Umbanda

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Umbanda practitioners at a centro in Rio de Janeiro

Umbanda (Portuguese pronunciation: [ũˈbɐ̃dɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian religion that emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s. Deriving largely from Spiritism, it also combines elements from Afro-Brazilian traditions like Candomblé as well as Roman Catholicism. There is no central authority in control of Umbanda, which is organized around autonomous places of worship termed centros or terreiros.

Umbanda has many branches, each one with a different set of beliefs and practices. Some common beliefs are the existence of a Supreme Being and creator of the universe known as Olodumare. Other common beliefs are the existence of deities called Orixás, most of them syncretized with Catholic saints that act as divine energy and forces of nature; spirits of deceased people that counsel and guide practitioners through troubles in the material world; psychics, or mediums, who have a natural ability that can be perfected to bring messages from the spiritual world of Orixás and the guiding spirits; reincarnation and spiritual evolution through many material lives (karmic law) and the practice of charity and social fraternity.

Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th century in almost all Brazil, it is assumed that Umbanda originated in Niterói and surrounding areas in the early 20th century, mainly due to the work of Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, a psychic ("medium") who practiced Umbanda among the poor Brazilians of African descent. Umbanda gained increased social recognition and respectability amid the military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985, despite growing opposition from both the Roman Catholic Church and Pentecostal groups.

In its heyday of the 1960s and 1970s, Umbanda was estimated to have between 10 and 20 million followers in Brazil. In the 21st century, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians identify as Umbandists. Umbanda is found primarily in urban areas of southern Brazil although has spread throughout the country and to other parts of the Americas.

Definitions[edit]

Formed in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s,[1] Umbanda combines elements of Kardecist Spiritism (Espiritismo) with ideas from Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé.[2] Umbanda also incorporates elements of Roman Catholicism,[3] with many Umbandists identifying as Roman Catholics.[4] Additionally, Umbanda has been influenced by Asian religions like Hinduism and Buddhism,[5] while some Umbandist groups have adopted New Age practices.[6] Some Umbandists have also practiced Santo Daime.[7]

Practitioners are called Umbandistas.[8] Historically, Umbanda has often been referred to as Macumba, a pejorative term for Afro-Brazilian popular religious traditions,[9] and some Umbandists have referred to themselves as macumbeiros, often in jest due to the negative connotations of these terms.[10]

Umbanda is not a unified religion,[11] and has no central authority.[12] It displays considerable variation and eclecticism,[5] being highly adaptable,[13] and taking various different forms.[14] Much of this variation is regional.[15] Umbandist groups exist on a spectrum from those emphasising connections to Spiritism to those emphasising links with Candomblé and related Afro-Brazilian religions.[5] Groups taking the former position often refer to themselves as practicing Umbanda branca ("White Umbanda"),[16] while the anthropologist Lindsay Hale referred to the more Africanist wing as "Afro-Brazilian Umbanda".[17] Most Umbandist groups exist at points between these two extremes.[5]

Reflecting its origins in Kardecist Spiritism, Umbanda has been labelled a Western esoteric tradition.[18] It has also been called an Afro-Brazilian religion,[19] although scholar of religion Steven Engler cautioned that Africanised ritual elements are not present in all Umbandist groups and that the Kardecist influence was more significant over Umbanda as a whole.[20] Scholars often regard these Afro-Brazilian traditions as existing on a continuum rather than being firmly distinct from each other.[21] In practice, Afro-Brazilian religions often mix, rather than existing in pure forms.[22] Groups combining elements of Umbanda and Candomblé are sometimes termed "Umbandomblé", although this is rarely embraced by practitioners themselves.[23] Omolocô was founded in Rio de Janeiro as an intermediate religion between Candomblé and Umbanda.[24] Umbanda is often presented as being opposed to Quimbanda, with Umbandists claiming that they work for good, and that Quimbandists work for evil.[25]

Beliefs[edit]

Umbanda has an elaborate cosmology,[26] although there is no authoritative source ensuring a standardised cosmological belief among practitioners.[27] Umbandist theology is largely Kardecist in basis, adopting the Kardecist emphasis on reincarnation and spiritual evolution.[28]

Umbandists have claimed that theirs is not a new religion but an ancient tradition transmitted from somewhere else on the Earth. Some practitioners have claimed that it derives from ancient India or China. Others have maintained that Umbanda's origins are either extraterrestrial or from Atlantis.[29]

In Umbanda, spirits are ranked according to their "degree of evolution".[30] Spirits form into legions called falanges, which are usually arranged on the basis of regional or racial origin.[31] Groups of falanges then link together to form a linha (line), each under the jurisdiction of a powerful spiritual being, usually an orixa.[32] The spirits are believed to exist in a realm that Umbandists often call além (beyond) or the plano astral (astral plane).[33] In some Umbandist hymns, this spirit realm is also called Aruanda, a term that likely derives from an African origin.[33]

