Topology of the sacred and agency
Water sites of power in Bantu African and Brazilian culture, with considerations on baptism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23925/1677-1222.2021vol21i3a4Keywords:
agency, sacred sites, Bantu culture, Afro-Brazilian studies, baptism, UmbandaAbstract
On the background of resurging interest in ‚sites of power’, on both sides of the Atlantic, this essay presents a feature, sometimes marginalised in their theories: ‘agency’. It is understood that the recognition of the relation between ‘topography’ and ‘agency’ is required, to understand the dynamics of such sites, as experienced and codified in cultures and religions. This essay focusses on the ‘sites of water’ as important archetypes of Bantu African and Brazilian Diaspora cultures and religions. On the assumption of ancient formative connections of the Bantu with the Afro-Asiatic cultures, to which the Hebrew belongs, corresponding reports and concepts from the Bible are included in this analysis, disclosing systematically interesting features on this matrix by ‘archaeology of culture’.
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