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RECOMMENDED BOOKS AND REFERENCES

Media Room

When people start out on their spiritual journey, those that are serious usually ask for any references that can help them understand their new found reality. I, myself, still refer back to many of my favorite books and videos. Therefore, I take it as a responsibility to keep a repertoire of good sources for those that are interested.  Scroll down for the following list of some of my favorite books.  Topics:  Hoodoo, Ifa Orisha, Kongo, Divine Feminine (Iyami Aje and other Goddess Archetypes), and Misc

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African Cosmology of the Bantu-Kongo: Tying the Spiritual Knot, Principles of Life & Living

Kimbwandende Kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau

Fu-Kiau Bunseki, Ph.D. is one of the great scholars of the African religion, a native and genuine practitioner of the Kongo spiritual tradition, and intiated in three "secret societies" (Lemba, Khimba and Kimpasi). Lemba is the foundation for several African based religious practices including Palo Mayombe (Cuba), Vodou Petro (Haiti) and Candomble Angola (Brasil). This book explores the Bantu-Kongo religious and philosophical teachings, as well as concepts of law and crime. It connects the reader with one of the most ancient and powerful spiritual traditions; explore "seven-direction walk" our origin and links to society, nature and the universe.

Death and the Invisible Powers: The World of Kongo Belief

Simon Bockie

Rich in anecdote and case histories, Death and the Invisible Powers is a personal account of the spiritual life of the Kongo people. It describes the ancient traditions that nourish a culture whose name symbolizes the heart of Central Africa.

Dictionary and grammar of the Kongo language

William Holman Bentley

English translation of Kikongo words with some grammar and common phrases

Initiation Into Hermetics

FRANZ BARDON

Self-initiation into the Holy Mysteries with the need of a guru or master. Initiation into Hermetics provides step by step instruction in the form of practical exercises. These exercises lead to the development of body, soul and spirit. The result of the practical exercises is the development of occult abilities which can be of benefit to the student, in as far as he can change his existence for the better.

Isese Spirituality Workbook: The Ancestral Wisdom of the Ifa Orisa Tradition

Ayele Kumari

Ifa Orisa Spirituality is an ancestral wisdom tradition steeped in nature and West African history . Isese (Ee Shay Shay) refers to tradition in Ifa spirituality. The Isese Workbook offers a wealth of information, personal rituals, and exercises that can be done right now to begin to tap this expansive spiritual system whether or not a mentor has been found. It will also offer new practicial tools for those who are already devotees of the tradition to deepen their understanding.

Jambalaya : The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals

Luisah Teish

Actress, storyteller, and priestess Luisah Teish dramatically re-creates centuries-old African-American traditions with music, memoir, and folk wisdom.

Letters From Nigeria - Reflections of an Ifa Initiate

Deidre Prescod

Deidre Prescod was initiated into the Ifa Tradition and journeyed to Nigeria in order to secure authentic information. This book is the author’s reflection of her experiences while researching the spiritual and cultural tradition during her four years living among the Yoruba people of Nigeria in West Africa. It is also a guideline to Ifa devotees and practitioners. The information in this book is from primary sources, gathered from her travels throughout Yoruba land. It is her interpretation of the information that may seem radical.

Mules and Men

ZORA NEALE HURSTON

Mules and Men is a treasury of black America's folklore as collected by a famous storyteller and anthropologist who grew up hearing the songs and sermons, sayings and tall tales that have formed an oral history of the South since the time of slavery. Returning to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, to gather material, Zora Neale Hurston recalls "a hilarious night with a pinch of everything social mixed with the storytelling." Set intimately within the social context of black life, the stories, "big old lies," songs, Vodou customs, and superstitions recorded in these pages capture the imagination and bring back to life the humor and wisdom that is the unique heritage of African Americans.

Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman

Malidoma Patrice Some

Malidoma Patrice Some was born in a Dagara Village, however he was soon to be abducted to a Jesuit school, where he remained for the next fifteen years, being harshly indoctrinated into european ways of thought and worship. The story tells of his return to his people, his hard initiation back into those people, which lead to his desire to convey their knowledge to the world. Of Water and the Spirit is the result of that desire; it is a sharing of living African traditions, offered in compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of the spirit.

Osun Across The Waters : A Yoruba Goddess In Africa And The Americas

JOSEPH M. MURPHY AND MEI-MEI SANFORD

Ã’sun is a brilliant deity whose imagery and worldwide devotion demand broad and deep scholarly reflection. Ã’sun presents a dynamic example of the resilience and renewed importance of traditional Yoruba images in negotiating spiritual experience, social identity, and political power in contemporary Africa and the African diaspora.

Osun Seegesi: The Elegant Deity of Wealth, Power and Feminity

DIEDRE L. BADEJO

What does our sophisticated, technically advanced society have to learn from a venerable African goddess? The answers the author found as she immersed herself in the ritual orature, sacred songs, and festival drama of the Yoruba goddess, Osun Seegesi, at the diety's principal shrine in the city of Osogbo, Nigeria, are shared with the world in this detailed documentary/analysis.

Palo Mayombe The Garden of Blood & Bones

NICHOLAI DE MATTOS FRISVOLD

Palo Mayombe - The Garden of Blood and Bones is an initiates account of this much maligned religion and cult whose central nigromantic mystery is the prenda, the cauldron containing the human skull or bones, re-animated by living spirit

Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo & The Lowcountry South

JASON R. YOUNG

In Rituals of Resistance Jason R. Young explores the religious and ritual practices that linked West-Central Africa with the Lowcountry region of Georgia and South Carolina during the era of slavery.

The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature

Teresa Washington

In The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature, Washington undertakes an in-depth exploration of Aje’s Yoruba Gods, origins, and manifestations to reveal the force’s vast depth, complexity, and scope. By analyzing diverse sources, including published studies, historical texts, divination verses, and interviews with Yoruba wisdom keepers, Washington elucidates the multifaceted and complex nature of Aje and reveals the power to be extraordinarily dynamic, influential, and logical. Washington’s meticulous exposition of Aje includes chapters on the multifold power of Odu, the Great Mother Aje; Aje’s signs, symbols, and orders of operation; manifestations of Aje in the Odu Ifa; the roles of Aje in Yoruba secret societies and sacred institutions; and the impact of Aje on some of the Yoruba world’s most influential sons, including Olatubosun Oladapo, Wole Soyinka, and Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

The Poisonwood Bible

Barbara Kingsolver

best-selling novel about a missionary family, the Prices, who in 1959 move from the U.S. state of Georgia to the village of Kilanga in the Belgian Congo, close to the Kwilu River

The Source of Iya Nla Primordial Yoruba Mother

IYALAJA ILEANA ALCAMO

A woman who is also an Iyalaja, Awo Ifa and Iyalaje needs to know what her spiritual connection is with Orun (heaven) and Aiye (earth) in each one of every diverse manifestation inside the creation. We, as women should realize that our physical and spiritual correlation with Aje energy have been granted to us as a guide to seek how to empower our spiritual development without abusing or altering the balance of existence.

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