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Candomblé

Candomblé (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɐ̃dõˈblɛ]) is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially that of the Yoruba, and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organised through autonomous groups.

A practitioner dressed as the orixá Oba at a temple in Brazil; the possession of adherents by orixá is central to Candomblé

Candomblé involves the veneration of spirits known as orixás. Deriving their names and attributes from traditional West African deities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. Various myths are told about these orixás, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Oludumaré. Each individual is believed to have a tutelary orixá who has been connected to them since before birth and who informs their personality. An initiatory tradition, Candomblé's members usually meet in temples known as terreiros run by priests called babalorixás and priestesses called ialorixás. A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an orixá to possess one of their members. They believe that through this possessed individual, they can communicate directly with a deity. Offerings to the orixás include fruit and sacrificed animals. Offerings are also given to a range of lesser spirits, including the exus, caboclos, and the spirits of the dead. Several forms of divination are utilized to decipher messages from the orixás. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies, amulets, and charms, also play a prominent role.

Candomblé developed among Afro-Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu, and the Roman Catholic teachings of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area. It primarily coalesced in the Bahia region during the 19th century. In places, it merged with another Afro-Brazilian religion, Umbanda. Following Brazil's independence from Portugal, the constitution of 1891 enshrined freedom of religion in the country, although Candomblé remained marginalized by the Roman Catholic establishment, which typically associated it with criminality. In the 20th century, growing emigration from Bahia spread Candomblé both throughout Brazil and abroad. The late 20th century saw growing links between Candomblé and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, such as Cuban Santería and Haitian Vodou. Since the late 20th century, some practitioners have emphasized a re-Africanization process to remove Roman Catholic influences and create forms of Candomblé closer to traditional West African religion.

Each terreiro is autonomous although can be divided into distinct denominations, known as nations, based on which traditional West African belief system has been its primary influence. The most prominent nations are the Ketu, Jeje, and Angola. There are nearly 170,000 practitioners in Brazil, although smaller communities exist elsewhere, especially other parts of South America. Both in Brazil and abroad Candomblé has spread beyond its Afro-Brazilian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities.

Definition and terminology

 
A statue depicting the orixá Xangô inside a Candomblé terreiro in São Paulo; he is distinguished by his possession of a double-headed axe, the oxê[1]

Candomblé is a religion.[2] More specifically, it has been described as an "African American religion",[3] an Afro-Brazilian religion,[4] a "neo-African" religion,[5] "an African diasporic spirit possession religion",[6] and "one of the major religious expressions of the African Diaspora".[7] The anthropologist Paul Christopher Johnson stated that, "at its most basic level", Candomblé can be defined as "the practice of exchange with orixás";[8] the scholar Joana Bahia called it "the religion of the orishas."[9] Johnson also defined it as "a Brazilian redaction of West African religions recreated in the radically new context of a nineteenth-century Catholic slave colony."[10] The term Candomblé probably derived from a kandombele, a Bantu-derived term for dances, which also developed into the term Candombe, used to describe a dance style among African-descended communities in Argentina and Uruguay.[11]

Various religions in the Americas arose through the blending of West African traditions with Roman Catholicism; due to their shared origins, Cuban Santería and Haitian Vodou have been described as "sister religions" of Candomblé.[12] In Brazil, it was Yoruba traditional religion which eventually became dominant over Afro-Brazilian religion.[13] Candomblé is not the only Afro-Brazilian religion, being closely related to another that also arose in the 19th century and involves the worship of the orixás, Umbanda.[14] Umbanda is usually more open and public than Candomblé;[15] while the latter employs songs in African languages, Umbanda's religious songs are sung in Portuguese.[16] As a result, Candomblé is often regarded as being more African than Umbanda.[17] The term "Umbandomblé" is sometimes applied to groups merging elements of both traditions, although this is rarely embraced by practitioners themselves.[18] Another Afro-Brazilian religion is Quimbanda, and is associated primarily with Rio de Janeiro,[19] while the term Macumba has been used primarily to describe Afro-Brazilian traditions dealing with lower spirits, the exus.[20] Candomblé has also been influenced by Spiritism, although many Spiritists are keen to distinguish their tradition from Afro-Brazilian religions.[17] Scholars often regard these different Afro-Brazilian traditions as existing on a continuum rather than being firmly distinct from each other.[21]

Candomblé divides into different traditions known as nacões (nations).[22] The three most prominent are Ketu (Queto) or Nagô, Jeje (Gege) or Mina-Jeje, and Angola or Congo-Angola;[23] others include the Ijexá and Caboclo.[24] Each derives particular influence from a particular African language group; Ketu uses Yoruba, Jeje uses Ewe, and the Angola draws from the Bantu language group.[17] Each nation has its own lexicon, chants, deities, sacred objects, and traditional knowledge, informed by its ethno-linguistic origins.[24] Although originating among ethnic differences, this has largely eroded over time, with members drawn to different nations for reasons other than ethnic heritage.[24] As of 2012, the Nagô nation has been described as the largest.[25] The Angola nation is sometimes characterised as being the most syncretic.[26]

Candomblé is not institutionalised,[27] with there being no central authority in the religion to determine doctrine and orthodoxy.[28] It is heterogenous,[9] and has no central sacred text or dogma.[29] There is regional variation in the beliefs and practices of Candomblé.[30] Each lineage or community of practitioners is autonomous,[31] approaching the religion in ways informed by their tradition and the choices of their leader.[32] Some practitioners also refer to it as a form of science.[33]

Practitioners

An individual who has taken steps toward initiation but not yet undergone this process is termed an abiã.[34] A newer initiate is known as an iaô,[35] and an elder initiate is known as an ebomi.[36] In Candomblé, a male priest is known as a babalorixá,[37] a female priestess as iyalorixá,[38] or alternatively as a makota or nêngua.[39] The choice of term used can indicate which nation a person belongs to.[40]

Most adherents of Candomblé also practice Roman Catholicism,[41] and some priests and priestesses will not initiate anyone into Candomblé who is not a baptised Roman Catholic.[42] Syncretism can be observed in other ways. The anthropologist Jim Wafer observed a Brazilian practitioner who included a statue of the Mahayana Buddhist deity Hotei on their altar,[43] while Arnaud Halloy encountered a Belgian terreiro whose head was incorporating characters from Welsh and Slavic mythologies in their practice,[44] and the scholar Joana Bahia found practitioners in Germany who also practiced Buddhism and various New Age practices.[45]

Beliefs

Knowledge about Candomblé's beliefs and practices is referred to as the fundamentos (foundations"),[46] and is guarded by practitioners.[47] Yoruba terminology predominates widely, even across terreiros of other nations.[48]

Olorun and the orixás

 
A statuette of the orixá Iemanjá in Brazil

In Candomblé, the supreme deity is called Olorun or Olodumare.[49] This entity is regarded as the creator of everything but as being distant and unapproachable.[24] Olorun is thus not specifically worshipped in Candomblé.[24]

The Orixás

Candomblé focuses on the worship of spirits termed orixás (or orishas)[50] or santos ("saints").[51] The males are termed aborôs,[52] the females iabás.[53] These have been varyingly conceived as ancestral figures,[54] or embodiments of forces of nature.[55] Around 12 orixás are well-developed figures in the Candomblé pantheon and recognized by most practitioners.[24] Although usually given Yoruba names, in the Jeje nation they are instead given Fon names.[56]

The orixás are believed to mediate between humanity and Olorun.[8] The orixás are understood as being morally ambiguous, each with their own virtues and flaws;[57] they are sometimes in conflict with other orixás.[58] In Candomblé, the relationship between the orixás and humanity is seen as being one of interdependence,[59] with practitioners seeking to build harmonious relationships with these deities,[60] thus securing their protection.[61] Each orixá is associated with specific colours, foods, animals, and minerals,[62] favoring certain offerings.[63] Each orixá is associated with a particular day of the week;[64] the priesthood also states that each year is governed by a specific orixá who will influence the events taking place within it.[65] Their personalities are informed by a key conceptual opposition in Candomblé, that of the cool versus the hot.[66]

Oxalá is the chief orixá,[67] depicted as a frail old man who walks with a pachorô sceptre as a walking stick.[68] Practitioners commonly believe that Olorun tasked him with creating humanity.[69] In some accounts, all of the junior orixás are the children of Oxalá and one of his two wives, Nanã and Iemanjá.[70] This trio are associated with water; Oxalá with fresh water, Nanã with the rain, and Iemanjá with the sea.[71] Other accounts present this cosmogony differently, for instance by claiming that Oxalá fathered all other orixás alone, having created the world from a mingau pudding.[72] An alternative claim among practitioners is that Nanã is the grandmother of Oxalá and the mother of Iemanjá, the latter becoming both mother and wife to Oxalá.[72]

Xangô is the orixá associated with thunder and lightning;[73] one of his wives is Obá, a warrior who has only one ear.[74] Ogum is the orixá of battle and of iron, often depicted with a machete;[75] her companion is Oxóssi, the male orixá of the hunt and forest.[76] Obaluaiê or Omolu is the orixá associated with infectious disease and its cure,[77] while Osanyin is associated with leaves, herbs, and herbal knowledge.[74] Oya is the orixá of wind and storms.[78] Oxumaré is regarded as both male and female and is portrayed as a serpent or a rainbow.[79] Oxum is the orixá of love, beauty, wealth and luxury, and is associated with fresh water, fish, mermaids, and butterflies.[80] She is married to Ifa, regarded as the orixá of divination.[69] Tempo is the orixá of time;[81] originating in the Angola nation, he is associated with trees.[26] Due to the link with trees, he is sometimes equated with the Ketu-Nagô orixá Loko.[26] The orixá Exú is regarded as a capricious trickster;[82] as the guardian of entrances,[83] he facilitates contact between humanity and the other orixá,[84] thus usually being honoured and fed first in any ritual.[85] His ritual paraphernalia is often kept separate from that of other orixás,[86] while the entrances to most terreiros will have a clay head, decorated with cowries or nails, that represents Exu and is given offerings.[87]

Each orixá equates with a Roman Catholic saint.[88] This may have begun as a subterfuge to retain the worship of African deities under European rule,[89] although such syncretisms could have already been occurring in Africa prior to the Atlantic slave trade.[90] From the later 20th century, some practitioners have attempted to distance the orixás from the saints as a means of re-emphasising the religion's West African origins.[91] Robert A. Voeks observed that it was the priesthood and more formally educated practitioners who preferred to distinguish the orixás from the saints, whereas less formally educated adherents tended not to.[92] In Candomblé altars, the orixás are often represented with images and statues of Roman Catholic saints.[93] For instance, Oxalá has been conflated with Our Lord of Bonfim,[72] Oxum with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception,[94] and Ogum with St Anthony of Padua.[95] Due to his association with time, Tempo is sometimes equated with the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit.[96]

The orixás are regarded as having different aspects, known as marcas ("types" or "qualities"),[97] each of which may have an individual name.[98] Child forms of the orixás are termed erês.[99] They are deemed the most uncontrollable spirits of all, associated with obscenities and pranks.[100] The child forms of orixás have specific names; the erê of Oxalá is for instance called Ebozingo ("Little Ebô") and Pombinho ("Little Dove").[68] The material image of an orixá is called an igbá.[101]

Relationships with the orixá

Candomblé teaches that everyone is linked to a particular orixá,[102] the identity of whom can be ascertained through divination.[102] This orixá is described as being dono da cabeça:[11] the "master or mistress of the person's head,"[102] or the "owner of the head."[103] It is believed that they have an influence on the person's personality and social interactions.[104] The gender of this tutelary orixá is not necessarily the same as their human's;[105] non-heterosexuality is sometimes viewed, in a non-negative light, as being caused by a mismatch between the gender of an individual and the gender of their orixá.[106] Failing to identify one's orixá is sometimes interpreted as the cause of various types of mental illness by practitioners.[107] Depending on the orixá in question, an initiate may choose to avoid or to engage in certain activities, such as not eating specific foods or wearing specific colours.[62] Some practitioners also believe that there are other orixá who could be linked to an individual; a second is known as the juntó,[108] while a third is called the adjuntó, the tojuntó, or the dijuntó.[109] Some believe that an individual can also have a fourth orixá, inherited from a deceased relative.[103]

Exus, caboclos, and erês

 
A statue inside a Candomblé terreiro in São Paulo; it depicts a Native American spirit, a caboclo

Candomblé also teaches the existence of spirits other than the orixás. One of these spirit groups are the exus,[86] sometimes termed exuas when female,[110] or exu-mirims when children.[111] These are regarded as being closer to humanity than the orixás and thus more accessible to practitioners.[112] In ritual contexts, the exus are often regarded as the "slaves" of the orixás.[113] In common parlance in Brazil they are often described as "devils",[114] but in Candomblé are not regarded as a force for absolute evil but rather believed to be capable of both good and bad acts.[112] Practitioners believe that the exus can "open" or "close" the "roads" of fate in one's life,[115] bringing about both help and harm.[116] Candomblé teaches that the exus can be induced to do a practitioner's bidding,[115] although need to be carefully controlled.[116]

Also present in Candomblé are the caboclos,[117] the name of which probably derives from the Tupi language term kari'boka ("deriving from the white").[118] These spirits come in two main forms: those who are boiadeiros ("cowboys" or "backwoodsmen") and those who are indigenous peoples of the Americas.[119] In rarer cases, caboclos are linked to other contexts, portrayed as being from the sea or from foreign countries such as Italy or Japan.[118] Almost exclusively portrayed as being male,[120] the caboclos are believed to dwell in a forest land called Aruanda,[121] which is also inhabited by flying snake-like reptiles called cainanas.[122] The caboclos favor beer, whereas the exus prefer wine and hard liquor, especially cachaça;[123] the caboclos are also characterised as smoking cigars.[124] Those practitioners who have tried to "re-Africanize" Candomblé since the late 20th century have tended to reject the caboclos as being of non-African derivation.[19]

Birth and the dead

Candomblé espouses a cosmology largely borrowed from Yoruba traditional religion.[125] The realm of the spirits is termed orun;[126] the material world of humanity is called aiê (or aiye).[127] Orun is believed to divide into nine levels.[128] Death is personified in the figure of Iku.[129] A person's inner head, in which their tutelary orixá is believed to reside, is called the ori.[74]

The spirits of the dead are called egums[130] or eguns.[131] Those who are only recently deceased are termed aparacá,[52] while after they have been "educated" by receiving sacrifices they become babá.[132] Precautions need to be taken regarding these entities, for they have the power to harm the living.[133] Sometimes they will seek to help a living individual but inadvertently harm them.[134] The contra-egum is an armband made of plaited raffia which is sometimes worn to ward off these dead spirits.[122] Typically discouraged in Candomblé,[135] possession by egums is considered rare, but does happen.[136] Many Canbomblé groups have prohibitions on allowing possession by the dead, deeming it spiritually polluting, a viewpoint that distinguishes Candomblé from Umbanda.[137] After death, the egun can enter orun, although the level they reach depends on the spiritual growth they attained in life.[128]

Axé

Candomblé teaches the existence of a force called ashe or axé,[138] a central concept in Yoruba-derived traditions.[139] Walker described axé as "the spiritual force of the universe",[140] Bahia called it "sacred force,"[141] Wafer termed it "vital force",[142] while Voeks favored "vital energy".[66] Johnson characterised it as "a creative spiritual force with real material effects."[8]

Practitioners believe axé can move around,[142] but can also be concentrated in specific objects, such as leaves and roots, or in specific body parts, especially blood,[139] which is deemed to contain axé in its most concentrated form.[143] Humans can accumulate axé, but also either lose it or transfer it.[144] Specific rituals and obligations are believed to maintain and enhance a person's axé,[105] while other ritual acts are designed to attract or share this force.[145]