The two most important types of spirit in Umbanda are the caboclos and pretos velhos. Other types of spirit include the boiadeiros (cowboys), crianças (children), marinheiros (sailors), malandros (rogues), ciganos (gypsies) and sereias (mermaids).[15] Pure spirits include the angels, archangels, cherubim, and seraphim: spirits that reached spiritual perfection.[34] Good spirits include the spirits that possess mediums (psychics) or initiates during Umbanda ceremonies and act as Guias (guides) advising and helping the believers. These good spirits come in different lines of work within Umbanda.[35]

Orixás[edit]

The orixás are at the top of Umbanda's spiritual hierarchy.[30] Although drawn from Candomblé, they are not interpreted in the same way.[28] In Umbanda, the orixás are regarded as beings that are so highly evolved that they have never incarnated in physical form.[28] Particular emphasis on the orixás is found in African-oriented Umbandist groups,[36] while more Kardecist-oriented Umbandist groups often perceive the orixás primarily as frequencies of spiritual energy.[17] In Umbanda, the orixás are often regarded as being too elevated to deal with most human affairs, and so they send their emissaries, the caboclos and pretos velhos, to do so in their place.[30] In White Umbandist groups, the orixás are often barely mentioned.[28]

Umbanda has one supreme god known as Olorum (or Zambi in Umbanda d'Angola) and many intermediary deities called Orixás. Orixás and spirits are organized in a complex hierarchy of legions, phalanges, sub-phalanges, guides, and protectors.[34] The exact order of the hierarchy varies by region and practitioner, but a generally agreed upon structure are the Seven Lines, or Sete Linhas da Umbanda. The first line is the top, usually associated with Oxalà, and the bottom is always the Linha das Almas, or Line of Dead Souls.[35] The other patrons associated with the lines are listed in 2–6 below. The lines are often divided up even further into a multitude of spiritual beings.

Main Orixás[34]

Oxalá is associated with the sky and regarded as the creator of humanity.[37] Iemanjá is a maternal figure associated with the sea.[38] Omolu is the orixá of sickness and healing.[37] Xangô is linked to tunder and lightning, as well as to stone working and quarrying.[39] Exu is a trickster and the guardian of the crossroads, being the intermediary between the orixás and humanity.[37] Orixás are often identified with particular Roman Catholic saints.[4] Xangô for instance is often identified with St Geronimo.[39] Many Umbandists identify Exu with the Devil of Christian theology.[40]

Caboclos and Preto Velhos[edit]

Figurines of a caboclo and preto velhos, the two main spirit types in Umbanda.

The most important spirit types in Umbanda,[15] the caboclos and preto velhos are deemed "beings of light".[25] Umbandists approach these entities in the hope of receiving advice and protection.[41]

Caboclos are usually the spirits of indigenous Brazilians,[30] although are sometimes cowboys.[42] their name probably derives from the Tupi language term kari'boka ("deriving from the white").[43] In Umbanda they are considered to be "highly evolved" and to display strength, bravery, and morality.[30]

The pretos velhos are usually, although not always, regarded as the spirits of deceased slaves.[41] They are wise, peaceful, and kind spirits that know all about suffering, compassion, forgiveness, and hope. Some of them are considered to be from Angola and Congo, others are considered to be the old Yoruba priests that were first brought to Brazil. They also often prescribe herbal remedies. The female counterpart of this spirit is the Preta Velha ("Old Black Woman") who demonstrates maternal compassion and concern.[44]

Crianças[edit]

The crianças are spirits of children and are valued largely for the joy and humor that they bring.[41] Like living children, they are deemed to like sweets and toys.[45] In Umbandist rites they are thought to often appear towards the end of proceedings, after tiring adult issues have been dealt with. Those possessed by the crianças often giggle, sing nursery rhymes, and perform in a child-like fashion. Umbandists often hold an annual birthday party for these spirits on the Roman Catholic feast day of the child martyr saints Cosmas and Damian.[41] It is possible that the crianças derive in part from beliefs about the Ibeji twins, spirits venerated in parts of West Africa.[45]

Exus and Pombagiras[edit]

Figurine of a pomba gira, a type of female spirit found in Umbanda

In Umbanda, the exus are spirits yet to complete the process of karmic evolution.[25] They are unevolved spirits of darkness which, by working for good, can gradually become spirits of light.[25] Interpretations of these exus nevertheless differs depending on the Umbandist group, with more African-oriented Umbandists often taking a more positive attitude towards them.[40] In Umbanda, Friday is associated with the exus.[46]

