Please let me know if there's something about Afro-Brazilian Culture you'd like to know about! Let me know as well if you knew something about it beforehand, of if there's something hard to comprehend on the text!
Links to Candomblé music in the Comments
Disclaimer: I'm an Afro-Brazilian Musician and Percussionist, based in Salvador. This history is both bound by oral history, as well as scientific and historic studies (there are more sources in Guide, link below).
First off: What is Candomblé?
Candomblé is the name given for a series of Afro-Brazilian religious communities of Bantu, Fon (Gbé), and Yoruba origins. These differentiate themselves from other Afro-Brazilian spiritualities as they access majorly African entities, such as the Órixas, Voduns, and Nkissis, without inserting catholic elements into their rituals.
Spirit and energy in Candomble
Candomblé is not concentrated on immortality or resurrection as the monotheistic religions. There is a life in the Orum where the spirits rest, and can even guide and influence their descendants.
In Candomblé, we go through life and gather Axé, the vital force, which is anywhere in nature. When we pass away, the body gives its energy to the new life, while the spirit passes its journey to make sure that they can give the Axé back to the earth.
Candomblé holy places are called Terreiros, which are formally known as Ilê (House) Axé (Vital energy). The name of the terreiro pictured below is Ilê Axé Oya Ominidê, where Opanije.com professor Junior Pai de Santo is ‘Otum Alabê’, a high-ranking Atabaque player for the Orixas.
In Brazil, differing from Africa, many different entities are being worshipped in the same Terreiro, whereas in Africa there is typically only one per region or city. Also differing from most regions in Africa where only men do divination and are high priests, in Candomblé there are many great Yalorixás, female heads of Terreiros.
In the centuries that followed the embarkment of the first Africans to the Americas, many different ethnic groups were put together in forced labor. They were systematically divided from those of the same language, to avoid communication in African languages, forcing them to speak Portuguese, to avoid their organization.
The Bantu, Jeje, Fon, Yoruba, and Malê were the most common ethnic makeups of the enslaved Africans, most of which arrived in Salvador, then the capital of Brazil.
These African civilizations, represented by their enslaved people, were the base upon which Candomblé religion drew its basis. The Africans, based on oral traditions, kept their knowledge through hidden rituals, chants, and rhythms, that were often of a mixed ethnic base, reflecting the multiple African cultures present in Colonial Brazil.
It is impossible to date when these hidden cults began to take the forms presented in modern Candomblé, but is possible to establish the first three centuries as the period where African culture changed and gave birth to Candomblé as we know it.
Syncretism and Candomblé:
The syncretic aspect of Candomblé, often misunderstood even in Brazil, is because the enslaved Africans were forced to display Christian symbols to their captors. This systematic oppression strongly influenced how the African cults displayed themselves, often masquerading the African Deities for catholic saints, to continue their cults however possible.
Enslaved Africans were thought to be evangelized and Catholic, as it was very important to preserve the appearance of Christianity according to Portuguese oppression.
The Catholic method of praying to saints was used as a way of masquerading the Órixas faith within Portuguese oppression. As an example, Yemanjá, the Sea deity, and mother of most Orixas, was worshiped through Holy Mary figures, while the king of Ketu, Óxossi was worshipped through Saint George. There were even figures covertly concealed inside the sculptures of Catholic saints. This was a way that Catholic saints were connected with Candomblé’s Deities, to avoid persecution and keep the tradition. This is a culture that continued through Umbanda, another Brazilian Afro-Religion, and while individuals from Candomblé still worship Catholic Saints, within most Traditional Candomblé there is no more insertion of any Christian Saints.
The modern insertion of Catholic saints and Christian philosophies is not part of Candomblé. In Brazilian Afro-Religion, it is the Umbanda tradition that kept catholic saints and the figures of Jesus within their Cults.
Candomblé still traditionally preserves respect for the Christian religion, however, the last forms of catholic idols and representations in traditional candomblé are fading, as one of the greatest Yalórixas, the Priestess Mãe Stella de Oxóssi once said:
“Previously when we initiated in Candomblé, and in certain periods of the year, it was traditional to go to the church. After I became responsible for this house, this has stopped, because it is a custom that is not needed anymore, we move on with the times”
Full article with visuals here
Submitted April 27, 2022 at 02:53PM by Vogonaut https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/ud9j56/going_to_share_a_bit_of_brazilian_african/?utm_source=ifttt