Candomblé

13.06.2012 20:83

I mentioned candomblé in one of my first entries after we visited the house of Yemenjá, the orixá of the sea. Today, we had a more in-depth lecture on Afro-Brazilian religion and the evolution of candomblé in Bahia. Historically, open practice of candomblé was prohibited and many Catholic saints served as symbols of orixás. This is typically referred to as syncretism. There are some fundamental elements of African religions that lead to the specific mixing of Catholicism and Yoruba empire spirituality that we see in candomblé today. For one, Yoruban religions have multiple deities, not one god like in Western religions. As such, tribes in Africa during the slave trade era were already borrowing religious elements from neighboring tribes. This was possible because African religions tend not to be exclusionary; you don’t have to denounce one religion to accept another. So, the theory we learned about today is that candomblé was a result of three syncretisms: 1) Yoruba + Catholic 2) Inter-ethnic in Brazil – Bantu, Yoruba, Jeje (tribes brought over during the slave trade) and 3) Inter-ethnic syncretism in West Africa, such as Yoruba and Islam. Two hour lecture condensed, what I really learned is that candomblé can’t be seen as a simple masking of one religion with another. Instead, it’s a more complex version of syncretism and a new, perhaps hybrid religion that formed with a specific significance to Bahia. Next week I get to go to an actual ceremony. I’m really looking forward to the experience!

Image credit: http://bit.ly/LV3TgM

Carybé, “Candomblé”