Customer Reviews

Living Santerķa: Rituals and Experiences in an Afro-Cuban Religion

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In "Living Santería: Rituals and Experiences in an Afro-Cuban Religion," Michael Mason takes the reader on a fascinating journey through his own exploration of Santería, beginning as an observer, then becoming initiated into the priesthood of Santería, and finally initiating others into the priesthood. Mason's main argument is that Santería, like any religious practice, is performative, and is thus best understood by incorporating some of this performativity into his written analysis. Using each chapter to focus on a key ceremony within Santería (including a client's divination session; an acquaintance's reception of the guerreros, or warrior deities; and a neophyte's initiation into the priesthood of Santería), Mason emphasizes the body as an important site for ritual learning and individual transformation through the practice of Santería.

Mason is steeped in the philosophical writings of hermeneutical phenomenology, and is able to apply the ideas of Mauss, Bourdieu, Marcus, and Jackson to the praxis of Santería in informative and useful ways. Although many books have been written about Santería, most have been written by practitioners who are not scholars, and none has been able to make this analytical connection so successfully. Mason, a folklorist and curator, also highlights the importance of material culture. Certain rituals of Santería have been adumbrated in some detail by previous authors (J. Mason, L. Cabrera), but none has presented as thorough and compelling a picture of the asiento as Mason. And most important, Mason is himself a priest and practitioner of Santería, with more than ten years "in the religion." This makes his perspective invaluable, and provides the strongest component in this tripartite approach to understanding Santería. Because of his first-hand knowledge of this religious tradition and his first-rate academic and practical training, Mason is able to synthesize his socioreligious experiences in a way that few others can.

Mason represents a rare combination: a scholar-practitioner who is as respected in his profession as he is in his religion. I would compare Mason's work favorably to Karen Brown's Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn (1991). Mason's work is greatly influenced by theorist Michael Jackson, and can also be favorably compared to some of Jackson's essays on the nature of ethnographic inquiry. Certainly, Mason has been influenced by the great Cuban ethnographers Lydia Cabrera and Fernando Ortíz in the scope and detail of his writing, but neither Cabrera nor Ortíz focused their efforts on sociological analysis. Mason's work picks up where Cabrera, Ortíz, and others left off, connecting the litany of ritual detail with intricate webs of meaning, theorizing about the subjectivity of individual experience.

The book will be of considerable interest to scholars and others who are interested in the practice and process of Santería. Folklorists, anthropologists, religious practitioners, performance theorists, scholars of religion, scholars of the Caribbean, and serious students of ethnography will be gratified by the style and substance Mason brings to his subject. General readers who are interested in Santería and other Caribbean religious practices will also be drawn to the book's accessible and engaging approach to the experience of Santería. In short, buy this book!

LIVING SANTERIA

This book full of information about rituals, supported by a strong bibliography and notes.

On the other hand, I was left wondering about the extent of the writer's ability to understand his experience, and about the care demonstrated in the publishing process.

Mason claims to have been initiated in Cuba; yet he does not know seem to know the difference between the verbs "to help" and ''to greet''; and between the article "the'' and the pronoun ''he" in Spanish (see translation, p. 54) . One wonders how accurate his information can be, when the basic language is not known.

As for the publisher--the Smithsonian. One imagines that in the process between manuscript review, and printing someone with real knowledge of Spanish would have been asked to review the translations and make the proper corrections.

This book needs more practical information. The author is a first rate scholar and if scholarship is what you desire this is the book for you. But if you need plain easy to read info in great amounts,read another book.

I can not really recommend this book. It is not a bad book, a bit thin, and a bit pricy. It has a few small highlights, But most of the time I found myself flipping through the pages. And in a book with such little pages, it stinks to have to flip.

Section 1 is about an individual named Maria going through divination. I just could not get into it, and I skipped paragraph after paragraph trying to get the gist of it, and just could not.

Most of what Mr. Mason has written about has been written better elsewhere. For example The Altar of my Soul by Marta Moreno Vega, and Cuban Santeria by Baba Raul Canizares. <-- Ibae!! I found the book to be a bit tedious, in the writing style. There was a story where an Elder Priestess is having an argument with an Italero over a derecho owed to her. You read how this individual uses the religion only as a way of financial growth, and to boost her Ego, instead of her true love and respect for the religion. Although this is true in many instances, I can not find the reason that led the author to write about it.

To be honest half the book is Glossary, and Notes. This is good for the people who have little knowledge of Orishas worship, but a bit of a waist of space and money for the Orisha community who has all this information imbedded into their being.

If you are beginning in Lukumi, or looking for research into the religion then you might like this book. If you are already established into the religion, skip this book you will not be missing much.

This Mr Mason has been there and is very good a explaining the "real" deal. I buy all the books on the Religon that I think would help me and pass to my Godchildren. I felt I was back in Cuba. His book will save to alot of explaining. Buy the book, it is well worth it. Many are not.
Emi OmoKan Koosha Leri
Omo Obatala Ewin Leti
Oluo de Orunmila Ogbe Sa
IFA Alardora"
Kuanaldo "Osa Wori"