Shrines In Africa

Download or read book Shrines in Africa written by Allan Charles Dawson and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the African context, shrines are cultural signposts that help one understand and read the ethnic, territorial, and social lay of the land. The contributions gathered here by Allan Charles Dawson demonstrate how African shrines help to define ethnic boundaries, shape group identity, and symbolically articulate a society's connection with the land it occupies. Shrines are physical manifestations of a group's claim to a particular piece of land and are thus markers of identity--they represent, both figuratively and literally, a community's 'roots' in the land it works and lives on. The shrine is representative of a connection with the land at the cosmological and supernatural level and, in terms of a community's or ethnic group's claim to cultivable territory, serves as a reminder to outsiders of ownership. Shrines in Africa explores how African shrines, in all their variable and diverse forms, are more than just spiritual vessels or points of worship--they are powerful symbols of ethnic solidarity, group cohesion, and knowledge about the landscape. Moreover, in ways subtle and nuanced, shrines represent ideas about legitimacy and authenticity in the context of the post-colonial African state.

Download or read book An Ethnography of a Vodu Shrine in Southern Togo written by Eric Montgomery and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-02-13 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Eric Montgomery and Christian Vannier provide an ethnographically informed text on the cultural meanings and practices surrounding the gods and metaphysics of Vodu, as they relate to daily life in an ethnic Ewe fishing community on the coast of southern Togo. The authors approach this spirit possession and medicinal order through "shrine ethnography," understanding shrines as parts of sacred landscapes that are ecological, economic, political, and social. Giving voice to practitioners and situating shrines and Vodu itself into the history and political economy of the region make this text pertinent to the social changes and global relevance of Millennial Africa.

Download or read book African Religions written by Jacob K. Olupona and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book connects traditional religions to the thriving religious activity in Africa today.

Download or read book The Seventh Shrine written by Orland Bishop and published by Lindisfarne Books. This book was released on 2017 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Orland Bishop is a remarkable man who has combined extensive study of medicine, naturopathy, psychology and indigenous cosmologies with a deep dedication to human rights, Founder of the ShadeTree foundation which works with at-risk young people in Los Angeles, Bishop's primary work is around supporting individuals to be open to the higher purpose of their lives.In this fascinating book he reveals the influences on his life and work, in particular the spiritual tradition of African Gnosis, and significant individuals from the history of the African experience in America.Drawing on anthroposophy and other spiritual traditions, he explores the nature of the soul journey, and the quest for community and prosperity.

Download or read book Living Shrines of Uyghur China written by Lisa Ross and published by The Monacelli Press, LLC. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lisa Ross's ethereal photographs of Islamic holy sites were created over the course of a decade on journeys to China's Xinjiang region in Central Asia, historically a cultural crossroads but an area to which artists and researchers have generally been denied access since its annexation in 1949. These monumental images show shrines created during pilgrimages, many of which have been maintained continuously over several centuries; visitation to the tombs of saints is a central aspect of daily life in Uyghur Islam, and its pilgrims ask for intercession for physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. The shrines, adorned with small devotional offerings that mark a prayer or visit, are poignant representations of collective memory and a pacifistic faith, and endure despite vulnerability to natural forces of sand, heat, and powerful winds. Their simplicity and austerity as captured by Ross invoke ideas of spirituality, eternity, and transcendence. Three essays—by a historian of Central Asian Islam, a Uyghur folklorist, and the curator of an accompanying exhibition at the Rubin Museum of Art—situate the photographic content in context. This volume emerges at a critical time, as modernization and new policies for development of China's far west bring about rapid, extreme, and irrevocable change; the region is its largest source of untapped natural gas, oil, and minerals. Many of the sites in Ross's work are threatened by political and economic pressures—her images are valuable, therefore, not only for their intrinsic beauty, but as an important record of a rich and vibrant culture.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of African Religion written by Molefi Kete Asante and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2009 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Collects almost five hundred entries that cover the African response to spirituality, taboos, ethics, sacred space, and objects.

Download or read book Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos written by Sarah Schneewind and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-26 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: """Shrines to Living Men in the Ming Political Cosmos"", the first book focusing on premortem shrines in any era of Chinese history, places the institution at the intersection of politics and religion. When a local official left his post, grateful subjects housed an image of him in a temple, requiting his grace: that was the ideal model. By Ming times, the “living shrine” was legal, old, and justified by readings of the classics.Sarah Schneewind argues that the institution could invite and pressure officials to serve local interests; the policies that had earned a man commemoration were carved into stone beside the shrine. Since everyone recognized that elite men might honor living officials just to further their own careers, premortem shrine rhetoric stressed the role of commoners, who embraced the opportunity by initiating many living shrines. This legitimate, institutionalized political voice for commoners expands a scholarly understanding of “public opinion” in late imperial China, aligning it with the efficacy of deities to create a nascent political conception Schneewind calls the “minor Mandate of Heaven.” Her exploration of premortem shrine theory and practice illuminates Ming thought and politics, including the Donglin Party’s battle with eunuch dictator Wei Zhongxian and Gu Yanwu’s theories."