71-27,542

PRESSEL, Esther Joan, 1937- UMBANDA IK SXo PAULO: RELIGIOUS INNOVATION IN A DEVELOPING SOCIETY.

The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1971 Anthropology

Uni varsity Microfilms,)&PK A Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan

THIS DISSERTATION NAS SEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED UMBANDA IN SAO PAULO:

RELIGIOUS INNOVATION IN A DEVELOPING SOCIETY

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By Esther Joan Prescel, B.S., K.A.

# jft jfc # & %

The Ohio State' University

1971

Approved by

Adviser\ \ Department of Anthropology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First, and foremost, I wish to thank Professor Erika

Bourguignon who is a master teacher in academic studies and

research. Her comments and suggestions in letters to me in

the field as well as during the lengthy period it took me

to write this dissertation were quite helpful. I also wish

to express my appreciation to Professor Thomas R. Williams, Professor H. S. Morris and Professor Gene Poirier for reading an earlier draft of this dissertation. Their

suggested revisions were useful.

Research in cultural anthropology cannot, be accom­

plished without the friendship of the individuals one

studies. Due to the intimate nature of some of the infor­

mation these people provided, I shall not mention their

specific names. But, their particular personalities are a major part of the data in this dissertation. Without their

generous cooperation, this study would not have been possible. I especially wish to thank Therezinha Guimarffes Mathias who was my friend^ major field assistant and typist in SSo

Paulo. Without her gifted insight into the nature of Brazilian society and national character, many observations might have slipped by me.

ii Two other personal notes of thanks are Inevitable:

one to my parents who usually suggested that I do whatever

I felt was best for me; the other to Urso Preto, who is my

Kiowa-Apache "guardian spirit." He finally decided to reveal himself to me in Brazil where he thought I might be more inclined to accept spirits. My personal experiences with Urso Preto gave me a personal insight into the psycho­ logical processes related to spirit possession. Finally, I wish to thank Mrs. Fran Roberts for her admirable patience and help in typing this dissertation.

iii VITA

January 15, 1937. . * Born - Loysburg, Pennsylvania 1959...... B.S., The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

1959-1963 ...... Assistant Editor, Chemical Abstracts Services, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1964...... M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1964-1966 ...... Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1966-1967 ...... Research Assistant, Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1967-1963 ...... Research Associate, Department of Anthropology, The Chio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1968-1971 ...... Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, The Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

PUBLICATIONS

1966 A preliminary survey of trance and spirit possession among Afrobrazilians. Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper # 7.

1968 Structure, beliefs and ritual behavior in Umbanda: A preliminary report of field research in SSo Paulo, Brazil. Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper # 19. The Ohio State University, Depart­ ment of Anthropology.

iv 1968 Dissociational states In Umbanda: A function of cognitive dissonance. Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper # 23. The Ohio State University, Department of Anthropology.

1968 Some aspects of spiritual psychotherapy in Umbanda. Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, Working Paper # 2 8 . The Ohio State University, Department of Anthropology.

1971 Umbanda in SSo Paulo: religious innovation in a developing society. In Religion, Altered States of Consciousness and SocTal Change. Erika Bourguignon, ed. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press (forthcoming).

FIELDS OF STUDY

Major Field : Cultural Anthropology

Studies in Psychological Anthropology. Professors Erika Bourguignon and Thomas R. V/illiams

Studies in Linguistics. Professor Erika Bourguignon

Afro-American Studies. Professor Erika Bourguignon

v TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... ii

VITA...... iv

INTRODUCTION...... 1

Chapter I. TRANCE AND SPIRIT POSSESSION: BACKGROUND. 4

II. SELECTION OF A RESEARCH SITE AND METHODOLOGY...... 27

III. THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SETTING OF UMBANDA. . . 34 IV. UMBANDA CENTERS: BELIEFS AND RITUALS. . . 59

V. A- CULT LEADER...... 39

VI. THE CLIQUE: CECILIA THE LEADER...... 103 VII. THE CLIQUE: TWO CHILDREN OF MAMAE OXUM. . 132

VIII. THE CLIQUE: TWO YOUNG M E N ...... 153

IX. ANALYSES OF TRANCE AND SPIRIT POSSESSION IN U M B A N D A ...... 163

X. CONCLUSIONS...... 202

APPENDIX...... 207 BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 21?

vi INTRODUCTION

The work reported in this dissertation-1- was begun during the summer of 1966. At that time I prepared a pre­ liminary survey of trance and spirit possession in Brazil.

