Ilê Axé Iya Nassô Oká - Terreiro da Casa Branca

Candomblé is an The Afro-American religions are a number of related religions that developed in the Americas among African slaves and their descendants. ...Afro_American religion practised chiefly in The Federative Republic of Brazil (República Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America, and fifth largest in the world. ...Brazil but also in adjacent countries. The religion came from World map showing location of Africa A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second_largest continent in both area and population, after Eurasia. ...Africa to Brazil, carried by African Roman Catholic priest A priest or priestess is a holy man or woman who takes an officiating role in worship of any religion, with the distinguishing characteristic of offering sacrifices. ...priests who were brought as The word slave has at least two meanings: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ...slaves between Events July _ Ketts Rebellion Francis Xavier arrives in Japan. ...1549 and 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ...1888. The name Batuque is a Brazilian game played in Bahia in the early part of the twentieth century but now extinct. ...Batuque is also used, especially before the Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801_1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...19th century when Candomblé became more common. Both words are believed to derive from some The Bantu refer to over 400 different ethnic groups in Africa, from Cameroon to South Africa, united by a common language family, the Bantu languages, and in many cases common customs. ...Bantu language.

Although originally confined to the The word slave has at least two meanings: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ...slave population, banned by the The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ...Catholic church, and even criminalized by some governments, candomblé thrived over four centuries, and expanded considerably since the end of slavery (mid_ 1800 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...1800s). It is now a major established religion, with followers from all A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ...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 many people of other faiths — up to 70 million, according to some Afro_Brazilian cultural organizations — participate in candomblé rituals, regularly or occasionally. Candomblé deities, rituals, and holidays are now an integral part of Brazilian Folklore is the ethnographic concept of the tales, legends, or superstitions current among a particular ethnic population, a part of the oral history of a particular culture. ...folklore.

Candomblé may be called Macumba in some regions, notably Ipanema beach A NASA satellite image of Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro (meaning River of January in Portuguese) is the name of both a state and a city in southeastern Brazil. ...Rio de Janeiro; however Macumba is an Afro_Brazilian religion, common in many parts of Brazil. ...Macumba is also a distinct cult, more akin to European This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ...witchcraft. Candomblé should be distinguished from Originating in Brazil in the 1920s, Umbanda is a religion that blends Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritualism and Afro_Brazilian traditions. ...Umbanda, a religion founded in the early (19th century _ 20th century _ 21st century _ more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...20th century by combining African elements with Kardecist Spiritism or Kardecism is a spiritualistic doctrine created in the 19th century by Allan Kardec. ...Kardecism; and from similar African_derived religions in other The New World is one of the names used for the continents of North and South America and adjacent islands collectively, in use since the 16th century. ...New World countries, such as Haiti is a country situated on the western third of the island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of Gonâve, Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye, and Vache in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba; the Dominican Republic shares Hispaniola with Haiti. ...Haitian The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor_based religious tradition with primary roots among the Fon_Ewe peoples of West Africa, in the country now known as...Voodoo, The Republic of Cuba is an archipelago in the northern Caribbean that lies at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. ...Cuban Lukumí, Regla de Ocha or Afro_Cuba, most widely known as Santeria, (Santería in Spanish) is a set of related religious systems that superficially seem to fuse Catholic beliefs with traditional Yorùbá beliefs. ...Santería, and Obeah is a derogatory term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic or sorcery. ...Obeah, which developed independently of Candomblé and are virtually unknown in Brazil.

Nations

Brazilian slaves came from a number of This article or section should be merged with ethnicity An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ...ethnic groups, including The Yorùbá are the largest ethnic group in Nigeria, comprising approximately 26 percent of that countrys total population, and numbering about close to 100 million individuals throughout the region of West Africa. ...Yoruba, Ewe, Fon is a major West African ethnic and linguistic group in the country of Benin or Dahomey. ...Fon, and The Bantu refer to over 400 different ethnic groups in Africa, from Cameroon to South Africa, united by a common language family, the Bantu languages, and in many cases common customs. ...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 coutry, among different ethnic groups, it evolved into several "sects" or nations (nações), distinguished chiefly by the set of worshipped deities, and the Religious music (also sacred music) is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence. ...music and A sacred language is a language, frequently a dead language, that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life. ...language used in the rituals.

