Society of the Dead

"Todd Ochoa's important text immediately transposes us into a Kongo-Cuban sacred world of summoned ancestral forces—Lucero, Sarabanda, Mama Chola, et al. The dead are honored on altars in ways that represent a profound creolization of the 'medicines of God' (minkisi), core elements of the classical religion of the kingdom of Kongo. Ochoa makes clear that Palo is a world faith with all the depth, narrative excitement, and cultural vitality that such a status implies. I enthusiastically recommend this book."—Robert Farris Thompson, author of Tango: The Art History of Love and Aesthetic of the Cool

"The subtle accomplishments of this intensive work are evident in the empirical richness, in its attention to the intertwinings of performance, materiality, and power, and in the deeply engaging voice that resonates throughout the manuscript. This is a singular achievement and will provide the first thoroughgoing account on Palo in English, written with a keen ethnographic sensibility, but much more broadly accessible—poetic and lucid, interpretive and grounded, challenging and engaging."—Don Brenneis, UC Santa Cruz

"Ochoa takes us swimming into the unseen sea populated by the dead in Kongo-Cuban traditions. This nuanced and penetrating study reveals how the dead are divinity's potential, the generative spark that animates the many branches of what Ochoa terms 'African-inspired' practices. Evocative and masterfully written, I could hardly put the book down. It's sure to be a necessary text in any course on Afro-diasporic religions, Caribbean theology, and on ethnographic method and writing."—Elizabeth McAlister, author of Rara!: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora