Sigal Samuel writes for The Atlantic: Modern black witches are practicing Yoruba-based faiths, with a few Millennial touches. They build altars to ancestors so they can seek their advice on everything from romance to professional advancement, cast spells using emoji to help banish depression, surround themselves with crystals in the hope that they will relieve stress, and … Read more“The Witches of Baltimore”
The full documentary is available on a pay-your-own-price basis via this site.
BBC Africa profiles several women who are reviving aspects of pre-Colonial spiritual practice.
VICE News reports on the increasing revival of Afro-Caribbean religions such as Voodoo and Lucumi as well as New Age witchcraft among Black American women.
I recorded this unusual and imaginative documentary on VHS tape back when it first screened, and re-watched it several times. During the first two-thirds, comedienne and presenter Ruby Wax lampoons various California New Age therapies and ostensibly mystical practices (or at least provides color commentary as they lampoon themselves) and it’s fun and funny to … Read more“Ruby Takes a Trip” (documentary, 1991)
The creators of the Parable of the Sower – a modern opera inspired by Octavia Butler’s prophetic 1992 work of dystopian fiction – describe the urgent relevance of their story in a time of climate crisis and social malaise: In this genre-defying work of concert performance featuring a powerhouse ensemble of 20 singers and musicians, … Read moreBehind the scenes of the “Parable of the Sower” opera
More on the music of Oshun: OSHUN is a sonic manifestation of Afrofuturism, creating music ranging from Hip-Hop / Soul to Spiritual. Combining digital and acoustic sounds, heavy drums and bass, and ambient harmonic textures, OSHUN has amassed a following of over a million people across social media, streaming platforms and international touring. Their supporters span across … Read moreOSHUN – “Blessings on Blessings”
Rob Cameron writes for The New Modality on the potentials of re-enchanting the optimistic Solarpunk and Afrofuturist genres: There is no greater or more fundamental technology than culture. It, and the ark of ideologies that arise from it, are more than just peer pressure from dead people. Culture is software. And more often than not, that includes … Read more“Promised Land: Religious Ideology and Solarpunk Science Fiction”
An impressionistic ’70s-vintage documentary on the art of Betye Saar, whose assemblage shadow boxes, mixed-media sculptures and altars frequently evoke a kind of syncretic Black mysticism.
God is Change.Shape God.The Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars. Click here to visit the Earthseed website, home of one of several new religions inspired by speculative fiction author Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998): Most religions are ultimately cargo cults. Adherents perform required … Read moreEarthseed: a new religion inspired by Octavia Butler’s “Parable” series
