African Spirits Speak

African Spirits Speak
Author: Nicky Arden
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1999-02-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 162055349X

The moving story of an expatriate coming to terms with her country's history, and her joyous spiritual and emotional rebirth as an African healer. • One of the first accounts of the mysterious sangomas, the healers of South Africa's black population. • A mystical journey that will appeal to those wishing to reunite with their roots and a more spiritual life. Set against the stirring backdrop of a crumbling apartheid regime, African Spirits Speak is the lyrical account of white South African Nicky Arden's journey into the world of the sangomas, the diviners, doctors, psychologists, and priests of South Africa's black population. While in her early twenties Nicky fled South Africa with her husband as the stranglehold of apartheid tightened on her native land. For twenty-two years they lived in California as expatriates--never once returning to their homeland--until a deep depression, followed by a spiritual awakening in the California desert, compelled Nicky to return to South Africa. During her visit, while exploring deep in the bush, she unexpectedly met an old black medicine woman--a sangoma. This meeting would change her life. Few white South Africans are even aware of the world of the sangomas, but this prophetic old woman saw in Nicky the spirit of a fellow healer and set the author on a mystical journey that would reunite her soul with its African roots. Thus began her astonishing and complex initiation into a nearly unknown world and her quest to discover the truth about herself and her heritage.

Animal Speak

Animal Speak
Author: Ted Andrews
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2010-09-08
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0738717630

Open your heart and mind to the wisdom of the animal world. Animal Speak provides techniques for recognizing and interpreting the signs and omens of nature. Meet and work with animals as totems and spirit guides by learning the language of their behaviors within the physical world. Animal Speak shows you how to: Identify, meet, and attune to your spirit animals Discover the power and spiritual significance of more than 100 different animals, birds, insects, and reptiles Call upon the protective powers of your animal totem Create and use five magical animal rites, including shapeshifting and sacred dance This beloved, bestselling guide has become a classic reference for anyone wishing to forge a spiritual connection with the majesty and mystery of the animal world.

Working the Spirit

Working the Spirit
Author: Joseph M. Murphy
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 1995-01-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780807012215

"An appreciative and user-friendly book on religion in the African diaspora. Murphy's skillfully drawn portraits offer an inviting introduction to the religious worlds of Vodou, Candomble, Santeria, Revival Zion, and the Black Church" – David W. Wills, Amherst College

Spirits Speak

Spirits Speak
Author: Peter Stepan
Publisher: Prestel Publishing
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2005
Genre: Art
ISBN:

"Spirits Speak presents a selection of the most important African masks found in major museums and renowned private collections around the globe: an overview such as has never been compiled in this way before. Artistic mastery, charisma, age and authenticity were paramount selection criteria with only the very best examples representing each well-known mask type. An introductory essay elucidates the conceptual intricacies and varying functions of the masks and sweeps away deep-rooted misunderstandings. Enlightening commentaries offer background information about the function and origins of each mask's use within the ethnic groups from which they originate, and a foldout map places them in their original geographical context."--BOOK JACKET.

The Language of Faith in Southern Africa: Spirit World, Power, Community, Holism

The Language of Faith in Southern Africa: Spirit World, Power, Community, Holism
Author: Hermen Kroesbergen
Publisher: AOSIS
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2019-12-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1928396933

The aim of this book is to provide a way to do justice to an African language of faith. In systematic theology, anthropology and philosophy of religion, similar debates about how to interpret an African language of faith are ongoing. Trying to avoid the ‘othering’ discourses of past generations, scholars are careful to take seriously what people in Africa say without portraying people’s beliefs as weird or backward. Yet, in their desperate attempts to avoid othering, these theologians, anthropologists and philosophers often painfully misconstrue the language of faith in Africa. Understanding the language of faith in Southern Africa is not an easy task. How should we take seriously the form of language that often seems so strange and different? I argue that, after African inculturation theology and black liberation theology, a better way to make sense of being a Christian in Southern Africa is to pay close attention to people’s language of faith. The way in which people speak of the spirit world or powers in Africa appears strange to outsiders, and the sense of community and the holistic worldview differentiates the African way of life from its Euro-American counterparts. When proper attention is paid to the use of concepts like spirit world, power, community and holism, language of faith in Southern Africa is neither as strange as it may seem, nor as romantic. By investigating these distinguishing concepts that colour language of faith in Southern Africa, this book contributes to future projects of both fellow theologians who try to construct a contemporary African theology and those who are interested in theology in Africa given the well-known southward shift of the centre of gravity of Christianity.

