Espiritismo in the Puerto Rican Community
1999; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 29; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1177/002193479902900301
ISSN1552-4566
Autores Tópico(s)Caribbean history, culture, and politics
ResumoThroughout the African world, traditional communities have retained the practice of venerating the spirit of the ancestors. Additionally, while weathering the onslaught of enslavement and colonization, Africans and their descendants have continued to venerate their ancestors and African gods throughout the diaspora. There is significant information available on the African-based religions developed in Brazil, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica, Suriname, and the United States. One of the diaspora locations that has been little studied by scholars regarding African religious continuities has been Puerto Rico. This article seeks to examine and trace ancestor worshipespiritismo-in the Puerto Rican community as a probable legacy of African cultural traditions with specific focus on the African Kongo cultures brought to the island by enslaved Africans. The Kongo cultures being addressed use the definition of historian Robert Farris Thompson set forth in his book Flash of the Spirit (1984):
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