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Iya Nassô Oká - Terreiro da Casa BrancaCandomblé
is an African religion practiced chiefly in Brazil but also in
adjacent countries. The religion came from Africa to Brazil, carried
by African priests and adherents who were brought as slaves between
1549 and 1850. The name Batuque is also used, especially before the
19th century when Candomblé became more common. Both words are
believed to derive from a Bantu-family language.
Although
originally confined to the slave population, banned by the Catholic
church, and even criminalized by some governments, Candomblé
thrived for over four centuries, and expanded considerably after the
end of slavery in late 1800s. It is now a major, established
religion, with followers from all social classes and tens of
thousands of temples. In recent surveys, about 2 million Brazilians
(1.5% of the total population) have declared candomblé as
their religion. However, in Brazilian culture, religions are not seen
as mutually exclusive, and thus many people of other faiths
participate in candomblé rituals regularly or occasionally.
Candomblé deities, rituals, and holidays are now an integral
part of Brazilian folklore.
Candomblé
may be called Macumba in some regions, notably Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo, although Macumba has a distinct set of practices
more akin to European witchcraft. Candomblé can also be
distinguished from Umbanda, a religion founded in the early 20th
century by combining African elements with Kardecism; and from
similar African-derived religions in other New World countries, such
as Haitian Voodoo, Cuban Santería, and Obeah, which developed
independently of Candomblé and are virtually unknown in Brazil.
Nations
Brazilian
slaves came from a number of ethnic groups, including Yoruba, Ewe,
Fon, and Bantu. Slave handlers classified them by the shore of
embarkment, so the relation to their actual ethnicity may be accurate
or not. As the religion developed semi-independently in different
regions of the country, among different ethnic groups, it evolved
into several "sects" or nations (nações),
distinguished chiefly by the set of worshipped deities, as well as
the music and language used in the rituals.
The
division into nations was also influenced by the religious and
beneficent brotherhoods (irmandades) of Brazilian slaves organized by
the Catholic Church in the 18th and 19th centuries. These
fraternities, organized along ethnic lines to allow preaching in the
slaves' native languages, provided a legitimate cover for slave
reunions, and ultimately may have aided the establishment of Candomblé.
The
following list is a rough classification of the major nations and
sub-nations, and their sacred languages:
Ketu or
Queto - Yoruba language (Iorubá or Nagô in Portuguese)
Efã
and Ijexá in Bahia
Nagô
or Eba in Pernambuco
Oió-ijexá
or Batuque-de-Nação in Rio Grande do Sul
Mina-nagô
or Tambor-de-Mina in Maranhão
Xambá
in Alagoas and Pernambuco (nearly extinct).
Bantu or
Angola - mix of Bantu (Kikongo and Kimbundo) languages
Caboclo
(worships Indian deities besides Orixás)
Jejé
- Ewe, Fon, and Gen languages (Jejé)
Mina
Jejé in Maranhão
Babaçuê
in Pará
Beliefs
Candomblé
is a spiritualist religion and worships a number of gods or spirits,
derived from African deities:
the
Orishas of Yoruba mythology (Ketu nation), spelled Orixás in Portuguese;
the
Voduns of the Ewe and Fon (Jejé nation); and
the
Inkices (Minkisi) of the Bantu (Angola nation).
These
spirits were created by a supreme God: the Olorun (Olorum) of the
Yoruba, Zambi or Zambiapongo of the Bantu, and Mawu of the Fon.
andomblé
deities have individual personalities, skills, and ritual
preferences, and are connected to specific natural phenomena (a
concept somewhat similar to the Kami of Japanese Shintoism). Every
person is chosen at birth by one or more "patron" spirits,
identifed by a priest. The spirits (except the supreme Olorum) are
"incorporated" by priests during Candomblé rites.
Altogether,
the various nations of Candomblé retain fifty or so of the
hundreds of deities still worshiped in Africa. There are many
similarities between some deities of different nations: e.g. Bantu
Kabila, Ketu Oxósse and Jejé Otulu are all hunters and
have the same symbolic colors. In Candomblé, however, they are
considered different deities.
On the
other hand, deities from one nation may be cultuated as
"guests" in houses and ceremonies of another nation,
besides those of the latter. Some nations assign new names to guest
spirits, while some retain the names used in the nation of origin.
