Vodou and Anthroposophy in the Dominican-Haitian Borderlands". Social Analysis. 46 (3): 31–74.
•    McAlister, Elizabeth. Rara!: vodou, power, and performance in Haiti and its diaspora. Univ of California Press, 2002.
• Ramsey, Kate. The spirits and the law: Vodou and power in Haiti. University of Chicago Press, 2011.
•  Schmidt, Bettina E. "The presence of Vodou in New York City: The impact of a Caribbean religion on the creolization of a metropolis." Matatu 27/28 (2003): 213.