Afro-Brazilian Religions: A cultural and historical perspective

Afro-Brazilian religions were born out of the contact brought about by slavery, when different African peoples met in Brazil.

These groups ended up assimilating and exchanging similar elements of their cultures, resulting in a fusion of rites of different origins. In this way, a common amalgam was formed, which gave rise to the Afro-Brazilian religions.

Candomblé: A pillar of Afro-Brazilian religions

Candomblé is one of the best-known Afro-Brazilian religions in the country. Its pantheon consists of orixás, inquices and voduns, deities representing the Iorubá, Banto and Jeje peoples respectively.

Diversity of names and rites

Afro-Brazilian religions have different names depending on their location and the model of their rituals. In the Northeast we find the tambor-de-mina maranhense, the xangô pernambucano and the candomblé baiano. In Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, umbanda and candomblé predominate, while in the south, the batuque gaúcho stands out. This diversity highlights the continuity and transformations of African influences in Afro-Brazilian religions.

Historical perspective and contemporary views

Historically, all these forms of religiosity were seen by European colonisers and Christians as dangerous expressions of idolatry and sin. Conversion was promoted as a way of ensuring the salvation of slaves’ souls. This view still persists, associating Afro-Brazilian religious expressions such as Candomblé and Umbanda with demonic rites of witchcraft.

Penetration and practice of Afro-Brazilian religions

Candomblé and Umbanda are deeply rooted in Brazil, especially in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia.

According to the 2022 census conducted by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there were almost 1.9 million followers of these religions. Researchers estimate that almost a third of the Brazilian population attends a centre, including both regular and occasional attendees, who are often linked to other religions.

Video on the history of Afro-Brazilian religions

History and origins of Afro-Brazilian religions

1. Candomblé

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion derived from traditional African cults, in which there is belief in a Supreme Being (Olorum, Avievodun or Nzambi, depending on the nation) and worship of forces of nature personified in the form of deified ancestors: orixás, voduns or inquices, depending on the nation.

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion derived from traditional African cults, in which there is belief in a Supreme Being (Olorum, Avievodun or Nzambi, depending on the nation) and worship of the forces of nature personified in the form of deified ancestors: orixás, voduns or inquices, depending on the nation.

Afro-Brazilian religion that worships the orixás, gods of the African nations of the Yoruba language, endowed with human emotions such as jealousy and vanity.

Candomblé came to Brazil from West Africa with the slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.

It was severely suppressed by the Portuguese colonists, who considered it to be witchcraft.

To survive persecution, followers began to associate the orixás with Catholic saints in a form of religious syncretism. For example, Iemanjá is associated with Our Lady of the Conception; Iansã with Saint Barbara, etc.

The ceremonies take place in temples called territories. Their preparation is secret and often involves the sacrifice of small animals.

They are celebrated in African languages and are marked by singing and the rhythm of atabaques (drums), which vary according to the orisha being honoured.

In Brazil, the religion worships only 16 of the more than 300 orishas that exist in West Africa.

Initially suppressed by the slave-owning society, the Catholic Church and the state, and rejected by society, Candomblé (like other African-based religions) “formed until the mid-20th century a kind of institution of cultural resistance, first for Africans and then for Afro-descendants […] Much has changed, transforming these religions into cult organisations detached from ethnic, racial, geographical and social class ties”.

The cultural elements that make up Candomblé are now an integral part of Brazilian folklore.

Candomblé should not be confused with Umbanda or other Afro-Brazilian and Afro-American religions with similar origins. (tambor de mina, omolokô, xangô pernambucano or Brazilian batuque; Haitian Voodoo, Cuban Santería, Jamaican Obeah and Kumina, Surinamese Winti, among others), which developed independently of Candomblé and are virtually unknown in Brazil.

2. Umbanda

A Brazilian religion born in Rio de Janeiro in the 1920s from a mixture of African and European beliefs and rituals.

The roots of Umbanda lie in two religions brought to Brazil by slaves from Africa: Cabula, from the Bantu people, and Candomblé, from the Nagô nation, and Candomblé, from the Nagô nation.

