Dressed to charm the gods: sensuality, beauty and eroticism in Cuban Santeria and the Xangȏ de Recife (original) (raw)
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2021
Quimbanda is a ritual modality that has assumed unparalleled status in Rio Grande do Sul when compared to the rest of Brazil. Designating the cult of exus and pombagiras, Quimbanda has reached a prominent place in relation to other Afro-religious expressions, such as Batuque and Umbanda. The objective of this text is to point out the conditions of possibility of Quimbanda, showing how it corresponds to a displacement in principles that are essencial either to Batuque or to Umbanda. The forms of exus and pombagiras, Showing, associating spiritual manifestations, photographic records and internet propagation, are also addressed as part of the development of Quimbanda. The analyzes are based on the discussion of bibliography on Quimbanda, on the ethnography of rituals, and on interviews with priests. The text seeks to contribute to the debate about the religious modalities generated by the cult of orixás in Brazil.
African-Brazilian Cults - Historical Context
Foreword 02; Introduction 03; 1- Main African groups in Brazil 04; 2- Events of religiosity 11; 3- Acculturation, assimilation, imposition 14; 4- Birth of an African-Brazilian cult 19; 5- Present-day forms 23; 6- Orishas and their features 34; Conclusion 52; References 53. In today’s Brazil, along with Christianity, there is another African nature of religiosity that has been preserved as part of the cultural heritage of ethnic groups that constituted the Brazilian people. Especially in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, forms of worship such as Candomblé and Umbanda have strong expression among the popular classes. But how did these cults came out? Are they completely African, representing what was left of the original cults or the result of a syncretism between the beliefs of slaves brought from Africa to work on the sugar plantations and Christianity imposed by missionaries and by employers? Had Amerindian beliefs any influence on the formation of this religiosity? To answer these questions we have to go back to the beginning of the economic exploitation of Brazil and understand what the belief system was of the ethnic groups that would be the main component of slavery in Brazil, from the African region below the Sahara desert, as well as how those groups succeeded or not to keep their traditions. In this work, we intend to study how the African religiosity mixed with the beliefs of Brazilian native Indians to Christianity and giving rise to the cults of today, which remain on par with the official religion.
Speaking of new religious movements in Brazil implies, above all, in defining what we refer to when we speak of New Religions. We have already had an opportunity to discuss the boundaries that limit this concept (Guerriero, 2004). Now, it seems to be a matter of showing a larger audience some of the features that this phenomenon has achieved, without, however, going into the details that his discussion may arouse. However, we have decided to call new religious movements everything that is new in the religious field, regardless of whether they refer to new groups, or new ways religious experiences within the already established religions. In a broader sense, we can see that these take one of the two ends in the continuum when it comes to beliefs and values. On the one hand, we see those that are attached to a fundamental truth, and do not accept any other possibility beyond that defended by their own group. On the other, we see a galaxy of distinct groups and isolated experiences that preach relativism, whose extremes flirt with a paradox of absolute relativism. We think that, by following this rationale, it is possible to understand current tendencies in religion and to also demonstrate some of the specific characteristics of these new religious movements which, arising in other countries, took a distinct path of development once established in Brazil.
Social anthropology, 2005
Candomblé, the Afro-Brazilian spirit-possession cult that will be discussed in this essay, has been intensively studied by anthropologists. From the first ethnographic explorations in late nineteenth-century Salvador by Nina to the post-modern musings of Muniz Sodré (2002) on the contemporary significance of candomblé, the tendency has been to highlight the African 'genius' that animates the cult's rituals and practices. However, the focus is invariably placed on what is distinctive and singular about the cult, stressing how it differs from the world in which it operates rather than how it is part of that world. The temple (terreiro) is often portrayed as a universe on its own. In the pages that follow, I will argue that this approach obscures candomblé's thorough insertion into Bahian society, as well as the intricate ways in which Bahian society is involved in the making of the cult. To underline my proposition that a study of candomblé should no longer be confined to the temples of Salvador, I propose to start in an appropriately unconventional place: a fancy beauty parlour called Beleza Pura ('pure beauty') in a well-to-do neighborhood in Salvador.
The untold story of the Afro-Brazilian religious expansion to Argentina and Uruguay
Critique of Anthropology, 1996
Sometimes, a microscopically examined sequence of events in the lives of a few individuals results in the disclosure of an often neglected characteristic of human action and discourse: its polyphonic, plurivocal naturc. It is not merely the case of the RasllOmon effect and the variety of versions of differently positioned actors, but of the even greater complexity added by the density of voices, some in the light and some in shadows, that resound when a single informant speaks to us: all the social spaces through which her or his life travels are involved, the whole of a life experience, amounting to her or his forecast of the intentions of the interlocutors with whom she or he happens to talk. How can such a plural account be transcribed in a single ethnography, in a linear series of statements'? This is very much the case of the people about whom I write in this paper-a cult community that challenges ethnographers to the point that they come out, very often, with the most contradictory conclusions. Indeed, Afro-Brazilian cults seem to be malleable enough to encompass the most confusing variety of discourses shed upon them, all embraced by data, all fitting in: they are syncretic and deny being syncretic, they are pluralistic and they are exclusive, they are political and they are apolitical, they are African and they are not so African. I will speak here about a new pair of antagonistic views: religion as conforming and not conforming to established standards in a new national milieu.
The Valley of Dawn in the Brazilian Religious Field
The Valley of Dawn is a religious movement that emerged in Brasilia in the second half of the twentieth century, founded by Neiva Chaves Zelaya (1925-1985), known as Tia Neiva (Aunt Neiva). In this movement there is an intense religious syncretism, which is denied by the believers, as well as a strong presence of elements from the Afro-Brazilian religions, such as the caboclos and pretos velhos. The purpose of this article is to understand what this movement reveals from the dynamics of the Brazilian religious field, indicating some tensions that exist, mainly from its relationship with other religions.
The Diaspora of Brazilian Religions
2013
Cristina Rocha & Manuel A. Vásquez The Diaspora of Brazilian Religions explores the global spread of religions originating in Brazil, a country that has emerged as a major pole of religious innovation and production. Through ethnographically-rich case studies throughout the world, ranging from the Americas (Canada, the U.S., Peru, and Argentina) and Europe (the U.K., Portugal, and the Netherlands) to Asia (Japan) and Oceania (Australia), the book examines the conditions, actors, and media that have made possible the worldwide construction, circulation, and consumption of Brazilian religious identities, practices, and lifestyles, including those connected with indigenized forms of Pentecostalism and Catholicism, African-based religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda, as well as diverse expressions of New Age Spiritism and Ayahuasca-centered neo-shamanism like Vale do Amanhecer and Santo Daime.