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A book of more than 150 striking photographs in both black and white and color, Crossing the Water includes images of elaborate Santer a altars and Palo spirit cauldrons, as well as of Santiago and his religious "family" engaged in ritual practices: the feeding of the spirits, spirit possession, and private and collective healing ceremonies. As the charismatic head of a large religious community, Santiago helps his godchildren and others who consult him to cope with physical illness, emotional crises, contentious relationships, legal problems, and the hardships born of day-to-day survival in contemporary Cuba. He draws on the distinct yet intertwined traditions of Santer a, Palo Monte, and Espiritismo to foster healing of both mind and body--the three religions form a coherent theological whole for him.
Santiago eventually became Garoutte's and Wambaugh's spiritual godfather, and Crossing the Water is informed by their experiences as initiates of Santer a and Palo Monte. Their text provides nuanced, clear explanations of the objects and practices depicted in the images. Describing the powerful intensity of human-spirit interactions, and evoking the sights, smells, sounds, and choreography of ritual practice, Crossing the Water takes readers deep inside the intimate world of Afro-Cuban spirituality.
Author: Claire Garoutte, Anneke Wambaugh
ISBN-10: 0822340399
ISBN-13: 9780822340393
Publisher: Duke University Press
Language: English
Published: 12/01/2007
Pages: 280
Format: Paperback
Weight: 2.47lbs
Size: 10.47h x 8.98w x 0.72d
Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/29/2007 pg. 44
Claire Garoutte is Assistant Professor of Photography at Seattle University. Her work has appeared in exhibits in the United States and abroad. Garoutte began photographing Afro-Cuban religious practices in Cuba in 1994. She is the author and illustrator of Matter of Trust.
Anneke Wambaugh is an award-winning photographer and an independent scholar of African and Afro-Caribbean ritual art who has worked extensively in Cuba and Haiti. She works as a Haitian Creole interpreter in Seattle.
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