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Women and New and Africana Religions (Women and Religion in the World) PDF

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Women and New and Africana Religions Women and New and Africana Religions LILLIAN ASHCRAFT-EASON, DARNISE C. MARTIN, AND OYERONKE OLADEMO, EDITORS WomenandReligionintheWorld CherylA.Kirk-Duggan,LillianAshcraft-Eason, andKarenJoTorjesen,SeriesEditors P RAEGER An Imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC Copyright2010byLillianAshcraft-Eason,DarniseC.Martin,andOyeronkeOlademo Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina retrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical, photocopying,recording,orotherwise,exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsina review,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData WomenandnewandAfricanareligions/LillianAshcraft-Eason,DarniseC.Martin,and OyeronkeOlademo,editors. p.cm.—(Womenandreligionintheworld) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN978–0–275–99156–2(hardcover:alk.paper)—ISBN978–0–313–08272–6(ebook) 1. Women—Religiouslife.2. Womenandreligion. I.Ashcraft-Eason,Lillian.II.Martin,Darnise C.III.Olademo,Oyeronke. BL625.7.W627 2010 299.6082—dc222009020760 14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5 ThisbookisalsoavailableontheWorldWideWebasaneBook. Visitwww.abc-clio.comfordetails. ABC-CLIO,LLC 130CremonaDrive,P.O.Box1911 SantaBarbara,California93116-1911 Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica Contents Introduction—LillianAshcraft-Eason, DarniseC.Martin,andOyeronkeOlademo vii PARTI.WOMEN,FAMILY,ANDENVIRONMENT 1.‘‘ThatGirlIsPoison’’:WhiteSupremacy,Anxiety,and theConflationofWomenandFoodintheNationofIslam 3 StephenC.FinleyandMargaritaL.Simon 2.Receiving,Embodying,andSharing‘‘DivineWisdom’’: WomenintheNationofGodsandEarths 29 FeliciaM.Miyakawa PARTII.SOCIOECONOMICS,POLITICS,ANDAUTHORITY 3.TheLivingShrine:LifeandMeaninginOyotunji 55 YeyefiniEfunbolade 4.Vodou:AHeritageofPower 75 SusheelBibbs PARTIII.MIND,BODY,ANDSPIRIT 5.ServingtheSpirits,HealingthePerson:Womenin Afro-BrazilianReligions 101 KellyE.Hayes 6.SacredDance-Drumming:ReciprocationandContention withinAfricanBeliefSystemsintheSanFrancisco-Oakland BayArea 123 HalifuOsumare v vi CONTENTS PARTIV.SEXUALITY,POWER,ANDVULNERABILITY 7.ToHaveandtoHold:PossessionPerformanceinAfro-Cuban RegladeOcha 145 KatherineJohannaHagedorn 8.AfricanDescendentWomenandReligion:DiasporainOriente Cuba 167 JualynneE.Dodson 9.ReligionandWomen’sSexualityinAfrica:TheIntersectionofPower andVulnerability 191 OyeronkeOlademo PARTV.WOMEN,WORLDVIEW,ANDRELIGIOUS PRACTICE 10.AReligionoftheInterstices:AsianPacificAmericanWomenand MultipleReligiousPractices 207 TracySayukiTiemeier 11.Diana’sGrove:AnEmergent,IntegrativeSpiritual Movement 231 SusanE.Hill,JohnK.Simmons,andCyntheaJones 12.TheGoodWife:TheReligiousExperienceofWomenin Scientology 255 DawnL.Hutchinson 13.SensesofPlace:WomenGreeningCommunities 277 KimberlyWhitney 14.AfricanWomeninTraditionalReligions:Illustrations fromKenya 301 MaryNyangwesoWangila SuggestedReading 323 AbouttheEditorsandContributors 327 Index 333 Introduction Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, Darnise C. Martin, and Oyeronke Olademo T his volume provides insight into the experiences of contemporary womeninNewReligionsandAfricanaReligionsselectedfromdiverse parts of the world. The Africana Religions are categorized as Creole andAfricanIndigenous—thelatterofwhichsometimesisusedinterchange- ably withAfricanTraditionalReligions. The five-partthematicorganization ofthechaptersin this volumeplacestheNew,Creole,and AfricanIndige- nousReligionsinacontextofreligiousandculturaldiversitythatmighthave beenlosthadweincorporatedthemintoavolumeofmoremainstreamreli- gions. Unless one had the opportunity to read all of the volumes in this series,thevarietyandnumberofNewandAfricanasystemsofbelief,theol- ogy,practice,andritualmightnotbeaccessibleorappreciated.Thus,avol- umededicatedtoNewandAfricanaReligionsseemsfittingforourpurpose of increasing awareness of women and religious diversity. Consequently, we give space and voice tothesereligions and, in particular, tothe women whoaffirmthem. Someofthesetraditionsdevelopedinthenineteenthandtwentiethcen- turies,andsocanbeclearlycategorizedasfallingwithintheNewReligions Movement. Others, particularly the Creole Religions, are actually syncre- tized versions from older African Indigenous and other systems; some of these religions date back as far as the sixteenth century. We include these because their emergence has brought something new tothe American cul- turalcontextsinwhichtheywereformed.TheAfricanIndigenousReligions emerged with the autochthenes—the cultural self-starters in Africa—and vii viii INTRODUCTION aresoancientthattheiroriginsonlycanbeapproximatedashavingoccurred in the Primeval Era, evolving over millennia into the institutions that we knowtoday.Thus,thisbroadtimeframeseemstobeareasonableoneforsit- uatingtheforegoingchaptersonNewReligionsandAfricanaReligions. NEW