Morality, ethics, and gender roles

 
Practitioners of Candomblé in 2018

The teachings of Candomblé influence the daily life of its practitioners.[146] Problems that arise in a person's life are often interpreted as resulting from a disharmony in an individual's relationship with their orixá;[107] harmony is ensured by following the orixá's euó (taboos) regarding issues like food, drink, and colors.[147]

Male/female polarity is a recurring theme throughout Candomblé.[148] Many roles within Candomblé are linked to members of a specific gender. For instance, both animal sacrifice and the shaving of an initiate's head are usually reserved for male practitioners, while female practitioners are typically responsible for domestic duties in maintaining the ritual space.[149] Such divisions mirror broader gender norms in Brazilian society.[149] Taboos are also placed on women while menstruating.[150] However, women can still wield significant power as the heads of the terreiros,[151] with most terreiros in Bahia being led by women;[152] some have called it a female-dominated religion.[29] The prominent place of priestesses within Candomblé has led observers like the anthropologist Ruth Landes to describe it as a matriarchal religion, although such a characterisation has been disputed.[153]

There is evidence that Candomblé is more accepting of sexual and gender non-conformity than mainstream Brazilian society.[154] Although many prominent male priests in the religion have been heterosexual, there is also a pervasive stereotype that the majority of Candomblé's male practitioners are homosexual.[155] Male homosexuals have described the religion as offering a more welcoming environment for them than forms of Christianity practiced in Brazil.[156] They for instance have cited stories of relationships between male orixás, such as Oxôssi and Ossain, as affirming male same-sex attraction.[156] Some practitioners have involved themselves in political causes including environmentalism, indigenous rights, and the Black Power movement.[157]

Practices

Johnson noted that Candomblé was a "ritual-centric" religion,[158] whose practitioners often regard it as a religion "of right practice instead of right doctrine",[159] in that performing its rituals correctly is deemed more important that believing in the orixás.[160] Johnson noted that Candomblé devoted "little attention" to "abstract theologizing".[83] Rituals are often focused on pragmatic needs regarding issues such as prosperity, health, love, and fecundity;[161] they often begin long after the advertised starting time.[162] Those engaging in Candomblé include various initiates of varying degrees and non-initiates who may attend events and approach initiates seeking help with various problems.[163] Johnson characterised Candomblé as a secret society,[164] as it makes use of secrecy.[165]

Houses of Worship

 
The interior of the Axé Ilê Obá terreiro in São Paulo, Brazil

Candomblé is practiced in buildings called terreiros ("houses"),[166] ilês,[167] or ilê orixás.[129] Ranging in size from small houses to large compounds,[163] some are well-known and wealthy, but most are smaller examples of what Roger Bastide called "proleterian candomblés."[168] These may be concealed, so as not to attract the attention of opponents.[47] Each terreiro is independent and operates autonomously,[169] often disbanding when their chief priest or priestess dies.[170] A terreiro's importance is generally regarded as being proportional to the number of initiates and clients that it has.[171]

Terreiros consists of a series of rooms, some off-limits to non-initiates.[83] They contain an altar to the deities, a space to perform ceremonies, and accommodation for the priests or priestesses.[163] The floor is deemed sacred, consecrated to the tutelary orixá of the house.[172] The bakisse is the "room of the saints", a storeroom containing both ritual paraphernalia and the assentamentos of the orixás,[173] while the roncó ("retreat room") or camarinha is used during initiations.[174]

One room, the barracão ("big shed"), is where public rituals, including acts of divination, take place;[175] terreiros lacking a barracão may use a yard for public rituals.[176] The peji, or shrines to deities, will often be located around the perimeter of the barracão.[177] The terreiro will often have a cumeeira, central pole in the structure believed to link our world with the otherworld of the orixá.[178] This stands above the entoto ("foundation") of the terreiro,[179] a space which is periodically "fed" with offerings.[180] The terreiro's enclosure may have a tree dedicated to Tempo, onto which strips of white cloth have been affixed,[181] as well as a place set aside for the souls of the dead, termed the balé, which is usually at the back of the terreiro grounds.[182] Most venerate between twelve and twenty orixás.[183]

Priesthood and congregation

A priestess running a terreiro is a mâe de santo (mother of saints),[184] a priest who does so is a pai de santo (father of saints).[185] They are responsible for all important functions, including educating novices, adjudicating disputes, and providing healing and divination services;[186] it is these latter services that many rely on as their primary income.[187] Not constrained by external religious authorities,[188] these "parents of saints" often exert considerable control over their initiates,[189] who are expected to submit to their authority;[190] conflicts between these "parents" and their initiates are nevertheless common.[191] The head priest and priestess is assisted by others, including the "little mother", the iyakekerê[192] or mãa pequena,[186] and the "little father".[193] Other roles in the terreiro include the iyabase, who prepares food for the orixás,[129] and the alabê (musical director).[188] The initiates, called the filhos (sons) and filhas de santo (daughters of the saints), assist as cooks, cleaners, and gardeners.[186] The ogã are male members, often not initiated, whose role is largely honorific, consisting largely of contributing financially.[186]

 
Practitioners inside the Terreiro Matamba Tombenci Neto in Ilhéus, Bahia.

The terreiro's members are regarded as a "family"[194] and its initiates consider each one another to be 'brothers' and 'sisters' in the orixá (irmãos de santo).[195] Sexual or romantic relations between terreiro members is usually forbidden,[70] although happen nevertheless.[196] Being initiated connects an individual to the historical lineage of the terreiro;[197] this lineage is linked to the axé of the terreiro, an axé that can be transferred from a mother-terreiro to a new one being established.[151] The founders of a terreiro are called essas.[198]

The community of a terreiro is called an egbé.[11] There can be enmity between terreiros,[68] for they compete with one another for members,[199] and defection of individuals from one to another being common.[200] Public ceremonies take place at the terreiros where both initiates and non-initiates can attend to celebrate the orixás.[201] At these, food is offered to specific orichas while the rest is shared among participants, with the latter thereby gaining some of the axé of the orichas.[201] These public rites are both preceded and succeeded by a range of private ritual acts.[201] Most of the rituals that take place at the terreiros are private and open only to initiates.[201] Walker believed that it was these that represented "the real core of the religious life of the Candomblé community."[201]

African-derived terms are used in ritual contexts, although do not exceed one thousand words.[202] In general, words of Yoruba origin predominate in the Nagô-Ketu nations, those from Ewe-Fon languages are most common in Jeje nations, and words from the Bantu languages dominate the Angola nation.[203] Yoruba is used as a ritual language,[204] although few practitioners understand the meanings of these Yoruba words.[205] There are no specific sacred texts.[146] Ritual objects are regarded as loci and accumulators of axé, although this supply needs replenishing at various intervals.[140] Each terreiro is also regarded as having its own axé, which is strengthened by the number of initiates it has and the number of rituals it carries out.[140]

Priests and priestesses are regarded as intermediaries between the orixás and humanity.[163] Becoming initiated implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between the new initiate and the orixás.[163] Some evidence suggests that the proportion of female priestesses grew over the course of the 20th century.[206]

The orixá are "seated" within objects in the terreiro.[103] These are then stored, either all together in one room or, if space permits, in separate rooms.[103] Women initiates who do not enter trance but assist those who do are called ekedi; their male counterparts are termed ogan.[11] A prostration before the priest or priestess, or before someone possessed by an orixá, is termed a dobalé;[11] prostrating before one's mother or father of the saint is called iká.[129]

Shrines and otás

 
The otás, sacred stones that are central to Candomblé altars

An altar to the orixás is called a peji.[78] It contains an assemblage of objects termed the assentamento ("seat") or assento of the orixá,[207] regarded as their house.[208] This usually consists of various items placed within an enamel, earthenware, or wooden vessel,[209] itself often wrapped in a cloth.[208] The key part of the assentamento is a sacred stone known as an otá.[210] This otá possesses axé,[211] and thus requires feeding.[212] Different orixa are associated with different kinds of stone; those from the ocean or rivers are for instance linked to Oxum and Iemanjá, while those believed to have fallen from the sky are linked to Xangô.[191] Practitioners are expected to find them, rather than buy them.[191] They will then be ritually consecrated, being washed, given offerings, and "seated" in a vessel.[208]

Alongside the otás, vessels often contain ferramentos, or metal objects associated with specific orixá,[213] cowrie shells,[214] bracelets called idés,[215] animal body parts,[215] statues of the associated Roman Catholic saints,[216] and a mix of water, honey, and herbal preparations.[217] They may also include hair from the initiate to whom they belong.[180] The assentamento can be stored in the home,[180] or inside the terreiro's bakisse room,[218] which is only opened by the priestess or priest in charge.[208] There, the assentamentos of the initiates may be arranged on a multi-level altar, which is decorated with ribbons, colored lights, and flowers.[216]

Ritual objects are sanctified with a herbal infusion called amaci.[52] Practitioners believe that in giving blood to their ritual paraphernalia it renews the axé of these objects.[142] In Brazil, various stores specialise in paraphernalia required in Camdomblé.[219]

Offerings and animal sacrifice

 
A Candomblé altar at the Ilê Axé Ibalecy in Salvador, Bahia

Offerings are known as ebós,[220] and are believed to generate axé which then gives the orixá the power to aid their worshippers.[143] Material offered to the orixás or lesser spirits in these ebós include food, drink, fowl, and money;[221] when animal sacrifice is not involved, a food offering is termed a comida seca.[11] When a ceremony starts, practitioners typically provide a padé, or propitiatory offering, to the orixá Exu.[222] Food is offered to the orixá, often being placed at an appropriate location in the landscape; offerings to Oxum are for instance often placed by a freshwater stream.[54] Specific foodstuffs are associated with each orixá;[223] a mix of okra with rice or manioc meal, known as amalá, is considered a favourite of Xangô, Obá, and Iansã.[224] When placed in the terreiro, food is typically left in place for between one and three days, sufficient time for the orixá to consume the essence of the food.[54] The ritual payment of money, often accompanying the sacrifices, is termed dinheiro do chão ("money for the floor"). As part of this, money is placed onto the floor and often splattered with blood, before being divided among the participants of the rite.[67]

Candomblé entails the sacrifice of animals to orixás, exus, caboclos, and eguns,[225] which is called matanças.[186] The individual who conducts the sacrifice is known as an axogun[226] (or axogum[216]) or sometimes as a faca (knife).[186] Species typically used are chickens, guinea fowl, white doves, and goats.[227] The animal will often have its neck cut with a knife,[228] or in the case of birds, its head severed.[229] After the animal is killed, its blood is spilled onto the altar; its organs are then often removed and placed around the "seat" of the orixá.[225] Following the sacrifice, is it common for divination to be performed to determine if the sacrifice has been accepted by the spirits.[228] Other body parts will then be consumed by the participants of the rite; the exception is if the sacrifice was for eguns, which is instead left to rot or placed in a river.[225] Some of the food may then be taken away, to be left in the forest, thrown into a body of water, or placed at a crossroads;[230] this is referred to as "suspending a sacrifice".[231]

Bird sacrifices are sometimes performed not as an offering, but as part of a ritual cleansing;[225] the bird will sometimes be wiped over the human requiring cleansing; it will then have its legs, wings, and finally its neck broken.[232] In these cases, the bird is not then eaten.[225] Outside Brazil, practitioners have faced challenges in performing animal sacrifice; in Germany, for instance, it is banned by law.[233]

Initiation

Practicing Candomblé requires initiation,[234] and the religion is structured around a hierarchical system of initiations.[235] To be initiated is referred to as feito,[11] while the process of initiation is termed fazer cabeça ("to make the head")[11] or fazer o santo ("making the saint").[236] Initiates in Candomblé are known as filhos de santo ("children of the saints").[237] At their initiation, they are given a new name, the nome de santo (saint's name), which usually indicates the identity of their tutelary orixá.[238] Many individuals arrive at Candomblé through problems in their lives, such as sickness. A priest or priestess will use divination to determine the cause of the problem and its remedy, sometimes revealing that initiation into the religion will fix the issue.[239] Many feel that an orixa has demanded their initiation, with it being their obrigação ("duty").[236] If a group of individuals are being initiated together, they are termed a barco ("boat").[240]

 
An initiation conducted in Bahia in 2008; the white clothes and white spots are worn at this ceremony[241]

The length of the initiatory process varies between Candomblé houses but usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months.[242] The initiate is first brought to the terreiro, where they are left for a period of relaxation, the descanso, so that they might become 'cool', as opposed to 'hot'.[243] They will be dressed in white clothing;[244] a small bell may be attached to them to alert others if they leave the terreiro.[245] One of the first acts during the initiatory process is to give the initiate a string of beads associated with their orixá.[62] The necklace is colored according to the tutelary orixá of the initiate; white for Oxalá, dark blue for Ogum, or red and white for Xangô, for instance.[246] These beads will be washed and sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed animal.[247] These beads are sometimes perceived as protecting the wearer from harm.[248]

The initiate is then secluded in a room in the terreiro called the roncô,[249] during which time they are termed an îao.[250] In the roncô, they sleep on a straw mat,[251] eating only bland food;[252] often they will not be permitted to speak.[252] During this period they are taught the various details of their associated orixá, such as its likes and dislikes and the appropriate drum rhythms and dances that invoke that deity.[242] The time spent in isolation varies, although three weeks is typical.[253] They will be bathed in water mixed with herbs,[254] especially their head,[255] which will then be shaved.[242]

The initiate is then taken into a neighbouring room, where altars have been set up. A drummer plays while pre-existing initiates sing praise songs.[253] Animals are sacrificed, including from a four-legged animal, and some of the blood may be touched on parts of the initiate's body.[256] The initiate's head is then shaved and two cuts made into the apex of it with a razor; a mix of animal blood and herbs may be added to the incisions. This is done to allow the orixá entry into the head.[257] A cone of wax, the adoxu, is then placed on the wound to stem the bleeding;[258] the head will then be wrapped in cloth.[259] Depending on the terreiro, cuts may also be made on the tip of the initiate's tongue, on their back, upper arms, thighs, buttocks, and the soles of their feet.[260] With the incisions made, the orixá is "seated" within the individual's head during the assentar o santo ritual.[261]

Following the initiation, the new initiate may be presented to the rest of the community through a public "coming-out" ceremony, the saida.[262] Along with their white clothes, their body will be covered in white spots.[263] During this, they may be expected to give the name of the marca of their tutelary orixá, which they are supposed to have discovered via a dream.[71] In the panán, the initiate is symbolically re-taught mundane tasks,[229] a ritual sometimes followed by an auction in which the initiate is symbolically sold to their spouse or a member of their family, a reference to the era of slavery.[229] On the following Friday, they are expected to attend mass in a Roman Catholic church, known as the romaria.[264] Finally, a senior member of the terreiro will lead the initiate, still wearing white, back to their home.[229] Over the course of the following year, the initiate may conduct further "obligations" to build their relationship with the orixá.[265]

Candomblé includes a number of additional, graded initiations, which are expected to take place one year, three years, and then seven years after the original initiatory ceremony.[266] Over the course of this they are expected to learn to receive all of their tutelary orixa.[267] Those who have performed seven years of initiatory rituals are called ebomi[268] or ebame.[110] At the end of the seven years, they "receive the decá" from their initiator, being given a tray of ritual objects; this enables them to go and form their own temple.[269] In practice, many adherents cannot afford to pay for these ceremonies at the specified time and they instead take place many years after.[266]

