Candomble- The religion of Bahia...

Let's Invoke the Gods! The gods of Candomble...

Salvador is the capital of Bahia, and Bahia is the heart of the Afro-Brazilian culture. One of the most visible indications of this is the prominence of the Candomble religion here. I am not very knowledgeable about this religion so I would suggest you look up more information online if you are interested. It is related to Santeria, Voodoo, and other New World African religions, but it is also different. Like those religions it is infused with a combination of Christianity and traditional African tribal beliefs. Often the Christian aspects are Christian in name only as the slaves needed acceptable cover for their African beliefs in order to be able to practice their religion without persecution from their white Christian masters.

Ozell and I attended a Candomble ceremony in one of the favelas of Salvador. If you do not know what a "favela" is, then I would again direct you to seek more information online. (I love the modern age). But a readily identifiable definition would be "Brazilian / South American urban slum". Attending one of these ceremonies has become an event on many tourists' activity list in Bahia. The Cultural Department of Bahia even promotes them on brochures and fliers in the hotels, hostels, etc. Ozell and I were "guided" by a local woman Cynthia into attending our particular ceremony. Cynthia was a early middle aged woman who camped out in the outdoor section of one of the restaurants lining a public square in Centro Historico, Salvador. At first, we thought she was just an overly friendly woman who decided to engage us in conversation as we were waiting on our food. Cynthia speaks four languages fluently and was busy translating this restaurant's menu into German and Spanish for the owner who was her friend. She learned languages by working as an Au Pair (sp) in Europe when she was younger. She is also a lesbian and has had a wife for the last 25 years or so. She has two grown daughters via adoption and now is a grandmother of two granddaughters. She is a genuinely nice lady. But we also quickly realized (Ozell more quickly than me), that she supplements her income by using her language skills to talk to tourists and then direct them into some local activities such as attending a Candomble ceremony or taking a tour up the coast to some beaches and an ecological park. So that is how we found our way into watching a Candomble ceremony.

The ceremony started around 8pm at night. The "hall" was in a favela, and I'll just say the poor are really poor in Brazil. The ceremony is comprised of the participants and the congregation. The participants wear white clothes, and everyone in attendance it asked to wear light colored clothes and to remove earrings, watches, and shoes. The participants are evenly male and female. They wear beads around their neck and over their shoulders according to their experience and rank in the church hierarchy. There is one man who serves as the leader of the ceremony and maybe the church. I do not know if this religion is as patriarchal and misogynistic as the Catholic Church where only a human being who was born with a penis is fit to lead the ceremony. The ceremony consists of several rituals that prepare the participants to potentially enter a trance. Many of the usual neurological cues are used to induce this state: aroma cues including incense and fragrant botanicals, aural cues including repetitive chants and rhythmic drumming, social cues including fellow participants sharing in and reinforcing your beliefs and desires, and movement cues including ritual dancing. Not too much time passes before some of the participants begin to break into individualized movements- which are usually jerky and uncoordinated compared to the group dancing. Their eyes become glazed over and they appear to be unaware of their surroundings. They are allowed to continue to enter deeper into a trance state while those who have yet to reach that precipice continue to dance in a circle and chant attempting to enter a trance themselves. One of the church leader's responsibilities appears to be to determine which participants have truly entered a trance state. Some never even got close. Others appeared to be on the edge. Those who were deemed to be in a trance were directed upstairs and into another room.

The purpose of this ceremony was to invoke one of the gods. They believe in a mixture of pagan gods and Christian saints. The invoked god/goddess then descends upon those who are in a trance. Ozell and I were a little befuddled with the props that went along with this particular god. Unfortunately, we do not speak any Portuguese so we really could not follow along on the details of the ceremony. But those participants who had entered a trance came back to the main hall dressed as cowboys and smoking cigars- both the men and women alike. I kid you not. Hahahaha Then we arrived at what appeared to be the main point of the ceremony... The congregants and public were now welcomed to meet with one of the entranced participants to seek the blessing, advice, and or spiritual energy of the invoked god/goddess to help with their personal problems and questions. Some of the congregants were overwhelmed by the exchange of energy and become entranced themselves. Some left with smiles and tears of joy. Some left with frowns and faces of shock. It did not appear that everyone received the news they were hoping for.

It would be another long post in order to begin to discuss my opinion on Candomble. I will say it would not serve my spiritual concerns, but it seems to be less damaging to society than the three major monotheistic religions have been I also respect Candomble (and other New World African religions) for holding onto and incorporating their African heritage into their religion despite the harsh punishment they were subjected to by their European owners. I am interested in knowing why slaves in the States took the completely opposite path and became some of the most fanatical adherents to evangelical christianity- their owners' religion used to partially justify their very enslavement.

Cheers for now,

Sean