Orishas of Trinidad

By: Monique Joiner Siedlak

Narrated by: Dionna Patrick

Trinidad Orisha: Spirit, color, and drums

Orisha is a colorful and misunderstood religion practiced in Trinidad and Tobago with ties to the Yorba culture of Nigeria. A spiritual tradition with celebrations of food, drums, dance, and prayer, Orisha has millions of followers in the world.

Orishas of Trinidad, by Monique Joiner Siedlak, explores this African-routed tradition starting with a look at the roots of this vibrant and colorful tradition and how it evolved to where it is today. This fascinating book covers topics such as the past persecution of Orisha followers, the religion’s deities, practices, ceremonies, and ties to aspects of the Catholic Church.

Monique brings light to the fact that there are those who, in their ignorance, still demonize this religion. The truth is, there is nothing demonic about Orisha. While it is a non-Christian religion, it shares the ideas of baptism and one supreme God - Oludumare.

Listeners will love hearing about the Orisha spirits, equated with Christian saints, and seen as messengers between man and Oludumare’s divine kingdom. For example, Osain, the Yoruba god of herbal medicine, healing, and prophecy associated with St. Francis, and Shakpana, a healer of children’s diseases related to St. Jerome. Then there is Ogun, the warrior god of iron and steel, associated with St. Michael.

Order your copy of Orishas of Trinidad by Monique Joiner Siedlak today, and introduce yourself to a rich and fascinating African-rooted tradition called Orisha. You will enjoy hearing about this extraordinary tradition.

©2020 Monique Joiner Siedlak (P)2020 Monique Joiner Siedlak

Good Starter

This is good for people who are wanting exposure to new information regarding the history of “underground” religion in Trinidad. I will use this as a base to begin researching some of the topics and Orishas mentioned. I did notice pronunciation being off with several words that I would otherwise recognize. Overall happy that info about Trinidad and its history are more readily available.

Such an Informative and Inspirational Book

I chose this book to get more information on the Orishas and I definitely got more information than I imagined. Such a masterpiece of Trinidad and Tobago's history and cultural formation, I learned more about my country than any history class has ever taught. This book provides the reader with the reasons for certain tools and symbols associated with local African religions and addresses a lot of false narratives painted by Christianity. It covers basic information on the Orisha's without going too in-depth. Overall it's a lovely book to spark curiosity.

Good info but needed warmth

I enjoyed the info in the book but it read more like a textbook and not like an experience. The author normally writes with warmth and enthusiasm but it was lacking in this book. I was extremely disappointed with the narrator's consistent mispronouncation of Trinidadian colloquial words. As a Trinidadian who was raised around spiritual and Shango baptists and now a student of Ida I found myself rewinding parts to try to figure out what word was being tortured; it really hurt my ear. Also, there were a few time the narrator had to reread words, I really wished those were removed.

Start here but do your own research

The author's take is interesting and informative for someone that is just beginning their research. However, I found it difficult to listen to the many mispronunciations of key terms. I recommend that this be republished with a Trinbagonian narrator or a narrator who has learned the correct pronunciation from a native speaker.