African science

witchcraft, Vodun, and healing in southern Benin

First published:
21st century
Language: English

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Description

In this sensitive and personal investigation into Benin's occult world, Douglas J. Falen wrestles with the challenges of encountering a reality in which magic, science, and the Vodun religion converge into a single universal force. He takes seriously his Beninese interlocutors' insistence that the indigenous phenomenon known as àzě ("witchcraft") is an African science, credited with fantastic and productive deeds, such as teleportation and supernatural healing. Although the Beninese understanding of àzě reflects positive scientific properties in its use of specialized knowledge to harness nature's energy and realize economic success, its boundless power is inherently ambivalent because it can corrupt its users, who dispense death and destruction. Witches and healers are equivalent to supervillains and superheroes, locked in epic battles over malevolent and benevolent human desires. Beninese people's discourse about such mystical confrontations expresses a philosophy of moral duality and cosmic balance. Falen demonstrates how a deep engagement with another lived reality opens our minds and contributes to understanding across cultural difference. --

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Occultism and esotericism, Ritual magic and grimoires, and Witchcraft and folk magic.

Occultism and esotericism
Controlled discovery queries from harvard matched “occultism”. Retained metadata contains “occult” in the description, “supernatural” in the description, “occult” in the subject metadata, and 2 additional metadata match(es).
- “occultism”· via Harvard LibraryCloud
- “occult”· in description
- “supernatural”· in description
- “occult”· in subject
- “Occult sciences”· in subject
- “Occultism”· in subject
Ritual magic and grimoires
Retained metadata contains “Magic” in the description and “Magic” in the subject metadata.
- “Magic”· in description
- “Magic”· in subject
Witchcraft and folk magic
Controlled discovery queries from harvard matched “witchcraft”. Retained metadata contains “Witchcraft” in the subtitle, “Witchcraft” in the description, “witches” in the description, and 4 additional metadata match(es).
- “witchcraft”· via Harvard LibraryCloud
- “Witchcraft”· in subtitle
- “Witchcraft”· in description
- “witches”· in description
- “Vodou”· in subject
- “voodoo”· in subject

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Links to ISBN 0299318907; other editions may be cheaper. WorldCat shows libraries near you that hold a copy.

Editions

One edition cataloged here.

Edition	Date	Publisher	Language	ISBN	Access	Links
witchcraft, Vodun, and healing in southern Benin Harvard LibraryCloud bibliographic record xiv, 234 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm	2018	The University of Wisconsin Press	English	9780299318901 0299318907	Catalog record	Harvard LibraryCloud (opens in a new tab)