Osun is a brilliant deity whose imagery and worldwide devotion demand broad and deep scholarly reflection. Contributors to the ground-breaking Africa s Ogun, edited by Sandra Barnes (Indiana University Press, 1997), explored the complex nature of Ogun, the orisa who transforms life through iron and technology. Osun across the Waters continues this exploration of Yoruba religion by documenting Osun religion. Osun presents a dynamic example of the resilience and renewed importance of traditional Yoruba images in negotiating spiritual experience, social identity, and political power in contemporary Africa and the African diaspora.

The 17 contributors to Osun across the Waters delineate the special dimensions of Osun religion as it appears through multiple disciplines in multiple cultural contexts. Tracing the extent of Osun traditions takes us across the waters and back again. Osun traditions continue to grow and change as they flow and return from their sources in Africa and the Americas.
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Looking beyond the myths of "black magic" surrounding the religions of the African diaspora, Joseph M. Murphy explores the contemporary rituals of five traditions in the Americas--from Vodou in Haiti to the Black Church in the United States. "A valuable guidebook to the enduring and ever-changing African religious heritage in this hemisphere".--The New York Times Book Review.

"Santeria "represents the first in-depth, scholarly account of a profound way of wisdom that is growing in importance in America today. A professional academic and himself a participant in the Santeria" "community of the Bronx for several years, Joseph Murphy offers a powerful description and insightful analysis of this African/Cuban religion. He traces the survival of an ancient spiritual path from its West African Yoruba origins, through nearly two centuries of slavery in the New World, to its presence in the urban centers of the United States, where it continues to inspire seekers with its compelling vision.

Botanicas is an exploration in text and photographs of spiritual shops found in Latino neighborhoods throughout the United States. Readers discover these marvelous spaces and their alternative spiritualities that help patrons cope with the grind and challenges of city life. Botanicas provide access to an array of invisible powers and sell the ingredients to construct symbolic solutions to their patrons' problems. The stores are bright and baroque, and the powers they invoke come from religious traditions in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the native Americas. In Botanicas, Joseph M. Murphy offers a cultural history of the devotions on display and a reflection on the efficacy of their powers to heal. Readers will come to see that the goods and devotions of botanicas give their patrons--mostly Latino, often immigrants--pathways for empowerment and transformation. The name botanicas comes from the ""botanicals"" for sale, herbs and plants with healing powers. The pharmacopeia of botanicas can be vast, and owners may know hundreds of remedies for treating problems of health, wealth, and love. Botanicas vend herbs for upset stomach, herbs for finding a job, and herbs for wooing back a wayward spouse. Supplementing these medicinal and magical plants, botanicas sell candles, holy statues, and tools for devotion to an array of spiritual powers--Catholic saints, African gods, indigenous spirits, and Asian divinities. Each spirit has its own ritual of petition, and botanica owners can discern the proper offerings and prayers to help the supplicant. Murphy explains the religions of the botanica with subtlety and sensitivity. He gives readers a deep sense of the contexts of the stores and a sophisticated analysis of the religious traditions that suffuse them. Visually fascinating, culturally rich, and religiously profound, Botanicas is a window into a world of beauty and power.