Member: cubaking
CollectionsYour library (328), Currently reading (15), All collections (328)
Reviews15 reviews
TagsNicolás Cristóbal Guillén (16), Orisha (11), Santeria (9), Yoruba (8), Lukumi (7), Lucumi (6), IFA (6), Orisa (6), La Habana (5), Olodumare (4) — see all tags
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About meAbout the author:
Mr. King is the Cuba expert who has spent at least three months a year on the forbidden island since 1993. He's an author and lecturer on Cuba who specializes in Cuban culture, history, religion and US- Cuban relationships. He holds the rank of Babalawo with Wanaldo in the Afro - Cuban religion of Orisha worship.
Literary offerings include: "Traveling Lite" an 88 page travelogue of a father and son golf trip to England and Wales in 2000. The pair plays 22 fine courses with no lodging, golf or transportation reservations over their five week trip."Fidel's Story" is a screenplay for theater or film with Fidel Castro talking to the American public in his trademark fashion. This history lesson is quite an eye opener. Fidel's Story is currently optioned to a major Hollywood production house.
"Nature's Ancient Religion" is a unique look at the Afro - Cuban religion. It is unique in that it is an autobiographical narrative, sharing the nuts and bolts of the world's seventh largest religion. Unlike most offerings in its category, it is written for those outside the religion. NAR chronicles Mr. King's spiritual journey from skeptic to high priest. It is full of humor, discussions and observations about Orisha worship and IFA. 328 packed pages include a 22 page discussion on major offerings by contemporary authors of Orisha worship. Abundant original artwork, glossary and an index provide easy referencing. Orisha worship is Nature's original "green" or environmentally friendly religion.
"Havana: My Kind of Town" is a 330 page offering that shares the true flavor of Havana and Cuba in general. Much like a streetwise travel journal, it provides insight from an insider's viewpoint. Humorous stories, discussions and experiences reveal Cuba's rich cultural history. Havana: My Kind of Town is not a travel guide, but it is the second book anyone should buy before visiting the island. Release date: February 15th 2009
Spencer is an avid and approachable Blogger on Sulekha.com, India's largest website (Sulekha means "good writing" in Hindi). He is a native Chicagoan who now lives in Nogales, Arizona and Havana, Cuba. He's an avid golfer with a handicap of 9 who plays out of the Havana Golf Club. He is divorced and available for lectures or appearances. Spencer can be contacted on Facebook or through his Blog on Sulekha where his handle is "bilingual". He is currently working on the Spanish and Portuguese editions of Nature's Ancient Religion.
About my libraryAt home over 4000 volumes until I gifted half to the new library at my school. My library here consists of books I have read or am reading....and it is taking forever to add them..LOL
GroupsA Pearl of Wisdom and Enlightenment, Ancient History, Bloggers, Books that made me think, History: On learning from and writing history, Literatura en Espanol, Non-Fiction Readers, Orisha Worship & IFA, Philosophy and Theory, Travel and Exploration literature —show all groups, Writer-readers
Homepagehttp://charlesspencerking.com
Also oneBay, Facebook, MySpace, Picasa, Wikipedia
Real nameCharles Spencer King
LocationNogales/ La Habana
Emailrajaspencer
yahoo.com
Favorite authorsNot set
Account typepublic, lifetime
URLs
http://www.librarything.com/profile/cubaking (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/cubaking (library)
Member sinceNov 15, 2008
Currently readingNature's Ancient Religion: Orisha worship & IFA by Charles Spencer King
Fundamentals of the YORUBA RELIGION (Orisa Worship) by Chief Fama
The Altar of My Soul: The Living Traditions of Santeria by Marta Moreno Vega
Ifa Will Mend Our Broken World by Wande Abimbola
El monte by Lydia Cabrera
Ifa Divination: Communication Between Gods and Men in West Africa (Midland Book, Mb 638) by William Russell Bascom
Santeria: the Religion: Faith, Rites, Magic (World Religion and Magic) by Migene González-Wippler
Inner Peace: The Yoruba Concept of Ori by Awo Falokun Fatunmbi
The Odu Of Lucumi by James J. Kulevich
Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion by David H. Brown
Oya, santeria and the orisha of the winds by Baba Raul Canizares
Babalu Aye : Santeria and the Lord of Pestilence by Raul Canizares
Obatala : Santeria and the White Robed King of the Orisha by Raul Canizares
Orisha: The Gods of Yorubaland, by Judith Illsley. Gleason
Havana My Kind of Town by Charles Spencer King
show all (15)
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http://bilingual.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/12/site-review-librarything-com.htm
posted by cubaking at 4:58 pm (EST) on Dec 27, 2008
Thank you for the welcome note and the sage advice and clarifications I do appreciate it! I think it is positive that we are having this conversation as it may be as helpful to others as it is to me. First and foremost the original idea of a group using the title of my book has been shelved. Fox rightly pointed out that this was over the top. Because the general topic is the branches and religion of Orisha worship (rather than my book)we have changed the name of the group to Orisha worship & IFA. We have also replaced the photo with a more general one as well as the group's description.
