Thanks to recent accounts in the news about the disrespect of African spirituality – first the media’s reaction to the suicide of actor Lee Thompson Young (and the subsequent erroneous blog written by Luvvie in rebuttal) and most recently the American Apparel Halloween window display of a makeshift Vodou scene, I’ve created a list of resources from my personal collection that can be utilized by those interested in African spirituality. This list is by no means exhaustive. At some point, I will also add personal commentary to each resource. My interest has developed over the past decade and is informed by my own experiences as a practitioner of Lukumí, my academic studies, research and by the city that raised me, New Orleans. For now, happy reading!
Pictured: Mambo Marie Carmel | Photo Credit: Stephanie Keith
General Overview of African Spiritual Systems
Encyclopedia of African Religions | Molefi Asante and Ama Mazama
Of Water and The Spirit | Malidoma Some
African Religions and Philosophy | John S. Mbiti
Flash of the Spirit | Robert Farris Thomspon
The Aesthetic of the Cool | Robert Farris Thompson
The Spirit of Intimacy | Sobonufu Somé
The Trickster in West Africa: A Study of Mythic Irony and Sacred Delight | Robert D. Pelton
Let the Circle Be Unbroken | Marimba Ani
Afrocentricity | Molefi Asante
Yoruba Spirituality (and its derivatives)
Orisa: Yoruba Gods and Spiritual Identity in Africa and the Diaspora | Falola Genova ed.
Altar of My Soul | Marta Moreno Vega
The Way of the Orisa | John Neimark
Olookun: Owner of the Rivers and Seas | John Mason
The Core of Fire: A Path of Yoruba Spiritual Activism | Aina Olomo
Vodou
Sacrd ARts of Haitian Vodou |Donald J. Cosentino
Divine Horsemen | Maya Deren
Haiti, History and the Gods | Joan Dayan
A New Orleans Vodou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau | Carolyn Morrow Long
Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau | Martha Ward
Voodoo in New Orleans | Robert Tallant
Vodou: Visions and Voices of Haiti | Phyllis Galembo
Vodou Brooklyn: Five Ceremonies with Mambo Marie Carmel | Stephanie Keith
Hoodoo and U.S. retentions
Slave Religion | Albert J. Raboteau
Mojo Workin’: The Old African American Hoodoo System | Katrina Hazzard-Donald
Mojo: Conjure Stories | Nalo Hopkinson ed.
Blue Roots: African-American Folk Magic of the Gullah People | Roger Pinckney
Bakongo/Kongo
Death and the Invisible Powers | Simon Bockie
Winti
Fodoe-winti | Henri J.M. Stephen
Winti: Afro-Surinaamse religie en magische rituelen in Suriname en Nederland | Henri J.M. Stephen
Personal Memoirs
When the Spirits Dance Mambo | Marta Moreno Vega
Tell My Horse | Zora Neale Hurston
Island Possessed | Katherine Dunham
Films
When the Spirits Dance Mambo | Marta Moreno Vega – Santeria
SOUNDRITE | Ja’Tovia Gary – Haitian Vodou
A Cidade das Mulheres | Federico Fellini – Brasilian Candomblé
Divine Horsemen | Maya Deren – Haitian Vodou
Conference
SHANTOLOGY 
You are so brilliant & great future for a rational & learned voice in our traditions! Keep up you great work!
Thanks Mama Andrea! I’m only doing the work they sent me down here to do. Much love.
I’d love to suggest:
Haitian Vodou: An Introduction to Haiti’s Indigenous Spiritual Tradition, by Mambo Chita Tann
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