Sachgebiete

Beschreibung:

64 S.; zahlr. Abb. Broschiert.

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Gebraucht, aber sehr gut erhalten. - Preface -- Elsie CrumMcCabe -- Acknowledgments Advienne Noe -- To Cure and Protect: Sickness and Health in African Art Frank Herreman -- The Universal Search for Health, Role of Art as a Return to the Future Bernard M. Wagner, M.D. -- Catalogue -- Frank Herreman -- Leadership, spirits and the Safeguarding of Health. -- Representing Disease: Causes and Cautions in Art -- Divination/Diviners, Healing/Healers -- Protecting the Individual, the Family, and the Community -- Bibliography. // The pantheon of spirits is extremely diverse, but can be divided into two broad categories: ancestor spirits and nature spirits. Well-known are the ancestor spirits, deceased members of the community who during their lifetimes were confronted by many of the same questions and dilemmas experienced by later generations and descendants. Ancestor spirits are therefore particularly well suited to providing counsel and help. Shrines are made to them. While some peoples carve ancestor figures, shrines and figures are but two of the many places such spirits may inhabit. These spirits have the advantage of being incarnated as masks and figures and in this way may be less threatening. Ancestor figures usually represent their subjects idealized, combining physical and spiritual ideals. Beautiful renderings of the spirits are hoped to win their favor. Nature spirits are more varied than ancestor spirits. As the name suggests, they live in the natural world, and so are often known as water spirits, mountain spirits, forest spirits, and so on. They are also sometimes associated with natural phenomena like thunder and lightning. These spirits may be represented as humans or animals, but also as hybrids of the two. How they are portrayed is explained to the sculptor through dream or myth. The village, the dwelling, and the fields where crops grow are seen as safe enclaves within the world of nature, which is generally understood as a potentially dangerous entity. Village and nature are separated from each other by well-delineated boundaries. Entry into or exit from the village must take place by clearly determined routes, which are provided with defenses against undesirable supernatural forces. When leaving the village, one arms oneself with protective amulets for the same purpose. Sickness and disease, economic and ecological disasters, tensions between neighboring communities are never thought of as natural occurrences. Instead, they are seen as the consequence of social or religious shortcomings. Health is dependent on living by prescribed social ideals, properly honoring ancestor and nature spirits, and correctly discharging one's duties to them. Any act of offense, neglect, or disdain may bring illness, crop failure, and other bad consequences including death. In most cases, spirits are neutrally disposed, and have no inherent moral code. If they become malignant, it may be that they have been manipulated by sorcerers and witches, with misfortune following in their wake. To unmask evildoers is an art and is the job of a specialist usually known as a diviner or healer. (S. 10) ISBN 0945802226