This was followed by a one year field study of trance and spirit possession in Umbanda, which is a rapidly expanding spiritualist religion in Brazil. I did the major part of this research in the metropolis of SSo Paulo between

December, 1966 and November, 1967. The major problem I am concerned with in this disser­ tation is the demonstration of Umbanda as a religious inno­ vation in the developing society of Brazil. Specifically,

I attempt to argue that Umbanda is a religious institution which developed primarily in urban areas to mediate macro­ changes in the economic, social and political spheres of the larger Brazilian society and micro-changes at the level of the individual. Before arriving at this conclusion in the final chapter of this dissertation, I first present

*The work reported in this dissertation is part of a larger research project, which was supported in whole by Public Health Service Research Grant MH 07463 from the National Institute of Mental Health. The project, entitled Cross-Cultural Study of Dissociational States, was under the Direction of Dr. Erika Bourguignon, of the Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University.

1 some background material on trance and spirit possession in Chapter I. In Chapter II, I describe the selection of my research site and the methods I used in gathering data on Umbanda. Chapter III is a brief outline of cultural changes in Brazilian society during the past fifty years and a discussion of the place of Umbanda in the modern

Brazilian milieu. Chapter IV deals with Umbanda centers which are the primary functioning social units of this religion. I discuss beliefs and rituals in this chapter. In the following four chapters I present data on six of my major informants. These chapters include information about a cult leader and about a group of five individuals who, as a friendship clique, held a variety of special private spirit sessions throughout the year of field study. The information in these four chapters represents data which were selected from the larger body of my field notes. I chose these data on the basis of their being more complete than other data I had collected. In Chapter IX, I discuss trance and spirit possession in Umbanda, using five levels of analysis to aid in the understanding of the complexity of possession-trance phenomena. Finally, in Chapter X, I conclude that Umbanda emerged in its present cultural form because its major cultural symbols, e.g., four types of spirits, mediate macro-changes at the level of the whole

Brazilian society and micro-changes at the level of the individual. 3 This study of Umbanda is part of a larger research

project in the Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State

University. Over a five year period from 1963 to 1968

Professor Erika Bourguignon directed a cross-cultural study

of dissociation states. In examining relevant literature on 1283 societies in all parts of the world, the group at

Ohio State found that relatively few anthropologists have focused their field studies on dissociation. Some note­ worthy exceptions in recent years are Bastide's (195#) and

Verger*s (1957) studies of Afro-Bra2ilian cults in Bahia;

Belo's (I960) study of trance in Bali; F i e l d s (I960) study

of shrine cults in Ghana; M|trauxTs (1959) study of the vodu cult in Haiti; and Iiouchfo (I960) study of the Songhay

in West Africa. To supplement these and other data four members of the Ohio State project undertook and completed field studies of dissociation. Leonard (1966) examined trance and mediums in the Palau Islands. Kimball (1966)

studied an evangelistic revival in central Ohio. Henney

(1968) concentrated on a Pentecostal group known as

Spiritual Baptists (Shakers) in St. Vincent, B. W. I. The fourth field study was carried out by me and is the basis for this dissertation. CHAPTER I

TRANCE AND SPIRIT POSSESSION: BACKGROUND

In this chapter I first present some background material on trance and spirit possession. Second, I dis­

cuss trance and spirit possession cults in Brazil from two

viewpoints. Using the diachronic perspective, one may understand the evolutionary stream of Afro-Brazilian reli­ gions from which Umbanda emerged. The synchronic view

indicates that a variety of trance and possession cults

exist side by side in modern Brazil. I also point out that

Brazilian cults with African origins are a part of the larger Afro-American cultural area which was based on plantation agriculture and the use of African slaves.

Dissociation, or trance, is a psycho-biological phenomenon which Bourguignon (1968:332) has defined as

a state in which we observe a certain altera­ tion of consciousness, an alteration which may bring about changes, in varying degree, of certain functions: changes in concepts of identity, in memory functions, in sensory modalities, etc. (Trans, from the French by Bourguignon.)

