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Afro-Brazilian Deities
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The deities of the Afro-Brazilian religions, chiefly Candomblé and Umbanda, which grew from Yoruba, Fon and Bantu religion carried to Brazil under slavery and are living, widely practised traditions today. Their gods are known both by African names and by the Catholic saints with whom they were long identified, and are served through drumming, song, dance and offering. The initiatory rites by which they are approached are closed; what is recorded here is that these deities are venerated, and by whom, not how.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingThe orixas and related spirits served in the Afro-Brazilian religions - Candomble, Umbanda and their relatives - which formed among enslaved and freed Africans in Brazil out of Yoruba, Fon-Ewe and Bantu sources alongside Catholicism. The houses are initiatory, and each nacao keeps its own liturgy, ritual language and roll of spirits. 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredAngola and Congo houses, drawing on Bantu sources, whose spirits are the inquices 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredJeje houses, drawing on Fon and Ewe sources from the Bight of Benin 2 Peoples and Traditions CoveredKetu and Nago houses, drawing on Yoruba sources, whose ritual language is a Brazilian Yoruba 2 Attestation
Era of AttestationThe oldest continuously functioning Candomble houses in Bahia are documented from the first half of the nineteenth century, and sustained outside description begins with Brazilian ethnography around 1900. The religion is served today. 2 Veneration TodayServed today in terreiros across Brazil and in the Brazilian diaspora. 2 Cultural Restriction
Restricted TraditionThe initiatory rites of Candomble and Umbanda by which these deities are approached are closed. The atlas records that the deities are venerated, and by whom, and does not describe how the rites are performed. 2 Learn More
Deities of Afro-Brazilian religion
This small group holds divine figures of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomble and Umbanda, which took shape among enslaved Africans in Brazil, chiefly from Yoruba, Fon and Bantu sources blended with Catholicism and, in Umbanda, with Spiritism. The deities are the orixas, the Brazilian form of the Yoruba orishas.
The browser will find figures served in the terreiros of Brazil, paired in practice with Catholic saints. Because these overlap closely with the Yoruba orishas treated elsewhere in the atlas, the entries note the shared source tradition while marking what is distinctively Brazilian in their worship.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Afro-Brazilian deities: the orixas served in Candomble.
Afro-Brazilian deities: the figures served in Umbanda.
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