7, February 2012
Religious Practices
Secular less religious- worldly-concerns of the world
Sacred religious-realm of the spirituals
According to Levine, they are similar to where we are in society
18th century blacks looked at everything sacred
Page 32 Claude Levi-Strauss talks about rabbis house
o Traveling through this house between synagogue and hallwaypassing out of the profound world and into this sacred world
o Sacred world when we are at church or some ritual event
Folk Traditions:
1. The roots like conjures (Frederick Douglass) where one person is gifted
with something that could protect him
2. Alternative medicine natural elements
3. Dreaming the future (Matt Turner-enslaved) is seeing visions from the
other world.
o He got a sign from the heavens.
o The sign was the eclipse
o Looking to the naturally world for feed back
o He leads a rebellion and it is successful for a few days but
eventually he is captured and in prison
o Practical consequence to this belief
Frederick Douglass
He spoke to Sandy Jenkins who was a conjure (a highly religious figure
who has demonstrated the capacity to unlock natural objects)
He was christen
Immediate threat that he was dealing with over seer named Covey
(violent guy)
The conjure gives Frederick a root and tells him to put it in his pocket
When you have the root on you you, will feel protected and filled with
power
The guy Covey whipped Frederick and so then Frederick fought back and
he beats Covey and then Covey left him alone.
Frederick sooner escapes
Whether or not the root is magical, he secured some safety for himself
What draws people to conjure?
Fear
Sickness
Last resort for some people
Fear of the unknown, theft, day to day stuff
Advantage of white contemporary
A body of knowledge your oppressor has no insight to.
Social power rarely translates into real power
Page 80 Levine talks about agency over your spiritual world- maintains
the sense of the enslaved understanding the act of morally being right.
Aunt Rebecca
Highly promiscuous women
Women were the care taker
She is religious, she is not someone who is a sexual object
She is wanting to produce a body of knowledge preaching to everyone
Expand social power horizontally among her family, community, network of
people enslaved on plantations
Expand power vertically means talking about the social / racial hierarchy
which is transcended by Aunt Rebecca
o Example captured attention, did not disregard her, provided her a
venue to preach to everyone including white, and white slave
holders
Enslaved population are laying the ground words for over expressions of
political resistance- to finally undo slavery