Afrikan & Hindu Deities

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21/02/2013 19:04Trinidad: Orisha Worship, Hindu Deities, Kabbalah, De Laurence

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ESOTERIC | RELIGION | AFRICAN | DIASPORIC

TRINIDAD:

ORISHA WORSHIP, HINDU DEITIES,KABBALAH, DE LAURENCE

Newsgroups: alt.religion.orisha, alt.lucky.w Subject:

Trinidad: Orisha Worship, Hindu Deities, Kabbalah, De Laurence

Date: Mon 04 Jun 2001 - Tue, 05 Jun 2001

-----

From: Kevin Filan ([email protected])

I recently purchased *Spirit, Blood and Drums: the Orisha

Religion in Trinidad* by James T. Houk (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1995). If you can find this book, I

highly recommend it. There has always been a large Indian

presence in Trinidad (in 1988 42.17% of the population was

of Indian descent, while 38.76% were of African descent),

but according to Houk only recently has therebeen any

appreciable blending of the two traditions in Trinidadian

Orisha worship.

The following excerpt comes from pp. 88-9 of Houk's book.

Before posting this, I should note that I have never been toTrinidad and that I am not personally familiar with

Trinidadian culture or worship. IIRC, we have one poster on

alt.religion.orisha from Trinidad: any comments or

corrections he might have are, of course, welcomed.

Peace Kevin Filan

*****

As with other borrowings, the incorporation of Hindu

elements into the Orisha belief system characteristically

takes different forms around the island. Worshippersusually simply superimpose the borrowed elements onto Orisha

beliefs and practices. Typically, one finds at an Orisha
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shrine a small area devoted to one or more Hindu deities.

This area generally contains statues, statuettes, and large

poster representations of the deities and an assortment of

Indian brass receptacles, candles, incense and other

materials.

Among the Hindu deities most commonly found in Orisha

worship are Hanuman, Mahabir, Lakshmi, and Rama. Because

virtually all the Hindu deities borrowed by Orisha arepopular figures in many public Hindu festivals and

ceremonies in Trinidad, even the most uninterested African

will have some familiarity with them. Hinduism also

manifests to a small degree in the form of Osain (also

referred to as Osanyin or Osa), who clearly has Yoruba

origins and can be found in Orisha compounds all over the

island, but whose shrine is often surrounded with Hindu

religious materials. Osain, sometimes referred to as "the

Indian man," is, however, formally syncretized with Saint

Francis (see Chapter Thirteen).

Although Hindu-Orisha syncretism is rare, a few of the more

knowledgeable worshippers do speak of an association between

particular Hindu deities and African orisha. The perceived

similarities of the gods of both groups allow for a

syncretism similar to the associations worshippers have made

between the Catholic saints and orisha. Leader Scott noted

the following pairings (the Orisha are listed first):

Ogun/Mahabir (or Hanuman), Osain/Mahadeo, Oya/Parvati,

Oshun/Lakshmi, Mama Lata/Pahrmisar, Shakpana/Durga, Eshu/Dee

and Obatala/Ganesha. Noorkumar Mahabir and Ashram Maharaj

(1989, 194) also mention syncretisms involving Ogun and

Hanuman or Mahabir, and Oshun and Ganga Mai.

Nevertheless, in regard to the group as a whole, therelationship that exists between the Orisha religion and

Hinduism is not a purely syncretic one. Only a few Orisha

worshippers, such as Leader Scott, recognize a syncretism

involving African and Hindu deities. Personal conceptions

of relationship between various gods and spirits, involving

as they do the association between concepts and beliefs of

different religious traditions such as Catholic and African,

or Hindu and African, reflect a sophisticated understanding

of different belief systems as being functionally equivalent

on some level.

In addition to "mainstream" Hinduism, there is another formof Hindu worship in Trinidad which resembles Orisha worship:

the Kali-Mai ("black mother") sect also practices ritual

possession and animal sacrifice. The Kali-Mai sect tends to

be associated with the darker-skinned Madras people, and

mainstream Hindus consider such worship "primitive" and

"uncivilized." According to William Guinee (personal

communication) -- a folklorist who worked with Hindus in

Trinidad -- as well as Leader Scott and many of the older

Hindus, Kali-Mai worship was village-based at one time, and

its practice was widespread. Through time the sect

gradually lost its appeal but has begun to make something of

a comeback, although probably in altered form. For example,

a large and elaborate temple in St. Augustine, only recently

constructed by Kali-Mai worshippers, draws two to three

hundred people every Sunday.


