Caribbean

Caribbean
   A variety of practices evolved in the Caribbean interaction of indigenous-, African-, European-, and Asian-derived religious traditions. Some of these (e.g., Comfa, Myal, Obeah, Quimbois, Santería or Lucumí, and Vodou) involve trance and/or possession for the purposes of acquiring knowledge or ability to heal illnesses or to curse enemies. Mircea Eliade’s insistence that shamans exhibit mastery of spirits rather than becoming possessed by them has led to the denial that there are shamans in the Caribbean. However, the recognition that leaders of possession cults invite possession and do not always enter trances, but do perform acts that signal the presence of spirits or other-than-human persons, leads Ioan Lewis to counter Eliade’s construction. In addition to possession, healing, and cursing, other parallels exist between the Creole or hybrid religious traditions of the Caribbean and the practices of shamans elsewhere. These can include initiation and training, marriage to an otherworld spouse or ally (sometimes leading to distinctive gender practices), the suspicion of being a sorcerer or magical wrongdoer, and employment by clients.

Historical dictionary of shamanism. . 2007.

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  • Caribbean — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ relating to the region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (including the West Indies), and the surrounding coasts. USAGE There are two acceptable pronunciations of Caribbean: the British pronunciation puts the stress on… …   English terms dictionary

  • Caribbean — Caribbean1 [kar΄ə bē′ən, kə rib′ē ən] adj. 1. of the Caribs or their language or culture 2. of the Caribbean Sea, its islands, etc. n. CARIB (sense 1) Caribbean2 [kar΄ə bē′ən, kə rib′ē ən] CARIBBEAN SEA …   English World dictionary

  • Caribbean — Car ib*be an, Caribbee Car ib*bee, a. Of or pertaining to the Caribs, to their islands (the eastern and southern West Indies), or to the sea (called the Caribbean sea) lying between those islands and Central America. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Caribbean — is spelt with one r and two b s. In BrE the main stress is on the third syllable; in AmE and in the Caribbean itself, it falls either on the second or the third syllable …   Modern English usage

  • Caribbean — from Carib, indigenous people s name for themselves, from Arawakan kalingo or kalino, said to mean brave ones or else strong men …   Etymology dictionary

  • Caribbean — West Indian and West Indies redirect here. For other uses, see West India, West Indies (disambiguation) and Caribbean (disambiguation). Caribbean Area 2,754,000 km2 (1,063,000 sq mi) …   Wikipedia

  • Caribbean —    Protestantism entered the Caribbean as part of the Dutch and English attempt to challenge Spanish hegemony. The elimination of most of the native inhabitants (Caribs, Arawaks) in the 16th century and their replacement by African slaves, and… …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Caribbean — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Caribbean est un mot anglais signifiant caraïbéen Caribbean Airlines, compagnie aérienne de Trinité et Tobago et de la Barbade West Caribbean, compagnie… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Caribbean — [[t]kæ̱rəbi͟ːən, AM kərɪ̱biən[/t]] ♦♦♦ Caribbeans 1) N PROPER: the N The Caribbean is the sea which is between the West Indies, Central America and the north coast of South America. 2) ADJ Caribbean means belonging or relating to the Caribbean… …   English dictionary

  • Caribbean — /kar euh bee euhn, keuh rib ee /, adj. 1. pertaining to the Caribs, the Lesser Antilles, or the Caribbean Sea and its islands. n. 2. a Carib. 3. See Caribbean Sea. 4. the, Informal. the islands and countries of the Caribbean Sea collectively. * * …   Universalium

  • Caribbean — Car·ib·be·an || ‚kærɪ biːən n. resident of the Caribbean Islands (group of islands in the Caribbean Sea) adj. of or from the Caribbean Islands (group of islands in the Caribbean Sea) …   English contemporary dictionary

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