Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti

This is a very intellectual yet enthralling read.I am taking it slowly like dining on fine food.It is NOT for everyone.

In the first pages of this book Deren compares the place of the artist in society with that of indigenous cultures. It is funny, sharp, and deeply intelligent. Yes, she is poetic, and writes with an artist's sensibility, but I am most interested in people and cultures, and this book is as psychologically and culturally and religiously sophisticated as any book I've read. Included in her chapters are examinations of the role of ritual in social coherence, creative expression (for everyone in the culture, not just the "geniuses"), and in individual development. Of course, we can idealize pre-industrial and pre-capitalist cultures, and life was, as Deren tells it (and as we know) excessively difficult for the slaves and their descendants who were forced to leave Africa and come to Haiti. But we can see what we've lost, spiritually, socially and personally with our move toward progress. An incredibly good read--and a classic work of anthropology, without the delusions about "objectivity" that permeate much of the academic writing.

I have given away countless copies of this book to students wanting to get an inside, accurate understanding of Haiti and the Vodoun religion. It corrects the racist, ignorant, sensational accounts of this beloved and beautiful religion from the vantage point of an initiate. Maya Deren was an experimental film maker who went to Haiti in the forties to make an "art" film. When she realized that dance could not be separated from music and together they could not be separated from belief, she put her cameras in the closet and became a participant. She was also the red headed secretary for Katherine Dunham's black dance company.

I have Maya Deren's films "In the Mirror of Maya Deren," and "Maya Deren: Experimental Films." and as a result of seeing them, I was moved to purchase this book as well. I am fascinated that she had the access she did and that she documented it all. Yes, as some other reviewers say, it tends to be a "time capsule" but when we are looking into the past, should that exactly be what it ne3eds to be? I am grateful to Maya and all of the work she did, giving us a glimpse into things we would never find in ordinary life.

This is an unbelievably great book by a fascinating author. Maya Deren has written an in depth book into the world of vodun. It's a very deep book with tremendously insightful information. Loved it.

Heavily footnoted but clearly well researched. A slow read as you go with a slight chapter by chapter review will be well rewarded.

Amazing book that helps you to look at Haitian culture and Voodoo culture from completely different perspective, from the eyes of an Artist!

For those looking to seriously research and learn about Haitian Vodou, Deren's book is a must-read. For those interested in an overview, this is not the book. The reality is that Deren seems to write largely for the sake of the art, with less concern for the communication of the subject matter. I judge the book at a higher standard partially because it is considered to be the standard for resources on Haitian Vodou, and partially because of the length of the book. For as much time as it takes to get through this book, I feel that my understanding should have increased more than it did.I did not find this to be easy reading, and often stumbled over the flowery, albeit awkward sentences. She writes with passion, but she writes in the style of a memoir. But this is not a memoir. it could have been, but it's a book about the beliefs and traditions of Haitian Vodou. For that purpose, she could have cut the book in half and been more efficient to be more concise.The most useful sections were the appendices at the end, speaking about marriage between voudisant and loa, and about indigenous influences in the religion.If you're serious about Haiti or Vodou or religious studies, it's a good things to read. But take your time. You'll need it.

I ordered this book because I'm interested in learning about voodoo and its history. very interesting book.

The Macpherson edition of this important book, published under the title "Divine Horsemen, The Living Gods of Haiti", is a better edition with larger print than the cheap Paladin paperback (the Paladin one is the same book, but called "The Voodoo Gods", even though Deren used the word 'Vodoun' rather than voodoo'. The pages of my Paladin copy separated from the spine long ago, and the print is rather small.) Joseph Campbell, who wrote a brief foreword in both editions, seems a little overemphasised in the Amazon description rather than the author of the work, even though I understand he did help to get the work into print in the first place. It makes an excellent addition to the literature once one has read Seabrook, and while there are only a handful of books on the practice worth reading, it should primarily be experienced (as Deren did) since literature, for a tradition that is an oral one rather than relying on 'holy books', can give little more than a rough intellectual approximation.

This is probably the best book published in English (and in French) on Haitian Vaudou to date. Maya Deren's brilliant and beautifully written narrative retraces her immersion into the Haitian religion. Deren avoids the usual pitfalls of sensationalism and Western-centric positivism that tend to plague most works on the topic. Highly recommended!

Good detailled book easy to read

Really really interesting anthropological study of Voodoun. Free from the judgemental press that Voodoun gets from the mainstream religions which deemed it to be evil because they did not understand it (or to subjugate those who practiced it). Deren is a great writer, extremely poetic, and never dull.I can only recommend.