Offers an insider's account of Vodou's private, mystical, interior practice, discussing the author's own initiation and education in the religion.

Sijobang - the singing of a poetic narrative about the legendary hero Anggun Nan Tungga - is a form of popular entertainment in the area around Payakumbuh, in the highlands of West Sumatra. Although the story exists as a written text, it is best known locally as drama and sung narrative, and it is its character as an oral performance that forms the subject of this book. Nigel Phillips begins by setting sijobang in its cultural and literary context, and then goes on to describe the social background and training of the paid storytellers who perform the narrative. He presents a summary of the story, and discusses its transient, fragmentary and unstandardized form. Transcriptions and translations of two recorded performances follow, leading into a description of sijobang's main linguistic and literary features. Finally, Dr Phillips examines in some detail the extent to which performances vary from one occasion to another, and what connection this may have with the storyteller's degree of experience.

One glaring lacuna in studies of Haitian Vodou is the scarcity of works exploring the connection between the religion and its main roots, traditional Yoruba religion. Discussions of Vodou very often seem to present the religion in vacuo, as a sui generis phenomenon that arose in Saint-Domingue and evolved in Haiti, with no antecedents. What is sorely needed then is more comparative studies of Haitian Vodou that would examine its connections to traditional Yoruba religion and thus illuminate certain aspects of its mythology, belief system, practices, and rituals. This book seeks to bridge these gaps. Vodou in the Haitian Experience studies comparatively the connections and relationships between Vodou and African traditional religions such as Yoruba religion and Egyptian religion. Such studies might enhance our understanding of the religion, and the connections between Africa and its Diaspora through shared religious patterns and practices. The general reader should be mindful of the transnational and transcultural perspectives of Vodou, as well as the cultural, socio-economic, and political context which gave birth to different visions and ideas of Vodou. The chapters in this collection tell a story about the dynamics of the Vodou faith and the rich ways Vodou has molded the Haitian narrative and psyche. The contributors of this book examine this constructed narrative from a multicultural voice that engages critically the discipline of ethnomusicology, drama, performance, art, anthropology, ethnography, economics, literature, intellectual history, philosophy, psychology, sociology, religion, and theology. Vodou is also studied from multiple theoretical approaches including queer, feminist theory, critical race theory, Marxism, postcolonial criticism, postmodernism, and psychoanalysis.

Volume 88 of Advances in Agronomy contains eight timely reviews on topics dealing with biodiversity, carbon sequestration, crop improvement, nitrogen dynamics, and the discipline of soil science. Discussions include but are not limited to: Agriculture, soil biodiversity, climate change and agricultural diversity; ways to improve soil aeration, oxygation and plant processes, and oxygation scenarios; and pre-sowing seed treatment as a means for improving germination, plant growth and crop yield. Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a leading reference and a first-rate source for the latest research in agronomy. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myraid of subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial. Over 40 figures and 32 tables Presents a review of the present and future status of soil science Offers an analysis of biodiversity in agronomy

Secrets of Voodoo traces the development of this complex religion (in Haiti and the Americas) from its sources in the brilliant civilizations of ancient Africa. This book presents a straightforward account of the gods or loas and their function, the symbols and signs, rituals, the ceremonial calendar of Voodoo, and the procedures for performing magical rites are given. "Voodoo," derived from words meaning "introspection" and "mystery," is a system of belief about the formation of the world and human destiny with clear correspondences in other world religions. Rigaud makes these connections and discloses the esoteric meaning underlying Voodoo's outward manifestations, which are often misinterpreted. Translated from the French by Robert B. Cross. Drawings and photographs by Odette Mennesson-Rigaud. Milo Rigaud was born in Port au Prince, Haiti, in 1903, where he spent the greater part of his life studying the Voodoo tradition. In Haiti he studied law, and in France ethnology, psychology, and theology. The involvement of Voodoo in the political struggle of Haitian blacks for independence was one of his main concerns.

Haitian Vodou breaks away from European and American heuristic models for understanding a religio-philosophical system such as Vodou in order to form new approaches with an African ethos. The contributors to this volume, all Haitians, examine the potentially radical and transformative possibilities of the religious and philosophical ideologies of Vodou and locate its foundations more clearly within an African heritage. Essays examine Vodou's roles in organizing rural resistance; forming political values for the transformation of Haiti; teaching social norms, values, and standards; influencing Haitian culture through art and music; merging science with philosophy, both theoretically and in the healing arts; and forming the Haitian "manbo," or priest.

Book Summary: From Disaster to Hope is a series of interviews conducted by the author with 11 individuals affected by the January 12th, 2010 Haiti earthquake, including that of one man who landed in the country only hours before the quake. It contains the gripping reports of people who went to Haiti to help, as well as that of the Israeli UN Ambassador, and a current member of the peace keeping troupe. Rezime Liv La De Dezas a Espwa se yon seri de entèvyou ke otè a fè avèk 11 moun tranblemandetè 12 janvye 2010 la te afekte, pami yo, yon moun ki debake ann Ayiti kèlkezè sèlman anvan tranblemandetè a. Li rapòte tou gwo eksperyans moun ki te ale ann Ayiti pou pote sekou, ansanm ak rapò anbasadè Izrayeli a, e pawòl yon manm MUNISTAH.