Exus fall into two main categories. The exus da luz (exus of the light) or exus batizades (baptised exus) have repented for their sins and seek redemption and karmic advancement by serving the orixas. In life, the exus da luz were often sinners who performed immoral acts through noble intentions.[47] The other type of exus are the exus das trevas (exus of the shadows), spirits who are unrepentant and who afflict and torment the living. They may act as "obsessors", finding a human victim and "leaning" (encostado) on them, causing the latter problems such as bad luck, compulsive behaviours, or addiction. The exus das trevas may do this due to their resentment of the living, or because they have been commanded to do so by a feiticero (sorcerer) practicing Quimbanda.[42]

Pombagiras are the female spirits of immoral women, such as prostitutes.[48] They are associated with sexuality, blood, death, and cemeteries.[49] Linked to marginal and dangerous places,[46] they are often presented as being ribald and flirty, speaking in sexual euphemisms and double entendres.[50] They wear red and black clothing,[51] and only possess women and gay men,[52] who will then often smoke or drink alcohol,[53] using obscene language and behaving lasciviously.[52] The term pombagira may derive from the Bantu word bombogira,[54] the name of a male orixa in Candomblé's Bantu or Angola tradition.[55] In Brazilian Portuguese, the term pomba is a euphemism for the vulva.[48]

Mediumship[edit]

Most Umbandist mediums take on this role as a result of an initial personal crisis, often physical illness or emotional distress, that they come to believe is being caused by spirits as a means of alerting them. Often, they report that they initially resisted the call to become a medium but that the problems faced became too much and so they relented.[56] Each of a medium's spirits will often have their own unique character.[57]

Some Umbandist mediums operate out of their home, rather than running a centre.[58]

Reciprocity is expected when engaging with the spirits, with those seeking their services often providing them with gifts.[56] A person's misfortunes may be interpreted as a reminder that obligations to the spirits have not been met.[59]

Reincarnation[edit]

Umbanda teaches that everyone has a spirit that survives bodily death.[33] Umbandists sometimes refer to living people as espíritos enćarnados (incarnate spirits).[60] From Spiritism, it takes the ideas of reincarnation and karmic evolution;[61] the terms reincarnacâo and karma were largely introduced to Brazilian Portuguese via Kardec's ideas.[60]

Reincarnation is a central idea for many Umbandists. Practitioners believe that by serving the spirits and assisting the living they can build up their karmic credit. The higher a person's karmic credit, the higher their level on the astral plane, and then the better the status of their next incarnation. Umbandists believe that disincarnate spirits can also build up karmic credit.[60] Practitioners sometimes believe that the events of previous incarnations can influence a person, for instance generating certain irrational fears. Some Umbandists think that the same spirits can meet repeatedly over successive incarnations.[62]

Umbanda beliefs about reincarnation differ from Hindu beliefs. The Law of the Reincarnation is the central point of the Karmic Law. It states that Olodumare constantly creates spirits with self will, which universally pass through many stages of evolution in many planets. It also states that there are parallel dimensions in this world where the obsessive spirits are, since they cannot evolve. They have the choice of being good or bad, through ordinary acts and the love that they display towards other people. When they "die", the good ones advance to a superior stage of spiritual evolution, in other planets. Those that do not succeed should reincarnate until learning what they were supposed to.[34]

Morality, ethics, and gender roles[edit]

Umbandists place value on humility,[57] and on charity.[63] Practitioners for instance may give gifts and food to poor children to mark the festival of the crianças.[64]

Umbandists often believe that things happen for a reason, rather than being mere coincidence, and are part of a person's path in life.[65]

Umbanda has been recognized for its openness toward sexual diversity. Homosexual, bisexual, heterosexual, and transexual people are welcomed without distinction. In places where Candomblé's influence is greater, men and women may fulfill different roles, but they are of equal dignity and importance. Another important aspect is that people who are not heterosexual have the possibility of becoming priests or priestesses, mediums, and so forth without distinction. Many homosexual couples marry religiously at the hands of Umbanda priests.[66]

Practices[edit]

Umbandist practices often revolve around clients who approach practitioners seeking assistance, for instance in diagnosing a problem, healing, or receiving a blessing.[15]

Houses of Worship[edit]

An Umbandist centro, or place of worship

Umbandist placed of worship are termed centros or terreiros.[67] The latter term has more Afro-Brazilian associations and is avoided by some practitioners of White Umbanda.[68]

These groups have both formal and informal hierarchies.[57] They are typically led by an individual called a mãe-de-santo ("mother-of-saint") or pai-de-santo ("father-of-saint"), and alternatively sometimes the chefe do terreiro ("chief of the terreiro").[57] The second-in-command is the mãe pequena ("little mother").[57] A figure called the presidente will often be responsible for the group's business affairs.[57]

