Description
Book SynopsisIn the summer of 2000, the authors were in Santiago de Cuba, a city on the southeastern coast of Cuba. A chance encounter led them to the home of Santiago Castaneda Vera, a priest-practitioner of Santeria and Palo Monte. This book includes images of elaborate Santeria altars and Palo spirit cauldrons, as well as of Santiago and his godchildren.
Trade Review“
Crossing the Water is an amazing book that takes you on a wondrous journey into the world of Santería, Palo Monte, and Espiritismo. Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh have gone the extra mile to document the religions honestly and with a healthy respect for the participants and their beliefs. This is truly an extraordinary document about a world of Cuban religious faith that has rarely been visited in such detail by outsiders.”—Eli Reed, Magnum Photos
“
Crossing the Water is at once mysterious, encompassing, and illuminating. Most importantly, it is a deeply moving journey in which the various parts equal the whole. We must leave aside our predilections and ideas from what we know to enter this very personal territory. Upon repeated viewings and readings, the depth of this project reveals itself. Through the dedication of Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh we are allowed a meaningful glimpse of a further world elucidated by the images and writings of two who entered it.”—Robert Lyons, photographer,
Intimate Enemy: Images and Voices of the Rwandan Genocide,
Another Africa, and
Egyptian Time“[A]n engaging and valuable ethnography in its own right, one that goes surprisingly far in its contribution to the field of Afro-Cuban religious studies. Written in sensitive and unpretentiously clear prose, the authors are astute observers of the social, emotional, and spiritual nuances of Cuban religious life, making of their foray a potential source of rich data for any scholar wishing to unravel the complex relationships between Afro-Cuban cosmology and practice, matter and deity, person and spirit.” -- Diana Espirito Santo * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
“[A]n extraordinarily rich and detailed ethnographic undertaking combined with a highly personal engagement that is acknowledged and foregrounded throughout. It is this remarkable and beautiful combination of the visual, textual and personal that makes the book very powerful. . . .” -- Bridget Bennett * Bulletin of Latin American Research *
“[F]rom a visual perspective
Crossing the Water introduces one into an illuminating world of Afro-Cuban spiritualism. From a cultural and historical perspective the photographs provide a better understanding to viewers of the power of Afro-Cuban culture and religion and its impact on the people and their beliefs. Overall,
Crossing the Water provokes intensity of human-sprit interactions, sights, smells, sounds, and a vivid choreography of ritual practice.”
-- Christina Violeta Jones * The Latin Americanist *
"[A] colorfully intimate portraiture of religious practice on the part of its authors. . . . [I]t provides, from its emic perspective, a close look at the quotidian practice of Santiago, a true priest of these 'crossed' religions and guide through their liturgies, rites, and arcane practices." -- Eugenio Matibag * The Americas *
"Photographers Garoutte and Wambaugh demystify and celebrate the Afro-Cuban religions of Santería, Palo Monte and Espiritismo. . . What results is a respectful, vibrant account of Afro-Cuban religions, enhanced by more than 150 vivid photographs." (Starred Review) * Publishers Weekly *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. I Bow My Head to the Ground: Santería Thrones and Rituals 25
2. Ver Para Creer (Seeing is Believing): The Prendas and Ritual of PaloMonte 67
3. It's My War Now: The Private Sphere of Santiago's Daily Practice 115
4. I Am Not from Here: Espiritismo and the Congo Spirits of the Dead 157
Afterword: ¿Y la Otra? (And the Other One?): The Nature of Our Collaboration 199
Notes 203
Glossary 227
Bibliography 243
Index 249
