American Voudou: Journey Into a Hidden World

by Rod Davis

Book Overview

Voudou (an older spelling of voodoo)--a pantheistic belief system developed in West Africa and transported to the Americas during the diaspora of the slave trade--is the generic term for a number of similar African religions which mutated in the Americas, including santeria, candomble, macumbe, obeah, Shango Baptist, etc.

Since its violent introduction in the Caribbean islands, it has been the least understood and most feared religion of the...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574410814
• ISBN13: 9781574410815
• Release Date: November 1999
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

VouDou is not Voodoo

Unlike some of the other reviews, I had been there as Rod visited the churches we attended and witnessed the Religion at work. He's about as authentic as it gets for someone not IN the Religion as I am. His concentration on one particular priestess is focused. Reverend Lorita Honeycutt Gamble is the embodiment of what the mystery is about. She is my madrina. Rod captured her personality and spirit in as lively a story as possible for an Outsider. By putting this in context: the survival of African beliefs in the New World colonies under brutal slavery is a recognition of the road that so many have traveled to arrive at freedom. That Voudou is a living tradition and belief system still functioning is a miracle to its power. It is the black snake under Blues music as it spread across the country as from New Orleans. Here is a true story and Rod has done it well.

a travel narrative that hits its mark

It's true, as two previous reviewers have noted in panning this book, that American Voudou is neither musicology nor a definitive academic treatise on voudou. But come on, folks -- that's not what it was meant to be. This is a personal travel narrative into a strange subculture that most Americans, white or black, don't know exists. Davis takes us, among other places, to a South Carolina village that is ruled by a king and where polygamy is practiced openly. Wherever he takes us, Davis's writing is vivid, clear-eyed, and compelling. He treats the voudou religion with respect. On its own terms, his book succeeds admirably.

Superb book

What a great book! The subtitle says it all: "a journey into a hidden world." Davis not only explores the world of voudou, santeria and other incarnations of African religions that are hiding in plain sight from most white Americans-an utterly fascinating realm--but he also provides an engaging perspective on another complex culture: the American South. Aside from it's obvious academic worth, the book is a totally entertaining travelogue from someone who really knows how to write.

Going where few have gone before.

I was immediatly fascinated by the title of this book as I have spent time in Haiti surrounded by voudou (very prevalent and a real fact of life there) and have long been interested about the transferance of African belief systems to the U.S. during the slave diaspora. I was captivated by Mr Davis' temerity and cajones getting himself access to an underworld that often chooses not to reveal itself because of it's historical persecution. I too have spent a little time at Oyotunji, an African based "voudou" commune in South Carolina and thought Mr Davis represented them well. For most people the subject of African based spiritual beliefs are shrouded in fear and superstition, stereotype and ignorance. Mr Davis has done an admirable job of shining a light into a historically dark corner in our Country. This is a book I wish I could have written!

Rod Davis is a superb writer

In Rod's book, "American Voudou", you get imersed into a world that is truely like no other. He clears up many steriotypes and tells it like it is. Say bye to your friends and familly before reading this!