Umbandist mediums wear white clothing.[69] This distinguishes them from Candomblé practitioners, who may wear more complex outfits.[69]

If a building is not available, rituals are performed in a private backyard.[35] Afro-Brazilian oriented terreiros may have multiple outdoor shrines to different orixás.[37] Some centres will also have a kitchen and office.[70]

Generally the Terreiro – the actual room used for rituals – is a large area covered by a simple roof of ceramic singles, with an altar at the back.[35]

The Tendas or Terreiros are also used directly or in a support capacity for charitable works to provide child care, medical clinics, assistance to orphanages, and distribution of medicines and/or food.[35] here is much work involved in running a Umbanda centre, for instance overseeing maintenance and paying bills.[70]

The Terreiros have as their main leader a priest or priestess called "pai-de-santo" ("father-of-saint", if he is a male, referred to as "bàbálóòrìsà") or "mãe-de-santo" ("mother-of-saint", if she is female, referred to as "yálóòrìsà").[citation needed] The initiates, men or women, are usually called "filhos-de-santo" ("children-of-saint", masculine plural form), to show the structure within the religion. This does not imply sainthood on the part of the priest or priestess, but responsibility for certain rituals related to each saint they serve, (also called Orixás), as well as the saints of the filhos-de-santo under his or her responsibility.

Each Umbanda Terreiro practices the same religion with variations, according to the policies of the pai-de-santo's or the mãe-de-santo's spiritual mentor, as well as in accordance with the teachings and philosophies of the various traditions within Umbanda. During these ceremonies, the priests, priestesses, and initiates wear white costumes and pay homage to the spirits and Orixás.[35]

Rituals and ceremonies[edit]

More African-oriented Umbandist groups will often feature practices like animal sacrifice and drumming which are found in Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé.[71] These are typically avoided by White Umbanda traditions,[65] the practitioners of which sometimes regard such practices as primitive.[71] Animals sacrificed in these terreiros are usually chickens, although sometimes guinea fowl, sheep, goats, or more rarely bulls are used.[36] The drumming is performed to summon the spirits to appear at the ceremony.[36]

The gira or "work"

Umbanda ceremonies are generally open to the public and may take place several times a week.[35]

Umbandist mediums generally do not charge for working with the spirits, but clients will typically support them with material gifts.[72]

The gira is a dance to celebrate the orixás.[65]

During the ceremonies the priests and priestesses (pai-de-santo, mãe-de-santo, filhos-de-santo, initiates) and the public attending the meeting sing together, dance, drink beverages and smoke cigars under the spirit's influence. However, the use of such elements by these spirits aren't due to any addictions – they are used as sacred elements that help the spirits to nullify any negative energies surrounding the assisted person. The priests and priestesses are separated from the attending public, usually by a small fence. The priests, priestesses and some of the public gradually get immersed in the singing and dancing, and suddenly get possessed by deities and spirits, starting to act and speak with their personas.[35] Intervention by spiritual beings in followers' daily lives is a central belief, so participation in Umbanda rites is important to appease deities and spirits.[35]

A possessing spirit may then "open the way" for others to follow it.[73]

Umbandist practice can often incorporate Roman Catholic elements. In São Paulo, for instance, it is common for Umbandist groups to recite the Lord's Prayer or Hail Mary during their rituals.[68] Many Umbandist groups have also embraced New Age practices such as aromatherapy, crystal therapy, and chakra realignment.[74]

Healing[edit]

A person may come to Umbanda because they believe that they are being tormented by a malevolent spirit. Umbandist mediums will then cajole the spirit to leave.[75] If a person is repeatedly attacked by spirits, Umbandists may deem that individual to be especially sensitive to spirits and recommend that they become a medium themselves so as to learn to control the issue.[76]

History[edit]

Background[edit]

Zélio de Moraes, the founder of the first Umbandist group

Umbanda derives from the combination of Afro-Brazilian religions with Spiritism.[13] Spiritism or Espiritismo was a variant of the American religion of Spiritualism that was developed by the French Allan Kardec and which arrived in Brazil in the 1860s.[77] Kardec's Spiritism proved popular among the largely white Brazilian bourgeoisie,[78] with the first Brazilian Spiritist Federation forming in 1884 as an attempt to unify the movement.[79] Throughout Latin America, Spiritism often hybridised with other religious traditions from the 1860s on.[80]

