Umbanda

The first recorded mention of Umbanda comes in the 1920s from Niterói, in Rio de Janeiro, the state where in 1941 the First Congress of Umbanda Spiritualism was organized. The first references, however, also mentioned “Macumba”, with the idea of differentiating between them, thus showing the pre-existence of similar practices. Many initiatives, independent of hierarchical control, made possible a rapport between elements of Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritualism and Afro-Brazilian traditions. A new religious genealogy emerged from this confusion, but showed that it was divided between the names “Umbanda” and “Quimbanda” or, more popularly, “Macumba”.

Although they share the same set of beliefs, the two names reflect a difference in emphasis. Umbanda supposedly works “for good”, while Quimbanda is distinguished by its intention to work “for evil”. This is a simplistic interpretation, however, because the ambivalence between good and evil seems, in reality, to be characteristic of the fundamental myths of this strand of religion, which conceives of the cosmos as divided between different factions, which relate to each other through mystical attacks and defences. As in the struggles of love and other competitive situations, what is good for one party may be bad for the other, and vice versa.

The mythology of Umbanda has a clear sense of hierarchy. Religious beings are divided into seven “Lines”, commanded by an orixá or Catholic saint. The lines are subdivided into “Phalanxes” and “Legions”, which are made up of disembodied spirits in various stages of evolution. The main altar, which is known as “Conga”, is usually decorated with large numbers of images and objects, illustrating the complexity of the Umbanda pantheon. The altars may have images of Christ, the Guide, Our Lady, saints such as St Lazarus, St George, SS Cosmas and Damian, orixás, ‘pretos velhos’, ‘caboclos’, candles, necklaces, flowers and sometimes non-religious icons, such as the Brazilian flag. Umbanda started between the wars, at a time of strong nationalism, and sees itself as a patriotic religion.

The cult centres around the “Gira”, involving sacred music and dance. The drums mark out the rhythm, and the mediums chant the “ponto” under the leadership of the Mother or the Father of the Saint, dance in a circle and receive their spiritual guides, acting as their “horses” or “machines”. Besides expressing their vital energy in dance, as in Candomblé, the Umbanda guides are there to counsel those devotees who approach them. They guide them and purify them by “passes” with their hands, which protects them against mystical attack to which they are subject.

The Mother and some of the more senior daughters of the saint receive devotees for consultations, which they do whilst “embodied” by their guides. Umbanda Centres are thus centres for evaluating and resolving a multitude of conflicts which assail people in their daily lives. They specialize in identifying the causes of unhappiness, and are well versed in local social psychology. They help to explain the problem and invest it with a higher meaning. The competitive round of daily life, where inequalities breed envy and resentment, results in the development of evil spells, or simply negative vibrations which do harm. The people of Umbanda (one might say, in large measure, the people of Brazil) take the “evil eye” seriously.

Umbanda is a notable cultural development, bringing to the interpretation and resolution of conflicts a cast of “marginal” characters, as opposed to the dominant symbolic hierarchies: fearless ‘caboclos’, who personify the untamed depths of the forest; ‘pretos velhos’, old black slaves with a life time of labour behind them, who have the realist wisdom gained from a life of suffering; ‘exus’ and ‘pombas giras’, identified with people of the street, who do not hide behind conventional social masks and who move easily through the tortuous ways of human conflict; and children, who have not yet reached the age of reason. These are the guides who give protection and advice. They are far from official authority, be it secular or religious, and possess powers outside the realms of traditional bureaucratic structures. Such powers are usually discarded by official ideologies, but find a home in Umbanda, where they can give a positive meaning to experience and destiny.

Vodoo

There are African priests who travel to Brazil to learn about their own religion. This is an extraordinary example of cultural survival and the development of traditions which were thought to have been killed by the slave trade. Yorubas, Dahomeyans, Ashantis, Bantus have all contributed to Afro – Brazilian religion and have introduced different rituals. However, the cult known as Jeje-Nago was the main influence from the nineteenth century onwards. A similar phenomenon occurred in the Caribbean, with Voodoo in Haiti and Santeria in Cuba. Devotees from three areas – The Brazilian coastal regions, the Caribbean and East Africa – have many sacred rites in common, and there is still considerable scope for further development of their relationship.

The vitality of African tradition in Brazil is evidenced in the particular way it spread. It was never restricted to a single ethnic identity. The symbolism of the colour black and ancestral memories of Africa are heavily stressed, it is true, and they offer a perennial source of inspiration to black movements. However, for believers, the colour black is not the essential identifying feature of the religion. Oxum is yellow or gold, Oxossi is forest green, Yemanjá is sea blue, Xangô is red and white, and so on, through the colours of the rainbow.

Religious emphasis is not placed on the historical facts of the splitting up of whole tribes, the slave trade, the terrible ocean crossings or the violence of slave labour. The rituals and myths of Candomblé have little to say about history. What matters is the presence of the orixás in the sacred spaces, and their influence on the minds and conduct of people. Candomblé invests relationships with a cosmic dimension, both in mythical times and in life as we know it.

Its approachable myths, combined with the syncretism tendencies of Catholicism in Brazil, resulted in the truths of Candomblé being recognized as such and accepted by large numbers of Brazilians, whether they were black, mulatto or white. Candomblé was always condemned by the Church, but the clerical establishment never enjoyed great influence among the masses. It was persecuted by the State, with particular violence during the rule of President Getúlio Vargas, but the police who used to break into Candomblé premises were themselves often fearful followers of the cult. This persecution grew less frequent from the 1950s onwards, and the cult and its membership expanded. Cultural changes have seen it dignified in literature, music, cinema and TV, and it has acquired a glamour which has attracted even the elite of society.

Its influence on the new and growing Umbanda movement brought the cult of the orixás to a wider circle, including the middle classes. A survey in the 1980s recorded around 16,000 Umbanda centres in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, for example, the majority of them involving the descendants of Germans, Italians, Poles and other European immigrants. There are devotees of the orixás among Japanese and Jews in Brazil. Candomblé Houses and Umbanda Centres proliferate in Argentina through the Brazilian influence.

The aesthetic sophistication of Candomblé rituals have undoubtedly contributed to the attraction it exerts on people in general, and in artistic circles in particular. The open ceremonies in every house of the cult are like parties. The divinities that manifest themselves there do not come to preach or to give counsel. They come to express the life force, in dance. They do this in solemn mode, following a strict logic of ritual, submissive to the sound of the drums and the chanting. They are dressed ceremoniously and perform ritual gestures to identify each orixá. The proceedings invariably end with a meal for everybody present, when the sacred foods which have formed part of the event are eaten.

Candomblé Houses are constantly concerned with the maintenance of relations between the sacred and the profane. The area is carefully divided up, with a large covered area for the feast, a small room for the initiates, the ‘Peji’, to which access is restricted and where the sacred objects are kept, the shrines of each orixá, where access is also restricted, the area for the sacred plants, the reception room for devotees etc. Together they form a whole as complex as the cult’s hierarchy.

There are the obligations towards each orixá, the initiation ceremonies, the individual participation of the devotees, the divinations, the readings of the sea shells, a variety of private rites. The difficult reconciliation of the distinct powers that make up a Candomblé House and the relationship with the outside world are matters which must be carefully attended to, following a meticulous aesthetic ritual. The authority of a ‘lalorixá’ (mother of the saint) or a ‘babalorixá’ (father of the saint’) quite rightly depends on her or his mastery of these matters. Knowledge of what to do and the reasons for each traditional gesture make up the vast inheritance of symbols personified in the figure of the mother or the father of the saint.