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Culture:

After a recent trip to Salvador, a place I consider to be the spiritual center of Brazilian (Afro?) culture, I decided to find a Pai de Santo a do a "jogo de búzios" (³¾Ã©°ùì²Ô»åí±ôó²µÃº²Ô or cowrie-shell divination) to determine which are my orixás. Many people do not realize that a significant population here in Brazil are followers of candomblé or umbanda. The difference between the two (as I understand it) is that candomblé is a purer form of Yoruba beliefs of African religious forms (syncretized with Catholic beliefs to avoid persecution during times of slavery) while umbanda incorporates a greater range of "saints" and has Kardecian (spiritist) components.

As an outsider to Brazil these concepts are somewhat foreign. Even to mainstream Brazilians the concepts are difficult to understand - and are often "demonized" by mainstream Christian believers.

Still, it is a beautiful aspect of Brazilian culture which is worth looking into ESPECIALLY because both umbanda and candomblé are strongly tied to nature.

Example - my 3 orixás (based upon a pai de santo's³¾Ã©°ùì²Ô»åí±ôó²µÃº²Ô - throwing of shells) are:

Frente        Oxóssi (my main orixá is a hunter, of the forest, of to abundance and sustenance)

Adjunto    Iemanjá (my secondary orixá is Iemanjá, is considered the orixá of the seas, protector of fishermen and mother of almost all orixás)

Ancestral    Oxalufã (my third is the orixá of peace and patience)

So this might all be "mumbo jumbo" (meaningless) to you yet it IS a part of Brazilian culture that you might want to pay some attention to for it being very important to a significant part of this society - PLUS it is very beautiful and NOT voodoo nor witchcraft (and I won't get into those details here).

If you want to see an interesting representation of candomblé, search on Youtube for David Byrne's (yes, Talking Heads) "Ile Aiye," [Îlé Aiyé (The House of Life) - 1989) which was first presented on PBS' POV in 1989 OR buy it on Amazon for R$760.00.

Direct links:

Youtube:

Amazon:

SO - look around and find a "legitimate" Pai (or mãe) de Santos and start learning about your orixãs!!

mberigan