8
COLLECTANEA INSTITUTI ANTHROPOS
OROMO
RELIGION
Myths and Rites
of the Western Oromo
of Ethiopia -
An Attempt to Understand
This book is ... a treasure-house of carefully and lovingly gathered detail on the rituals
and beliefs of the western Matcha Oromo, in the main as they are reconstructed as “tradition”
in conversations with both younger and older informants : . . . this study, dedicated to the
Oromo people, is a valuable document of their current quest for an authentic and self-
identifying past. Wendy James in Journal of Religion in Africa 1987
This book is a pathbreaking and absorbing survey of the religious life, concepts, and
worldview of the Matcha Oromo of Wallaga province. - Pathbreaking, because it contains
the first substantial study of Oromo religion that has appeared for a long time, taking the
views and statements of the Oromo themselves as the first source; absorbing, because this
book is an inspired, sincere, and very interesting account, that evokes deep admiration. . . .
It is an invaluable sourcebook containing many new data (prayers, texts, native explanations,
stories, ritual formula, etc.) and as such it is a work to read and consult many times. It is
destined to become a classic. J. Abbink in Anthropos 1985
This is in many ways an admirable book. It demonstrates the author’s command of the Oromo
language, and his love for the Oromo people. This together with his choice of able assistants
and the considerable latitude he gave them to articulate their own religious concepts, his
fascinating observation of numerous ceremonies and his excellent interpretation of them, all
make this an invaluable and much needed work of reference on the study of Oromo society.
Mohammed Hassen in Man 1985
Orders to: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Unter den Eichen 57, 1000 Berlin 45
West Germany
COLLECTANEA
INSTITUTI ANTHROPOS
Lambert Bartels
Oromo Religion - Myths and Rites
of the Western Oromo of Ethiopia -
An Attempt to Understand
411 pp., ISBN 3-496-00671-4, DM 62,-
2nd edition 1990
