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Afro-Caribbean Traditions

Essays

  • From Africa to America

    During the brutality of the transatlantic slave trade many enslaved Africans brought their spiritual and religious traditions to the United States and the Caribbean. These traditions were maintained in subtle ways in the United States, most notably in the Christianity of Black Americans. Over the next two centuries, Black Americans have explored their connection to African heritage and religions.... Read more about From Africa to America

  • "Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi

    Once known as "Santería,"  La Regla de Ocha-Ifá and La Regla de Lukumí came to the United States with Cuban immigrants. Typically practiced in private ritual communities rather than public worship spaces, many practitioners  in the U.S. encounter a lack of knowledge about--and hostility to--their tradition. This serves as a brief, but not comprehensive, introduction to this religious and spiritual tradition with roots in Africa and the Caribbean. ... Read more about "Santeria": La Regla de Ocha-Ifa and Lukumi

  • Vodou, Serving the Spirits

    Vodou or Vodún (meaning "spirit" or "god" in the Fon and Ewe languages of West Africa) is a blending (syncretism) of African religious traditions and Catholicism. In the United States, Vodou religious ceremonies are often performed in private community settings where spirits manifest by "mounting" practitioners.... Read more about Vodou, Serving the Spirits

  • Jamaican Religion

    Jamaican religious traditions in the United States include Obeah, Jamaican Revivalism or Pukumina, and Rastafari. Obeah is a system of herbal and spiritual technology to cure diseases and offer protection. The Pukumina tradition is more structured than the Obeah tradition, and its rituals share some characteristics with Haitian Vodou. Rastafari, known within the U.S. through its reggae music and its characteristic hairstyle of locs, interprets Africans and African Americans as successors to Biblical prophets.... Read more about Jamaican Religion

  • The Kingdom of Oyotunji

    Oyotunji African village was founded in 1970 in Sheldon, South Carolina by Walter Eugene King. It is a religious and cultural community for African American practitioners of the West African Yoruba faith. At its height, the village was home to over 200 people.... Read more about The Kingdom of Oyotunji