Possession

 
A Candomblé ceremony on Itaparica Island in Bahia

Music and dance is a fundamental element of Candomblé.[270] The drumming will often take place all night.[271] Participants are expected to wear white, with women wearing skirts.[271] Three main types of drum are employed, the largest being the rum, the middle-sized being the rumpi, and the smallest being the .[272] These drums are understood as living and need to be fed.[273] The head drummer is known as the alabê.[274] Many terreiros maintain that women should not be involved in this ritual drumming, although others reject this tradition.[250] In some rituals, practitioners will drink a concoction containing jurema, a mildly hallucinogenic plant, which is sometimes mixed with the blood of sacrificed animals.[275]

The state of vertigo signalling the onset of trance is known as barravento.[132] As the trance begins, practitioners often experience a body spasm termed the arrepio ("shiver").[52] Practitioners believe that when an individual is possessed by a spirit, they have no control over the latter's actions.[276] Within Candomblé, it is regarded as a privilege to be possessed by an orixá.[242] A common Bahian way of referring to the possession is receber ("to receive").[277] As it entails being "mounted", being possessed is regarded as being a symbolically female role.[278] For this reason, many heterosexual men refuse initiation into Candomblé; some believe that involvement in these rites can turn a man homosexual.[279] Among practitioners, it is sometimes claimed that in the past men did not take part in the dances that lead to possession.[278] Often, those believed possessed by an orixá will not eat, drink, or smoke, emphasising their aristocratic disposition,[280] and that they will also rarely if ever speak.[281] When they dance, it will often be stylized and controlled.[100] Many terreiros prohibit photography of those undergoing a possession trance.[282]

After an individual becomes possessed, they may be led into an anteroom to be dressed in clothes associated with the possessing orixá; this usually includes brightly colored dresses, regardless of the gender of those involved.[283] Those possessed by Ogun will for instance often be given a metal helmet and axe, while those possessed by Oxum wear a crowd and carry a sword and the abebé fan.[283] Practitioners may fully prostrate themselves before the possessed.[284] Those possessed by an orixá may deliver predictions and prophecies.[285] The style of speech adopted by the possessed will be influenced by the type of spirit believed to be possessing them.[286] Those deemed to be possessed by caboclos will often smoke cigars,[287] and sometimes place gunpowder into the palm of their hand, which they then light with their cigar to cause an explosion.[288] A false trance is known as an equê.[289] Those who do not go into a trance are known as ogâs if male, and equedes if female.[103]

Public festivals

 
On her festival day in February, offerings to Yemanja are placed on boats and taken out to be cast into the water.[290]

Although details of the liturgical calendar vary among terreiros, Candomblé features a yearly cycle of festivals or feasts to the orixás.[290] These are sometimes private and sometimes open to the public.[291] These are typically held on the Roman Catholic saint's day associated with the saint linked to a particular orixá.[19] The main festival season begins in September, with the feast of Oxala, and continues through to February, when the feast of Yemanja takes place.[290]

In some cases, Candomblé festivals have become widely popular with the public, especially those of Oxala and Yemanja.[292] Hundreds of thousands of people congregate at the beach on Yemanja's Day (2 February),[227] where they often load offerings to her onto boats, which then take them out into the water and cast them overboard.[293] Festivals for the caboclos usually take place on 2 July, the day which marks Bahia's independence from Portugal.[294]

Some terreiros hold public festivals for both the orixás and the caboclos, although some only hold them for one of these two categories of spirit.[295] Public festivals for exus are rarer.[286] The tone of the event differs depending on which spirit category is being honoured; those for the orixás have more of a fixed structure and a greater formality, while those for the caboclos are more spontaneous and have greater interaction between the spirits and the human participants.[295] In the Nagô-Jeje nation, the Waters of Oxala ritual is performed at the start of the liturgical year; it involves bringing fresh water, sometimes from a well, to the terreiro to purify and replenish the assamentos.[290]

Divination

Priests and priestesses engage in divination, which often proves a key source of income for them.[296] The most common form of divination in Brazil is the dilogun or jogo dos buzios ("shell game"), which is performed by both men and women.[297] It entails throwing cowrie shells onto the floor and then interpreting answers from the sides onto which they have landed.[298] It is common for 16 shells to be thrown, and then a further four to confirm the answer provided by the first throwing.[299] Each configuration of shells is associated with certain odu, or mythological stories.[300] The specific odu is then interpreted as having pertinence for the client's situation.[301]

Another common divinatory practice involves slicing an onion in two and dropping the pieces to the ground drawing conclusions from the face onto which they fall;[302] alternatively a kola nut may be cut into quarters and read in the same way.[303] Ifá is another divinatory system practised by the Yoruba people, specifically by male initiates called babalawos; however, by the start of the 21st century this was characterised as being either extinct,[304] or very rare in Brazil.[305]

Healing

Healing rituals form an important part of Candomblé.[306] When acting in a healing capacity, practitioners are often called curandeiros.[307] Priests and priestesses may offer healing for a wide range of conditions, ranging from obesity and hair loss to pneumonia and cancer.[308]

 
Altar at the Terreiro de Candomblé in Jiribatuba [pt], Vera Cruz

Candomblé teaches that many personal problems are caused by a disequilibrium with the spirit world.[309] Thus, staying healthy can be ensured through ensuring a state of equilibrium with the orixás, avoiding excess, and following lessons imparted in the religion's mythological tales.[309] A sick person is regarded as having an "open" body that is vulnerable to harmful influences and lacks axé.[310] The religion teaches that ailments may be a punishment from the orixás,[311] or that a spirit of the dead may attach itself to an individual or even possess them, thus causing harm.[312] It is also believed that humans can cause harm to others via supernatural means,[310] either inadvertently, through the mau-olhado (evil eye),[313] or through witchcraft and cursing, which practitioners seek to counter.[309]

Individuals will often approach a priest or priestess seeking a remedy to a problem in their life, such as sickness. The priest or priestess will use divination to ascertain the cause and remedy.[239] The first step in the healing process is the limpeza, or spiritual cleansing.[301] This will often entail providing an offering to a particular orixá or lesser spirit; a sacudimento (leaf whipping), whereby certain leaves are wiped over the patient's body; or an abô (leaf bath), during which they are washed in water infused with various herbs and other ingredients.[314] Healing the patient may also necessitate their initiation into the religion.[239] Another type of ceremony is known as the bori. This entails placing food on the individual's head to feed the orixá that is believed to partially reside within the cranium.[265] This may be conducted to bolster the individual's health and well-being or to give them additional strength before an important undertaking.[265] Another is the "cleansing of the body" rite, designed to remove an egum that is troubling an individual.[315] In the troca da cobeça rite, the sickness is transferred to another, especially an animal that is then killed.[316] The healer may also recommend that the sick person seek help from a medical professional like a doctor.[317]

Candomblé healers are often well versed in herbalism.[307] Herbs are deemed to contain axé which needs to be appropriately awakened,[318] but if improperly harvested can lose potency.[319] The leaves used should be fresh, not dried,[318] and often picked late at night or early in the morning to ensure their maximum potency.[318] They are often purchased from one of the casas de folhas ("houses of leaves") in markets,[320] but if taken from the forest, permission should be sought from the overseeing orixá and offerings left, such as coins, honey, or tobacco.[318] These may then be rubbed directly only the sick person, or brewed into a chá tea or other medicinal concoction;[321] practitioners may also produce (powder), which may have a variety of uses, from healing to harming or attracting someone's romantic attention.[322] Historically, terreiros could retain African medical traditions, where they would have hybridized with Native American and European traditions.[13] An individual knowledgeable about leaves is called a mâo de ofá.[186]

Like many other Brazilians, Candomblé will often wear amulets,[323] sometimes concealed beneath clothing to avoid unwanted attention.[324] Common examples are horns or the figa, a fist with the thumb in inserted between the index and middle finger.[323] A patuá consists of a small cloth pouch containing various objects, plant parts, and texts.[323] Sprigs of the arruda or laranja-da-terra plants may also be carried on the body to protect against the evil eye.[325] Specific plants, associated with a particular orixá, are often kept by doorways to prevent the entry of negative forces.[325]

Funerals and the dead

Following a senior practitioner's death, their fellow terreiro members will conduct axexé, a series of rituals which transform the deceased into an ancestral spirit of the terreiro's own pantheon.[326] This ensures that they do not become a potentially dangerous wandering spirit.[239] A wide range of offerings, including sacrificed animals, are given both to the dead individual and to accompanying orixás and other spirits during the axexé.[327] A Roman Catholic mass will also be performed.[328]

History

Candomblé formed in the early part of the nineteenth century.[329] Although African religions had been present in Brazil since the early 16th century, Johnson noted that Candomblé, as "an organized, structured liturgy and community of practice called Candomblé" only arose later.[330]

Origins

Candomblé originated among enslaved Africans transplanted to Brazil during the Atlantic slave trade.[331] Slavery was widespread in West Africa; most slaves were prisoners of war captured in conflicts with neighbouring groups, although some were convicted criminals or those in debt.[332] African slaves first arrived in Brazil in the 1530s,[333] and were present in Bahia by the 1550s.[334] Over the course of the trade, around four million Africans were transported to Brazil,[335] an area that received more enslaved Africans than any other part of the Americas.[336] Within Brazil itself, these Africans were most concentrated in Bahia.[25]

In the 16th century, most of the enslaved came from the Guinea coast, but by the 17th century Angola and Congo populations had become dominant.[337] Then, between 1775 and 1850, the majority of slaves were Yoruba and Dahomean, coming from the Gulf of Benin, largely in what is now Benin and Nigeria.[338] Priests of the Oyo Empire were likely among the enslaved when the latter was attacked by Fulani and Fon groups.[56] As the last wave of slaves, these Yoruba and Dahomean people became numerically dominant among Afro-Brazilians, resulting in their traditional cosmology becoming ascendant over that of longer established communities.[339] On being brought to Brazil, these slaves were divided into "nations", primarily on their port of embarkation rather than their original etho-cultural identities.[340] This process meant that Africans of different cultural backgrounds, regions, and religions were thrown together under a unifying term such as "Nagô",[341] the latter used for those exported from the Bight of Benin.[340]

Transportation merged deities venerated in different regions in Africa as part of the same pantheon.[342] Whereas in Africa, people had generally venerated deities associated with their specific region, these commitments were broken up by enslavement and transportation.[341] Of the thousands of orishas venerated in West Africa, this was cut down to a much smaller pantheon in Brazil.[24] Which deities continued to be venerated probably depended on their continued relevance in the new Brazilian context.[56] Orisha associated with agriculture were abandoned, probably because slaves had little reason to protect the harvests of slave-owners.[343] By the 18th century, accounts of African-derived rituals performed in Brazil were common,[344] at which point they were referred to generically as calundu, a term of Bantu origin.[345] A 17th and 18th century ritual that incorporated drumming and spiritual possession, known as a Calundu, is believed to be an influence of Candomble's drumming works.[346]

The Roman Catholic nature of Brazilian colonial society, which allowed for a cult of saints, may have permitted greater leeway for the survival of traditional African religions than were available in Protestant-dominant areas of the Americas.[347] Many of the slaves learned to classify their orixás in relation to the Roman Catholic saints and the calendar of saints' days.[348] There is no evidence that the slaves simply used the cult of saints to conceal orixá worship, but rather that devotees understood the two pantheons as comprising similar figures with similar abilities to fix certain problems.[330] Some ecclesiastical figures in the Roman Catholic Church saw the syncretisation as a positive step in the process of converting the Africans to Christianity.[349] The Christian teaching provided to enslaved Africans was often rudimentary.[350] Among slave owners, there was also a belief that allowing the slaves to continue their traditional religions would allow old enmities between different African communities to persevere, thus making it less likely the slaves would unify and turn against the slave-owners.[351] It was also thought that allowing the slaves to take part in their traditional customs would expend energies that might otherwise be directed toward rebellion.[352] However, as steps were taken to convert the African populations to Christianity in Brazil, many Africans had been converted before being brought to the Americas.[346] In Brazil, enslaved Africans and their descendants were also exposed to ceremonial magic practices from Iberia.[353]

19th century

After enslaved Africans successfully led the Haitian Revolution, there were growing fears about similar slave revolts in Brazil.[354] The 1820s and 1830s saw increased police repression of African-derived religions in Brazil.[352] Laws introduced in 1822 allowed police to shut down batuques, or drumming ceremonies among the African population.[354] It was during this period that the Engenho Velho ("Old Sugar Mill") terreiro was established; it was from this group that most Nagô terreiros descended.[352] Various records indicated that Creoles and Whites were also sometimes taking part in the rites which the police were suppressing.[354]

In 1822, Brazil declared itself independent of Portugal.[355] Under British pressure, the Brazilian government passed the Quieróz law of 1850 which abolished the slave trade, although not slavery itself.[355] In 1885 all slaves over the age of 60 were declared free,[355] and in 1888 slavery was abolished entirely.[356] Although now free, life for Brazil's former slaves rarely improved.[357] Various emancipated Yoruba began trading between Brazil and West Africa,[358] and a significant role in the creation of Candomblé were several African freemen who were affluent and sent their children to be educated in Lagos.[359] The first terreiros formed in early 19th-century Bahia.[152] One of the oldest terreiros was the Ilê Axé Iyá Nassô Oká in Salvador, established by Marcelina da Silva, a freed African woman;[360] this was probably active by the 1830s.[359]

Brazil's first republican constitution was produced in 1891; based on the constitutions of France and the United States, it enshrined freedom of religion.[361] However, Afro-Brazilian religious traditions continued to face legal issues; the Penal Code of 1890 had included prohibitions on Spiritism, magic, talismans, and much herbal medicine, impacting Candomblé.[362] The authorities continued to shut down terreiros, claiming they were a threat to public health.[363] The late 19th century saw the first terreiros open in Rio de Janeiro, a city then seeing a rapid expansion in its population.[361] The period also saw various upper-class white Brazilians seeking out Candomblé.[364]

20th and 21st centuries

 
A group of practitioners photographed in 1902

Candomblé became increasingly public in the 1930s, partly because Brazilians were increasingly encouraged to perceive themselves as part of a multi-racial, mixed society in the midst of President Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo project.[365] Vargas approved the presidential Law Decree 1202, which recognized the legitimacy of terreiros and allowed them to practice.[366] The Penal Code of 1940 gave additional protections to some terreiros.[366]

By 1940, Johnson argued, Candomblé in its contemporary form was discernible.[367] The 1930s saw a proliferation of academic studies on Candomblé by scholars like Raimundo Nina Rodrigues, Edison Carneiro, and Ruth Landes,[368] with 20th-century studies focusing largely on the Nagô tradition.[369] The growing literature, both scholarly and popular, helped document Candomblé but also contributed to its greater standardisation.[370] The religion spread to new areas of Brazil during the 20th century. In São Paulo, for instance, there were virtually no Candomblé terreiros until the 1960s, reflecting the very small Afro-Brazilian population there, although this grew rapidly, to the extent that there were around 2500 terreiros in the city in the late 1980s and over 4000 by the end of the 1990s.[371] Some practitioners became increasingly well known; the priestess Mãe Menininha do Gantois was often seen as a symbol of Brazil.[372] She had made efforts to improve the image of her terreiro, establishing an administrative directorate to facilitate public relations in 1926.[170] During the 20th century, various organizations emerged to represent the terreiros, notably the Bahian Federation of the Afro-Brazilian Cults, the National Institute and Supreme Sacerdotal Organ of Afro-Brazilian Culture and Tradition, and the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixás.[170]