A Sangoma's Story - The Calling of Elliot Ndlovu

A Sangoma's Story - The Calling of Elliot Ndlovu
Author: Melanie Reeder
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012-09-27
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 0143528564

My body has two lives, the spiritual as well as the physical.' These are the words of Elliot Ndlovu, a traditional healer (sangoma) who lives deep in the Drakensberg Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal. He lives two lives, dividing time between his rural homestead and a world-class hotel and spa, constantly bridging the differences between these opposing worlds. As a young man, he was awoken in the dead of night by an apparition sent by his ancestors. In terror, he fled to a river where he was submerged until sunrise. On the bottom of a riverbed, he claimed to acquire all the knowledge of his cultural heritage to heal bodies and minds. Ndlovu is a natural conservationist and leader who believes in the preservation of indigenous flora, in the strength of community, and in ubuntu, the philosophy that the universal bonds of humanity are what bind us. KwaZulu-Natal's violent path to democracy mirrored his own turbulent journey through mental illness - his uthwasa, the necessary process of suffering to become a traditional healer. But torment and tragedy led to consultations with Oscar nominees in Hollywood, a meeting with the British Queen, and a Christmas visit from a former state president. Ndlovu's tales of storm-chasing and magical serpents may be challenging for some, but the poignancy of his story and unwavering belief in African traditional healing are what endear him to the most hardened cynic. Melanie Reeder has captured the essence of this modern sangoma. She sheds light on the beauty of Zulu culture, and clarifies misconceptions about traditional healing.

The Big Book of Soul

The Big Book of Soul
Author: Stephanie Rose Bird
Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2010-02-01
Genre: Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN: 1612831370

Soul is the ultimate expression and experience of African-American culture. The Big Book of Soul is the first popular reference book to provide an in-depth examination of the source of soul in African culture and how soul finds its expression today. Author Stephanie Rose Bird takes readers on a breathtaking journey of soul by examining the spirit of animism and how it evolved in contemporary African-American culture. She explores spiritual practices related to diet, dance, beauty, healing, and the arts, and provides readers with ancient healing rituals and practices they can use today. Filled with fun facts, practical advice, and ancient spiritual wisdom, The Big Book of Soul is for any reader who wants a genuine, rooted experience of soul today.

The Spirits Speak

The Spirits Speak
Author: Nicky Arden
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Total Pages: 255
Release: 1996
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780805042078

The compelling and inspirational tale of the spiritual awakening of a white South African woman details her training as a medicine woman and her spiritual and emotional rebirth as an African and a healer.

Spirits in Stone

Spirits in Stone
Author: Anthony Ponter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 212
Release: 1992
Genre: Art
ISBN:

"The first book on Zimbabwean Shona sculpture to be printed in the West will forever change the way you think and feel about contemporary art. Discover the stunning beauty of the stone sculpture, the extraordinary people who create it and the ancient African land which inspires such profound expressions of love and hope."--front cover

African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry

African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry
Author: Ras Michael Brown
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2012-08-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139561049

African-Atlantic Cultures and the South Carolina Lowcountry examines perceptions of the natural world revealed by the religious ideas and practices of African-descended communities in South Carolina from the colonial period into the twentieth century. Focusing on Kongo nature spirits known as the simbi, Ras Michael Brown describes the essential role religion played in key historical processes, such as establishing new communities and incorporating American forms of Christianity into an African-based spirituality. This book illuminates how people of African descent engaged the spiritual landscape of the Lowcountry through their subsistence practices, religious experiences and political discourse.