Syncretism
Over the
centuries Candomblé has incorporated many elements from
Christianity. Crucifixes are sometimes displayed in candomblé
temples, and the African deities were often identified with specific
Catholic saints. This syncretism was in part a reaction to
Church-inspired persecution by authorities and slave owners, who
viewed Candomblé as paganism and witchcraft. Indeed, there are
reports of Christian devotional altars being used in early slave
houses to hide African cult icons and ritual objects. Even after the
end of slavery, the claim that ritual dances of Candomblé were
in honor of Catholic saints was often used, by practitioners and
authorities alike, as an excuse to avoid confrontation.
However,
religious persecution may not be the only reason for
Candomblé's syncretism. One should note that syncretism was
more natural for polytheist and multi-ethnic Candomblé than
for the centralized, strongly monotheistic religions of the Old
World. In this regard, it is worth noting that some Candomblé
rites have also incorporated local Native American gods — which,
to the Church, were just as pagan as the Orixás — because
they were seen as the "Orishas of the land". Finally, one
should keep in mind that many (if not most) practitioners of
Candomblé through the times had not only African roots but
European ones as well.
Although
syncretism still seems to be prevalent, in recent years the lessening
of religious and racial prejudices has given rise a
"fundamentalist" movement in Candomblé, that rejects
the Christian elements and seeks to recreate a "pure" cult
based exclusively in Africa.
Rituals
The
candomblé ritual (toque) has two parts: the preparation,
attended only by priests and initiates, which may start a week in
advance; and a festive public "mass" and banquet that
starts in the late evening and ends around midnight.
In the
first part, initiates and aides wash and iron the costumes for the
ceremony, and decorate the house with paper flags and festoons, in
the colors favored by the Orixas that are to be honored on that
occasion. They also prepare food for the banquet. Some domestic
animals are slaughtered; some parts reserved for sacrifice, the rest
is prepared for the banquet. On the day of the ceremony, starting in
the early morning, cowrie-shell divinations (jogo de búzios)
are performed, and sacrifices are offered to the desired
Orixás, and to the messenger spirit (Exú in Ketu).
In the
public part of the ceremony, children-of-saint (medianic priests)
invoke and "incorporate" Orixás, falling into a
trance-like state. After having fallen into trance, the
priest-spirits perform dances symbolic of the Orixá's
attributes, while the babalorixá or father of saint (leading
male priest) leads songs that celebrate the spirit's deeds. The
ceremony ends with a banquet.
Candomblé
music, an essential part of the ritual, derives from African music
and has had a strong influence in other popular (non-religious)
Brazilian music styles. The word batuque, for instance, has entered
the Brazilian vernacular as a synonym of "rhythmic percussion music".
Temples
and priesthood
Ilê
Axé Opó AfonjáCandomblé temples are
called houses (casas), plantations (roças), or yards
(terreiros). Most Candomblé houses are small, independently
owned and managed by the respective higher priests (father- or mother-of-saint).
A few of the older and larger houses have a more institutional
character and more formal hierarchy. There is no central administration.
Candomblé
priesthood is organized into symbolic families, whose members are
not necessarily relatives in the common sense. Each family owns and
manages one house. In most houses, especially the larger ones, the
head of the family is always a woman, the mother-of-saint
(ialorixá in Ketu), seconded by the father-of-saint
(babalorixá). Some houses have a more flexible hierarchy which
allows the father-of-saint to be the head priest.
Admission
to the priesthood and progression in the hierarchy is conditioned to
approval by the Orixás, possession of the necessary qualities,
learning the necessary knowledge, and performance of lengthy
initiation rites, which last seven years or more.
Upon the
death of an ialorixá, the successor is chosen, usually among
her daughters, largely by means of a divinatory cowrie shell game.
However the succession may be very disputed or may fail to find a
successor, and often leads to splitting or closing down of the house.
Only a handful of houses in Brazil have seen their 100th anniversary.
Among the oldest that are still extant are Ilé Axé
Iyá Nassô Oká (the "White House at the Old
Sugarmill"), in Salvador, Bahia, and the Casa das Minas in
São Luís, Maranhão (ca. 1796).
The above
informatuion is from from wickpedia.com (the peoples history)