RELIGIONS There are obvious issues associated with the New Religions concept. Questions areraisedthatrequirethoughtfulresponses:Whatorwhodeter- mines that a religion is new, and new in relation to what? Does new mean less legitimate in some way? Are these religions understood to be marginal inrelationtothemoremainstreamorestablishedtraditionsbytheirliterary location? TheNewReligiousMovement(NRM)referstoagenreofreligionsthat isnoveltoaphysicalandculturalenvironmentandthatpresents,intheface of the‘‘old’’orestablishedreligiousinstitutions,unfamiliardoctrines,styles of worship, or ways of life. Many scholars are at work in this area, as evi- denced by the body of scholarship on New Religions, including academic journalsdedicatedtothissubjectanditsformalpresenceasaprogram unit attheAnnualMeetingsoftheAmericanAcademyofReligionandtheSoci- etyofBiblicalLiterature. We, too—as religion scholars and editors of this volume—seek to pro- videplace,context,andunderstandingregardingreligionsthatmightother- wiseremainintheshadowyundersideofreligiousstudies.Whiledefininga religion or set of religions is tenuous, J. Gordon Melton’s description of New Religions is helpful, both in thinking about their nature and in deter- miningparameters:‘‘NewReligionsarethose...thathavebeenfound,from theperspectiveofthedominantreligiouscommunities,...tobenotjustdif- ferent,but[sometimes]unacceptablydifferent.’’1Itisgenerallythecasethat NewReligionsexistin‘‘contestedspaces.’’2Theaptnessofthesedescriptions isborneoutinthenarrativesofchaptersontheNationofIslam,theNation ofGodsandEarths,themultiplereligiouspracticesofAsianPacificAmeri- can Women, the Diana’s Grove spiritual movement, Scientology, and the greeningcommunities. AFRICANA RELIGIONS WehaveappropriatedthetermAfricanaReligionstorefertobothCre- oleReligions(i.e.,AfricanreligionstransplantedtotheAmericasbyenslaved Africans and African religions recently reclaimed and practiced by African Americans) and AfricanIndigenous Religions. ThetermAfricanaencapsu- lates the plurality and uniqueness of the Afro- (Continental African Introduction ix andDiasporanAmerican)religiousexperiences.Thus,wechosetouseAfri- cana in the titleof this volume inordertoaffirmthe pluralitythatAfricana connotes. CREOLE RELIGIONS Fortheconvenience ofsituatingchaptersin thisvolume,by Creolewe meanreligionsthatemergedintheAmericas.Theseareinnovativeandsyn- creticvariants ofAfricanIndigenousReligionsintermingledwithChristian, Amerindian, Islamic, and other conventions and folkloric practices. These CreoleReligionspresentafar-flungmulticulturaltapestry. Margarite Fernandez Olmos and Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert have inferredtheessenceoftheracial,social,andpoliticalsignificancesofthese religions in their book, Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction fromVodouandSanteriatoObeahandEspiritismo(Religion,Race,andEth- nicity).3 Moving beyond the geographical boundaries that conventionally defined these religions, we embrace the religious syncretism and multicul- turalism in Creole Religions that have emerged throughout the Americas. Chapters on life and meaning in Oyotunji, empowerment in Vodou, Afro- Brazilian Religions, sacred dance and African belief in the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Area, Afro-Cuban Regla de Ocha, and African Diasporan ReligionsinOrienteCubaexplorefaithsthatarerepresentativeofthemulti- cultural,Creoletraditions. AFRICAN INDIGENOUS RELIGIONS From a geographical perspective, the Indigenous Religions of the Afri- cans have received many labels over the years from African and non- African scholars alike. The chosen nomenclature by any scholar is largely informedbyperspective.Whereassomescholarsdescribethesereligionsas ‘‘African Traditional Religions’’4 and African Indigenous Religions, these referencesmaybeusedinterchangeablyandsomeusethesimpletitle‘‘Afri- canReligions.’’5 AfricanIndigenousReligionsaretheearliestculturalexpressionsofthe diverse and original peoples of the continent. They fall under a variety of names that suggest indigenous ethic groupings: Akan, Nupe, Ewe, Luo, Gambia,andYorubareligions.Thesearedistinguishedfromcolonizingreli- gions,likeChristianityandIslam,thathavenowbeensuccessfullydomesti- cated by Africans. Even though African Indigenous Religions have been affected by change, there is still the possibility of setting them apart from thecolonizing religions. However, thepossibility of demarcatingthesereli- gions does not preclude the mutual influence of practices and cultures.

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This probing and thought-provoking series of essays brings together in one volume the multifaceted experiences of women in the New and Africana religions as practiced today. With this work, religion becomes a lens for examining the lives of women of diverse ethnicities and nationalities across the s
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