Umbanda formed in Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s.[1] Its founders were Kardecist Spiritists who were disappointed with the orthodoxy of Spiritism.[81] A key figure was Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, founder of the first Umbandist group, the Centro Espírita Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Spiritism Center of Our Lady of Mercy). This initially operated in Niterói before moving to the centre of Rio de Janeiro in 1938.[82] In 1940 Zélio de Moraes made a statute for this first terreiro that was used as reference by most terreiros that followed.[83] According to claims that gained prominence in the 1970s, in 1908, when he was 17 years old, Moraes had been cured of an illness by a highly evolved spirit. His parents then took him to a Kardecist ritual, where the spirit Caboclo Seven Crossroads (Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas) incorporated into him. This spirit defended the appearance of African and indigenous spirits that then incorporated in other mediums, despite the Kardecists' prejudice towards them.[29]

Umbanda departed from Candomblé in various ways; it reduced the pantheon of orixas found in Candomblé, dropped the practice of animal sacrifice, and simplified the initiation process.[1] The anthropologist Diana Brown suggested that Umbanda could be seen as an attempt by middle-class white Brazilians to exert control over the popular religion of the lower classes.[84] By combining Afro-Brazilian and European ideas, Umbanda was presented as a national religion for Brazil at a time when the country was increasingly being presented as a cultural melting pot.[61] Umbanda started in a time when the Brazilian society was passing through a strong transformation process. The predominance of agriculture in Brazilian economy was decreasing and the first steps of a late industrial revolution was expanding the working class.[83]

Early development[edit]

In 1939, Zélio de Moraes formed the first Umbandist federation, the Umbandist Spiritist Union of Brazil, following the example of other Afro-Brazilian religious groups.[85] From the 1950s on, six other Umbandist federations formed in Rio, three of them open to more Africanised elements.[85] The most important of these was the Umbandist Spiritist Federation, founded in 1952 by Tancredo da Silva Pinto, and which adopted a more African-focused approach.[85] Umbanda began to split into two poles, one closer to Kardecism and eager for social respectability, the other more open to emphasising its Afro-Brazilian roots.[85]

Although remaining concentrated in the major cities of southern Brazil, Umbanda spread throughout the country in the years following the Second World War.[86] Brazil's dominant Roman Catholic Church recognised Umbanda's growth, as well as that of Kardecism and Pentecostalism, and mounted a campaign against them.[87] This approach formally ended in 1962, with the changes brought on by the Second Vatican Council.[88]

The first stage of the Umbanda expansion coincides with the social and political changes that occurred in the 1930s and with the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1930—1945).[citation needed] Getúlio Vargas became known as "pai dos pobres" (Father of the Poor) and, also, as "pai da Umbanda" (Father of the Umbanda) among the emergent urban and working class. Until 1966 many Umbanda Terreiros had a Getúlio Vargas picture in a place of honor.[89]

Despite the identification with the objectives of the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship, the Umbanda followers were persecuted. The police repression interrupted religious meetings, beat the psychics and followers and confiscated their instruments of Umbanda. An entire collection of icons, costumes, garbs, amulets, instruments, and objects of traditional religions confiscated by policemen is still kept in the Museu da Polícia (Museum of Police) in Rio de Janeiro city.[83] A notable victim of the police repression was former soccer player Euclydes Barbosa (1909—88). Jaú was also a pai-de-santo or babalorixá, priest of Umbanda, the founder of the Umbanda religion in São Paulo city and one of the first organizers in the 1950s of the Yemanjá feast in the São Paulo State beaches. Jaú was illegally imprisoned, beaten, tortured, and publicly humiliated by the police because of his religious activities. Some Umbanda leaders call him the great martyr of their religion.[83]

Military Dictatorship and after[edit]

In 1964, a military dictatorship took power in Brazil.[90] The military government largely protected Umbanda; many soldiers were Umbandists and the junta regarded the religion as a counter to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, which they perceived as having grown increasingly sympathetic to the political left since the 1950s.[24] From 1965, Umbandist centros/terreiros were permitted to secure legal recognition with just a civil registration.[67] Umbanda also gained recognition as a religion on the Brazilian census.[91] The 1960s and 1970s saw the rapid growth of middle-class participation in Umbanda.[92] After the 1960s and 1970s, the number of Umbandists declined.[93] During the 1970s, Candomblé spread from Bahia into São Paulo, where it grew rapidly, largely at the expense of Umbanda.[94]

In 1974 Umbanda practitioners (including declared and undeclared) were estimated to be about 30 million in a population of 120 million Brazilians.[35]

After the 1970s the Umbanda cults begun to be opposed by Pentecostals. Evangelical Pentecostal Churches have begun attempting to evangelize and, in some cases, persecute practitioners of Umbanda and other traditional religions.[35]

In the latter half of the 20th century Umbanda grew rapidly among transformation of Candomblé that was first noticed in Bahia.[95]

Meanwhile, some non-Brazilian scholars, including French sociologist Roger Bastide, who from 1938 to 1957 was professor of sociology at the University of São Paulo, produced sympathetic accounts of Umbanda and defended its practitioners’ rights to religious freedom. Bastide believed that Umbanda, unlike Candomblé, had a bright future in Brazil and may eventually become a mainline religion.[96]

