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{{Template:Spiritualistic_small}}'''Umbanda''' is a [[religion]] that blends [[Catholicism]], [[Kardecist Spiritualism]], and [[Afro-Brazilian]] religions. It originated in [[Brazil]] in the early [[20th century]] through a medium, Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, who worked among the Afro-Brazilian population of [[Rio de Janeiro]]. It has since spread across Brazil and to [[Uruguay]] and [[Argentina]]. The
'''Umbanda''' is a [[religion]] that blends [[Catholicism]], [[Kardecist Spiritualism]], and [[Afro-Brazilian]] religions. It originated in [[Brazil]] in the early [[20th century]] through a medium, Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, who worked among the Afro-Brazilian population of [[Rio de Janeiro]]. It has since spread across Brazil and to [[Uruguay]] and [[Argentina]]. The
Some of the classic characteristics of Umbanda include: the believe in One God [(Olôrum)]; the existance of Orixás as God's energy and plain power expansions and the natural ability of comunicating with the spiritual world [(mediumship)]. Umbanda, overall, is a religion based on the Karmic Law and the Christian Charity.
Some of the classic characteristics of Umbanda include: the believe in One God [(Olôrum)]; the existance of Orixás as God's energy and plain power expansions and the natural ability of comunicating with the spiritual world [(mediumship)]. Umbanda, overall, is a religion based on the Karmic Law and the Christian Charity.


Revision as of 12:40, 24 January 2008

Umbanda is a religion that blends Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritualism, and Afro-Brazilian religions. It originated in Brazil in the early 20th century through a medium, Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, who worked among the Afro-Brazilian population of Rio de Janeiro. It has since spread across Brazil and to Uruguay and Argentina. The Some of the classic characteristics of Umbanda include: the believe in One God [(Olôrum)]; the existance of Orixás as God's energy and plain power expansions and the natural ability of comunicating with the spiritual world [(mediumship)]. Umbanda, overall, is a religion based on the Karmic Law and the Christian Charity.

Three Principal items

There exist three major beliefs that Umbandans claim which include: The Pantheon, The Spirit World, and Reincarnation [1].

The Pantheon

Umbanda has one supreme being or God known as olôrum (or or Zambi) and many divine intermediaries or orixás. Orixás are further divided into different legions, phalanges, sub-phalanges, guides and protectors[2]. These groups can then be divided up even further into a multitude of spiritual beings.


The Seven Main Orixás[3]

  1. Orixála (or Oxalá) - He is the chief orixá who represents light and whose planet is the sun. His ritual day is Sunday and his color is white and yellow. He represents the Lord's Light, the Begin, the Verbum.
  1. Yemanjá - linked to the ocean and represents the feminine principle of creation. She is considered the patron of fishermen. Yemanjá is also related to the Moon and the moonlight and her day is Monday. Blue and silver are her colors
  1. Xangô - is considered the lord of justice and represents lightning. His day is Thursday and his sacred colors red and or brown.
  1. Ogun - this orixá is protector of people in the military and is usually evoked when someone wants to win some sort of battle or struggle, especially the legal ones.
  1. Oxóssi- is in charge of the hunt. His day is Friday, his colore greenand blue]


  1. Ibeji - these entities are often related to children spirits.
  1. Omolu - the orixa of diseases

The Spirit World

Some, but not all followers of Umbanda believe that there exist three orders of spirits.

  1. Pure-this group includes angels, archangels,the Cherubim, and Seraphim who have reached spiritual perfection.[4]
  2. Good-are the spirits that possess mediums or initiates.[5]
    1. Caboclo (native Brazilian) - represents spirits of native Brazilian Indians. They are highly knowledgeable about herbs, often prescribing herbal remedies.
    2. Preto Velho (Old Slave) - represents spirits of old slaves who died in captivity. These are very peaceful and kind spirits, that know all about suffering, compassion, forgiveness and hope. They also often prescribe herbal remedies. The female counterpart of this spirit is the preta velha who demonstrates maternal compassion and concern.[6]
    3. Criancas or children spirits and are generally characterized as being pure.[7]
  3. 3) Impure - This group is often referred to as Exus and Pomba Giras of Quimbanda and are considered evil by less educated followers of Umbanda.[8]

Reincarnation

The Law of the Reincarnation the central point of the Karmic Law; it states that God creates spirits all the time and He full them with the Self Will. The spirits pass through many stations of evolution which happen in all the planets of the Universe. They have the choice of being good or bad, by the ordinary acts and the love that they feature with their brothers. When they "die", they judge themselves and the may become superior (and go to another stage of evolution) or to reincarnate and try to make things better. [9].

