My reading list so far
I'd like to share the books I've read so far, and a few I'm looking forward to reading. I hope folks who are as lost as I was in the beginning might gain some insight from this list. I also hope folks who are deeper into research and experience can look at my book list and recommend more titles. Please, feel free to reblog/comment/ask.
All links are Amazon and open to a new tab. Most of these titles are available on Kindle (which, I confess, is how I do most of my reading lately).
On Haitian Vodou:
The Haitian Vodou Handbook: Protocols for Riding with the Lwa - Kenaz Filan
Vodou Love Magic: A Practical Guide to Love, Sex, and Relationships - Kenaz Filan
Vodou Money Magic: The Way to Prosperity through the Blessings of the Lwa - Kenaz Filan
Tell My Horse - Zora Neale Hurston
Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti's Indigenous Spiritual Tradition - Mambo Chita Tann
The Serpent and the Rainbow - Wade Davis
Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn (Updated and Expanded) - Karen McCarthy Brown
On Yoruba, Lucumi, Santeria:
Cuban Santeria: Walking with the Night - Raul Canizares
Powers of the Orishas: Santeria and the Worship of Saints - Migene Gonzalez-Wippler
Finding Soul on the Path of Orisa: A West African Tradition - Tobe Melora Correal
On New Orleans tradition:
The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook - Kenaz Filan
Related titles I've sampled and can't wait to read:
Island Posessed - Katherine Dunham
Drawing Down the Spirits: The Traditions and Techniques of Spirit Possession - Raven Kaldera and Kenaz Filan
Talking to the Spirits: Personal Gnosis in Pagan Religion - Raven Kaldera and Kenaz Filan
Teachings of the Santeria Gods: The Spirit of the Odu - Ócha'ni Lele
Related titles that I've back-burnered. Some are purely scholarly or overly dry. Some seem overtly biased. I will still likely read all eventually:
The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts - Baba Ifa Karade
Santeria: The Religion: Faith, Rites, Magic - Migene Gonzalez-Wippler
Creole Religions of the Caribbean: An Introduction from Vodou and Santeria to Obeah and Espiritismo, Second Edition - Olmos, Murphy, and Paravisini-Gebert
Faces of the Gods: Vodou and Roman Catholocism - Leslie G. Desmangles
Passage of Darkness: The Ethnobiology of the Haitian Zombie - Wade Davis (Actually, this one is fascinating. It's the scholarly thesis that was the basis for The Serpent and the Rainbow. I just wanted to read the layman's narrative before digging into the scholarly text.)
Two other titles I've read that informed, broadened, and deepened my understanding of Haitian Vodou:
High Magic: Theory and Practice - Frater .:U .:D (Haitian Vodou was heavily influenced by Masonic tradition, and Masonic tradition is steeped in Western Ceremonial, or simply Ceremonial Magic.)
The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition - Meyer, Marvin and Barnstone, Willis (It was actually a happy accident that I paired this text with my Vodou research. There are numerous parallels in thought regarding dvinity, creation, and gnosis. This is a stunning translation and has outstanding merit on its own, but I highly recommend pairing it with any moderately intense study of Vodou.)
My goodness, this looks like quite a daunting list of tomes. I found them all utterly fascinating and chewed through them like an eleven year old chews through Harry Potter. This is not exhaustive, by any means. I need to review Maya Deren's material as well. I'm quite certain I will continue to plow through useful texts as I discover them. Would that I knew how to read scholarly French. There is some stunning material out there I with so much I knew how to read!
I'm thinking to come back and do individual reviews on each text. Would you find that helpful?
If you've come across a text that you found valuable and you'd like to share, pleas (please, do!) feel free to comment or message me. I'm especially looking for crunchy, revealing, well-researched history texts I can sink my teeth into. Thank you!