By the late 20th century, Candomblé was increasingly respectable within Brazil.[373] This was partly fuelled by well-educated Afro-Brazilians embracing their previously stigmatised cultural heritage,[374] and by the growing number of intellectual and white initiates.[375] By the early 21st century, tourist literature increasingly portrayed Candomblé as an intrinsic part of Brazilian culture,[376] especially in Salvador.[377] References to the religion's beliefs became more apparent in Brazilian society; Varig Airlines for instance used the tagline "Fly with Axé."[378] When the Internet emerged, various terreiros set up their own websites,[162] while footage of its rituals were distributed through YouTube.[379]

In the closing decades of the 20th century, some practitioners sought to remove Roman Catholic-influenced aspects from the religion to return it to its West African roots.[380] In 1983, the prominent priestess Mãe Stella Azevedo for instance called on adherents to renounce all Roman Catholic saints and transform Candomblé into a more purely African tradition.[381] Many of those emphasising this Afrocentric perspective were white middle-class practitioners, who re-emphasised Africa as a new source of authority because they had little standing with the predominantly Afro-Brazilian Bahian Candomblé establishment.[282] Many terreiros distinguished themselves from this approach, arguing that to abandon the Roman Catholic elements would be to abandon an important part of their religious ancestry.[382] The 2000s also saw growing opposition from Evangelical Protestants, including a rise in physical attacks on practitioners and terreiros;[383] Candomblé practitioners responded with marches against religious intolerance from 2004 onward, with the first national march taking place in Salvador in 2009.[384]

Demographics

In 2010, there were a recorded 167,363 practitioners in Brazil.[385] The religion has also established a presence abroad, initially in other parts of South America like Argentina and Uruguay, and from the 1970s in Portugal.[386] Since then, Candomblé has appeared elsewhere in Europe, including in Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.[386] In Brazil, Candomblé is a largely urban phenomenon.[3] It is generally found among the poor,[387] although there are terreiros whose membership is largely middle-class or upper-class.[388] The religion's membership is more diverse in southern Brazil, where there are large numbers of white and middle-class followers.[6] Most practitioners are poorer, black women;[3] various anthropologists have observed a far higher number of females than males in the terreiros they studied.[389] Women dominate in the Ketu nation, although men instead dominate the Angola and Jeje nations.[128] Despite its Afro-Brazilian origins, Candomblé has attracted those from other ethnic backgrounds;[205] by the 1950s it was being described as a religion of mulattos and whites as well as blacks,[390] while in a country like Germany it has attracted white followers with no Brazilian heritage.[391]

 
A gathering of practitioners at the Terreiro de São Gonçalo do Retiro in Salvador in 2010

It has also been claimed that Candomblé offers a sense of empowerment to people who are societally marginalised;[392] some practitioners have cited its tolerance of homosexuality as part of its appeal, especially in contrast to evangelical Christianity's typical condemnation of same-sex sexual activity.[393] Male practitioners are often stereotyped as being gay,[394] and it has attracted many male homosexuals as practitioners;[156] in Rio de Janeiro for example the gay male community has had longstanding links with the terreiros, which have often been seen as part of a gay social network.[329] Many gay men who have joined have cited it as offering a more welcoming atmosphere to them than other religious traditions active in Brazil.[156] Various lesbians have also been identified as practitioners,[149] although the anthropologist Andrea Stevenson Allen argued that they rarely received the same level of affirmation from the religion as their gay male counterparts.[395]

Many practitioners of Candomblé already have a family link to the tradition, with their parents or other elder relatives being initiates.[329] Others convert to the movement without having had any family connections; some of those who convert to Candomblé have already explored Pentecostalism, Spiritism, or Umbanda;[396] some Umbandists feel that they can go "deeper" by moving towards Candomblé.[371] Many describe having been ill or plagued with misfortune prior to being initiated into Candomblé, having determined through divination that their ailments would cease if they did so.[397] Johnson noted that Candomblé appears to appeal to those who identify strongly with an African heritage;[329] some black people in Germany have been attracted to it because they feel it is a more authentically African religion than the forms of Christianity and Islam now dominant across Africa.[57] Some like that it makes them feel part of a community.[393]

The religion's "core area of practice" lies in the city of Salvador and surrounding area.[6] A 1997 census by the Bahian Federation of Afro-Brazilian Religions recorded 1,144 terreiros active in the city.[398] Within Brazil, Candomblé's influence is most pervasive in Bahia,[30] and practitioners in Rio de Janeiro and Sâo Paulo often regard Bahian terreiros as being more authentic, with deeper fundamentos.[290] It is "most widely practiced" in the Bahian city of Salvador,[122] a settlement that practitioners sometimes regard as a holy city.[30] Several thousand terreiros exist in Salvador.[360] In Bahia, it is the Nagô nation that has the largest number of houses and practitioners.[25]

Although lineages are independent, practitioners have formed umbrella organisations, called "federations", in most Brazilian states.[399] These represent practitioners in their dealings with the government and society more broadly.[400] They have also established a national organisation, the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixás (CONTOC), through which to represent their interests.[401]

Reception and influence

 
Objects pertaining to Candomblé on display in a Brazilian museum

Since the 1960s, Candomblé has featured in various films, such as The Given Word (1962) and The Amulet of Ogum (1974), as well as documentaries like Geraldo Sarno's Iaô (1974).[402] The Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado makes repeated references to Candomblé throughout his work.[403] In the 1980s, the American writer Toni Morrison visited Brazil to learn more about Candomblé. She subsequently combined ideas from Candomblé with those of Gnosticism in her depiction of the religion pursued by "The Convent", an all-female community in her 1991 novel Paradise.[404] Themes from the religion have also been included in the work of Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha.[405] References to the religion also appeared in Brazilian popular music. For instance, Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa's song "Prayer to Mãe Menininha" made it into the country's chart.[406]

Candomblé has been described as a much maligned religion,[116] and its practitioners have often encountered intolerance and religious discrimination.[47] More extreme hostile views of Candomblé have regarded it as devil worship and macumba, while milder critical views see it as superstition that attracts the simple-minded and desperate.[407] Brazil's Roman Catholics have mixed opinions of Candomblé, with some expressing tolerance and others expressing hostility to the presence of Candomblé practitioners at mass.[408] Evangelical and Pentecostal groups present themselves as avowed enemies of Candomblé, regarding it as diabolical and targeting it as part of their "spiritual war" against Satan.[409]

Johnson noted that many academics who have studied Candomblé have sought to portray it in the best light possible, so as to counter racist and primitivist stereotypes about Afro-Brazilians.[266] Academic studies have in turn influenced the way that the religion is practices, helping to establish "correct practice" among divergent groups.[410] Many terreiros own copies of academic studies of Candomblé by scholars such as Pierre Verger, Roger Bastide, and Juana Elbein dos Santos.[411] Various practitioners own books on Candomblé and other Afro-American religions, including those written in languages they cannot understand, as a mean of presenting an image of authority.[410]

Although objects associated with Candomblé were initially found only in police museums, thus underscoring the stereotypical association between the religion and criminality, as it gained greater public acceptance such objects eventually came to be featured in museums devoted to folklore and Afro-Brazilian culture.[412] From the 1990s onward, practitioners began establishing their own museum displays within their terreiros.[413] For instance, the bedroom of the famous Candomblé priestess Mãe Menininha do Gantois, located within her Bahia terreiro, was converted into a memorial within in 1992 and then formally recognised as a heritage site in 2002.[414] Candomblé practitioners have also lobbied other museums to change the way that the latter display items associated with the religion. For instance, practitioners successfully called upon the Museum of the City of Salvador to remove some otá stones from public display, arguing that according to the regulations of the religion such items should never be visible to the public.[415]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Wafer 1991, p. 167.
  2. ^ Voeks 1997, p. 51; Johnson 2002, p. 9; DeLoach & Petersen 2010, p. 42; Hartikainen 2017, p. 364.
  3. ^ a b c Álvarez López & Edfeldt 2007, p. 150.
  4. ^ Wafer 1991, p. 4; Voeks 1997, p. xiv; Johnson 2002, pp. 151, 202; Sansi-Roca 2005, p. 140; Bahia 2014, p. 340.
  5. ^ Voeks 1997, p. 2.
  6. ^ a b c Hartikainen 2017, p. 357.
  7. ^ Marouan 2007, p. 121.
  8. ^ a b c Johnson 2002, p. 14.
  9. ^ a b Bahia 2016, p. 16.
  10. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 41.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Johnson 2002, p. 202.
  12. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 9; Álvarez López & Edfeldt 2007, p. 149.
  13. ^ a b Voeks 1997, p. 52.
  14. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 52.
  15. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 53.
  16. ^ Wafer 1991, p. 5; Johnson 2002, p. 53.
  17. ^ a b c Wafer 1991, p. 5.
  18. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 52; Capone 2010, p. 9.
  19. ^ a b c Wafer 1991, p. 58.
  20. ^ Wafer 1991, p. 13.
  21. ^ Capone 2010, pp. 8–9.
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  • Bahia, Joana (2014). Translated by Christiano S. do V. Silva. "Under the Berlin Sky: Candomblé on German Shores". Vibrant: Virtual Brazilian Anthropology. 11 (2): 327–370. doi:10.1590/S1809-43412014000200012.
  • Bahia, Joana (2016). "Dancing with the Orixás: Music, Body and the Circulation of African Candomblé Symbols in Germany". African Diaspora. 9: 15–38. doi:10.1163/18725465-00901005. S2CID 152159342.
  • Brazeal, Brian (2013). "Coins for the Dead, Money on the Floor: Mortuary Ritual in Bahian Candomblé". In Roger Sansi-Roca (ed.). Economies of Relation: Money and Personhood in the Lusophone World. Portuguese Literary and Cultural Studies. Tagus Press at the University of Massachusetts. pp. 103–124. ISBN 978-1933227146.
  • Capone, Stefania (2010). Searching for Africa in Brazil: Power and Tradition in Candomblé. Translated by Lucy Lyall Grant. Durham and London: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-4636-4.
  • Castillo, Lisa Earl; Parés, Luis Nicolau (2010). "Marcelina da Silva: A Nineteenth-Century Candomblé Priestess in Bahia". Slavery & Abolition. 31 (1): 1–27. doi:10.1080/01440390903481639. S2CID 143675040.
  • DeLoach, Chanté D.; Petersen, Marissa N. (2010). "African Spiritual Methods of Healing: The Use of Candomblé in Traumatic Response". The Journal of Pan African Studies. 3 (8): 40–65.
  • Desplande, Michel (2008). Bastide on Religion: The Invention of Candomblé. Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion. London: Equinox. ISBN 978-1-84553-366-3.
  • Hartikainen, Elina I. (2017). "Chronotopic Realignments and the Shifting Semiotics and Politics of Visibility in Brazilian Candomblé Activism". Signs and Society. 5 (2): 356–389. doi:10.1086/693784. S2CID 158979230.
  • Johnson, Paul Christopher (2002). Secrets, Gossip, and Gods: The Transformation of Brazilian Candomblé. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195150582.
  • Marouan, Maha (2007). "Candomblé, Christianity, and Gnosticism in Toni Morrison's Paradise". In Theodore Louis Trost (ed.). The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 111–127. ISBN 978-1403977861.
  • Paula Adinolfi, Maria; Van de Port, Mattijs (2013). "Bed and Throne: The "Museumification" of the Living Quarters of a Candomblé Priestess". Material Religion. 9 (3): 282–303. doi:10.2752/175183413X13730330868915. S2CID 162385683.
  • Sansi-Roca, Roger (2005). "The Hidden Life of Stones: Historicity, Materiality and the Value of Candomblé Objects in Bahia". Journal of Material Culture. 10 (2): 139–156. doi:10.1177/1359183505053072. S2CID 144497398.
  • Voeks, Robert A. (1997). Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292787315.
  • Wafer, Jim (1991). The Taste of Blood: Spirit Possession in Brazilian Candomblé. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-1341-6.
  • Walker, Sheila (1990). "Everyday and Esoteric Reality in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé". History of Religions. 30 (2): 103–128. doi:10.1086/463217. JSTOR 1062896. S2CID 161240664.

Further reading

  • Alonso, Miguel (2014). The Development of Yoruba Candomblé Communities in Salvador, Bahia, 1835 – 1986. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Bastide, Roger (1961) [First published 1958]. O Candomblé da Bahia (Rito Nagô) [The Candomblé of Bahia (Nagô Rite)] (PDF) (in Portuguese). Vol. 313. Translated by Queiroz, Maria Isaura Pereira. Brazil: Companhia Editora Nacional [pt]. (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-18. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  • Bramley, Serge (1979) [First published 1975 in Paris, France]. Macumba: The Teachings of Maria-José, Mother of the Gods. Brazil: Avon. ISBN 978-0-380-42317-0.
  • Brown, Diana DeGroat (1994). Umbanda: Religion and Politics in Urban Brazil. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-10005-2.
  • Laffitte, Stefania Capone (2010). Searching for Africa in Brazil: Power and Tradition in Candomblé. Translated by Grant, Lucy Lyall. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-9204-0.
  • Carneiro, Edison. "The Structure of African Cults in Bahia" Civilzacao Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro. 1936–37.
  • Góis Dantas, Beatriz (2009). Nagô Grandma and White Papa: Candomblé and the Creation of Afro-Brazilian Identity. Translated by Stephen Berg. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
  • Gordon, Jacob U. " Yoruba Cosmology And Culture in Brazil: A Study of African Survivals in the New World." Journal of Black Studies, Vol.10, No 2. (December 1979): P. 231- 244
  • Herskovits, Melville J. "The Social Organization of the Afrobrazilian Candomble." Proceedings of the Congress São Paulo, 1955.
  • Jestice, Phyllis G. (2004). Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-355-1.
  • Landes, Ruth (1947). The City of Women. Macmillan Co. ISBN 978-0-8263-1556-4.
  • Matory, James Lorand (2005). Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candomblé. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05943-3.
  • Matory, J. Lorand. "Gendered Agendas: The Secrets Scholars Keep about Yoruba-Atlantic Religion." Gender & History 15, no. 3 (November 2003): p. 409–439."
  • Omari-Tunkara, Mikelle S. "Manipulating the Sacred: Yoruba Art, Ritual, and Resistance in Brazilian Candomble". 2005 – Wayne State University Press.
  • Parés, Luis Nicolau. 2013. The Formation of Candomblé: Vodun History and Ritual in Brazil. Translated by Richard Vernon. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-1469610924.
  • Reis, João José. "Candomblé in Nineteenth-Century Bahia: Priests, Followers, Clients" in Rethinking the African Diaspora:The Making of a Black Atlantic World in the Bight of Benin and Brazil Mann, Kristina and Bay, Edna G. Ed. Geu Heuman and James Walvin. 2001-Frank Cass
  • Reis, João José. Slave Rebellion in Brazil:The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia (Baltimore and London:The Johns Hopkins University Press,1995).
  • Souty, Jérôme (2007). Pierre Fatumbi Verger: Du Regard Détaché à la Connaissance Initiatique. Maisonneuve et Larose [fr]. ISBN 978-2-7068-1983-4.
  • Verger, Pierre Fatumbi (1995) [1st edition 1954]. Dieux d'Afrique. Culte des Orishas et Vodouns à l'ancienne Côte des Esclaves en Afrique et à Bahia, la Baie de Tous les Saints au Brésil. Paris: Revue Noire. ISBN 978-2-909571-13-3..
  • McGowan, Chris and Pessanha, Ricardo. "The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil." 1998. 2nd edition. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-545-3

External links

  • Webcast explores the influence of African culture on Brazilian music
  • (in English, French, and Dutch) discovering Candomblé in Bahia
  • Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade
  • Unesco 2004: Slavery Abolition Year

