Conjuring culture

In Conjuring Culture, Theophus Smith provides an innovative, interdisciplinary interpretation of the formation of African-American religion and culture. Smith argues for the central role in black spirituality of "conjure" - a magical means of transforming reality. Smith shows that the Bible, the sacred text of Western civilization, has in fact functioned as a magical formulary or sourcebook for African-Americans. Beginning in slave religion, and continuing in folk practice and literary expression, the Bible provided African-Americans with ritual prescriptions for prophetically re-envisioning…