Terreiros & Pai-de-Santo

Umbanda temples are autonomous organizations that focus around a leader, mediums or initiates and lay members. Many ritual sites (called tendas or terreiros) look like ordinary houses when seen from the street. Larger, more middle class Umbanda houses often are laid out in a fashion similar to a church. If a building is not available, rituals may be performed in a private backyard as well[10]. Generally the terreiros, have a large central ritual area with an alter at the back[11]. These churches or terreiros may function as a bureaucratic unit; as well as, a unit of support by providing child care, medical clinics, assistance to orphanages,and distributions of need items such as food[12].

The head of the terreiro is called "pai-de-santo" ("father-of-saint") or "mãe-de-santo" ("mother-of-saint") and his or her intiates are usually called "filhos-de-santo" ("children-of-saint", masculine plural form), just to show the structure within the religion. That doesn't mean that they are considered saints, though, but only that they're responsible for certain rituals related to each saint. Each Umbanda terreiro practices the religion with variations, according to the policies of the pai-de-santo as well as in accordance with the teachings and philosophies of the various sub-traditions within Umbanda. During these ceremonies the leader and initiates wear white and pay homage to deities or orixas[13].

Rituals & Ceremonies

Umbanda is an urban phenomenon grounded in Central African influences but borrowing heavily from European influences and is integrated into urban environs. Ceremonies are generally public and may take place several times a week[14]. Atabaques (Conga drums) and chanting play a central role in some Umbanda congregations but are almost non-existent in others. The ceremonies may include offers to the spirits (such as fruit, cheap wine, farofa, cachaça, popcorn, cigarettes, hard cider and other types of food or beverages, depending on the spirit) and has initiation rites that range from the simple to complex. Gradually they become possessed by these deities and begin to take on the deities personas[15]. During the second part of the ceremony,"Pais de santo" and "Mães de santo" also play divination using the "jogo de búzios" which is reading of the arrangement of small sea shells), as well as cards (Tarot, Lenormand Cards and Playing Cards). They also give advice to those who seek it and produce "strong prayers" (Rezas fortes) for those who need them to evade troubles with the other people, lack of moneyand other challenges people may face in their lives[16]. Intervention by spirital beings in followers daily lives is a central belief so participation in Umbanda ritual is an important aspect of appeasing these beings[17]. A constant in these rituals is the music. The devote songs are called "pontos" and they intend to improve mediums' concentration level. These songs often are taught by the spirits themselves and they speak of Mytholy, charity, faith and the orixás' stories.

Ponto de Mamãe Oxum (Mother Oxum's Ponto/Song)

From the Waterfalls of MOther Oxum

Streams water like crystal

Through Father Olôrum's feet

Father Olôrum created Nature

And made the Waterfalls

Which Xangô blessed

I am going to ask permission to Oxalá

To bath in the waterfall

to clean all evil.

History

In the late-19th century, many literary works criticized the African based religions, claiming they were primitive and hindered modernization [18]. In the latter half of the 20th century, the Afro-Brazilian Umbanda grew rapidly among transformation of Candomble that was first noticed in Bahia [19]. Umbanda was traditionally a religion of the black population and it promoted emancipation and participation [20];however, since the 1920s and early 1930s, Umbanda followers (as well as leaders and mediums) have come from various social, racial, and ethnic groups[21]. In the past, Umbanda received criticism from the Catholic Church, which disagreed with the worship of spirits, and the comparison that many Umbandist made between saints and orixas[22]. Despite the criticism, many Umbanda members also claim to be devout Catholics as well[23]. Until the second half of the 20th century, all Afro-Brazilian religions were considered criminal activity by the Brazilian government and periodically repressed. [citation needed]Brazil went from having around 50,000 terreiros in the 1960s to 300,000 by the early 1980s. By the mid-80s, there had been an end to military rule and an increase in cultural consciousness[24]. These changes allowed for the condeming of slavery and the celebration of African and orixas.