Portuguese

  • Extensive info on the Orixás
  • – February 2: Feast Day at Sea

French

    English

    • Religious Rhythms - The Afro-Brazilian Music of Candomblé
    • Quimbanda Web page – Brazilian Tradition related to Candomble
    • (in English, French, and Dutch) Candomblé experiences in Bahia, Salvador and Cachoeira

    candomblé, confused, with, candombe, portuguese, pronunciation, dõˈblɛ, african, diasporic, religion, that, developed, brazil, during, 19th, century, arose, through, process, syncretism, between, several, traditional, religions, west, africa, especially, that,. Not to be confused with Candombe Candomble Portuguese pronunciation kɐ doˈblɛ is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa especially that of the Yoruba and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity There is no central authority in control of Candomble which is organised through autonomous groups A practitioner dressed as the orixa Oba at a temple in Brazil the possession of adherents by orixa is central to Candomble Candomble involves the veneration of spirits known as orixas Deriving their names and attributes from traditional West African deities they are equated with Roman Catholic saints Various myths are told about these orixas which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity Oludumare Each individual is believed to have a tutelary orixa who has been connected to them since before birth and who informs their personality An initiatory tradition Candomble s members usually meet in temples known as terreiros run by priests called babalorixas and priestesses called ialorixas A central ritual involves practitioners drumming singing and dancing to encourage an orixa to possess one of their members They believe that through this possessed individual they can communicate directly with a deity Offerings to the orixas include fruit and sacrificed animals Offerings are also given to a range of lesser spirits including the exus caboclos and the spirits of the dead Several forms of divination are utilized to decipher messages from the orixas Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies amulets and charms also play a prominent role Candomble developed among Afro Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans the majority of them Yoruba Fon and Bantu and the Roman Catholic teachings of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area It primarily coalesced in the Bahia region during the 19th century In places it merged with another Afro Brazilian religion Umbanda Following Brazil s independence from Portugal the constitution of 1891 enshrined freedom of religion in the country although Candomble remained marginalized by the Roman Catholic establishment which typically associated it with criminality In the 20th century growing emigration from Bahia spread Candomble both throughout Brazil and abroad The late 20th century saw growing links between Candomble and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas such as Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou Since the late 20th century some practitioners have emphasized a re Africanization process to remove Roman Catholic influences and create forms of Candomble closer to traditional West African religion Each terreiro is autonomous although can be divided into distinct denominations known as nations based on which traditional West African belief system has been its primary influence The most prominent nations are the Ketu Jeje and Angola There are nearly 170 000 practitioners in Brazil although smaller communities exist elsewhere especially other parts of South America Both in Brazil and abroad Candomble has spread beyond its Afro Brazilian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities Contents 1 Definition and terminology 1 1 Practitioners 2 Beliefs 2 1 Olorun and the orixas 2 1 1 The Orixas 2 1 2 Relationships with the orixa 2 2 Exus caboclos and eres 2 3 Birth and the dead 2 4 Axe 2 5 Morality ethics and gender roles 3 Practices 3 1 Houses of Worship 3 1 1 Priesthood and congregation 3 2 Shrines and otas 3 3 Offerings and animal sacrifice 3 4 Initiation 3 5 Possession 3 6 Public festivals 3 7 Divination 3 8 Healing 3 9 Funerals and the dead 4 History 4 1 Origins 4 2 19th century 4 3 20th and 21st centuries 5 Demographics 6 Reception and influence 7 References 7 1 Citations 7 2 Sources 8 Further reading 9 External links 9 1 Portuguese 9 2 French 9 3 EnglishDefinition and terminology Edit A statue depicting the orixa Xango inside a Candomble terreiro in Sao Paulo he is distinguished by his possession of a double headed axe the oxe 1 Candomble is a religion 2 More specifically it has been described as an African American religion 3 an Afro Brazilian religion 4 a neo African religion 5 an African diasporic spirit possession religion 6 and one of the major religious expressions of the African Diaspora 7 The anthropologist Paul Christopher Johnson stated that at its most basic level Candomble can be defined as the practice of exchange with orixas 8 the scholar Joana Bahia called it the religion of the orishas 9 Johnson also defined it as a Brazilian redaction of West African religions recreated in the radically new context of a nineteenth century Catholic slave colony 10 The term Candomble probably derived from a kandombele a Bantu derived term for dances which also developed into the term Candombe used to describe a dance style among African descended communities in Argentina and Uruguay 11 Various religions in the Americas arose through the blending of West African traditions with Roman Catholicism due to their shared origins Cuban Santeria and Haitian Vodou have been described as sister religions of Candomble 12 In Brazil it was Yoruba traditional religion which eventually became dominant over Afro Brazilian religion 13 Candomble is not the only Afro Brazilian religion being closely related to another that also arose in the 19th century and involves the worship of the orixas Umbanda 14 Umbanda is usually more open and public than Candomble 15 while the latter employs songs in African languages Umbanda s religious songs are sung in Portuguese 16 As a result Candomble is often regarded as being more African than Umbanda 17 The term Umbandomble is sometimes applied to groups merging elements of both traditions although this is rarely embraced by practitioners themselves 18 Another Afro Brazilian religion is Quimbanda and is associated primarily with Rio de Janeiro 19 while the term Macumba has been used primarily to describe Afro Brazilian traditions dealing with lower spirits the exus 20 Candomble has also been influenced by Spiritism although many Spiritists are keen to distinguish their tradition from Afro Brazilian religions 17 Scholars often regard these different Afro Brazilian traditions as existing on a continuum rather than being firmly distinct from each other 21 Candomble divides into different traditions known as nacoes nations 22 The three most prominent are Ketu Queto or Nago Jeje Gege or Mina Jeje and Angola or Congo Angola 23 others include the Ijexa and Caboclo 24 Each derives particular influence from a particular African language group Ketu uses Yoruba Jeje uses Ewe and the Angola draws from the Bantu language group 17 Each nation has its own lexicon chants deities sacred objects and traditional knowledge informed by its ethno linguistic origins 24 Although originating among ethnic differences this has largely eroded over time with members drawn to different nations for reasons other than ethnic heritage 24 As of 2012 the Nago nation has been described as the largest 25 The Angola nation is sometimes characterised as being the most syncretic 26 Candomble is not institutionalised 27 with there being no central authority in the religion to determine doctrine and orthodoxy 28 It is heterogenous 9 and has no central sacred text or dogma 29 There is regional variation in the beliefs and practices of Candomble 30 Each lineage or community of practitioners is autonomous 31 approaching the religion in ways informed by their tradition and the choices of their leader 32 Some practitioners also refer to it as a form of science 33 Practitioners Edit An individual who has taken steps toward initiation but not yet undergone this process is termed an abia 34 A newer initiate is known as an iao 35 and an elder initiate is known as an ebomi 36 In Candomble a male priest is known as a babalorixa 37 a female priestess as iyalorixa 38 or alternatively as a makota or nengua 39 The choice of term used can indicate which nation a person belongs to 40 Most adherents of Candomble also practice Roman Catholicism 41 and some priests and priestesses will not initiate anyone into Candomble who is not a baptised Roman Catholic 42 Syncretism can be observed in other ways The anthropologist Jim Wafer observed a Brazilian practitioner who included a statue of the Mahayana Buddhist deity Hotei on their altar 43 while Arnaud Halloy encountered a Belgian terreiro whose head was incorporating characters from Welsh and Slavic mythologies in their practice 44 and the scholar Joana Bahia found practitioners in Germany who also practiced Buddhism and various New Age practices 45 Beliefs EditKnowledge about Candomble s beliefs and practices is referred to as the fundamentos foundations 46 and is guarded by practitioners 47 Yoruba terminology predominates widely even across terreiros of other nations 48 Olorun and the orixas Edit A statuette of the orixa Iemanja in Brazil In Candomble the supreme deity is called Olorun or Olodumare 49 This entity is regarded as the creator of everything but as being distant and unapproachable 24 Olorun is thus not specifically worshipped in Candomble 24 The Orixas Edit Candomble focuses on the worship of spirits termed orixas or orishas 50 or santos saints 51 The males are termed aboros 52 the females iabas 53 These have been varyingly conceived as ancestral figures 54 or embodiments of forces of nature 55 Around 12 orixas are well developed figures in the Candomble pantheon and recognized by most practitioners 24 Although usually given Yoruba names in the Jeje nation they are instead given Fon names 56 The orixas are believed to mediate between humanity and Olorun 8 The orixas are understood as being morally ambiguous each with their own virtues and flaws 57 they are sometimes in conflict with other orixas 58 In Candomble the relationship between the orixas and humanity is seen as being one of interdependence 59 with practitioners seeking to build harmonious relationships with these deities 60 thus securing their protection 61 Each orixa is associated with specific colours foods animals and minerals 62 favoring certain offerings 63 Each orixa is associated with a particular day of the week 64 the priesthood also states that each year is governed by a specific orixa who will influence the events taking place within it 65 Their personalities are informed by a key conceptual opposition in Candomble that of the cool versus the hot 66 Oxala is the chief orixa 67 depicted as a frail old man who walks with a pachoro sceptre as a walking stick 68 Practitioners commonly believe that Olorun tasked him with creating humanity 69 In some accounts all of the junior orixas are the children of Oxala and one of his two wives Nana and Iemanja 70 This trio are associated with water Oxala with fresh water Nana with the rain and Iemanja with the sea 71 Other accounts present this cosmogony differently for instance by claiming that Oxala fathered all other orixas alone having created the world from a mingau pudding 72 An alternative claim among practitioners is that Nana is the grandmother of Oxala and the mother of Iemanja the latter becoming both mother and wife to Oxala 72 Xango is the orixa associated with thunder and lightning 73 one of his wives is Oba a warrior who has only one ear 74 Ogum is the orixa of battle and of iron often depicted with a machete 75 her companion is Oxossi the male orixa of the hunt and forest 76 Obaluaie or Omolu is the orixa associated with infectious disease and its cure 77 while Osanyin is associated with leaves herbs and herbal knowledge 74 Oya is the orixa of wind and storms 78 Oxumare is regarded as both male and female and is portrayed as a serpent or a rainbow 79 Oxum is the orixa of love beauty wealth and luxury and is associated with fresh water fish mermaids and butterflies 80 She is married to Ifa regarded as the orixa of divination 69 Tempo is the orixa of time 81 originating in the Angola nation he is associated with trees 26 Due to the link with trees he is sometimes equated with the Ketu Nago orixa Loko 26 The orixa Exu is regarded as a capricious trickster 82 as the guardian of entrances 83 he facilitates contact between humanity and the other orixa 84 thus usually being honoured and fed first in any ritual 85 His ritual paraphernalia is often kept separate from that of other orixas 86 while the entrances to most terreiros will have a clay head decorated with cowries or nails that represents Exu and is given offerings 87 Each orixa equates with a Roman Catholic saint 88 This may have begun as a subterfuge to retain the worship of African deities under European rule 89 although such syncretisms could have already been occurring in Africa prior to the Atlantic slave trade 90 From the later 20th century some practitioners have attempted to distance the orixas from the saints as a means of re emphasising the religion s West African origins 91 Robert A Voeks observed that it was the priesthood and more formally educated practitioners who preferred to distinguish the orixas from the saints whereas less formally educated adherents tended not to 92 In Candomble altars the orixas are often represented with images and statues of Roman Catholic saints 93 For instance Oxala has been conflated with Our Lord of Bonfim 72 Oxum with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception 94 and Ogum with St Anthony of Padua 95 Due to his association with time Tempo is sometimes equated with the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit 96 The orixas are regarded as having different aspects known as marcas types or qualities 97 each of which may have an individual name 98 Child forms of the orixas are termed eres 99 They are deemed the most uncontrollable spirits of all associated with obscenities and pranks 100 The child forms of orixas have specific names the ere of Oxala is for instance called Ebozingo Little Ebo and Pombinho Little Dove 68 The material image of an orixa is called an igba 101 Relationships with the orixa Edit Candomble teaches that everyone is linked to a particular orixa 102 the identity of whom can be ascertained through divination 102 This orixa is described as being dono da cabeca 11 the master or mistress of the person s head 102 or the owner of the head 103 It is believed that they have an influence on the person s personality and social interactions 104 The gender of this tutelary orixa is not necessarily the same as their human s 105 non heterosexuality is sometimes viewed in a non negative light as being caused by a mismatch between the gender of an individual and the gender of their orixa 106 Failing to identify one s orixa is sometimes interpreted as the cause of various types of mental illness by practitioners 107 Depending on the orixa in question an initiate may choose to avoid or to engage in certain activities such as not eating specific foods or wearing specific colours 62 Some practitioners also believe that there are other orixa who could be linked to an individual a second is known as the junto 108 while a third is called the adjunto the tojunto or the dijunto 109 Some believe that an individual can also have a fourth orixa inherited from a deceased relative 103 Exus caboclos and eres Edit A statue inside a Candomble terreiro in Sao Paulo it depicts a Native American spirit a caboclo Candomble also teaches the existence of spirits other than the orixas One of these spirit groups are the exus 86 sometimes termed exuas when female 110 or exu mirims when children 111 These are regarded as being closer to humanity than the orixas and thus more accessible to practitioners 112 In ritual contexts the exus are often regarded as the slaves of the orixas 113 In common parlance in Brazil they are often described as devils 114 but in Candomble are not regarded as a force for absolute evil but rather believed to be capable of both good and bad acts 112 Practitioners believe that the exus can open or close the roads of fate in one s life 115 bringing about both help and harm 116 Candomble teaches that the exus can be induced to do a practitioner s bidding 115 although need to be carefully controlled 116 Also present in Candomble are the caboclos 117 the name of which probably derives from the Tupi language term kari boka deriving from the white 118 These spirits come in two main forms those who are boiadeiros cowboys or backwoodsmen and those who are indigenous peoples of the Americas 119 In rarer cases caboclos are linked to other contexts portrayed as being from the sea or from foreign countries such as Italy or Japan 118 Almost exclusively portrayed as being male 120 the caboclos are believed to dwell in a forest land called Aruanda 121 which is also inhabited by flying snake like reptiles called cainanas 122 The caboclos favor beer whereas the exus prefer wine and hard liquor especially cachaca 123 the caboclos are also characterised as smoking cigars 124 Those practitioners who have tried to re Africanize Candomble since the late 20th century have tended to reject the caboclos as being of non African derivation 19 Birth and the dead Edit Candomble espouses a cosmology largely borrowed from Yoruba traditional religion 125 The realm of the spirits is termed orun 126 the material world of humanity is called aie or aiye 127 Orun is believed to divide into nine levels 128 Death is personified in the figure of Iku 129 A person s inner head in which their tutelary orixa is believed to reside is called the ori 74 The spirits of the dead are called egums 130 or eguns 131 Those who are only recently deceased are termed aparaca 52 while after they have been educated by receiving sacrifices they become baba 132 Precautions need to be taken regarding these entities for they have the power to harm the living 133 Sometimes they will seek to help a living individual but inadvertently harm them 134 The contra egum is an armband made of plaited raffia which is sometimes worn to ward off these dead spirits 122 Typically discouraged in Candomble 135 possession by egums is considered rare but does happen 136 Many Canbomble groups have prohibitions on allowing possession by the dead deeming it spiritually polluting a viewpoint that distinguishes Candomble from Umbanda 137 After death the egun can enter orun although the level