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It is interesting to note that although African

participation in mainstream Hinduism is virtually nil, some

7 or 8 percent of those attending Kali-Mai services are

African. It may be the strong emphasis that the Kali-Mai

sect puts on healing that attracts the Africans. At the

four Sunday services I attended, it appeared to me that the

Indian worshippers welcomed the Africans with an openness

that is apparently uncommon at the ceremonies of mainstreamHinduism.

There is little or no actual association between the

Kali-Mai sect and the Orisha religion, but worshippers from

each group are supportive of or at least sympathetic to the

religious practices of the other.

pp. 88-9

Spirit, Blood and Drums: the Orisha Religion in Trinidad

James T. Houk

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995)

-----

From: [email protected] (Eoghan Ballard)

Kevin,

You make the error of assuming that one author has a full

perspective on the subject. Houk's book is not bad, but

there are many areas in which his conclusions may be debated

and other authors, especially those with a stronger

connection to the island, have very different views and also

very different data.

That is not to say his book is weak. It happens to also be a

fairly interesting read, but it is a small and somewhat

skewed sampling in some ways. I am not really sharp on all

the details as it is something I have looked at only

sketchily of late, but I would advise you to dig deeper

before going off to post a ton of information.

Here are a few titles for you:

Beliefs, doctrines and practices of the Orisha religion in

Trinidad, 1958-1999. Henry, Frances; Mischel, Walter. [St.

Ann's, Trinidad and Tobago] : s.n., 2000

Initiation at Mother Camara's shrine: an introduction to

Orisha in Trinidad. Lienert, Franziska. Zurich : F. Lienert,

1998

Praising his name in the dance: spirit possession in the

Spiritual Baptist Faith and Orisha work in Trinidad, West

Indies. Lum, Kenneth Anthony. Amsterdam : Harwood Academic

: The Netherlands Publishers, 2000

Religion, diaspora and cultural identity: a reader in the

Anglophone Caribbean. Pulis, John W. . Amsterdam, The

Netherlands : Gordon and Breach, 1999

Trinidad ethnicity. Yelvington, Kevin A., London : Macmillan


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Caribbean, 1993

Eoghan

-----

From: Kevin Filan ([email protected])

Eoghan Ballard says...

> You make the error of assuming that one author has a full

> perspective on the subject. Houk's book is not bad, but

> there are many areas in which his conclusions may be

> debated and other authors, especially those with a stronger

> connection to the island have very different views and also

> very different data.

I thought his observations were interesting not because they

were comprehensive but because they were the *only* thing I

had seen written on the subject. Any other references you

can give in re Trinidad Orisha worship would be greatlyappreciated.

I did note some problems with Houk's views re the

development of "Trinidad Kabbalah." He apparently believes

the Kabbalah as practiced in Trinidad today has its roots

among early French and Spanish settlers who brought the

*Zohar* and suchlike over with them. Based on what little

information he presented regarding Trinidadian Kabballah

practitioners, I think it far, far more likely that their

Kabbalah came from DeLaurence Publications and suchlike.

(Very few Rabbis, be they Sephardic or Ashkenazic, are going

to recognize A.E. Waite's *Book of Black Magic and Pacts* as

a valuable text).

Peace

Kevin Filan

-----

From: "John M. Hansen" ([email protected])

I agree with this observation, as De Laurence marketed his

materials and his occult products very widely, not only in

Central and South America, but in the Caribbean Islands andin Nigeria. Before World War Two the De Lawrence Company was

one of the leading American exporters to Nigeria. His

products, consisting of sawdust, perfume, and coloring, were

highly regarded among many Nigerians, as they came from

America. His books were world wide best sellers, even in

India, where the people should have recognized his 'Indian

Magic' as pure B.S.

Best Wishes,

John M Hansen

-----

From: [email protected] enn.edu Eo han Ballard


5/8



Kevin,

I am not in a position to assess Houk's conclusions about

the Zohar. On the one hand I am inclined to agree with you

about DeLaurence because I don't view these traditions as

being especially antiquarian. On the other hand there are

several reasons to view the DeLaurence connection with

caution.

The first is that I have heard from primary sources of his

being active in Jamaica, I have not heard of any

corroboration of his visits to Trinidad. Further, there is

plenty of documentation of Kabbalistic practices in the

French speaking Antilles well before DeLaurence's time.

I suspect that it is more cautious to say that DeLaurence

might well have breathed new life into existing traditions.

Eoghan

-----

From: catherine yronwode ([email protected])

E. C. Ballard wrote:

> I am not in a position to assess Houk's conclusions about

> the Zohar.

I believe Kevin is correct to question Houk's statements

about the Kabbalah in Trinidad today having "its roots among

early French and Spanish settlers who brought the *Zohar*

and suchlike over" -- if indeed those practitioners quoteArthur Edward Waiite. Jews do not bother to study Kabbalah

by reading books by Christian Kabbalists such as Waite!

> On the one hand I am inclined to agree with you

> about DeLaurence because I don't view these traditions as

> being especially antiquarian. On the other hand there are

> several reasons to view the DeLaurence connection with

> caution.

>

> The first is that I have heard from primary sources of his

> being active in Jamaica, I have not heard of any

> corroboration of his visits to Trinidad.

Eoghan, here again i agree with Kevin's suppositions:

L. W. De Laurence need not have been "active" in Trinidad as

you suppose, nor need he have ever "visited" Trinidad to

have an effect there. As John Hansen notes, he was a

mail-order book publisher in Chicago who specialized in

texts on occultism, hypnotism, spiritualism, and magic --

and who sold WORLD-WIDE, from around 1900 onward, including,

most definitely, into the Caribbean and the American South.

I have elsewhere documented his impact on African-American

hoodoo rootworkers, and John testifies to his impact in

Nigeria. As for the Carribean, a recent ebay auction of

antique postage stamps turned up an envelope dated 1952

sent to


6/8



Monsieur De Laurence + Cie

179 North Michigan Avenue

Chicago -1, - 111, [sic]

USA

by a customer in Fort de France, Martinique. I did not buy the

envelope, but i did keep a copy of the image will place it on

the web page that archives this series of posts.

> Further, there is plenty of documentation of

> Kabbalistic practices in the French speaking Antilles well

> before DeLaurence's time.

Among non-Jews? Prior to the late 19th century? Please cite

your sources. This is news to me!

> I suspect that it is more cautious to say that DeLaurence

> might well have breathed new life into existing

> traditions.

I disagree -- and believe that Kevin is correct here.

L. W. De Laurence was what was then known as a "book

pirate." Due to some anomalies between English and United

States copyright law, he got his start by printingunauthorized facsimile editions of late 19th and early 20th

century books about Medieval, Renaissance, Hermetic, and

Ceremonial magic and occultism written by a variety of

well-known authors associated with the Hermetic Order of the

Golden Dawn (circa 1888 - circa 1900).

For convenience, i refer to these people collectively as

"Golden Dawn authors," even though it is understood that

their published books were not officially sanctioned by the

HOGD, that some books may have been published after the HOGD

disbanded, and that some of the authors may also have

belonged to allied British, Scottish, Australian, andAmerican fraternal orders such as


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The Sphere, c1897. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(London: Florence Farr)

Herm. Soc. of the Morgenrothe, 1902. .(London: Felkin, Brodie-Innes, Bullock)

Order of Light, 1902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Bradford: T.H. Pattinson)

Stella Matutina (S.M.) [Amoun], 1903 . . . . . . . . . .(London: R.W. Felkin)

Holy Order of the G.D., 1903 . . . . . .(London: A.E. Waite, Blackden, Ayton)

A.'.A.'. (Astron Argon), c1907 . . . . . . . (London: A. Crowley, G.C. Jones)

Zos Kia Cultus, c1910. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (London: A.O. Spare)

Smaragdum Thalasses/Whare Ra (S.M.), 1912. . . . . (New Zealand: R.W. Felkin)

Ordo Templi Orientis [orig. c1895 Zurich: Reuss], 1912 . (London: A. Crowley)Alpha et Omega 2 (Northern), 1913. . .(Edinburgh & London: J.W. Brodie-Innes)

Cromlech [Solar Order], 1913 . . . . .(Edinburgh & London: J.W. Brodie-Innes)

Hermes (S.M.), 1916. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Bristol: R.W. Felkin)

Merlin (S.M.), 1916. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(London: R.W. Felkin)

Secret College in London (S.M.?), 1916 . . . . . . . . .(London: R.W. Felkin)

Guild of St. Raphael, 1916 . . . . . . . . . . . (London: Felkin & Roseveare)

Fellowship of the True Rosy Cross [Salvator Mundi], 1916 (London: A.E. Waite)

Shrine of Wisdom, c1916. . . . . . . . .(Hermon Hill, N. London: A.E. Waite?)

