Vodou Visions: An Encounter With Divine Mystery - Softcover

Sallie Ann Glassman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0979455405 ISBN 13: 9780979455407

Publisher: Island of Salvation Botanica, 2007

Synopsis

"Vodou" is the spelling preferred by practitioners who revere this powerful, ancient tradition - and Vodou Visions provides and inspirtaional and authentic guide to its history, practices, and creative applications. It describes the tools and techniques for developing the magical mind and honoring the soul, while revealing how Vodou can release creative spritituallity and open doors to self-awareness. Comprehensive and inviting, Vodou Visions introduces readers to Vodou's rich history, powerful ancestors, and vibrant spirits, known as Lwa. With more than one hundred breathtaking illustrations, Vodou Visions reveals how to honor and invoke the Lwa with specific ceremonial offerings and litanies. Using methods drawn from more than twenty years of practice, Vodou pirestess Sallie Ann Glassman shares purification and empowerment rituals for individuals, commuinities, homes, and spiritual spaces. For more advanced practitioners, Glassman describes ways to deepen communication with the Lwa and to give thanks for an ongoing spiritual relationship. The visions of the Lwa bring a living experience of the Spirit into daily life. Glassman welcomes readers to a community of faith and -- above all -- to a journey toward creative spirituality that will enrich and affirm their lives.

About this title

Review:

Like many native religions, Vodou (often referred to as "Voodoo") has been scorned and ridiculed in mainstream Judeo-Christian communities. "The word 'Vodou' sends chills down the spines of most people, and conjures up age-old terrors of sorcery, black magic, and bogeymen lurking under the bed," writes author Sallie Ann Glassman (New Orleans Voodoo Tarot/Book and Card Set). This enticing compendium of the origins and practice of Vodou makes for a fascinating read, explaining how music, dance, and artistic expression are the heart and soul of this complicated religion. "What I discovered was a vibrant, beautiful, and ecstatic religion that was free from dogma, guilt or coercion," says Glassman, a thoughtful and articulate Jewish woman who first began studying New Orleans Vodou in 1975.

Its sophisticated spiritual philosophy has absorbed rituals from every place it's entered. The dances and customs of French Colonial New Orleans mix with the Native American Indian use of rattles and cornmeal. Yet many of its numerous magical deities come from the west coast of Africa, where Vodou originated. It is now reported to have 50 million followers worldwide, but with compelling invitations such as this one, it is bound to attract many more converts. --Gail Hudson

From the Inside Flap:

accessible guide to practicing Vodou and deepening your connection with this bountiful life force

"Vodou" is the spelling preferred by practitioners who revere this powerful, ancient tradition--and Vodou Visions is the first book to provide an inspirational and authentic guide to its history, practices, and creative applications. It describes the tools and techniques for developing the magical mind and honoring the soul, while revealing how Vodou can release creative spirituality and open doors to self-awareness.

Comprehensive and inviting, this book introduces readers to Vodou's rich history, powerful ancestors, and vibrant spirits, known as Lwa. With more than one hundred breathtaking illustrations, Vodou Visions reveals how to honor and invoke the Lwa with specific ceremonial offerings and litanies. Using methods drawn from more than twenty years of practice, Vodou priestess Sallie Ann Glassman shares purification and empowerment rituals for individuals, communi

About this edition

• Publisher: Island of Salvation Botanica
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0979455405
• ISBN 13: 9780979455407
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 238
• Editor: Sallie Ann Glassman
• Illustrator: Sallie Ann Glassman