they reach depends on the spiritual growth they attained in life 128 Axe Edit Candomble teaches the existence of a force called ashe or axe 138 a central concept in Yoruba derived traditions 139 Walker described axe as the spiritual force of the universe 140 Bahia called it sacred force 141 Wafer termed it vital force 142 while Voeks favored vital energy 66 Johnson characterised it as a creative spiritual force with real material effects 8 Practitioners believe axe can move around 142 but can also be concentrated in specific objects such as leaves and roots or in specific body parts especially blood 139 which is deemed to contain axe in its most concentrated form 143 Humans can accumulate axe but also either lose it or transfer it 144 Specific rituals and obligations are believed to maintain and enhance a person s axe 105 while other ritual acts are designed to attract or share this force 145 Morality ethics and gender roles Edit Practitioners of Candomble in 2018 The teachings of Candomble influence the daily life of its practitioners 146 Problems that arise in a person s life are often interpreted as resulting from a disharmony in an individual s relationship with their orixa 107 harmony is ensured by following the orixa s euo taboos regarding issues like food drink and colors 147 Male female polarity is a recurring theme throughout Candomble 148 Many roles within Candomble are linked to members of a specific gender For instance both animal sacrifice and the shaving of an initiate s head are usually reserved for male practitioners while female practitioners are typically responsible for domestic duties in maintaining the ritual space 149 Such divisions mirror broader gender norms in Brazilian society 149 Taboos are also placed on women while menstruating 150 However women can still wield significant power as the heads of the terreiros 151 with most terreiros in Bahia being led by women 152 some have called it a female dominated religion 29 The prominent place of priestesses within Candomble has led observers like the anthropologist Ruth Landes to describe it as a matriarchal religion although such a characterisation has been disputed 153 There is evidence that Candomble is more accepting of sexual and gender non conformity than mainstream Brazilian society 154 Although many prominent male priests in the religion have been heterosexual there is also a pervasive stereotype that the majority of Candomble s male practitioners are homosexual 155 Male homosexuals have described the religion as offering a more welcoming environment for them than forms of Christianity practiced in Brazil 156 They for instance have cited stories of relationships between male orixas such as Oxossi and Ossain as affirming male same sex attraction 156 Some practitioners have involved themselves in political causes including environmentalism indigenous rights and the Black Power movement 157 Practices EditJohnson noted that Candomble was a ritual centric religion 158 whose practitioners often regard it as a religion of right practice instead of right doctrine 159 in that performing its rituals correctly is deemed more important that believing in the orixas 160 Johnson noted that Candomble devoted little attention to abstract theologizing 83 Rituals are often focused on pragmatic needs regarding issues such as prosperity health love and fecundity 161 they often begin long after the advertised starting time 162 Those engaging in Candomble include various initiates of varying degrees and non initiates who may attend events and approach initiates seeking help with various problems 163 Johnson characterised Candomble as a secret society 164 as it makes use of secrecy 165 Houses of Worship Edit The interior of the Axe Ile Oba terreiro in Sao Paulo Brazil Candomble is practiced in buildings called terreiros houses 166 iles 167 or ile orixas 129 Ranging in size from small houses to large compounds 163 some are well known and wealthy but most are smaller examples of what Roger Bastide called proleterian candombles 168 These may be concealed so as not to attract the attention of opponents 47 Each terreiro is independent and operates autonomously 169 often disbanding when their chief priest or priestess dies 170 A terreiro s importance is generally regarded as being proportional to the number of initiates and clients that it has 171 Terreiros consists of a series of rooms some off limits to non initiates 83 They contain an altar to the deities a space to perform ceremonies and accommodation for the priests or priestesses 163 The floor is deemed sacred consecrated to the tutelary orixa of the house 172 The bakisse is the room of the saints a storeroom containing both ritual paraphernalia and the assentamentos of the orixas 173 while the ronco retreat room or camarinha is used during initiations 174 One room the barracao big shed is where public rituals including acts of divination take place 175 terreiros lacking a barracao may use a yard for public rituals 176 The peji or shrines to deities will often be located around the perimeter of the barracao 177 The terreiro will often have a cumeeira central pole in the structure believed to link our world with the otherworld of the orixa 178 This stands above the entoto foundation of the terreiro 179 a space which is periodically fed with offerings 180 The terreiro s enclosure may have a tree dedicated to Tempo onto which strips of white cloth have been affixed 181 as well as a place set aside for the souls of the dead termed the bale which is usually at the back of the terreiro grounds 182 Most venerate between twelve and twenty orixas 183 Priesthood and congregation Edit A priestess running a terreiro is a mae de santo mother of saints 184 a priest who does so is a pai de santo father of saints 185 They are responsible for all important functions including educating novices adjudicating disputes and providing healing and divination services 186 it is these latter services that many rely on as their primary income 187 Not constrained by external religious authorities 188 these parents of saints often exert considerable control over their initiates 189 who are expected to submit to their authority 190 conflicts between these parents and their initiates are nevertheless common 191 The head priest and priestess is assisted by others including the little mother the iyakekere 192 or maa pequena 186 and the little father 193 Other roles in the terreiro include the iyabase who prepares food for the orixas 129 and the alabe musical director 188 The initiates called the filhos sons and filhas de santo daughters of the saints assist as cooks cleaners and gardeners 186 The oga are male members often not initiated whose role is largely honorific consisting largely of contributing financially 186 Practitioners inside the Terreiro Matamba Tombenci Neto in Ilheus Bahia The terreiro s members are regarded as a family 194 and its initiates consider each one another to be brothers and sisters in the orixa irmaos de santo 195 Sexual or romantic relations between terreiro members is usually forbidden 70 although happen nevertheless 196 Being initiated connects an individual to the historical lineage of the terreiro 197 this lineage is linked to the axe of the terreiro an axe that can be transferred from a mother terreiro to a new one being established 151 The founders of a terreiro are called essas 198 The community of a terreiro is called an egbe 11 There can be enmity between terreiros 68 for they compete with one another for members 199 and defection of individuals from one to another being common 200 Public ceremonies take place at the terreiros where both initiates and non initiates can attend to celebrate the orixas 201 At these food is offered to specific orichas while the rest is shared among participants with the latter thereby gaining some of the axe of the orichas 201 These public rites are both preceded and succeeded by a range of private ritual acts 201 Most of the rituals that take place at the terreiros are private and open only to initiates 201 Walker believed that it was these that represented the real core of the religious life of the Candomble community 201 African derived terms are used in ritual contexts although do not exceed one thousand words 202 In general words of Yoruba origin predominate in the Nago Ketu nations those from Ewe Fon languages are most common in Jeje nations and words from the Bantu languages dominate the Angola nation 203 Yoruba is used as a ritual language 204 although few practitioners understand the meanings of these Yoruba words 205 There are no specific sacred texts 146 Ritual objects are regarded as loci and accumulators of axe although this supply needs replenishing at various intervals 140 Each terreiro is also regarded as having its own axe which is strengthened by the number of initiates it has and the number of rituals it carries out 140 Priests and priestesses are regarded as intermediaries between the orixas and humanity 163 Becoming initiated implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between the new initiate and the orixas 163 Some evidence suggests that the proportion of female priestesses grew over the course of the 20th century 206 The orixa are seated within objects in the terreiro 103 These are then stored either all together in one room or if space permits in separate rooms 103 Women initiates who do not enter trance but assist those who do are called ekedi their male counterparts are termed ogan 11 A prostration before the priest or priestess or before someone possessed by an orixa is termed a dobale 11 prostrating before one s mother or father of the saint is called ika 129 Shrines and otas Edit The otas sacred stones that are central to Candomble altars An altar to the orixas is called a peji 78 It contains an assemblage of objects termed the assentamento seat or assento of the orixa 207 regarded as their house 208 This usually consists of various items placed within an enamel earthenware or wooden vessel 209 itself often wrapped in a cloth 208 The key part of the assentamento is a sacred stone known as an ota 210 This ota possesses axe 211 and thus requires feeding 212 Different orixa are associated with different kinds of stone those from the ocean or rivers are for instance linked to Oxum and Iemanja while those believed to have fallen from the sky are linked to Xango 191 Practitioners are expected to find them rather than buy them 191 They will then be ritually consecrated being washed given offerings and seated in a vessel 208 Alongside the otas vessels often contain ferramentos or metal objects associated with specific orixa 213 cowrie shells 214 bracelets called ides 215 animal body parts 215 statues of the associated Roman Catholic saints 216 and a mix of water honey and herbal preparations 217 They may also include hair from the initiate to whom they belong 180 The assentamento can be stored in the home 180 or inside the terreiro s bakisse room 218 which is only opened by the priestess or priest in charge 208 There the assentamentos of the initiates may be arranged on a multi level altar which is decorated with ribbons colored lights and flowers 216 Ritual objects are sanctified with a herbal infusion called amaci 52 Practitioners believe that in giving blood to their ritual paraphernalia it renews the axe of these objects 142 In Brazil various stores specialise in paraphernalia required in Camdomble 219 Offerings and animal sacrifice Edit A Candomble altar at the Ile Axe Ibalecy in Salvador Bahia Offerings are known as ebos 220 and are believed to generate axe which then gives the orixa the power to aid their worshippers 143 Material offered to the orixas or lesser spirits in these ebos include food drink fowl and money 221 when animal sacrifice is not involved a food offering is termed a comida seca 11 When a ceremony starts practitioners typically provide a pade or propitiatory offering to the orixa Exu 222 Food is offered to the orixa often being placed at an appropriate location in the landscape offerings to Oxum are for instance often placed by a freshwater stream 54 Specific foodstuffs are associated with each orixa 223 a mix of okra with rice or manioc meal known as amala is considered a favourite of Xango Oba and Iansa 224 When placed in the terreiro food is typically left in place for between one and three days sufficient time for the orixa to consume the essence of the food 54 The ritual payment of money often accompanying the sacrifices is termed dinheiro do chao money for the floor As part of this money is placed onto the floor and often splattered with blood before being divided among the participants of the rite 67 Candomble entails the sacrifice of animals to orixas exus caboclos and eguns 225 which is called matancas 186 The individual who conducts the sacrifice is known as an axogun 226 or axogum 216 or sometimes as a faca knife 186 Species typically used are chickens guinea fowl white doves and goats 227 The animal will often have its neck cut with a knife 228 or in the case of birds its head severed 229 After the animal is killed its blood is spilled onto the altar its organs are then often removed and placed around the seat of the orixa 225 Following the sacrifice is it common for divination to be performed to determine if the sacrifice has been accepted by the spirits 228 Other body parts will then be consumed by the participants of the rite the exception is if the sacrifice was for eguns which is instead left to rot or placed in a river 225 Some of the food may then be taken away to be left in the forest thrown into a body of water or placed at a crossroads 230 this is referred to as suspending a sacrifice 231 Bird sacrifices are sometimes performed not as an offering but as part of a ritual cleansing 225 the bird will sometimes be wiped over the human requiring cleansing it will then have its legs wings and finally its neck broken 232 In these cases the bird is not then eaten 225 Outside Brazil practitioners have faced challenges in performing animal sacrifice in Germany for instance it is banned by law 233 Initiation Edit Practicing Candomble requires initiation 234 and the religion is structured around a hierarchical system of initiations 235 To be initiated is referred to as feito 11 while the process of initiation is termed fazer cabeca to make the head 11 or fazer o santo making the saint 236 Initiates in Candomble are known as filhos de santo children of the saints 237 At their initiation they are given a new name the nome de santo saint s name which usually indicates the identity of their tutelary orixa 238 Many individuals arrive at Candomble through problems in their lives such as sickness A priest or priestess will use divination to determine the cause of the problem and its remedy sometimes revealing that initiation into the religion will fix the issue 239 Many feel that an orixa has demanded their initiation with it being their obrigacao duty 236 If a group of individuals are being initiated together they are termed a barco boat 240 An initiation conducted in Bahia in 2008 the white clothes and white spots are worn at this ceremony 241 The length of the initiatory process varies between Candomble houses but usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months 242 The initiate is first brought to the terreiro where they are left for a period of relaxation the descanso so that they might become cool as opposed to hot 243 They will be dressed in white clothing 244 a small bell may be attached to them to alert others if they leave the terreiro 245 One of the first acts during the initiatory process is to give the initiate a string of beads associated with their orixa 62 The necklace is colored according to the tutelary orixa of the initiate white for Oxala dark blue for Ogum or red and white for Xango for instance 246 These beads will be washed and sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed animal 247 These beads are sometimes perceived as protecting the wearer from harm 248 The initiate is then secluded in a room in the terreiro called the ronco 249 during which time they are termed an iao 250 In the ronco they sleep on a straw mat 251 eating only bland food 252 often they will not be permitted to speak 252 During this period they are taught the various details of their associated orixa such as its likes and dislikes and the appropriate drum rhythms and dances that invoke that deity 242 The time spent in isolation varies although three weeks is typical 253 They will be bathed in water mixed with herbs 254 especially their head 255 which will then be shaved 242 The initiate is then taken into a neighbouring room where altars have been set up A drummer plays while pre existing initiates sing praise songs 253 Animals are sacrificed including from a four legged animal and some of the blood may be touched on parts of the initiate s body 256 The initiate s head is then shaved and two cuts made into the apex of it with a razor a mix of animal blood and herbs may be added to the incisions This is done to allow the orixa entry into the head 257 A cone of wax the adoxu is then placed on the wound to stem the bleeding 258 the head will then be wrapped in cloth 259 Depending on the terreiro cuts may also be made on the tip of the initiate s tongue on their back upper arms thighs buttocks and the soles of their feet 260 With the incisions made the orixa is seated within the individual s head during the assentar o santo ritual 261 Following the initiation the new initiate may be presented to the rest of the community through a public coming out ceremony the saida 262 Along with their white clothes their body will be covered in white spots 263 During this they may be expected to give the name of the marca of their tutelary orixa which they are supposed to have discovered via a dream 71 In the panan the initiate is symbolically re taught mundane tasks 229 a ritual sometimes followed by an auction in which the initiate is symbolically sold to their spouse or a member of their family a reference to the era of slavery 229 On the following Friday they are expected to attend mass in a Roman Catholic church known as the romaria 264 Finally a senior member of the terreiro will lead the initiate still wearing white back to their home 229 Over the course of the following year the initiate may conduct further obligations to build their relationship with the orixa 265 Candomble includes a number of additional graded initiations which are expected to take place one year three years and then seven years after the original initiatory ceremony 266 Over the course of this they are expected to learn to receive all of their tutelary orixa 267 Those who have performed seven years of initiatory rituals are called ebomi 268 or ebame 110 At the end of the seven years they receive the deca