Free Sacred Texts

The following are links to FREE sacred texts that are in the public domain. These texts will guide and inform those who are seriously interested in the origin of the Voodoo religion. The West African area, in particular, is important because this is where the majority of slaves departed for the New World. Hence large elements of West African, particularly Yoruba, religion (blended with Catholicism) can be found in religions such as Vodun (also known as Voodoo) (Haiti), Candomblè (Brazil) and Santeria (Caribbean).

MYTHS AND LEGENDS of the Bantu

ALICE WERNER

[1933]

This book covers the Bantu of South Africa as a whole.

WOMAN'S MYSTERIES OF A PRIMITIVE PEOPLE

The Ibibios of Southern Nigeria

by D. AMAURY TALBOT

[1915]

This is an ethnography of the Ibibio, a Nigerian tribe. Written by a pioneering English woman in the early 20th Century, this book focuses on the ritual life of women. Despite the naïve colonialist attitude, it presents a female perspective which was seldom seen in the ethnographic literature of the period.

FETICHISM IN WEST AFRICA

by REV. ROBERT HAMILL NASSAU

Charles Scribners Son

[1904]

Myths of Ífè

By John Wyndham

[London, 1921]

{Reduced to HTML by Christopher M. Weimer, Dec. 2002}

This short book is a translation of some of the myths of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. It is a history of the creation of the world, the gods, and humanity, and the early days of the sacred city of Ífè, the traditional center of Yoruba culture. The text was recited to the author/translator by the high priests of Ífè, and the book is still cited in some books on traditional Yoruba religion and thought today. It has undeservedly become quite rare, as it can be considered a minor classic in the field.

Yoruba Legends

by M. I. Ogumefu, B.A.

[London, 1929]

YORUBA-SPEAKING PEOPLES of the

Slave Coast of West Africa

by A. B. ELLIS

[1894]

Drums and Shadows

Georgia Writer's Project

Work Projects Administration

Mary Granger, District Supervisor

[1940, copyright not renewed]

This book focuses on a set of beliefs and magical practices (some of which are today known as 'Hoodoo'), including root doctoring, the existence of spirits, talismans, lucky and unlucky acts and omens and more. The interviewer also investigates the use of drums and dancing during celebrations, funeral and baptism rituals, food taboos, and other aspects of folklore and ethnology.

Here are two books relating to Haitian Voodoo (Vodun). They were written by an outsider to the religion who was ultimately unable to penetrate its inner mysteries; however both of these books has strengths as historical and ethnographic background on the topic:

VOODOOS AND OBEAHS Phases of West India Witchcraft

BY

JOSEPH J. WILLIAMS, S.J.

[1932, Copyright lapsed by non-renewal]

This is required reading if you want to understand the background of Haitian and Jamaican Vodun, and the profound influence of imperialism, slavery and racism on its development.

PSYCHIC PHENOMENA OF JAMAICA

By JOSEPH J. WILLIAMS, S.J.

NEW YORK [1934]

RIG VEDA AMERICANUS

SACRED SONGS OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS, WITH A GLOSS IN NAHUATL.

BY

DANIEL G. BRINTON

[1890]

The Myths of Mexico and Peru By Lewis Spence (1913)

MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE

By James Mooney

From Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I. [1900]

Scanned at www.sacred-texts.com, January-February 2001

COSMOGONIC MYTHS

The Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees.

By JAMES MOONEY.

[1891]

This is an ethnographic description of Cherokee shamanistic practice. Based on several manuscripts written by Cherokee shamans of the 19th Century, this includes the actual text of the rituals to treat various diseases, information on herbs used, love spells, hunting rituals, weather spells, as well as a spell for victory in the Ball game.