Luisah Teish
The preface in Jambalaya's 2021 edition calls the Yemaya and Oya tales original, distinguishing them from five retold traditional stories.
Luisah Teish, Jambalaya, HarperCollins, 2021, Preface, paragraphs on the deity tales in chapter 7; licensed Everand preview.
Writer and ritualist, author of Jambalaya (1985), described by her publisher as an Oshun priestess.
More context
LSU New Orleans Press describes Luisah Teish as a writer and performer of African and African-diaspora sacred folklore, and as an Oshun priestess. It dates Jambalaya to 1985. In the preface reproduced in the 2021 edition, Teish presents New Orleans Voudou through ancestor reverence, natural materials and household ritual. She addresses uninitiated readers while advising those with elders to accept their guidance. She also distinguishes two original deity tales, Yemaya and Oya, from five new renditions of traditional stories. These are her stated practices and authorship claims, not evidence that every story is an unchanged ancient text.
Light
Teish presents ancestor reverence and household ritual as ways to cultivate spiritual power and connection.
Shadow
Teish advises readers with elders in an established community to accept their guidance.