Umbanda considers the universe to be populated by spiritual beings, the guides, who come into contact with humans through an initiate (the medium) who incorporates them. These guides are represented by figures such as the caboclo, the preto-velho and the pomba-gira.

African elements are mixed with Catholicism, leading to the identification of orixás with saints.

Another influence is Cardican spiritism, which believes in the possibility of contact between the living and the dead and in spiritual evolution after successive lives on earth. It also incorporates indigenous rites and European magical practices.

National Umbanda Day is celebrated on 15 November and is an opportunity for Umbanda practitioners to commemorate the date and for people of other faiths to learn more about this Brazilian religious movement. Find out below how Umbanda came about and what its principles are.

Umbanda was born in 1908, on November 15th, through a medium named Zélio Fernandino Moraes, with the guidance of the spirit who identified himself as Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas, in Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

It can be said that Umbanda is a spiritual doctrine which, like Spiritism, believes in the survival of the spirit and communication with the spiritual plane.

In addition, Umbanda has been influenced by Brazilian religious culture, such as Catholicism, Spiritism, indigenous rituals and Afro-Brazilian sects, with an emphasis on Candomblé.

Its founder, Zélio Fernandino Moraes, organised a doctrine with its own concepts, distinguishing the new religion from Candomblé and other Afro-inspired sects that existed at the time.

In Umbanda there are spiritual guides, entities such as caboclos, pombagiras and exus. During the service, songs are sung in Portuguese, always accompanied by atabaques. The Umbanda environment is usually smoky and there are both male and female musicians.

3. Divisions among Afro-descendant religions

Until the 1940s, Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda were severely persecuted by the authorities.

Religious practices that claimed to be of African descent or that bore similarities to these cults faced police repression, with the closure of their centres and terreiros and the arrest of those responsible.

This persecution was based on racial and religious prejudice, and the practices were often considered “witchcraft” or “sorcery” by the colonial authorities and later by the republican government.

The situation began to improve in 1945, thanks to the efforts of José Álvares Pessoa, a medium and leader of one of the seven Umbanda houses that existed at the time, all founded under the guidance of the Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas.

José Álvares Pessoa was instrumental in the fight for the legalisation of the Umbanda cults.

Through his work with the National Congress, he succeeded in getting Umbanda officially recognised, leading to a reduction in persecution and greater freedom to practise.

With police repression of Afro-Brazilian cults, many religious groups that did not follow the strict rules of the founder of the Umbanda doctrine began to call themselves Umbandists in an attempt to escape repression.

This period was marked by great changes and losses for the religion, which saw its essence and practices significantly altered.

These changes contributed to the division of thought and interpretation within Umbanda, resulting in a plurality of practices and a fragmentation that continues to this day.

This diversity, while enriching the religion in some respects, has also posed challenges to the preservation of its original identity and doctrine.

1. The White Table

Umbanda has had and still has moments of persecution and segregation, but it has managed to overcome some of these obstacles, although there is still a lot of prejudice and even violence against Umbanda terreiros.

A few decades ago, however, Umbanda practitioners saw a way around prejudice.

Since Spiritism was to some extent accepted in Catholic society even before Umbanda, it served as an escape route for Umbanda groups so that they would not be so marginalised.

In practice, history was repeating itself. As Umbanda had served as a support for Afro-Brazilian groups in the past, Umbanda practitioners began to call themselves Spiritists in order to escape persecution and prejudice.

This may be one of the reasons why some people confuse followers of the spiritist doctrine with practitioners of Umbanda and even Candomblé.

2. The Resistance of the African People

On this International Umbanda Day, it is also important to remember the people’s struggle that inspired this religious manifestation.

The African people arrived in Brazil without any rights or minimum human conditions. They lost their freedom, but not their culture.

And if the diversity of their homelands was immense, imagine arriving in a totally different reality.

Thus, dancing, singing, speaking, dressing and producing, when brought to this side of the Atlantic Ocean, had to adapt or merge with new customs.

Oppressed, the slaves were unable to keep their religious practices isolated. Each tribe had its own peculiar form of God, cults, rituals and symbols.

Thus, when the imposition of Catholicism attempted to extinguish beliefs, the solution was to create a syncretism of the Orixás in the guise of saints, which led to the emergence of religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda.

