A luminous brotherhood : Afro-Creole Spiritualism in nineteenth-century New Orleans / Emily Suzanne Clark.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clark, Emily Suzanne, 1984-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Louisiana--New Orleans--Religion.

African Americans.

Race--Religious aspects.

Race.

Religion.

New Orleans (La.)--Church history--19th century.

New Orleans (La.).

New Orleans (La.)--Religious life and customs.

Louisiana--New Orleans.

Physical Description:

xii. 265 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [2016]

Summary:

"In the midst of a nineteenth-century boom in spiritual experimentation, the Cercle Harmonique, a remarkable group of African-descended men, practices Spiritualism in heavily Catholic New Orleans from just before the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction. In this first comprehensive history of the Cercle, Emily Suzanne Clark illuminates how highly diverse religious practices wind in significant ways through American life, culture, and history. Clark shows that the beliefs and practices of Spiritualism helped Afro-Creoles mediate the political and social changes in New Orleans, as free blacks suffered increasingly restrictive laws and then met with violent resistance to suffrage and racial equality. Drawing on fascinating records of actual séance practices, the lives of the mediums, and larger city-wide and national contexts, Clark reveals how the messages that the Cercle received from the spirit world offered its members rich religious experiences as well as a forum for political activism inspired by republican ideals. Messages from departed souls including François Rabelais, Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, Robert E. Lee, Emanuel Swedenborg, and even Confucius discussed government structures, the moral progress of humanity, and equality. The Afro-Creole Spiritualists were encouraged to continue struggling for justice in a new world where "bright" spirits would replace raced bodies." From jacket.

Contents:

Afro-Creole Spiritualism in New Orleans

The creation of the Cercle Harmonique

The disharmony of New Orleans city life

Spiritualism and Catholicism

The spiritual republic and America's destiny

The spiritual republic in the Atlantic Age of revolutions.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [237]-258 and index.

ISBN:

9781469628783

1469628783

OCLC:

926105944