Colin Townsend is a cultural anthropologist and drummer who published a study on the ways identity is constructed among a group of drummers at
Oyotunji Village, South Carolina.
Oyotunji
Villagewas founded by Oba Oseijeman I, born Walter King of
Detroit, in 1970 with the purpose of providing African-Americans in the
United States with a geographical, political, and cultural space to experience African culture. Modeled after Yoruba culture of southwest
Nigeria, members of the community practice a religion known as orisa-voodoo.
Throughout the year, festivals are held dedicated to various orisa, “deities,” in which the drummers play a crucial role in the religious experience of the orisa-voodoo adherents. An essential part of Yoruba culture, drumming acts as a musical bridge between humans and orisa, enabling orisa-voodoo practitioners to petition the orisa for guidance and intervention in their daily lives. Drumming traditions at
Oyotunji
Village provide drummers with a repository of cultural knowledge and practices from which to draw, while at the same time offering them a creative outlet capable of reshaping and redefining those very same traditions.
Townsend examines various processes of identity formation among the drummers as part of their musical apprenticeship, during which they learn not only how to play the instrument but also about Yoruba culture in general. He employs an analytical framework involving a “subject-centered musical ethnography” within a three-dimensional space of musical experience including time, location, and metaphor. Read “
Drumming for the Orisa: (Re)inventing Yoruba Identity in Oyotunji Village.”
To learn more about African drumming, I highly recommend Sule Greg Wilson’s informative book,
The Drummer’s Path: Moving the Spirit with Ritual and Traditional Drumming.
Wilsonprovides a useful introduction to the many different styles of traditional African drumming. This is an intriguing work that shows the relationship between drumming, spirit and health. His writing offers an interesting insight into the physical, metaphysical and spiritual aspects of drumming.
Source:
http://shamanicdrumming.blogspot.com/2014/05/drumming-for-orisa.html
Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.
Anyone can
join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist
Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).