Umbanda/Candomblé - Facts by Nuit

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

"Macumba" is the term  we, Brazilian people use in Rio de Janeiro to describe two types of African spirit worship: Candomble (followed in northern State of Bahia) and Umbanda (a newer form originating in Niteroi, in the southern State of Rio de Janeiro between 1900 and November 15, 1908).

Brazil already had many religions in the sixteenth century. The Roman Catholic Church tried to convert the local Indian tribes, and to get them to abandon their native beliefs. Slave owners prohibited slaves from practicing their African form of worship, so the slaves incorporated their beliefs into the spirits and the magic of the native faiths. The two merged. The God, Exú, became St. Anthony; Iansã became St. Barbara; Iemanjá became Our Lady of the Glory; Naña became Our Lady of St. Anne; Oba became Joane of Arc; Obaluayê became St. Lazarus/St. Roque; Ogum became St. George; Oxalá became Jesus Christ; Oxossi became St. Sebastian; Oxum became Our Lady of the Conception; Oxumaré became St. Bartholomew; and Xangó became St. Geronimo. So while the slaves outwardly followed the Catholic faith, they secretly practiced their African religious beliefs until they were freed in 1888.

 

The mythology of Umbanda has a clear sense of hierarchy. Religious beings are divided into

seven "Lines," commanded by an orixá or Catholic saint. The lines are subdivided into "Phalanxes" and "Legions," which are made up of disembodied spirits in various stages of evolution. The main altar, which is known as "Conga," is usually decorated with large numbers of images and objects, illustrating the complexity of the Umbanda pantheon. The altars may have images of Christ, the Guide, Our Lady, saints such as St. Lazarus, St. George, SS Cosmas and Damian, orixás, 'pretos velhos', 'caboclos', candles, necklaces, flowers and sometimes non-religious icons, such as the Brazilian flag. Umbanda started between the wars, at a time of strong nationalism, and sees itself as a patriotic religion.

The cult centers around the "Gira," involving sacred music and dance. The drums mark out the rhythm, and the mediums chant the "ponto" under the leadership of the Mother or the Father of the Saint, dance in a circle and receive their spiritual guides, acting as their "horses" or "machines." Besides expressing their vital energy in dance, as in Candomblé, the Umbanda guides are there to counsel those devotees who approach them. They guide them and purify them by "passes" with their hands, which protects them against mystical attack to which they are subject.

The Mother and some of the more senior daughters of the saint receive devotees for consultations, which they do whilst "embodied" by their guides. Umbanda Centers are thus centers for evaluating and resolving a multitude of conflicts which assail people in their daily lives. They help to explain the problem and invest it with a higher meaning. The competitive round of daily life, where inequalities breed envy and resentment, results in the development of evil spells, or simply negative vibrations which do harm. The people of Umbanda (one might say, in large measure, the people of Brazil) take the "evil eye" seriously.

 

 

We really take "evil eyes" seriously for sure.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.stirlinglaw.com/ea/macumba.htm