Research conducted by the anthropologists Lísias Nogueira Negrão and Maria Helena Concone revealed that in the 1940s in São Paulo, just 58 religious organizations were registered as Umbanda Terreiros, but 803 organizations declared themselves as Spiritism Centers. In the 1950s, positions inverted: 1,025 organizations declared themselves as Umbanda Terreiros, 845 as Spiritism Centers and only one Candomblé Terreiro. The apex was during the 1970s, with 7,627 Umbanda Terreiros, 856 Candomblé Terreiros and 202 Spiritism Centers.[83]

Umbanda practitioners have taken cases to national courts and achieved a high measure of success. In 2005 the Superior Órgão de Umbanda do Estado de São Paulo (Superior Organization of Umbanda in São Paulo State) won a judicial case in the Federal Court against the television broadcasting systems Rede Record and Rede Mulher, that belong to the Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, a Neo Pentecostal Church. The Public Attorney (Ministério Público) denounced television programs that treated the traditional religions in a derogatory and discriminating way.[83]

Demographics[edit]

Practitioners of Candomblé and Umbanda at an event run by Brazil's Ministry of Culture in 2018

Diana Brown noted that by the 1970s, there were estimates that between 10 and 20 million people, as much as ten percent of Brazil's population, were practicing Umbanda.[86] The number of Umbandists declined following the 1970s,[93] although in 1986 Brown suggested that Umbanda still had millions of followers in Brazil.[5] In the 2000 Brazilian census, 432,000 Brazilians declared themselves Umbandistas, a 20% drop in relation to the 1991 census. Many people attend the Terreiros of Umbanda seeking counseling or healing, but they do not consider themselves Umbandistas.[83] In 2009, Hale suggested that the number of "occasional participants" ran into the millions.[56]

Although originally concentrated in Brazil's large southern cities, the religion has spread throughout the country.[86] Brazilian immigrants have also taken the religion to other parts of Latin America like Uruguay as well as to the United States.[97]

While Umbanda has attracted followers from across Brazil's racial and class spectrum,[65] most practitioners are people or color and are working or lower class.[36] Among its middle-class following have been high-ranking military figures, journalists, and politicians,[67] and Brown suggested that middle-class practitioners have been more influential in Umbanda's history.[98] Different Umbandist groups vary in their typical racial and class demographic.[8] The main reason that people get involved in Umbanda is because they have a problem and hope that the religion's spirits will be able to identify the cause and provide a remedy.[99]

Some Umbandists move on to join Candomblé, believing that the latter deals with more powerful supernatural forces and thus resolves problems more readily.[100] Umbanda is sometimes described as an appropriate preparation for Candomblé,[101] and the move from Umbanda to Candomblé can also bring greater prestige within Brazilian society.[102] Umbandist mediums sometimes hold critical views of Candomblé, regarding it as authoritarian,[103] and criticising the high prices charged for initiation into it.[69]

Reception and influence[edit]

From the 1950s, Brazil's Roman Catholic establishment campaigned against Umbanda, portraying it as a primitive religion that was frequented by ignorant people.[88] Throughout much of the 20th century, Umbanda also faced hostility from Brazilian intellectuals on both the left and right.[104]

Scholarly research into Afro-Brazilian religions began in the late 19th century, although for much of the 20th century the focus was on Candomblé and other traditions deemed to have a "purer" African origin than the more syncretic Umbanda.[105] In the early 1960s, a group of sociologists at the University of São Paulo began to study Umbanda, the most prominent being Roger Bastide, who saw the religion as an expression of urban industrial change.[88] Over following decades, research focused primarily among Afro-Brazilian Umbandists, rather than White Umbandist groups.[106]

Umbanda has also influenced some practitioners of Santo Daime and a tradition called Umbandaime has emerged as a hybridized religion combining elements of both.[11] Umbandist trance states have also been studied by Heathens seeking to create new forms of seiðr.[107]

Vargas Era to 1950s[edit]

Just like other Afro-Brazilian religions, Umbanda suffered political repression during the Vargas era until the beginning of 1950. A 1934 law placed these religions under the jurisdiction of the Departamento de Tóxicos e Mistificações (Department of Toxins and Mystifications) of the police so that they needed a special registration to function. During these years, many groups remained clandestine or, when they did register, they sought to omit their African inspirations or connections by registering themselves simply as "spiritists".[108] This omission or "deafricanization,"[109] which rejected the influences of African religions, was more clearly established in the I Congresso Brasileiro de Espiritismo de Umbanda (First Brazilian Congress of Spiritism and Umbanda) which took place in 1941, and stated (among other things) that the roots of Umbanda came from ancient religions and philosophies from India.[108][109]

