Dancing with the Gods

In Dancing with the Gods: Essays in Ga Ritual, Professor Marion Kilson expertly probes the verbal and non-verbal ritual behaviors of the Ga to provide us with a thoughtful understanding of the meaning of Ga beliefs and practices. Through her exposition we hear the voices of the people as they perform rites related to the fundamental necessities of living. Verbal ritual acts establish the contracts between spirits and objects, which the non-verbal component enacts. The two are thus inseparable in apprehending the complexities of Ga cosmology. Dr. Kilson’s approach is highly systematic. She lays out the properties by which the Ga order classes of beings and their existential values. Human beings are positioned in the middle between the Supreme Being and divine beings on one side and animals and plants on the other. This configuration provides the context of ritual and secular action, and to understand its meaning as a religious paradigm, Kilson draws upon major scholars within the sociology of religion. She demonstrates the power of the analytic tradition of the L’Annee Sociologique and its utility in understanding cosmologies. She has successfully undertaken the difficult task of providing us with an understanding of the meaning of a people’s ritual life. -- George C. Bond, William F. Russell Professor of Anthropology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University