Unfortunately there are no groups currently specific to the world's seventh largest religion of Orisha worship & IFA, nor are there any groups on Santeria or the various branches of the Orisha worship tree. Also absent is any group on the Yoruba people or culture. Therefore, the group can include more rather than less by this significant change.
I think your suggestions on the invitations are sound, thanks again for taking the time to contribute to this discussion.
Spencer
posted by cubaking at 12:34 pm (EST) on Nov 18, 2008
Now, even for us Joiners, there isn't exactly a shortage of groups to join. According to the LT "Zeitgeist" statistics, there are currently 4,524 groups. The top Joiner is a member of 247 groups; that's less than 6 percent of the complete list (I'm a bit behind with only 160 groups).
Appearantly, even the most joiner-happy among LT users tend to apply some discretion as to which groups they join; if we wanted to join every single group we could simply do so by going through the complete list. And, nobody else can tell what our preferences are. So, based on the "Joiners" list alone, the chance that I will not be interested in your new group is some twenty times greater than the chance that I will actually be interested. Therefore, this explanation is insufficient.
I have used the invitation feature myself, to invite friends I already know (outside of LT) to groups I have reason to believe (based on my personal knowledge) they would be interested in, especially when they may be unfamiliar with the groups feature on LT (since they would hardly find those groups by themselves). LT users who have already joined hundreds of groups are those in least need of additional hints and tips about any groups, new or old.
And the 50 invitations/day rule is obviously crafted to prevent outright abuse and not to serve as a rule of thumb as to how many are appropriate to invite in that time. While I do have more than 50 friends in real life, I have yet to identify that many of them on LT, and I doubt I will send as many as 50 invitations total on LT in a lifetime.
If you think your group relates closely to another existing group on LT, it may be appropriate to put a single note about it in that other group alone, rather than send a separate invitation to every group member (especially if it has dozens of members). Still, this is subject to the opinion of the owner of the existing group, and if the owner is likely to object, please respect that (in which case sending invidual invitations to the members of said group would be even worse). Group owners compete for the attention of LT users; make sure to compete fairly and don't abuse the freedom from technical measures meant to control user behaviour.
I appreciate that you acknowledge being a novice LT user and demonstrate a willingness to learn; a good rule of thumb in any forum (whether on the Internet or in real life) is to listen before speaking, to read before writing, simply to learn the manners and customs of the community. LT has half a million registered users, but I suppose only a small minority of them actively post messages and information for others to read (and obviously less than one percent of them have ever created a group). You seem to have jumped into that minority less than two days after joining LT. Welcome to our party, and... never mind, you know where the fridge is. :-)
posted by sm5por at 10:05 am (EST) on Nov 18, 2008
It is possible to edit the invites to include reasons as to why the invitee may be interested.
posted by reading_fox at 6:35 am (EST) on Nov 17, 2008
I do appreciate the tip, I am sorry you gauged it as SPAM. I assure you all of the invites I send out are well thought out and there is a connection.
Cheers.
CSK
posted by cubaking at 7:55 pm (EST) on Nov 16, 2008
Steve
posted by BookMad.net at 4:34 pm (EST) on Nov 16, 2008
posted by reading_fox at 3:32 pm (EST) on Nov 16, 2008
http://bilingual.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/10/nature-s-ancient-religion-the-pro...
Do keep in mind that all of my books are professionally edited and my Blogs are not so please excuse any typos in my ramblings... also if you are an OBAMA fan you will find some meat there. Sulekha is the largest Indian site and it means "good writing" in Hindi. Of the 20,000 Blogers there, I am more or less the token non Hindu, non Indian with an attitude. I am always looking for help...LOL. The site is very well designed and absent of the fights and wars that sometimes frequent Blogs. There is a handy column on the right of the public profile that catagorizes. There are some fine writers (mostly Indian) that blog there. Again thanks for dropping by. Charles Spencer King (Awo Ogbe Sa)
posted by cubaking at 5:20 pm (EST) on Nov 15, 2008