Neopentecostal Protestantism[edit]

In Brazil, Umbanda and other religions with an African basis suffer due to religious intolerance,[110] with born-again neopentecostal religions being the most intolerant with regards to Umbanda, Candomblé, and Kardecism.[111]

In 1997, Bishop Edir Macedo, leader in the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, published his book Orixás, Caboclos e Guias – Deuses ou Demônios? (Orixás, Caboclos, and Guides – Gods or Demons?), which became obligatory reading for some Pentecostal, neopentecostal, and even traditional evangelicals.[112] The book compares the religion to Satanism based on the exorcism rituals practiced in his religion.[112]

In 2005, the Brazilian Supreme Court mandated that all copies of the book be removed from circulation due to its discriminatory content against Afro-Brazilian religions.[113][114] However, one year later, the Regional Federal Court of the First Region liberated its sale with the justification that its prohibition violated the principle of freedom of speech guaranteed by the Brazilian constitution.[115]

Traditional Branches of Candomblé[edit]

Some radical practitioners of Candomblé criticize Umbanda because they consider it superficial and believe it does not acknowledge the most important rites of worship of Orixás. Some have also criticized Umbanda for not separating the worship of spirits from the worship of entities, since Candomblé considers Orixás and gods to be purer and of a more primordial energy, and that for that reason, they should not be confounded with the energy of spirits that have lived on Earth.[116]

Praise and Honors[edit]

O Encanto dos Orixás[edit]

Liberation theologist Leonardo Boff, in his book O Encanto dos Orixás (The Charm of the Orixás), praises Umbanda, saying that it represents true Brazilianness by mixing together African, European, and indigenous roots and puts the highest importance on counsels from the humble and marginalized.[117]

Intangible Cultural Heritage[edit]

In 2016, following a study done by the Instituto Rio Patrimônio da Humanidade (Rio Heritage of Humanity Institute), Umbanda became one of Rio de Janeiro's Intangible Cultural Heritages.[118] The study recognized the importance of syncretic Afro-indigenous Brazilian culture, with its religious syncretism being a driving force behind various social facets of great sociocultural impact.[118]

