{"product_id":"water-into-bones-birth-rituals-ancestors-and-religious-pluralism-in-northern-madagascar-hardback-9780253072399","title":"Water Into Bones; Birth Rituals, Ancestors, and Religious Pluralism in Northern Madagascar (Hardback) 9780253072399","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eWater Into Bones\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eBirth Rituals, Ancestors, and Religious Pluralism in Northern Madagascar\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eErin K. Nourse (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780253072399\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eHardback, published 4 March 2025\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e288 pages, 24 b\u0026amp;w illus.\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.558 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWater into Bones\u003c\/i\u003e explores the spiritual importance of water in Madagascar. Families in northern Madagascar conceptualize water as a spiritual realm where magical creatures and some ancestors live, and believe that infants are born with a special connection to the spirit world that makes them \"still full of water\" (mbola rano) and lacking bones. Over the course of their lives, the water is transformed into bone, and lives end as entombed bones, which symbolize their legacy as ancestors and become objects of their descendants' care and remembrance.\u003cbr\u003e Author Erin Nourse examines the ways that Malagasy women in the northern port city of Diégo Suarez actively enable their infants to acquire \"bones\" and establish belonging within their communities. Navigating diverse social environments that enable them to draw from various religious, ethnic, and familial traditions to welcome babies into their families, Malagasy mothers secure their children's status as distinctive individuals who are also firmly grounded in their ancestral legacies.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWater into Bones \u003c\/i\u003ereveals the vast possibilities for creating community, identity, and sacred power through the personal experiences of northern Malagasy women during pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Introduction: Studying Birth Rituals and Ancestors in Madagascar\u003cbr\u003e 1. Birthing Babies in Diégo Suarez\u003cbr\u003e 2. Motherhood and Creative Confluences of Care\u003cbr\u003e 3. Bathing and Seclusion: Making Mothers Who Will Bless Their Babies\u003cbr\u003e 4. Turning \"Water Babies\" into \"Real Human Beings\"\u003cbr\u003e 5. Bearing Babies in Dynamic Religious Landscapes\u003cbr\u003e Conclusion: Birth, Loss, and Competing Moral Cosmologies\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Indiana University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52525706314008,"sku":"9780253072399","price":60.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/water-into-bones-birth-rituals-ancestors-and-religious-pluralism-in-northern-madagascar-hardback-9780253072399","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}