{"product_id":"crossing-the-water-claire-garoutte-9780822340393","title":"Crossing the Water: A Photographic Path to the Afro-Cuban Spirit World","description":"In the summer of 2000, two award-winning photographers, Claire Garoutte and Anneke Wambaugh, were researching Afro-Cuban religious practices in Santiago de Cuba, a city on the southeastern coast of Cuba. A chance encounter led them to the home of Santiago Casta eda Vera, a priest-practitioner of Santer a, Palo Monte, and Espiritismo, a Cuban version of nineteenth-century European Spiritism. Out of that initial meeting, a unique collaboration developed. Santiago opened his home and many aspects of his spiritual practice to Garoutte and Wambaugh, who returned to his house many times during the next five years, cameras in hand. The result is \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Water\u003c\/i\u003e, an extraordinary visual record of Afro-Cuban religious experience.\u003cp\u003eA book of more than 150 striking photographs in both black and white and color, \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Water \u003c\/i\u003eincludes 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSantiago eventually became Garoutte's and Wambaugh's spiritual godfather, and \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Water \u003c\/i\u003eis 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, \u003ci\u003eCrossing the Water\u003c\/i\u003e takes readers deep inside the intimate world of Afro-Cuban spirituality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Claire Garoutte, Anneke Wambaugh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0822340399\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780822340393\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Duke University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/01\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.47lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 10.47h x 8.98w x 0.72d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/29\/2007 pg. 44\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Claire Garoutte","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44074487939327,"sku":"9780822340393","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_22cebf8b-6f61-4115-9819-09d31605d2bc.jpg?v=1685454029","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/crossing-the-water-claire-garoutte-9780822340393","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}