Adherents.com: Religious Groups in Literature

'All of them,' he said, 'and none. Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Christian, Jew--each has an after-life experience which reflects his own beliefs. The Viking has his Valhalla, the American Indian his Happy Hunting Ground, the zealot his City of Gold. All are real. Each is a portion of the overall reality.' "

'A latter-day Viking; he was born too late. Haakon wrote Pax Abrahamitica, a history of the desert tribes...' "

...'Well, I don't feel at all like a Viking. I'm not after loot, and adventure is the very last thing I want.' "

Stein smiled in spite of himself. In his favorite fantasies he did imagine himself a Viking. Or, since he had both Norse and Swedish genes, perhaps a Varangian marauder slashing his way southward into ancient Russia. How wonderful it would be to answer insults with an axe or a sword, unfettered by the stupid constraints of civilization! To let the red anger flow as it was meant to, powering his great muscles for battle! To take strong blonde women who would first fight him off, then yield with sweet openness! He was born for a life like that. "

The armies of the Visigoth Empire have smashed the might of Europe, plunging the conquered lands into unnatural night. Only Burgundy fights on, battered but unbeaten, still warm in the embrace of the sun... "

...this note is intended to bring the reader up to date with the two previous volumes... The fifteenth-century mercenary captain, Ash, has discovered that the North African Visigoth invasion of Europe is being led by a slave general who is her twin. Ash also learns that her 'saint's voice' guiding her in battle is, in fact, the voice of the Visigothic machina rei militaris... transmitted overseas from Carthage... Charles, Duke of Burgundy, first insists on giving battle to the invading Visigoth army. At Auxonne, the Visigoths field golem and Greek Fire weapons; Duke Charles is injured; and during the confusion Ash is separated from the company, captured, and sent as a prisoner to the capital of the Visigoth Empire, Carthage. "

'I don't credit them, any more than I credit Rorschach blots as really being pictures of monsters!... By having patients do readings...' "

'He's not a Moslem,' Albigoni said. 'Doesn't believe in any formal religion as far as I know. Dabbled in vodoun a few years ago but not seriously. Used to visit a shop in LA for ritual items, more for research than spiritual need, I think.' "

...The voodoo urge to truck with demons. The imp of the perverse. Deep in the human spirit, the carnivorous shadow of science. "

'That's correct. It was easy, in four sections of the Wheel. Their God of Gas, Xe Kwi Stofr, is our Saint Christopher, and...' "

'Phillipe, you do not know that in O'Haiti the houmfort was the shrine of the vodus. You never heard of the rites of vodu, the sacrifice of the black rooster, the ouanga bag, the danse calinda, the zombie?' "; Pg. 659: "'--vodu was a mix from the start, and we can use the same tactic as the O'Haitians to make vodu live again, serve again as the tool and focus of our national struggle against descendants of the Christian slavers.' " [More, pg. 632-633, 658-659, 673-674, 701, etc. N'Haiti and N'Alabama are the main colony worlds featured in the story.]

Pg. 325: "Two of the Anointed stepped in front of Keller, braced against Riutta's strong presence. She was a mighty survivor, but the zombies were unimpressed. Being dead awhile could do that. " [No other refs. to 'voodoo' by name, but a significant section here reflects voodoo/zombie themes.]

'And I resemble this Madame Brigitte?' "

'It's got to be more interesting than looking at anchors,' Ray said... "

Calixte smiled his blasted smile. 'None that put on such a fine show.' " [Many other refs., not in DB. Entire story is largely about Vodoun. See also pg. 45-59.]

Chrysalis stared at his back for a moment, shivering, despite the warmth of the evening. She had just seen, talked to, and even touched, she realized, a zombi... She had never been so afraid in her life... "

--Maya Deren,
Divine Horseman: The Voodoo Gods of Haiti "

He frowned. 'Voudoun worships the past. It is ancestor worship. We live in the present. We hurt no living thing. We make no sacrifice. We will save all life. I am a vegetarian, you see...' "

Baron Samedi leaped into a river to go Under the Water, sou dleau, to the land of the dead and the gods of old Haiti. Colonel Sir had used vodoun to his advantage--as had many other rulers on the island before him--and then had slowly converted the countless loa into comic book and cartoon heroes, defusing the faith's power for younger generations. Under the Water, Baron Samedi conversed with Erzulie, the beautiful loa of love, and with Damballa, a rainbow-colored snake. "

The cadaver picked out a smaller drum and pulled it from the wall with a twang of broken wires. It kneeled down on the floor and beat the skin heavily with dead fingers. At each beat the shelves and walls of the shop sucked inward... " [Other refs. to Vodoun, most not in DB. Extensive references to Vodoun pg. 323 to 347.]

'It is everywhere. Now. The horse is tired of talking.' She tripped away, toppling more shelves. She knocked against the large jar containing the cadaver. The jar wobbled on its low base, tipped one way and another and fell over, shattering to the floor. "

--Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti "

''It is,' the woman said. 'But we get a call around here for santeria and vodoun goods, herbs, that sort of thing. We cater to oriental mystery patrons... You name it, we can get it.' "

The crucifix looked ancient, a dark wooden T supporting a black Jesus in muscle knotted agony. Bright blood from the crown of thorns stood out against the ebony black of the face; around the base of the cross twined a vivid green serpent, black tongue frozen in a sinister dart. " [More, pg. 374-378.]

Soulavier looked up, squinting as if digging deep into childhood memory. 'The tall one with the black sword and the feather torch, that is Asambo-Oriel. The first part of the name means nothing, I think; D'Arqueville heard their names in a dream. Asambo-Oriel drove the blacks out of Guinee through the Coast of Souls. He is the Loa with Torch and Sword, like the archangel Uriel. The one with the drum and the bones of birds, that is Rohar-Israfel, Loa of Sacred Music and Chanting. Next is Ti-Gabriel, who calls an end to all loa . . . The smallest of them, and the most mighty. Samedi-Azrael, the most vain, calls us to our graves...' "

'What is this about you taking Mister Myshtigo to a pagan ceremony?' he asked... "

A service was in progress when we were led in by a young hounsi named Luis... " [Much more material about vodoun not in DB, pg. 34-38, and some elsewhere, as on pg. 43.]