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Mama Lola: An Analysis - Paper

Mama Lola: An Analysis

In the ethnographic story Mama Lola, by Karen McCarthy Brown, the method of vodou is revealed as a great healing process and one that is great for the mind, body and soul. It is the story of many different people that come into contact with vodou and how their lives are lived with the spirits of this way of life. It is a series of events in which some are true and some are not. The author, Karen, studies the ways of vodou through the life of Alourdes Macena. She is a vodou priestess (manbo) and one who helps to heal and ease pain of any that come to her for help. She is a healer of many and uses these ways of healing based on African roots, but has drastically changed in contemporary ...

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by in life day by day, not to rise above the social status that they have, but to be happy in the lives that they live. The way that the immigrant Haitians live in New York is described to the reader by Karen as a much lower class of living. They have little money and have a hard time finding work. The reader is also introduced to the “birthday parties” and ceremonies that are held to welcome the spirits that Alourdes knows so well. The spirits that Alourdes calls upon are ones that she feels reflect her own persona and reveal much of her own strengths as well as weaknesses. This book contains many stories of the different spirits and how they are interpreted through the body of Alourdes and how they pertain to her life.
Vodou is a shamanistic type of religion in which the individual is in charge of one self and the actions that they choose to make. In most cultures, vodou is considered to be an evil practice of religion and has many bad characteristics that go along with it. ...

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make them so special in the life of vodou. Alourdes talks of the spirits as opposed to religion and God. She believes that God is only something that is talked about and read about and never seen. Spirits are felt and seen and interacted with and that is the difference in vodou and religion.
One of the spirits seen is Azaka, the mountain man and peasant farmer. His function as a spirit is to remind the devotees of their roots and the importance of family and the connection to the earth. Azaka is worshiped because he blesses them with his watchful eye and keeps the family together. When Sina died, Philo could feel it and that was the spirit of Azaka coming to her in her dreams and ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 9/22/2007 10:37:33 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1329
Pages: 5

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