The psycho-biological state of dissociation is closely intertwined with cultural patterns which vary widely from one society to another. One of the more common supernatural

4 interpretations of trance is the cultural, or folk, theory that a spirit enters an individual's body and assumes con­

trol of the body movements and vocal cords of the person in trance. When possession by a spirit is said to occur, the

believers view the medium, or dissociated individual, as no

longer being "himself.” Such behavior represents only one

of 62 types of altered states of consciousness listed and

categorized by Ludwig (1965:71-75). A few examples of

altered states of consciousness are mental states induced

by rhymic drumming, hand-clapping, dancing, drugs, brain­

washing and highway hypnosis. The concepts of trance and

spirit possession are frequently found together in the

anthropological literature, and may be referred to as

possession-trance. However, trance and spirit possession

are not necessarily linked together in all societies. The

cultural concept of possessing spirits may be present with­

out trance, e.g., the group studied by me, Umbanda, recog­

nizes that possession may sometimes occur without the spirit

medium experiencing trance. Trance, on the other hand, may

occur without the accompanying cultural belief in possessing

spirits, e.g., the Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert of

Bechuanaland use trance states in supernatural curing, but

possessing spirits are absent (Lee 1965). The survey of

anthropological literature by the Ohio State project showed first, that trance is a highly complex and variable psycho- biological phenomenon; second, that trance may be culturally 6 interpreted by different societies as either naturally or supernaturally caused; and third, that in a given society trance, possession-trance, and possession may occur alone or in any combination of the three.

The complex interaction of the social-cultural milieu, psycho-biological states such as trance, and natural environment is illustrated in a paper on Bantu-speaking peoples in southern Africa by Gussler (1966). In this geographical area the natural environment yields an inade­ quate diet which causes a depressed metabolic rate and metabolic disturbances leading to the condition of pellagra. A second type of illness found in this area is ukuthwasa.

It is brought on by the stress of low social status and some form of emotional crises. Hysteria occurs and is interpreted as possession by ancestral spirits. Other symptoms of ukuthwasa are anxiety, apprehension, loss of appetite, insomnia, convulsions, gastrointestinal disorders, skin disorders such as drying and scaling. The individual may be cured by undergoing a special initiation into a divining cult. Apparently, the biological symptoms of pellagra and ukuthwasa are quite similar. Gussler explains the relation between the two in the following manner:

In Southern Bantu society, the populations are, for the most part, living on an inadequate maize diet which results in a certain "depressed meta­ bolic pattern." Certain types of people are under increased stress in this highly-structured, strongly masculine society, especially women and weaker men. Under some stimulus this stress may climax in an "emotional crisis" which disturbs the metabolic equilibrium and precipitates certain symptoms of pellagra, compounded by severe emotional stress and loss of appetite. The sterotype of ukuthwasa symptoms, then, may be a result of specific non-acute malfunctioning due to specific nutritional deficiencies. The initiation-cure of the victim alleviates the condition by 1) removing the cause of stress through improvement of status and 2) improving the economic position of the individual who has taken up a new profession (Gussler 1966:10).

In addition to demonstrating the interrelationships of socio-cultural and natural environments and the individual personality, Gussler*s paper brings out the fact that low status individuals, viz., women and a few men, are the usual victims of ukuthwasa. This point, i.e., the social status of the possessed person, is discussed by Henney

(1964) for two societies in another part of Africa.

Henney*s study of the Nupe and the Hausa of Northern

Nigeria points out that both societies are similar in many ways: polygyny, patrilocality, patrilineality, subsistence economy, exclusion of women from participation in agricul­ ture, emphasis on the separation of the sexes. However, the two societies differ in that Nupe women participate widely in marketing activities which seems to enlarge the scope of their personal freedom, while Hausa women do not actively engage in the economic sphere outside of their home. Henney (1964:10) suggests that these economic differ­ ences in women's roles are reflected in the fact that Nupe women do not participate in spirit possession cults, while

Hausa women have the Bori spirit possession cult as an acceptable escape from their normal pattern of married

life. Initiallyi the Hausa spirits are feared because

they bring illness. This is similar to the reaction of

the Southern Bantu. However, initiation into the Bori

cult enables an individual to learn to control the activi­

ties of her spirits. The spirits are then regarded as

acceptable. As a member of the Bori cult, a possessed

woman is in a position to prescribe remedies for others.