More recently they have become part of popular culture as many novelists and songwriters have written or sung about them. Several of Jorge Amado's works, for instance, are concerned with the trials and tribulations of the Afro-Brazilians. From the 1960s, many songs about Umbanda and the other Afro-Brazilian religions became popular. Among the famous Brazilian composers who treated the subject, Tom Jobim, Toquinho, Vinícius de Moraes, Geraldo Vandré and Clara Nunes are the most widely known. In the 1970s, poet Vinícius de Moraes married his last wife, Gesse, in an Umbandist ceremony witnessed by many prominent figures of Brazilian culture and politics.

Today, only 100 years after the establishment of the first Umbanda center outside of Rio, Umbanda has divided itself into several substreats, from Esoteric Umbanda which is heavily influenced by eastern philosophies to deeply Africanized versions such as Umbanda d'Angola and Umbanda Jeje. Many of these nerwer stereams have accumulated a body of rituals, ceremonies and philosophies to portrait themselves equal to more traditional Religions such as Candomble, Jurema and Catimbo. What is interesting to note is that older Umbanda houses, which were established before 1940,have not integrated these new fancies but still contignue to honour their religion in simplicity, humbleness and charity.

Umbanda is juxtaposed with Quimbanda which now reclaims its identity as a separate, more African religion and distinct from both Macumba/Umbanda and Candomblé.

In recent times, some evangelical Christian groups, which have gained many adherents in Latin America in the last two decades, have begun attempting to evangelize and, in some cases, persecute practitioners of Umbanda and other African-derived religions[25]. Practitioners of these religions have taken cases to national courts and achieved a measure of success[citation needed]. Umbanda is estimated to have 30 million practicioners in a population of 120 million people and has moved to Uruguay, Argentina, and various parts of the United States as well[26].

Famous Umbandists

Bibliography

  • Brown, Diana De G.; Mario Bick. Religion, Class, and Context: Continuities and Discontinuities in Brazilian Umbanda.

American Ethnologist, Vol. 14, No. 1, Frontiers of Christian Evangelism. (Feb., 1987), pp. 73-93.

  • DaMatta,Roberto. Religion and Modernity:Three studies of Brazilian religiosity. Journal of Social History. Winter91, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p389-406, 18p.
  • Dann, Graham M.S. Religion and Cultural Identity: The Case of Umbanda.Sociological Analysis, Vol. 30, No.3, pp.208-225.
  • Hale, Lindsay Lauren. “Preto Velho: Resistance, Redemption, and Engendered Representations of Slavery in a Brazilian Possession-Trance Religion.” American Ethnologist. Vol. 24, No. 2 (May, 1997), pp. 392-414.
  • Troch, Lieve. Ecclesiogenesis: the patchwork of new religious communities in Brazil.Exchange 33 no 1 2004, p 54-72.

References

  1. ^ [Dann 209-211]
  2. ^ [Dann 209-211]
  3. ^ [Dann 209]
  4. ^ [Dann 211]
  5. ^ [Brown 78]
  6. ^ [Hale 398]
  7. ^ [Dann 211]
  8. ^ [Dann 211]
  9. ^ [Dann 212]
  10. ^ [Brown 77]
  11. ^ [Brown]
  12. ^ [Brown 78]
  13. ^ [Brown 77]
  14. ^ [Brown 77]
  15. ^ [Brown 77]
  16. ^ [Brown 77]
  17. ^ [Brown 77-78]
  18. ^ [Brown 74]
  19. ^ [Lieve Troch]
  20. ^ [ Lieve Troch]
  21. ^ [Brown 73]
  22. ^ [Hale 394]
  23. ^ [Hale 408]
  24. ^ [Hale 409]
  25. ^ [Brown 75-76]
  26. ^ [Brown 74]
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