This syncretism, practised by both Umbanda and Candomblé, has many followers in Brazil, not to mention other variations that have added indigenous rites and other European magical practices. However, in the social imagination, African polytheism is still seen in a superficial way.

3. Postulates of Umbanda

According to the Brazilian Umbanda Federation, there are several principles of the religion.

Among them are the existence of a creative principle – God, the Almighty and the Unpresentable, as well as the existence of spiritual entities, messengers of the vibrations of the Orixás, still in evolution, seeking perfection.

In addition, umbandistas believe in reincarnation, the law of karma, and practise mediumship in its various forms, as well as love, manifested as charity, in word and deed.

Finally, Umbanda also believes that man lives in a vibratory field, which is the very field that his free will commands within the principle of the Trinity of Nature: spirit, soul and body.

4. The difference between Umbanda and Candomblé

Umbanda and Candomblé are two Afro-Brazilian religions that share African roots but have striking differences in their practices, beliefs and ritual structure. Below I highlight the main differences between the two:

1. Origins and Influences

• Umbanda: Originated in Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century, strongly influenced by Cardenalist Spiritism, Catholicism, indigenous rituals and European magical practices, as well as African traditions, especially Cabula and Candomblé. Umbanda is a syncretic religion that blends elements from various traditions, with an emphasis on communicating with spirits through mediums.
• Candomblé: This is the oldest religion, with direct roots in traditional African religions, especially those of the Nago (Yoruba), Bantu and Jeje peoples. It arrived in Brazil with African slaves and has remained faithful to its ancestral rituals and beliefs, with less influence from other religions. Candomblé preserves its traditions, languages and the worship of the Orixás, Voduns and Inquices.

2. Entities and Deities

• Umbanda: Worships mainly spiritual entities such as caboclos, pretos-velhos, children (erês), pombagiras and exus. African deities (orixás) are also worshipped, but are often syncretised with Catholic saints.
• Candomblé: Focuses exclusively on the worship of orixás, voduns and inquices, deities representing forces of nature and deified ancestors. There is no compulsory religious syncretism, and each deity has its own rituals, colours, foods and specific chants.

3. Rituals and Practices

• Rituals: Rituals are usually conducted in Portuguese and include chanting, burning incense, prayers and the incorporation of spirits. Ceremonies are open to the public and focus on spiritual advice and guidance, with mediums incorporating guides to assist the faithful.
• Candomblé: Performs complex rituals in African languages (including Yoruba and Fon) and follows a strict calendar of festivals, offerings and sacrifices to the orixás. The rituals, called toques or obrigação, include dances, chants and sacrifices, and are carefully planned and at some stages restricted to initiates.

4. Philosophy and Spiritual Vision

• Umbanda: Believes in spiritual evolution through multiple reincarnations and constant communication with the spiritual world. Practice is guided by charity, with an emphasis on helping others and developing the mediumistic abilities of followers.
• Candomblé: Focuses on balance and a direct relationship with the orixás, seeking to please these deities in order to gain health, protection and prosperity. The philosophy revolves around respect for ancestral traditions and the observance of rituals according to the precepts of the religion.

5. Structure and Organisation of Temples

• Umbanda: The temples are called terreiros or centros and are run by a pai or mãe de santo, also known as spiritual leaders. The organisation is more flexible and adaptable.
• Candomblé: It has a more rigid hierarchical structure, with temples called terreiros, headed by a babalorixá (father of the saint) or ialorixá (mother of the saint). Positions and roles within the terreiro are well defined and initiation is a long and complex process.

6. Religious syncretism

• Umbanda: Highly syncretic, mixing elements of Catholicism, Spiritism, indigenous and African traditions.
• Candomblé: Remains closer to African traditions, with less syncretism and a greater focus on preserving the original culture and rituals.

In summary, although both religions share African roots and a belief in spirits and deities, Umbanda is more open, syncretic and oriented towards spiritual communication, while Candomblé preserves its African traditions and rituals more rigorously, with a more specific focus on the worship of the orixás and their respective liturgies.

History of Afro-Brazilian religions

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