From the material on the Hausa and the Southern Bantu, it

would appear that persons with lower status, usually

women, are more likely to experience trance and/or posses­

sion than individuals with a higher social status. How­

ever, one can question this generalization. Bourguignon

(1965) notes that a possession state is an alternate role which may be played by an individual, thus enlarging his

scope of behavior. If a low status limits the number of

roles a person can utilize, then spirit possession may be

linked with a low social status* By way of contrast, Nupe women theoretically have a lower status than men in their

patrilineal society. But because the Nupe women are more

or less financially independent of their husbands, they seem to have no need for letting out pent-up aggression in

the form of spirit possession. On the other hand, Nupe men

do not seem to live up to their own expectations of their masculine role. As a result, they participate in anti­ witchcraft activities. The Nupe men believe that they are able to free their society of witches who, interestingly enough, are said to be Nupe women (Nadel 1952). Hausa men

seem to have little difficulty in maintaining their patri­ archal status and do not engage in such anti-witchcraft activities. In the preceding paragraph I pointed out that the

data on the Southern Bantu and Hausa suggest that lower status persons, frequently women, may be more susceptible

to possession states than other individuals in a society.

This idea is discussed at length by Lewis (1966). In his

article, Lewis argues that the incidence of possession

appears to follow closely social patterns which delineate women and "all the rejected and despised" (Lewis 1966:322)

into deprived social statuses. Lewis refers to possession

cults as deprivation cults. It seems to me that he tends

to emphasize the role of women in such cults. He explains

this phenomenon as typifying that line of interpretation which views the prominent role of women in spirit possession as a compensation for their exclusion and lack of authority in other spheres (Lewis 1966:310).

I believe that this interpretation needs to be broadened.

Lewis is dealing primarily with Bast African cults and East

African societies which are not too complex structurally.

If one considers modern Brazilian possession cults, it will be found that in this more structurally complicated society men also participate as spirit mediums, although not quite to the degree which women do. While not entirely 10 disagreeing with Lewis, what I am suggesting is that as a

society becomes wider from top to bottom, the normal roles

of men and women become a bit less differentiated and men

increasingly find themselves less able to "make it to the top#" They then perhaps find themselves in a more deprived

category. Bourguignonfs (1965) notion that a possession state is an alternate role which may be played by an indi­ vidual, thus enlarging his scope of behavior, is relevant

to this discussion. As a society becomes more complex, men

may find themselves in increasingly specialized economic

roles. Spirit possession may then become an acceptable

role for men to express themselves in a way not normally

allowed in their limited economic role. The literature I have been discussing thus far

suggests that spirit possession tends to be utilized by

"deprived" persons as an alternate role for expressing their inner desires which are frequently at odds with the

status quo. Lewis, in a later paper, refers to this type of possession as "amoral peripheral possession" (Lewis

1968:6). In the same paper Lewis recognizes a second type of possession which he calls "main morality possession."

This form of possession may occur to any member of a society, and is used to maintain the central morality, or status quo, of that culture.

Lewis (1966:325-326) also focuses on the interpreta­ tion of spirit possession as a primitive and/or lower class 11 type of psychotherapy. This notion is found in the writings of Ribeiro (1956) on possession cults in northeastern

Brazil. Bonilla (1969), in an article on Puerto Rican spiritualism, psychoanalysis and psychodrama, also views possession in psychiatric terms. Comparing modern psycho­ drama and spiritualist sessions, Bonilla (1969:493) writes: The patterns of psychodrama seem quite similar to those of a spiritualist session. A psychodrama consists, according to Moreno, of a protagonist or subject (patient), the director or chief therapist, the auxiliary egos, and the group. The spiritualist session consists of a patient or spiritually dis­ turbed person (protagonist), chairman or president (director or chief therapist), the mediums (auxi­ liary egos), and the audience or congregation.

The protagonist in psychodrama presents a pro­ blem that the auxiliary ego helps to translate into a dramatic role-playing performance. In this way, according to Moreno, "Meaningful psychological experiences of the protagonist are given shape, more thoroughly and more completely than life would permit under normal circumstances."2 In the spiritualist session, role-playing is performed in the guise of the spirits that possess the protagonist and the mediums (auxiliary egos).

