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In this powerful and illuminating study, John Mason traces the survival, transformation, and enduring influence of African religious traditions in the Caribbean and the Americas. Carried across the Atlantic by millions of enslaved Africans from West and Central Africa, sacred systems of belief—rooted in Yoruba, Kongo, Fon, Akan, and related cultures—took new shape under the pressures of slavery while preserving their spiritual core.
Focusing on Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Mason explores traditions such as Lukumí (Santería), Arará, Abakuá, Palo Monte, Haitian Vodou, Kumina, and Shango/Orisha worship. He argues that these religions did not simply blend with Christianity but actively transformed colonial symbols and structures into vehicles for African spiritual power.
Through art, music, dance, divination, possession, and ancestral veneration, African-descended communities maintained continuity with their past while creatively adapting to new realities. Rich in historical insight and cultural analysis, African Religions in the Caribbean reveals how African spiritual consciousness not only survived the Middle Passage—but reshaped the religious and artistic landscape of the New World.
In this powerful and illuminating study, John Mason traces the survival, transformation, and enduring influence of African religious traditions in the Caribbean and the Americas. Carried across the Atlantic by millions of enslaved Africans from West and Central Africa, sacred systems of belief—rooted in Yoruba, Kongo, Fon, Akan, and related cultures—took new shape under the pressures of slavery while preserving their spiritual core.
Focusing on Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Mason explores traditions such as Lukumí (Santería), Arará, Abakuá, Palo Monte, Haitian Vodou, Kumina, and Shango/Orisha worship. He argues that these religions did not simply blend with Christianity but actively transformed colonial symbols and structures into vehicles for African spiritual power.
Through art, music, dance, divination, possession, and ancestral veneration, African-descended communities maintained continuity with their past while creatively adapting to new realities. Rich in historical insight and cultural analysis, African Religions in the Caribbean reveals how African spiritual consciousness not only survived the Middle Passage—but reshaped the religious and artistic landscape of the New World.