The division into nations was also influenced by the religious and beneficent Brotherhood has multiple meanings: Siblings: The relationship between male offspring, Fraternity: Sodality, or people engaged in a particular occupation; the medical fraternity Brotherhood: The feeling that men should treat one another as brothers Labor union: Union, trade union, brotherhood, an organization of employees formed to bargain with an employer Brotherhood...brotherhoods (irmandades) of Brazilian slaves organized by the Catholic Church in the (17th century _ 18th century _ 19th century _ more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...18th and Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801_1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...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 - Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...Yoruba language (Iorubá or Nagô in Portuguese)
  • Efã and Ijexá in For the genus of wildflowers in the family Asteraceae, see Bahia (Botany) Bahia is a state in the north_east of Brazil. ...Bahia
  • Nagô or Eba in Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Brazilian Northeast. ...Pernambuco
  • Oió_ijexá or Batuque_de_Nação in Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil. ...Rio Grande do Sul
  • Mina_nagô or Tambor_de_Mina in Maranhão is one of the states of Brazil in the north_eastern region. ...Maranhão
  • Xambá in Alagoas (AL) is a small state in northeastern Brazil lying between the states of Pernambuco and Sergipe; touching the state of Bahia along a part of its southwestern border. ...Alagoas and Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Brazilian Northeast. ...Pernambuco (nearly extinct).

• Bantu or Angola - mix of Bantu is a language family that belongs to the Niger-Congo group. ...Bantu ( The Kongo Empire was an African kingdom located in southwest Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ...Kikongo and Kimbundo) languages
  • Caboclo (worships Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...Indian deities besides Orixás)
• Jejé - Ewe (pronounced like ay-way) is a Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana and Togo. ...Ewe, The Fon language is part of the Gbe dialect continuum and belongs to the Kwa sub_family of the Niger_Congo languages. ...Fon, and Gen (also called Gẽ, Gen_Gbe, or Mina) is a Gbe language spoken in the southeast of Togo and in the Mono province of Benin. ...Gen languages (Jejé)
  • Mina Jejé in Maranhão is one of the states of Brazil in the north_eastern region. ...Maranhão
  • Babaçuê in Pará _ Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ...Pará

Beliefs

Candomblé is a Spiritualism is a religion in which contact with the spirits of the dead through a medium is central. ...spiritualist religion and worships a number of gods or spirits, derived from African deities:

• the This article is about the type of spirit. ...Orishas of The mythology of the Yorùbá is sometimes claimed by its supporters to be one of the worlds oldest widely practised religions. ...Yoruba mythology (Ketu nation), spelled This article is about the type of spirit. ...Orixás in Portuguese (português) is a Romance language predominantly spoken in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and East Timor. ...Portuguese;
• the The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor_based religious tradition with primary roots among the Fon_Ewe peoples of West Africa, in the country now known as...Voduns of the Ewe and Fon is a major West African ethnic and linguistic group in the country of Benin or Dahomey. ...Fon (Jejé nation); and
• the Inkices (Minkisi) of the The Bantu refer to over 400 different ethnic groups in Africa, from Cameroon to South Africa, united by a common language family, the Bantu languages, and in many cases common customs. ...Bantu (Angola nation).

These spirits were created by a supreme God: the In Yorùbá mythology, Olorun is the Sky Father (though occasionally androgynous or female), and a god of peace, purity and harmony. ...Olorun (Olorum) of the Yoruba, Zambi or Zambiapongo of the The Bantu refer to over 400 different ethnic groups in Africa, from Cameroon to South Africa, united by a common language family, the Bantu languages, and in many cases common customs. ...Bantu, and Mawu of the Fon is a major West African ethnic and linguistic group in the country of Benin or Dahomey. ...Fon.

