Célestin Mbala
One of the storytelling voices behind African Belief — every piece below carries their name because it was researched, framed, and checked in their voice.
Pieces by Célestin
The Negative Father Archetype: Mwindo, Yennenga, and Longar
A chief seals his newborn son inside a drum, has the drum bound shut, and pushes it out into the river. He has already tried a grave.
Children of Blood and Bone Film News: What Orïsha Is (and Isn't)
The advice comes in the replies under every trailer: it's a fantasy movie, relax, none of it is real.
Yoruba Indigenous Religion in Church and Mosque: What Survived
The praise session at a Pentecostal church in Ìbàdàn opens the way a party opens. A gángan — the small talking drum held under the arm — answers the song leader line for line, bending its pitch to…
Jungian Archetypes in African Myth: A Diaspora Reader's Guide
African myth does not illustrate Jungian archetypes. In several places, it corrects them. That is a large claim to open with, and the rest of this piece is me earning it.
African Folklore in Contemporary Storytelling: Àbíkú and Ọgbanje
Two hundred and fifty-six. That is the entire sign system of Ifá, the divination tradition of the Yoruba people of southwestern Nigeria, Benin and Togo — and one of the deepest reservoirs that African…
Electronic Music Production and the Orishas in Chicago House
The first time I heard a batá phrase come through a Chicago club system, it was not being played on batá.
Afrofusion Cinema: How Netflix Releases Carry African Myth
I ran the first twenty minutes of Anikulapo twice on a Tuesday night. The first pass was ordinary watching.
Orisha, Mami Wata, and the Fantasy Novel Review Rule
A reader meets Èṣù on page forty. He is standing at a crossroads, which is where he usually stands, and the book does not stop to explain him.
African Folklore in Contemporary Storytelling: Àbíkú to Mami Wata
Folklore is the newest thing on the page. That reads backwards, so let me state it plainly and then spend the rest of this piece earning it.