Description
Book SynopsisIn Esotericism in African American Religious Experience: “There is a Mystery” …, Stephen C. Finley, Margarita Simon Guillory, and Hugh R. Page, Jr. assemble twenty groundbreaking essays that provide a rationale and parameters for Africana Esoteric Studies (AES): a new trans-disciplinary enterprise focused on the investigation of esoteric lore and practices in Africa and the African Diaspora. The goals of this new field — while akin to those of Religious Studies, Africana Studies, and Western Esoteric Studies — are focused on the impulses that give rise to Africana Esoteric Traditions (AETs) and the ways in which they can be understood as loci where issues such as race, ethnicity, and identity are engaged; and in which identity, embodiment, resistance, and meaning are negotiated.
Trade Review"Overall, the book is well worth the read. For one, its transdisciplinary nature makes it appealing to scholars in the fields of visual and performing arts, history, anthropology, religious studies, African American studies, and business. Moreover, while it does not quite succeed in decentering Christianity, it certainly shows the importance of esoteric traditions alongside and within the religion. Perhaps most importantly, it refuses to reduce the African American experience to a simple narrative of the struggle for political equality. On the contrary, it enriches the realm of scholarly interpretation by persuasively arguing that secrets can drive culture and religion just as well as politics." Jeffrey E. Anderson, University of Louisiana Monroe, Nova Religio, Vol. 20, No. 4
Table of ContentsCONTENTS Foreword Jeffrey J. Kripal Preface Introduction: Africana Esoteric Studies: Mapping a New Endeavor Stephen C. Finley, Margarita Simon Guillory, and Hugh R. Page, Jr. Part I: (Pre-) 19th Century 1 Esoteric Writing of Vodou: Grimoires, Sigils, and the Houngan’s Notebook Yvonne Chireau and Bon Mambo Vye Zo Kommande 2 Paschal Beverly Randolph in the African American Community Lana Finley 3 The Self Divine: Know Ye Not that Ye are Gods? Darnise C. Martin Part II: Early to Mid 20th Century 4 Working Roots and Conjuring Traditions: Relocating ‘Cults and Sects’ in African American Religious History Elizabeth Perez 5 Spiritual is Universal: Development of Black Spiritualist Churches Mary Ann Clark 6 The Harlem Renaissance as Esotericism: Black Oragean Modernism Jon Woodson 7 Mathematical Theology: Numerology in the Religious Thought of Tynnetta Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan Stephen C. Finley 8 On the Knowledge of Self and Others: Secrecy, Concealment, and Revelation in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam (1934-1975) Justine Bakker 9 Post-Imperial Appropriation of Text, Tradition, and Ritual in the Writings of Henri Gamache Hugh R. Page, Jr. 10 Mystery Matters: Embodiment and African American Mystics Chad Pevateaux 11 Show and Prove: Five Percenters and the Study of African American Esotericism Biko Mandela Gray 12 The “Nu” Nation: An Analysis of Malachi Z. York’s Nuwaubians Paul Easterling 13 Sacred Not Secret: Esoteric Knowledge in the United Nuwanbian Nation of Moors Julius Bailey Part III: Late 20th Century to Present-day 14 Astro-Black Mythology Marques Redd 15 Conjurational Contraptions: Techno-hermeneutics, Mechanical Wizardry, and the Material Culture of African American Folk Magic Stephen Wehmeyer 16 Portraying Portraits: The Intersectionality of Self, Art, and the Lacanian Gaze in the Nahziryah Monastic Community Margarita Simon Guillory and Aundrea Matthews 17 Those Mysteries, Our Mysteries: Ishmael Reed and the Construction of a Black Esoteric Tradition Marques Redd 18 Rocking’ for a Risen Savior: Bakongo and Christian Iconicity in the Louisiana Easter Rock Ritual Joyce Marie Jackson 19 Pole Dancing for Jesus: Negotiating Movement and Gender in Men’s Musical Praise Alisha Lola Jones 20 Wonder Working Power: Reclaiming Mystical and Cosmological Approaches to Africana Spiritual Practices Barbara A. Holmes Conclusion: The Continuing Quest to Map Secrecy, Concealment, and Revelatory Experiences in Africana Esoteric Discourse: “There Is a Mystery…” Stephen C. Finley, Margarita Simon Guillory, and Hugh R. Page, Jr. Afterword Anthony B. Pinn Bibliography