Candomblé deities have individual personalities, skills, and ritual preferences, and are connected to specific natural phenomena (a concept somewhat similar to the Kami (神) is the Japanese word for god. The word is used to indicate any sort of god, beings of a higher place or belonging to a different sphere of existence. ...Kami of Japanese Shintō (Japanese: 神道) is the native religion of Japan. ...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 For other uses of the term Christian, see Christian (disambiguation). ...Christianism. Categories: Religion stubs | Anglicanism | Christian art | Eastern Orthodoxy | Roman Catholic Church | Symbols ...Crucifixes are sometimes displayed in candomblé temples, and the African deities were often identified with specific Catholic is a term generally used in relation to the members, beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. ...Catholic General definition of saint In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ...saints. This Syncretism is the attempt to reconcile disparate, even opposing, beliefs and to meld practices of various schools of thought. ...syncretism was in part a reaction to Church_inspired persecution by authorities and slave owners, who viewed Candomblé as Paganism is a catch_all term which has come to bundle together (by extension from its original classical meaning of a pre_Christian religion) a very broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices that are usually, but not necessarily, characterized by polytheism and, less commonly, animism. ...paganism and This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ...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 Candomblés 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 Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ...Indian 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 on African elements.

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, Ifá is a system of divination that originated in West Africa among the Yoruba people. ...cowrie_shell divinations (jogo de búzios) are performed, and sacrifices are offered to the desired Orixás, and to the messenger spirit ( In Yoruba mythology, Eshu is an Orisha, and one of the most respected deities of the tradition. ...Exú in Ketu).

In the public part of the ceremony, each child_of_saint ( For other meanings of medium, see medium (disambiguation). ...medianic priest) invokes and "incorporates" an Orixá, falling into a trance_like state. After recovering from the trance, the priest_spirit performs a dance symbolic of the Orixá's attributes, while the babalorixá or father of saint (leading male priest) sings about the spirit's deeds. The ceremony ends with a banquet.

Candomblé music, an essential part of the ritual, derives from Africa is a large and diverse continent, consisting of dozens of countries, hundreds of languages and thousands of races, tribes and ethnic groups. ...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 Afonjá

Candomblé The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. ...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 a 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 is the capital of the state of Maranhão, Brazil. ...São Luís, Maranhão is one of the states of Brazil in the north-eastern region. ...Maranhão (ca. 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ...1796).

Books

• Pierre Edouard Leopold Verger, alias Fatumbi or Fátúmbí (Paris, November 4, 1902; Salvador, Brazil, February 11, 1996) was a photographer, self-taught ethnographer, and babalawo (Yoruba priest) who devoted most of his life to the study of the African diaspora — the slave trade, the African-based religions of the new...Pierre Fatumbi Verger: Dieux D'Afrique. Paul Hartmann, Paris (1st edition, 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...1954; 2nd edition, 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...1995). 400pp, 160 Something which is monochromatic has a single color. ...b/w photos, ISBN 2-909571-13-0.
• 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

• Candomblé at the Brazilian Embassy in London website (http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=1113)
• Ilé Axé Opô Afonjá (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1322/page9.html), a major house
• Orixá imagery (http://planeta.terra.com.br/arte/candomble/mural/mural.html)
• Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade (http://www.ama.africatoday.com/america.htm)
• Extensive info on the Orixás (http://planeta.terra.com.br/arte/candomble/index2.html) (in Portuguese)
• Candomblé  (http://www.brasilfolclore.hpg.ig.com.br/candomble.htm) (in Portuguese, includes lexicons of Candomblé sacred languages)
• Prefaces of Berger's book (http://www.revuenoire.com/francais/Livres/LivresSoleil/DieuxVerger/LS_verger3.html) (in French)
• African-Brazilian (http://www.inform.umd.edu/LAS/InfoStudent/StudyAbroad/african-brazilian.htm)
• Unesco 2004: Slavery Abolition Year (http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php_URL-ID=13974&URL-DO=DO-TOPIC&URL-SECTION=201.html)