Reviews

Director of the Fernando Ortiz Foundation in Havana, Cuba, and author of Biography of a Runaway Slave, Barnet explores the mythology and practices of Afro-Cuban religious movements, focusing primarily on the two largest traditions the Regla de Ocha (also known as Santer¡a) and the Regla de Palo Monte. The Regla de Ocha evolved from the Yoruba traditions of Nigeria, while the Regla de Palo Monte has its roots in the religions of the Congo region. Barnet illuminates the complex pantheon of deities worshiped in each tradition and examines the rituals, music, and dance of each in a clear, straightforward manner. He also compares and contrasts Cuban practices with those in the African homelands of these religions. While he provides a sound history of Afro-Cuban religions and quotes extensively from scholarly sources, Barnet does not include information on the number of adherents practicing these religions in Cuba today. This will be a useful addition to anthropology and religion collections in academic libraries. Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

To understand Cuba, posits Barnet (the Fernando Ortiz Foundation, Havana), one has to understand its distinctive religious traditions, which have been produced by centuries of blending African traditions with Catholicism and Native American practices. That's a fine premise, but the book disjointed and desultory does not go far toward in helping readers understand those syncretic religious practices. The opening chapter deals with myth on a theoretical, but unsophisticated, level. ("Believers do not need to ponder the legitimacy of a myth.... [T]hey take it at face value.") The second chapter opens with a brief history lesson about the arrival of slaves in Cuba, and then describes Regla de Ocha, or Santer!a, introducing readers to the various deities and spirits of the pantheon. The next, and most confusing, chapter describes several Cuban Congo sects. Barnet then offers a broader discussion of dance, magic and supernatural beings. In the haphazard closing pages, he delves unnecessarily into the autobiographical: "In my memory, my journey to the land of the orishas appears like a beautiful strip of light." Despite the preponderance of useful photographs, diagrams and illustrations throughout, the book does little more than skim the surface of the complicated, colorful world of Cuban religion. (July) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.