from their initiator being given a tray of ritual objects this enables them to go and form their own temple 269 In practice many adherents cannot afford to pay for these ceremonies at the specified time and they instead take place many years after 266 Possession Edit A Candomble ceremony on Itaparica Island in Bahia Music and dance is a fundamental element of Candomble 270 The drumming will often take place all night 271 Participants are expected to wear white with women wearing skirts 271 Three main types of drum are employed the largest being the rum the middle sized being the rumpi and the smallest being the le 272 These drums are understood as living and need to be fed 273 The head drummer is known as the alabe 274 Many terreiros maintain that women should not be involved in this ritual drumming although others reject this tradition 250 In some rituals practitioners will drink a concoction containing jurema a mildly hallucinogenic plant which is sometimes mixed with the blood of sacrificed animals 275 The state of vertigo signalling the onset of trance is known as barravento 132 As the trance begins practitioners often experience a body spasm termed the arrepio shiver 52 Practitioners believe that when an individual is possessed by a spirit they have no control over the latter s actions 276 Within Candomble it is regarded as a privilege to be possessed by an orixa 242 A common Bahian way of referring to the possession is receber to receive 277 As it entails being mounted being possessed is regarded as being a symbolically female role 278 For this reason many heterosexual men refuse initiation into Candomble some believe that involvement in these rites can turn a man homosexual 279 Among practitioners it is sometimes claimed that in the past men did not take part in the dances that lead to possession 278 Often those believed possessed by an orixa will not eat drink or smoke emphasising their aristocratic disposition 280 and that they will also rarely if ever speak 281 When they dance it will often be stylized and controlled 100 Many terreiros prohibit photography of those undergoing a possession trance 282 After an individual becomes possessed they may be led into an anteroom to be dressed in clothes associated with the possessing orixa this usually includes brightly colored dresses regardless of the gender of those involved 283 Those possessed by Ogun will for instance often be given a metal helmet and axe while those possessed by Oxum wear a crowd and carry a sword and the abebe fan 283 Practitioners may fully prostrate themselves before the possessed 284 Those possessed by an orixa may deliver predictions and prophecies 285 The style of speech adopted by the possessed will be influenced by the type of spirit believed to be possessing them 286 Those deemed to be possessed by caboclos will often smoke cigars 287 and sometimes place gunpowder into the palm of their hand which they then light with their cigar to cause an explosion 288 A false trance is known as an eque 289 Those who do not go into a trance are known as ogas if male and equedes if female 103 Public festivals Edit On her festival day in February offerings to Yemanja are placed on boats and taken out to be cast into the water 290 Although details of the liturgical calendar vary among terreiros Candomble features a yearly cycle of festivals or feasts to the orixas 290 These are sometimes private and sometimes open to the public 291 These are typically held on the Roman Catholic saint s day associated with the saint linked to a particular orixa 19 The main festival season begins in September with the feast of Oxala and continues through to February when the feast of Yemanja takes place 290 In some cases Candomble festivals have become widely popular with the public especially those of Oxala and Yemanja 292 Hundreds of thousands of people congregate at the beach on Yemanja s Day 2 February 227 where they often load offerings to her onto boats which then take them out into the water and cast them overboard 293 Festivals for the caboclos usually take place on 2 July the day which marks Bahia s independence from Portugal 294 Some terreiros hold public festivals for both the orixas and the caboclos although some only hold them for one of these two categories of spirit 295 Public festivals for exus are rarer 286 The tone of the event differs depending on which spirit category is being honoured those for the orixas have more of a fixed structure and a greater formality while those for the caboclos are more spontaneous and have greater interaction between the spirits and the human participants 295 In the Nago Jeje nation the Waters of Oxala ritual is performed at the start of the liturgical year it involves bringing fresh water sometimes from a well to the terreiro to purify and replenish the assamentos 290 Divination Edit Priests and priestesses engage in divination which often proves a key source of income for them 296 The most common form of divination in Brazil is the dilogun or jogo dos buzios shell game which is performed by both men and women 297 It entails throwing cowrie shells onto the floor and then interpreting answers from the sides onto which they have landed 298 It is common for 16 shells to be thrown and then a further four to confirm the answer provided by the first throwing 299 Each configuration of shells is associated with certain odu or mythological stories 300 The specific odu is then interpreted as having pertinence for the client s situation 301 Another common divinatory practice involves slicing an onion in two and dropping the pieces to the ground drawing conclusions from the face onto which they fall 302 alternatively a kola nut may be cut into quarters and read in the same way 303 Ifa is another divinatory system practised by the Yoruba people specifically by male initiates called babalawos however by the start of the 21st century this was characterised as being either extinct 304 or very rare in Brazil 305 Healing Edit Healing rituals form an important part of Candomble 306 When acting in a healing capacity practitioners are often called curandeiros 307 Priests and priestesses may offer healing for a wide range of conditions ranging from obesity and hair loss to pneumonia and cancer 308 Altar at the Terreiro de Candomble in Jiribatuba pt Vera Cruz Candomble teaches that many personal problems are caused by a disequilibrium with the spirit world 309 Thus staying healthy can be ensured through ensuring a state of equilibrium with the orixas avoiding excess and following lessons imparted in the religion s mythological tales 309 A sick person is regarded as having an open body that is vulnerable to harmful influences and lacks axe 310 The religion teaches that ailments may be a punishment from the orixas 311 or that a spirit of the dead may attach itself to an individual or even possess them thus causing harm 312 It is also believed that humans can cause harm to others via supernatural means 310 either inadvertently through the mau olhado evil eye 313 or through witchcraft and cursing which practitioners seek to counter 309 Individuals will often approach a priest or priestess seeking a remedy to a problem in their life such as sickness The priest or priestess will use divination to ascertain the cause and remedy 239 The first step in the healing process is the limpeza or spiritual cleansing 301 This will often entail providing an offering to a particular orixa or lesser spirit a sacudimento leaf whipping whereby certain leaves are wiped over the patient s body or an abo leaf bath during which they are washed in water infused with various herbs and other ingredients 314 Healing the patient may also necessitate their initiation into the religion 239 Another type of ceremony is known as the bori This entails placing food on the individual s head to feed the orixa that is believed to partially reside within the cranium 265 This may be conducted to bolster the individual s health and well being or to give them additional strength before an important undertaking 265 Another is the cleansing of the body rite designed to remove an egum that is troubling an individual 315 In the troca da cobeca rite the sickness is transferred to another especially an animal that is then killed 316 The healer may also recommend that the sick person seek help from a medical professional like a doctor 317 Candomble healers are often well versed in herbalism 307 Herbs are deemed to contain axe which needs to be appropriately awakened 318 but if improperly harvested can lose potency 319 The leaves used should be fresh not dried 318 and often picked late at night or early in the morning to ensure their maximum potency 318 They are often purchased from one of the casas de folhas houses of leaves in markets 320 but if taken from the forest permission should be sought from the overseeing orixa and offerings left such as coins honey or tobacco 318 These may then be rubbed directly only the sick person or brewed into a cha tea or other medicinal concoction 321 practitioners may also produce po powder which may have a variety of uses from healing to harming or attracting someone s romantic attention 322 Historically terreiros could retain African medical traditions where they would have hybridized with Native American and European traditions 13 An individual knowledgeable about leaves is called a mao de ofa 186 Like many other Brazilians Candomble will often wear amulets 323 sometimes concealed beneath clothing to avoid unwanted attention 324 Common examples are horns or the figa a fist with the thumb in inserted between the index and middle finger 323 A patua consists of a small cloth pouch containing various objects plant parts and texts 323 Sprigs of the arruda or laranja da terra plants may also be carried on the body to protect against the evil eye 325 Specific plants associated with a particular orixa are often kept by doorways to prevent the entry of negative forces 325 Funerals and the dead Edit Following a senior practitioner s death their fellow terreiro members will conduct axexe a series of rituals which transform the deceased into an ancestral spirit of the terreiro s own pantheon 326 This ensures that they do not become a potentially dangerous wandering spirit 239 A wide range of offerings including sacrificed animals are given both to the dead individual and to accompanying orixas and other spirits during the axexe 327 A Roman Catholic mass will also be performed 328 History EditCandomble formed in the early part of the nineteenth century 329 Although African religions had been present in Brazil since the early 16th century Johnson noted that Candomble as an organized structured liturgy and community of practice called Candomble only arose later 330 Origins Edit Candomble originated among enslaved Africans transplanted to Brazil during the Atlantic slave trade 331 Slavery was widespread in West Africa most slaves were prisoners of war captured in conflicts with neighbouring groups although some were convicted criminals or those in debt 332 African slaves first arrived in Brazil in the 1530s 333 and were present in Bahia by the 1550s 334 Over the course of the trade around four million Africans were transported to Brazil 335 an area that received more enslaved Africans than any other part of the Americas 336 Within Brazil itself these Africans were most concentrated in Bahia 25 In the 16th century most of the enslaved came from the Guinea coast but by the 17th century Angola and Congo populations had become dominant 337 Then between 1775 and 1850 the majority of slaves were Yoruba and Dahomean coming from the Gulf of Benin largely in what is now Benin and Nigeria 338 Priests of the Oyo Empire were likely among the enslaved when the latter was attacked by Fulani and Fon groups 56 As the last wave of slaves these Yoruba and Dahomean people became numerically dominant among Afro Brazilians resulting in their traditional cosmology becoming ascendant over that of longer established communities 339 On being brought to Brazil these slaves were divided into nations primarily on their port of embarkation rather than their original etho cultural identities 340 This process meant that Africans of different cultural backgrounds regions and religions were thrown together under a unifying term such as Nago 341 the latter used for those exported from the Bight of Benin 340 Transportation merged deities venerated in different regions in Africa as part of the same pantheon 342 Whereas in Africa people had generally venerated deities associated with their specific region these commitments were broken up by enslavement and transportation 341 Of the thousands of orishas venerated in West Africa this was cut down to a much smaller pantheon in Brazil 24 Which deities continued to be venerated probably depended on their continued relevance in the new Brazilian context 56 Orisha associated with agriculture were abandoned probably because slaves had little reason to protect the harvests of slave owners 343 By the 18th century accounts of African derived rituals performed in Brazil were common 344 at which point they were referred to generically as calundu a term of Bantu origin 345 A 17th and 18th century ritual that incorporated drumming and spiritual possession known as a Calundu is believed to be an influence of Candomble s drumming works 346 The Roman Catholic nature of Brazilian colonial society which allowed for a cult of saints may have permitted greater leeway for the survival of traditional African religions than were available in Protestant dominant areas of the Americas 347 Many of the slaves learned to classify their orixas in relation to the Roman Catholic saints and the calendar of saints days 348 There is no evidence that the slaves simply used the cult of saints to conceal orixa worship but rather that devotees understood the two pantheons as comprising similar figures with similar abilities to fix certain problems 330 Some ecclesiastical figures in the Roman Catholic Church saw the syncretisation as a positive step in the process of converting the Africans to Christianity 349 The Christian teaching provided to enslaved Africans was often rudimentary 350 Among slave owners there was also a belief that allowing the slaves to continue their traditional religions would allow old enmities between different African communities to persevere thus making it less likely the slaves would unify and turn against the slave owners 351 It was also thought that allowing the slaves to take part in their traditional customs would expend energies that might otherwise be directed toward rebellion 352 However as steps were taken to convert the African populations to Christianity in Brazil many Africans had been converted before being brought to the Americas 346 In Brazil enslaved Africans and their descendants were also exposed to ceremonial magic practices from Iberia 353 19th century Edit After enslaved Africans successfully led the Haitian Revolution there were growing fears about similar slave revolts in Brazil 354 The 1820s and 1830s saw increased police repression of African derived religions in Brazil 352 Laws introduced in 1822 allowed police to shut down batuques or drumming ceremonies among the African population 354 It was during this period that the Engenho Velho Old Sugar Mill terreiro was established it was from this group that most Nago terreiros descended 352 Various records indicated that Creoles and Whites were also sometimes taking part in the rites which the police were suppressing 354 In 1822 Brazil declared itself independent of Portugal 355 Under British pressure the Brazilian government passed the Quieroz law of 1850 which abolished the slave trade although not slavery itself 355 In 1885 all slaves over the age of 60 were declared free 355 and in 1888 slavery was abolished entirely 356 Although now free life for Brazil s former slaves rarely improved 357 Various emancipated Yoruba began trading between Brazil and West Africa 358 and a significant role in the creation of Candomble were several African freemen who were affluent and sent their children to be educated in Lagos 359 The first terreiros formed in early 19th century Bahia 152 One of the oldest terreiros was the Ile Axe Iya Nasso Oka in Salvador established by Marcelina da Silva a freed African woman 360 this was probably active by the 1830s 359 Brazil s first republican constitution was produced in 1891 based on the constitutions of France and the United States it enshrined freedom of religion 361 However Afro Brazilian religious traditions continued to face legal issues the Penal Code of 1890 had included prohibitions on Spiritism magic talismans and much herbal medicine impacting Candomble 362 The authorities continued to shut down terreiros claiming they were a threat to public health 363 The late 19th century saw the first terreiros open in Rio de Janeiro a city then seeing a rapid expansion in its population 361 The period also saw various upper class white Brazilians seeking out Candomble 364 20th and 21st centuries Edit A group of practitioners photographed in 1902 Candomble became increasingly public in the 1930s partly because Brazilians were increasingly encouraged to perceive themselves as part of a multi racial mixed society in the midst of President Getulio Vargas Estado Novo project 365 Vargas approved the presidential Law Decree 1202 which recognized the legitimacy of terreiros and allowed them to practice 366 The Penal Code of 1940 gave additional protections to some terreiros 366 By 1940 Johnson argued Candomble in its contemporary form was discernible 367 The 1930s saw a proliferation of academic studies on Candomble by scholars like Raimundo Nina Rodrigues Edison Carneiro and Ruth Landes 368 with 20th century studies focusing largely on the Nago tradition 369 The growing literature both scholarly and popular helped document Candomble but also contributed to its greater standardisation 370 The religion spread to new areas of Brazil during the 20th century In Sao Paulo for instance there were virtually no Candomble terreiros until the 1960s reflecting the very small Afro Brazilian population there although this grew rapidly to the extent that there were around 2500 terreiros in the city in the late 1980s and over 4000 by the end of the 1990s 371 Some practitioners became increasingly well known the priestess Mae Menininha do Gantois was often seen as a symbol of Brazil 372 She had made efforts to improve the image of her terreiro establishing an administrative directorate to facilitate public relations in 1926 170 During the 20th century various organizations emerged to represent the terreiros notably the Bahian Federation of the Afro Brazilian Cults the National Institute and Supreme Sacerdotal Organ of Afro Brazilian Culture and Tradition and