Shamanism and the hidden history of modern kabbalah

Jonathan Garb*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

African-American Spiritualists along with their specific belief systems were constantly subjected to a compounded type of historical repression, resulting in historical obscurity. This repression translated into specified modes of resistance against Spiritualists of color. Not only did African-American Spiritualists encounter resistance from within Spiritualism because of their race, but also they were subjected to an intra-communal form of resistance based upon class and geographical distinctions in African-American urban communities like Detroit. Deep in the recesses of Spiritualism's historical unconsciousness this marginalized activity, still driven by foundational Spiritualist principles, takes on other forms of expression. These African-American expressions of Spiritualism quite often evaded historical capturing because they appeared to be 'other' religious forms with no explicit connections to original Spiritualism. Intra-communal resistances against unorthodox forms of religious expression, especially against groups like the Church of God pre-1920 and organized Spiritualist groups post-1920, most often appeared in print.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHistories of the Hidden God
Subtitle of host publicationConcealment and Revelation in Western Gnostic, Esoteric, and Mystical Traditions
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages175-192
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781134935994
ISBN (Print)9781844656875
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© April D. DeConick and Grant Adamson and individual contributors.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Shamanism and the hidden history of modern kabbalah'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this