Nuada (Druid Order), c1916 . . . . . . . . . . (Clapham, London: G.W.M. Reid)

Alpha et Omega 3 (Southern), 1919. . . . . . . . . . . (London: M.M. Mathers)

School of Ageless Wisdom, c1920. . . . . . . . . . . .(Chicago: Paul F. Case)

Fraternity/Society of Inner Light, 1922. . . . . . . . (London: Dion Fortune)

[this list courtesy Steve Cranmer and the Golden Dawn

reference file at http://www.luckymojo.com/altmagickfaq/gdref]

The Golden Dawn authors were -- particularly when one is

speaking of the Jewish Kabbalah -- not part of an "existing

tradition." Rather, they were cultural appropriaters who

mined whatever "exotic" magical, mystical, and religious

texts they could readily translate from secondary sources,

namely scholarly German and French books that contained

material previously translated from other languages.

All of the Golden Dawn authors' interpretations of the

Kabbalah are highly uniform because all the authors derived

their knowledge of this tradition from the limited array of

texts found in Von Rosenroth's German compilation and

translation -- NOT from primary Hebrew sources. For this

reason, what the Golden Dawn authors taught about the

Kabbalah is severely limited in ways that any Jewish

scholar, familiar with the broader tradition, will

immediately recognize. See Gershom Scholem's valuable

analysis of the Golden Dawn authors as interpreters of

Jewish mysticism in "Kabbalah." (Dorset, 1974).

Among the Golden Dawn authors whom De Laurence ripped offshamelessly, the foremost were S.L. Macgregor Mathers (who

translated portions of Von Rosenroth's German translation of

Hebrew Kabbalistic texts into English) and Arthur Edward

Waite, who translated magical texts from Latin and French

originals (e.g. "The Book of Black Magic and Pacts"), and

also wrote many original works, including "The Key to the

Tarot," which De Laurence issued with his own name on as

author!

At some point around WW I, De Laurence was either threatened

by the Golden Dawn authors in question or the copyright laws

changed, for on later books he affixed the actual Englishauthors' names to the works, although he may have cheated

them out of royalties. Eventually, as the list of titles by


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hired ghostwriters who were associated with other occult

orders to produce new works under his name. For instance, i

have been told on good repute that several of the circa

1920s books De Laurence claimed as his own were written by

Charles Stansfield Jones a.k.a. Frater Achad, a disciple of

Aleister Crowley, the latter a former member of the Golden

Dawn.

Jones belonged to the Crowley-led break-away jurisdiction ofthe Ordo Templi Orientis, which had split from the original

OTO circa 1912. His views on magical and mystical topics

(including the Kabbalah) were heavily influenced by Crowley

and thus by the earlier Golden Dawn authors who in turn

derived their ideas from Von Rosenroth's limited German

compiltion of Kabbalistist texts, that being the Golden

Dawn's source-book.

Thus, although Jones had never belonged to the HOGD (he was

too young), he was, in the broad sense that i use the term,

also a Golden Dawn author, and as a ghostwriter, he

continued the tradition of disseminating Golden-Dawn-stylemysticism and magic to the world, under the De Laurence

aegis.

cat yronwode

Hoodoo in Theory and Practice -- http://www.luckymojo.com/hoodoo.html

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Lucky Mojo Site Map: a descriptive entry-level index to the whole Lucky Mojo pile

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Sacred Sex Home Page: essays on tantra yoga, karezza, sex magic, and sex worship

The Sacred Landscape Home Page: essays on archaeoastronomy and sacred geometry

Freemasonry for Women Home Page: a history of mixed gender freemasonic lodges

The Lucky Mojo Curio Co.: manufacturers of spiritual supplies for hoodoo and conjure

The Comics Warehouse: a source for back-issues of comic books and trading cards

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nagasiva yronwode: tyaginator, nigris (333), nocTifer, lorax666, boboroshi, !

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Afrikan & Hindu Deities