About the author
Solimar Otero is a folklorist whose scholarship focuses on Afro-Latinx religious traditions and their relationship to storytelling and the dead. Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures (Columbia University Press, 2020) examines how practices such as Cuban Espiritismo, Puerto Rican Santeria, and Brazilian Candomble treat the dead as active narrators, communicating through mediums to give advice, make requests, and shape future rituals. Otero frames these practices as a living archive co-produced by the dead and the communities that maintain contact with them, drawing together religious studies, folklore, and cultural history. The book is aimed at readers interested in Afro-Latin American and Caribbean religion, diaspora studies, and the anthropology of death and spirit communication, and it is grounded in ethnographic and archival research rather than in devotional or instructional writing.
📖 Where to start with Solimar Otero
💬 What our editors say about Solimar Otero's books
“Otero provides a rigorous academic examination of Afrolatinx religious frameworks, offering fresh insights into how the deceased influence living ritual practices. The concept of co-created spiritual archives is intellectually…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures - Ingram Academic Otero, Solimar
“Otero delivers a rigorous academic examination that may feel dense to casual readers of occult lore. This book is not suitable for those seeking simple spellbooks or practical instruction on casting spells; it is a theoretical…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Archives of Conjure: Stories of the Dead in Afrolatinx Cultures - Ingram Academic Otero, Solimar
