CARIBBEAN

Caribbean: translation

A variety of practices evolved in the Caribbean interaction of indigenous-,African-, European-, and Asian-derived religious traditions. Some of these (e.g.,Comfa, Myal,Obeah, Quimbois,Santeríaor Lucumí, andVodou) involvetranceand/orpossessionfor the purposes of acquiring knowledge or ability tohealillnessesor tocurseenemies.MirceaEliade’s insistence that shamans exhibitmastery of spiritsrather than becoming possessed by them has led to the denial that there are shamans in the Caribbean. However, the recognition that leaders of possession cults invite possession and do not always enter trances, but doperformacts that signal the presence ofspiritsorother-than-human persons, leadsIoanLewisto counter Eliade’s construction. In addition to possession, healing, and cursing, other parallels exist between the Creole or hybrid religious traditions of the Caribbean and the practices of shamans elsewhere. These can includeinitiationand training, marriage to anotherworldspouse or ally (sometimes leading to distinctivegenderpractices), the suspicion of being asorcereror magical wrongdoer, and employment by clients.