the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixas 170 By the late 20th century Candomble was increasingly respectable within Brazil 373 This was partly fuelled by well educated Afro Brazilians embracing their previously stigmatised cultural heritage 374 and by the growing number of intellectual and white initiates 375 By the early 21st century tourist literature increasingly portrayed Candomble as an intrinsic part of Brazilian culture 376 especially in Salvador 377 References to the religion s beliefs became more apparent in Brazilian society Varig Airlines for instance used the tagline Fly with Axe 378 When the Internet emerged various terreiros set up their own websites 162 while footage of its rituals were distributed through YouTube 379 In the closing decades of the 20th century some practitioners sought to remove Roman Catholic influenced aspects from the religion to return it to its West African roots 380 In 1983 the prominent priestess Mae Stella Azevedo for instance called on adherents to renounce all Roman Catholic saints and transform Candomble into a more purely African tradition 381 Many of those emphasising this Afrocentric perspective were white middle class practitioners who re emphasised Africa as a new source of authority because they had little standing with the predominantly Afro Brazilian Bahian Candomble establishment 282 Many terreiros distinguished themselves from this approach arguing that to abandon the Roman Catholic elements would be to abandon an important part of their religious ancestry 382 The 2000s also saw growing opposition from Evangelical Protestants including a rise in physical attacks on practitioners and terreiros 383 Candomble practitioners responded with marches against religious intolerance from 2004 onward with the first national march taking place in Salvador in 2009 384 Demographics EditIn 2010 there were a recorded 167 363 practitioners in Brazil 385 The religion has also established a presence abroad initially in other parts of South America like Argentina and Uruguay and from the 1970s in Portugal 386 Since then Candomble has appeared elsewhere in Europe including in Spain France Belgium Italy Germany Austria and Switzerland 386 In Brazil Candomble is a largely urban phenomenon 3 It is generally found among the poor 387 although there are terreiros whose membership is largely middle class or upper class 388 The religion s membership is more diverse in southern Brazil where there are large numbers of white and middle class followers 6 Most practitioners are poorer black women 3 various anthropologists have observed a far higher number of females than males in the terreiros they studied 389 Women dominate in the Ketu nation although men instead dominate the Angola and Jeje nations 128 Despite its Afro Brazilian origins Candomble has attracted those from other ethnic backgrounds 205 by the 1950s it was being described as a religion of mulattos and whites as well as blacks 390 while in a country like Germany it has attracted white followers with no Brazilian heritage 391 A gathering of practitioners at the Terreiro de Sao Goncalo do Retiro in Salvador in 2010 It has also been claimed that Candomble offers a sense of empowerment to people who are societally marginalised 392 some practitioners have cited its tolerance of homosexuality as part of its appeal especially in contrast to evangelical Christianity s typical condemnation of same sex sexual activity 393 Male practitioners are often stereotyped as being gay 394 and it has attracted many male homosexuals as practitioners 156 in Rio de Janeiro for example the gay male community has had longstanding links with the terreiros which have often been seen as part of a gay social network 329 Many gay men who have joined have cited it as offering a more welcoming atmosphere to them than other religious traditions active in Brazil 156 Various lesbians have also been identified as practitioners 149 although the anthropologist Andrea Stevenson Allen argued that they rarely received the same level of affirmation from the religion as their gay male counterparts 395 Many practitioners of Candomble already have a family link to the tradition with their parents or other elder relatives being initiates 329 Others convert to the movement without having had any family connections some of those who convert to Candomble have already explored Pentecostalism Spiritism or Umbanda 396 some Umbandists feel that they can go deeper by moving towards Candomble 371 Many describe having been ill or plagued with misfortune prior to being initiated into Candomble having determined through divination that their ailments would cease if they did so 397 Johnson noted that Candomble appears to appeal to those who identify strongly with an African heritage 329 some black people in Germany have been attracted to it because they feel it is a more authentically African religion than the forms of Christianity and Islam now dominant across Africa 57 Some like that it makes them feel part of a community 393 The religion s core area of practice lies in the city of Salvador and surrounding area 6 A 1997 census by the Bahian Federation of Afro Brazilian Religions recorded 1 144 terreiros active in the city 398 Within Brazil Candomble s influence is most pervasive in Bahia 30 and practitioners in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo often regard Bahian terreiros as being more authentic with deeper fundamentos 290 It is most widely practiced in the Bahian city of Salvador 122 a settlement that practitioners sometimes regard as a holy city 30 Several thousand terreiros exist in Salvador 360 In Bahia it is the Nago nation that has the largest number of houses and practitioners 25 Although lineages are independent practitioners have formed umbrella organisations called federations in most Brazilian states 399 These represent practitioners in their dealings with the government and society more broadly 400 They have also established a national organisation the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixas CONTOC through which to represent their interests 401 Reception and influence Edit Objects pertaining to Candomble on display in a Brazilian museum Since the 1960s Candomble has featured in various films such as The Given Word 1962 and The Amulet of Ogum 1974 as well as documentaries like Geraldo Sarno s Iao 1974 402 The Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado makes repeated references to Candomble throughout his work 403 In the 1980s the American writer Toni Morrison visited Brazil to learn more about Candomble She subsequently combined ideas from Candomble with those of Gnosticism in her depiction of the religion pursued by The Convent an all female community in her 1991 novel Paradise 404 Themes from the religion have also been included in the work of Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha 405 References to the religion also appeared in Brazilian popular music For instance Maria Bethania and Gal Costa s song Prayer to Mae Menininha made it into the country s chart 406 Candomble has been described as a much maligned religion 116 and its practitioners have often encountered intolerance and religious discrimination 47 More extreme hostile views of Candomble have regarded it as devil worship and macumba while milder critical views see it as superstition that attracts the simple minded and desperate 407 Brazil s Roman Catholics have mixed opinions of Candomble with some expressing tolerance and others expressing hostility to the presence of Candomble practitioners at mass 408 Evangelical and Pentecostal groups present themselves as avowed enemies of Candomble regarding it as diabolical and targeting it as part of their spiritual war against Satan 409 Johnson noted that many academics who have studied Candomble have sought to portray it in the best light possible so as to counter racist and primitivist stereotypes about Afro Brazilians 266 Academic studies have in turn influenced the way that the religion is practices helping to establish correct practice among divergent groups 410 Many terreiros own copies of academic studies of Candomble by scholars such as Pierre Verger Roger Bastide and Juana Elbein dos Santos 411 Various practitioners own books on Candomble and other Afro American religions including those written in languages they cannot understand as a mean of presenting an image of authority 410 Although objects associated with Candomble were initially found only in police museums thus underscoring the stereotypical association between the religion and criminality as it gained greater public acceptance such objects eventually came to be featured in museums devoted to folklore and Afro Brazilian culture 412 From the 1990s onward practitioners began establishing their own museum displays within their terreiros 413 For instance the bedroom of the famous Candomble priestess Mae Menininha do Gantois located within her Bahia terreiro was converted into a memorial within in 1992 and then formally recognised as a heritage site in 2002 414 Candomble practitioners have also lobbied other museums to change the way that the latter display items associated with the religion For instance practitioners successfully called upon the Museum of the City of Salvador to remove some ota stones from public display arguing that according to the regulations of the religion such items should never be visible to the public 415 References EditCitations Edit 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Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Minas Gerais Brazil Yale Journal of Music amp Religion 3 2 doi 10 17132 2377 231X 1080 Johnson 2002 p 70 Voeks 1997 p 157 Johnson 2002 p 70 Johnson 2002 p 71 Voeks 1997 p 156 Johnson 2002 p 69 a b c Johnson 2002 p 75 Capone 2010 p 73 a b c Johnson 2002 p 74 a b c Johnson 2002 p 77 Voeks 1997 p 153 Johnson 2002 p 77 Johnson 2002 p 78 Voeks 1997 p 154 a b Castillo amp Pares 2010 p 18 a b Castillo amp Pares 2010 p 1 a b Johnson 2002 p 81 Johnson 2002 pp 82 83 Johnson 2002 p 90 Johnson 2002 p 91 Johnson 2002 p 80 a b Johnson 2002 p 95 Johnson 2002 p 97 Johnson 2002 pp 80 81 Capone 2010 pp 2 3 Johnson 2002 p 161 a b Johnson 2002 p 156 Johnson 2002 p 158 Walker 1990 p 106 Voeks 1997 p 105 Walker 1990 p 108 Capone 2010 p 11 Johnson 2002 p 33 Hartikainen 2017 p 364 Johnson 2002 pp 33 158 Hartikainen 2017 p 374 Walker 1990 pp 114 115 Wafer 1991 p 56 Johnson 2002 p 71 Hartikainen 2017 p 374 Johnson 2002 p 72 Hartikainen 2017 pp 371 372 Hartikainen 2017 pp 360 375 377 Schmidt Bettina E 2016 Contemporary Religions in Brazil Vol 1 Oxford University Press p 7 doi 10 1093 oxfordhb 9780199935420 013 50 a b Bahia 2014 p 329 Wafer 1991 p 95 Marouan 2007 p 121 Wafer 1991 pp 94 95 Wafer 1991 p 88 Johnson 2002 pp 13 108 Johnson 2002 p 100 Bahia 2014 p 336 Bahia 2016 p 18 Alvarez Lopez amp Edfeldt 2007 p 167 a b Bahia 2014 p 359 Bahia 2016 p 26 Alvarez Lopez amp Edfeldt 2007 p 153 Allen 2012 p 26 Johnson 2002 p 54 Johnson 2002 pp 54 55 Capone 2010 p 6 Wafer 1991 p 4 Wafer 1991 p 199 Wafer 1991 pp 4 197 Johnson 2002 p 163 Walker 1990 p 106 Marouan 2007 pp 111 118 Walker 1990 pp 106 107 Paula Adinolfi amp Van de Port 2013 p 292 Voeks 1997 p 69 Johnson 2002 p 122 Johnson 2002 p 53 Hartikainen 2017 p 372 a b Johnson 2002 p 11 Johnson 2002 pp 11 160 Paula Adinolfi amp Van de Port 2013 pp 288 289 Paula Adinolfi amp Van de Port 2013 p 289 Paula Adinolfi amp Van de Port 2013 pp 284 285 Sansi Roca 2005 pp 139 140 Paula Adinolfi amp Van de Port 2013 p 290 Sources Edit Allen Andrea Stevenson 2012 Brides without Husbands Lesbians in the Afro Brazilian Religion Candomble Transforming Anthropology 20 1 17 31 doi 10 1111 j 1548 7466 2011 01141 x Alvarez Lopez Laura Edfeldt Chatarina 2007 The Role of Language in the Construction of Gender and Ethnic Religious Identities in Brazilian Candomble Communities In Allyson Jule ed Language and Religious Identity Women in Discourse Oxford Palgrave Macmillan pp 149 171 ISBN 978 0230517295 Bahia Joana 2014 Translated by Christiano S do V Silva Under the Berlin Sky Candomble on German Shores Vibrant Virtual Brazilian Anthropology 11 2 327 370 doi 10 1590 S1809 43412014000200012 Bahia Joana 2016 Dancing with the Orixas Music Body and the Circulation of African Candomble Symbols in Germany African Diaspora 9 15 38 doi 10 1163 18725465 00901005 S2CID 152159342 Brazeal Brian 2013 Coins for the Dead Money on the Floor Mortuary Ritual in Bahian Candomble In Roger Sansi Roca ed Economies of Relation Money and Personhood in the Lusophone World Portuguese Literary and Cultural Studies Tagus Press at the University of Massachusetts pp 103 124 ISBN 978 1933227146 Capone Stefania 2010 Searching for Africa in Brazil Power and Tradition in Candomble Translated by Lucy Lyall Grant Durham and London Duke University Press ISBN 978 0 8223 4636 4 Castillo Lisa Earl Pares Luis Nicolau 2010 Marcelina da Silva A Nineteenth Century Candomble Priestess in Bahia Slavery amp Abolition 31 1 1 27 doi 10 1080 01440390903481639 S2CID 143675040 DeLoach Chante D Petersen Marissa N 2010 African Spiritual Methods of Healing The Use of Candomble in Traumatic Response The Journal of Pan African Studies 3 8 40 65 Desplande Michel 2008 Bastide on Religion The Invention of Candomble Key Thinkers in the Study of Religion London Equinox ISBN 978 1 84553 366 3 Hartikainen Elina I 2017 Chronotopic Realignments and the Shifting Semiotics and Politics of Visibility in Brazilian Candomble Activism Signs and Society 5 2 356 389 doi 10 1086 693784 S2CID 158979230 Johnson Paul Christopher 2002 Secrets Gossip and Gods The Transformation of Brazilian Candomble Oxford and New York Oxford University Press ISBN 9780195150582 Marouan Maha 2007 Candomble Christianity and Gnosticism in Toni Morrison s Paradise In Theodore Louis Trost ed The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion New York Palgrave Macmillan pp 111 127 ISBN 978 1403977861 Paula Adinolfi Maria Van de Port Mattijs 2013 Bed and Throne The Museumification of the Living Quarters of a Candomble Priestess Material Religion 9 3 282 303 doi 10 2752 175183413X13730330868915 S2CID 162385683 Sansi Roca Roger 2005 The Hidden Life of Stones Historicity Materiality and the Value of Candomble Objects in Bahia Journal of Material Culture 10 2 139 156 doi 10 1177 1359183505053072 S2CID 144497398 Voeks Robert A 1997 Sacred Leaves of Candomble African Magic Medicine and Religion in Brazil Austin TX University of Texas Press ISBN 9780292787315 Wafer Jim 1991 The Taste of Blood Spirit Possession in Brazilian Candomble Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 978 0 8122 1341 6 Walker Sheila 1990 Everyday and Esoteric Reality in the Afro Brazilian Candomble History of Religions 30 2 103 128 doi 10 1086 463217 JSTOR 1062896 S2CID 161240664 Further reading EditAlonso Miguel 2014 The Development of Yoruba Candomble Communities in Salvador Bahia 1835 1986 New York Palgrave Macmillan Bastide Roger 1961 First published 1958 O Candomble da Bahia Rito Nago The Candomble of Bahia Nago Rite PDF in Portuguese Vol 313 Translated by Queiroz Maria Isaura Pereira Brazil Companhia Editora Nacional pt Archived PDF from the original on 2019 03 18 Retrieved 2019 03 18 Bramley Serge 1979 First published 1975 in Paris France Macumba The Teachings of Maria Jose Mother of the Gods Brazil Avon ISBN 978 0 380 42317 0 Brown Diana DeGroat 1994 Umbanda Religion and Politics in Urban Brazil Columbia University Press ISBN 978 0 231 10005 2 Laffitte Stefania Capone 2010 Searching for Africa in Brazil Power and Tradition in Candomble Translated by Grant Lucy Lyall Duke University Press ISBN 978 0 8223 9204 0 Carneiro Edison The Structure of African Cults in Bahia Civilzacao Brasileira Rio de Janeiro 1936 37 Gois Dantas Beatriz 2009 Nago Grandma and White Papa Candomble and the Creation of Afro Brazilian Identity Translated by Stephen Berg Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press Gordon Jacob U Yoruba Cosmology And Culture in Brazil A Study of African Survivals in the New World Journal of Black Studies Vol 10 No 2 December 1979 P 231 244 Herskovits Melville J The Social Organization of the Afrobrazilian Candomble Proceedings of the Congress Sao Paulo 1955 Jestice Phyllis G 2004 Holy People of the World A Cross cultural Encyclopedia Santa Barbara California ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1 57607 355 1 Landes Ruth 1947 The City of Women Macmillan Co ISBN 978 0 8263 1556 4 Matory James Lorand 2005 Black Atlantic Religion Tradition Transnationalism and Matriarchy in the Afro Brazilian Candomble Princeton University Press ISBN 978 0 691 05943 3 Matory J Lorand Gendered Agendas The Secrets Scholars Keep about Yoruba Atlantic Religion Gender amp History 15 no 3 November 2003 p 409 439 Omari Tunkara Mikelle S Manipulating the Sacred Yoruba Art Ritual and Resistance in Brazilian Candomble 2005 Wayne State University Press Pares Luis Nicolau 2013 The Formation of Candomble Vodun History and Ritual in Brazil Translated by Richard Vernon Chapel Hill NC University of North Carolina Press ISBN 978 1469610924 Reis Joao Jose Candomble in Nineteenth Century Bahia Priests Followers Clients in Rethinking the African Diaspora The Making of a Black Atlantic World in the Bight of Benin and Brazil Mann Kristina and Bay Edna G Ed Geu Heuman and James Walvin 2001 Frank Cass Reis Joao Jose Slave Rebellion in Brazil The Muslim Uprising of 1835 in Bahia Baltimore and London The Johns Hopkins University Press 1995 Souty Jerome 2007 Pierre Fatumbi Verger Du Regard Detache a la Connaissance Initiatique Maisonneuve et Larose fr ISBN 978 2 7068 1983 4 Verger Pierre Fatumbi 1995 1st edition 1954 Dieux d Afrique Culte des Orishas et Vodouns a l ancienne Cote des Esclaves en Afrique et a Bahia la Baie de Tous les Saints au Bresil Paris Revue Noire ISBN 978 2 909571 13 3 McGowan Chris and Pessanha Ricardo The Brazilian Sound Samba Bossa Nova and the Popular Music of Brazil 1998 2nd edition Temple University Press ISBN 1 56639 545 3External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Candomble Candomble music Webcast explores the influence of African culture on Brazilian music in English French and Dutch discovering Candomble in Bahia Ile Axe Opo Afonja a major house Ama A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade Unesco 2004 Slavery Abolition YearPortuguese Edit Extensive info on the Orixas February 2 Feast Day at SeaFrench Edit Prefaces of Berger s bookEnglish Edit Religious Rhythms The Afro Brazilian Music of Candomble Quimbanda Web page Brazilian Tradition related to Candomble in English French and Dutch Candomble experiences in Bahia Salvador and Cachoeira Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Candomble amp oldid 1127555301, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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