In addition, the Inventário Nacional de Referências Culturais (National Inventory of Cultural References) is in the process of recognition of multiple Umbanda terreiros as cultural heritage sites throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro.[119]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Capone 2010, p. 103.
  2. ^ Brown 1986, p. 1; Hale 2009, p. x; Engler 2020, p. 2.
  3. ^ Brown 1986, p. 1; Engler 2020, p. 23.
  4. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. ix.
  5. ^ a b c d e Brown 1986, p. 1.
  6. ^ Hale 2009, p. 55; Engler 2020, p. 6.
  7. ^ Hale 2009, p. 55.
  8. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. xiv.
  9. ^ Brown 1986, p. 6.
  10. ^ Hale 2009, p. 42.
  11. ^ a b Engler 2020, p. 25.
  12. ^ Hale 2009, p. 56.
  13. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. x.
  14. ^ Hale 2009, pp. ix–x; Capone 2010, p. 76.
  15. ^ a b c d Engler 2020, p. 8.
  16. ^ Hale 2009, p. xv; Engler 2020, p. 21.
  17. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. xv.
  18. ^ Engler 2020, p. 2.
  19. ^ Brown 1986, p. 1; Engler 2020, pp. 8–9.
  20. ^ Engler 2020, pp. 22, 25.
  21. ^ Capone 2010, pp. 8–9.
  22. ^ Capone 2010, p. 95.
  23. ^ Johnson 2002, p. 52; Capone 2010, p. 9.
  24. ^ a b Capone 2010, p. 105.
  25. ^ a b c d Capone 2010, p. 77.
  26. ^ Hale 2009, p. xiii.
  27. ^ Hale 2009, p. 2.
  28. ^ a b c d Engler 2020, p. 21.
  29. ^ a b Engler 2020, p. 12.
  30. ^ a b c d e Hale 2009, p. 7.
  31. ^ Hale 2009, p. 6.
  32. ^ Hale 2009, p. 6; Capone 2010, p. 76.
  33. ^ a b c Hale 2009, p. 5.
  34. ^ a b c d Dann, Graham M. S. "Religion and Cultural Identity: The Case of Umbanda". Sociological Analysis, Vol. 30, No. 3, pp. 208–225.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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
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  59. ^ Hale 2009, p. 54.
  60. ^ a b c Hale 2009, p. 16.
  61. ^ a b Capone 2010, p. 75.
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  63. ^ Hale 2009, pp. 10, 45.
  64. ^ Hale 2009, p. 10.
  65. ^ a b c d Hale 2009, p. 37.
  66. ^ "Diversidade Sexual e Umbanda". domtotal.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
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  68. ^ a b Engler 2020, p. 18.
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  70. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. 51.
  71. ^ a b Hale 2009, p. 22.
  72. ^ Hale 2009, p. 47.
  73. ^ Hale 2009, p. 39.
  74. ^ Engler 2020, p. 20.
  75. ^ Hale 2009, p. 35.
  76. ^ Hale 2009, pp. 35–36.
  77. ^ Capone 2010, pp. 69–70.
  78. ^ Hale 2009, p. x; Capone 2010, p. 69.
  79. ^ Capone 2010, p. 70.
  80. ^ Engler 2020, p. 23.
  81. ^ Capone 2010, p. 69.
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  83. ^ a b c d e f g Beraba, Marcelo. O Terreiro da Contradição. Folha de S.Paulo; March 30, 2008
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  89. ^ Novo Preto Velho. Interview of Diana Brown in Folha de S.Paulo; March 30, 2008.
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  91. ^ Brown 1986, p. 3; Capone 2010, p. 105.
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  93. ^ a b Engler 2020, p. 16.
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  95. ^ Troch, Lieve. Ecclesiogenesis: the patchwork of new religious communities in Brazil. Exchange 33, No. 1, 2004, pp. 54–72.
  96. ^ Marcio Goldman, "Reading Roger Bastide: Deutero-learning the African Religions in Brazil," Études rurales 196 (2015), 9–24 (15).
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  100. ^ Capone 2010, p. 110.
  101. ^ Capone 2010, p. 115.
  102. ^ Capone 2010, pp. 111, 114.
  103. ^ Capone 2010, p. 116.
  104. ^ Brown 1986, pp. 6, 7.
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  107. ^ Magliocco 2004, pp. 226–227.
  108. ^ a b Boaventura (frei) (1991). Espiritismo: orientação para os católicos (in Brazilian Portuguese). Edições Loyola. ISBN 978-85-15-00458-4.
  109. ^ a b Nascimento, Elisa Larkin (3 December 2012). Guerreiras de natureza: Mulher negra, religiosidade e ambiente (in Brazilian Portuguese). Selo Negro. ISBN 978-85-8455-004-3.
  110. ^ Júnior, Ademir Barbosa (1 October 2014). Novo dicionário de Umbanda (in Brazilian Portuguese). Universo dos Livros. ISBN 978-85-7930-789-8.
  111. ^ Novo nascimento: os evangélicos em casa, na Igreja e na política (in Brazilian Portuguese). Mauad Editora Ltda. 1998. ISBN 978-85-85756-79-6.
  112. ^ a b Santos, Valdelice Conceição dos (11 March 2010). "O DISCURSO DE EDIR MACEDO NO LIVRO ORIXÁS, CABOCLOS E GUIAS. DEUSES OU DEMÔNIOS?: IMPACTOS E IMPASSES NO CENÁRIO RELIGIOSO BRASILEIRO". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  113. ^ "Teor preconceituoso faz Justiça proibir livro de Edir Macedo - Cultura". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  114. ^ "ConJur - Edir Macedo é processado por descaminho". www.conjur.com.br. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  115. ^ "TRF libera circulação do livro de Edir Macedo". Jusbrasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  116. ^ Azevedo, Janaina (2010). Tudo o que você precisa saber sobre Umbanda - Vol. 1 (in Portuguese). Universo dos Livros Editora. ISBN 978-85-99187-91-3.
  117. ^ Tempo, O. (26 November 2009). "O encanto dos orixás na raiz da mais genuína brasilidade | O TEMPO". www.otempo.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  118. ^ a b Rio, Do G1 (8 November 2016). "Umbanda é declarada patrimônio imaterial do Rio". Rio de Janeiro (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  119. ^ "Página - IPHAN - Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional". portal.iphan.gov.br. Retrieved 1 December 2022.

Sources[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • DaMatta, Roberto. "Religion and Modernity: Three studies of Brazilian religiosity". Journal of Social History. Winter 1991, Vol. 25 Issue 2, pp. 389–406, 18p.
  • Sybille Pröschild: "Das Heilige in der Umbanda. Geschichte, Merkmale und Anziehungskraft einer afro-brasilianischen Religion". Kontexte. Neue Beiträge zur historischen und systematischen Theologie, Band 39. Edition Ruprecht, Göttingen 2009. ISBN 978-3-7675-7126-6
  • Maik Sadzio: Gespräche mit den Orixás: Ethnopsychoanalyse in einem Umbanda Terreiro in Porto Alegre/Brasilien, Transkulturelle Edition, München, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8423-5509-5

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Umbanda.
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