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4.5
A lot of people I have found tend to not like Migene González-Wippler because in one of her books she has a photo that shows the inside of one of the orishas tureen (sacred pots). I believe she tried to right her wrong by claiming that the photo was obtained by the police, which probably didn’t help much, but it was a classic error that most conducting an anthropological study make when trying to protect the authenticity of a culture, while at the same time remain objective in explaining to others what makes a cultural tradition so unique. Also, it is said that she plagiarized work from Lydia Cabrera’s El Monte. I don’t know because I am not fluent in Spanish, yet. :)That being said, Gonzalez-Wippler came to fame because she was the only author in the United States to provide insight into Santeria (Regla de Ocha) in English. Before she stepped on the scene, most of the information written about the Afro traditions from Cuba and Puerto Rico were in Latin American Spanish. In fact, still the best information on the subject is still in English. Anyway, there are rumors that she underwent the first stages in the initiation process of receiving the elekes (the initial sacred beads of the religion) and the warriors, and then when you talk to other people they claim that she didn’t. Whatever the case, she tries to provide a basic and general understanding of what Santeria is all about, which is why I recommend this book.