Bonilla^s article brings out the dramatic aspects present in spirit possession rituals. Possession as a possible primitive form from which modern drama evolved is discussed in a fascinating article by Firth (1967). Firth argues that in spirit possession rituals, one finds "a sense of general statement about human experience and the human condition" (Firth 1967:203). This is the basis of

^Bonilla is apparently quoting Moreno (1959). 12 drama. As one moves from religious ritual to staged drama two things seem to occur: 1) there is greater focus on the development and unity of the form of statement about the human condition, and 2) there is a change in the validity ascription (Firth 1967:203-205). To put it another way, in spirit possession rituals there is more emphasis placed on playing out the drama such that the "script" is bent to suit individual needs. Furthermore, those present at a possession ritual ordinarily believe that the behavior of the spirit medium is not just an "act," but is the true behavior of his possessing spirit, i.e., spirits are believed to be just as real and valid as living people.

One final general observation on possession behavior needs to be pointed out. This is the fact that such behavior, like all cultural behavior, is learned. Mischel and Mischel, following Miller and Dollard (1950), observe that behavior during spirit possession, like any other behavior, is perpetuated only if it is in some way reinforcing or rewarding to those who exhibit it - (Mischel and Mischel 1958:254). The Mischels (1958:254-257) note a number of reinforcements present among the Shango worshippers in Trinidad: 1) the possessed is able to control the activities around him;

2) a spirit may chastize its medium, thus reducing guilt and anxiety which may have been present in the medium prior to possession; 3) intimate behavior such as massaging the chest, breasts, thighs and shoulders of a person of the 13 opposite sex may occur during possession without the usual negative social sanctions; 4) sex roles may be reversed, i.e., a woman (man) may be possessed by a male (female) spirit; 5) a medium may be possessed by a child spirit, enabling him to act out childish, regressive behavior nor­ mally taboo for an adult; 6) the possession ritual provides an acceptable social framework for interpreting disturbing and threatening phenomena such as unusual psychological or physical symptoms such as hysteria; and 7) serious problems are referred to the ’’powers,” i.e., spirit, for solution, thus to some degree freeing the individual from personal responsibility for his plight. The Mischels (1958:257-258) also note that for come individuals in Trinidad there are negative reinforcements which help them avoid possession states: 1) the idea that such behavior is an ’’African” activity and is therefore less valued than European cultural behavior; 2) an aversion to the complete abandon­ ment and fear of loss of self control; and 3) the fear that a spirit could harm its medium--an indication that the medium has not been living a proper life style.

With this brief introduction to some observations and interpretations of trance, possession-trance, and posses­ sion, I now turn to a discussion of trance and spirit possession in Brazil. I focus primarily on Afro-Brazilian religions. First, however, one should be aware that Afro-

American religions are not limited to Brazil, but are found 14 in many places throughout the Caribbean region. The culture of this area was based on plantation agriculture and the use of imported African slaves. Examples of studies of Afro*

American religious traits outside of Brazil are by Bascom

(1952) on the Cuban Santeria, Beckwith (1923) on religious cults in Jamaica, Bourguignon (1970) on spirit possession in the Caribbean, Herskovits (1937) on Africanisms in Cuba,

Haiti and Brazil, Herskovits and Herskovits (1934) on African retentions in Dutch Guiana, Hogg (1964) on Jamaican religions, Mars (1946) on African-derived cults in Haiti,

Mischel (195#) on Shango in Trinidad, Moore (1965) on syncretism in Jamaica, and Simpson (1945, 1965) on Haitian vodu and Shango in Trinidad. This is far from being a com­ plete list, but it does offer some indication that African forms of religious behavior, including trance and posses­ sion, were retained in various parts of the Caribbean. Many of the studies listed in this group were stimulated by Herskovits1 work in the field of Afro-American research.

One of his major contributions was the concept of ethno- history. The ethnohistorical method combined data from historical documents and from ethnographic jfield work:

Fundamental to any discussion of the presence or absence of Africanisms in Negro custom in the New World is the establishment of a "base line" from which change may be judged. Two elements enter into this; it is necessary to discover, as precisely as possible, the tribal origins of the slaves brought to the New World, and on the basis of these facts to obtain as full and accurate knowledge as we can of the cultures of these folk (Herskovits 1958*33 )• Herskovits was interested in a type of comparative method which would focus on the study of cultural change and retention. African cultural retentions among Afro-Americans, according to Herskovits, could occur through the processes of reinterpretation (194$) or syncretization (1937). An example of reinterpretation of an African cultural element is the un.it within the polygynous African family of mother and children which, under New World conditions of slavery, was retained, but in a reinterpreted form of serial boy­ friends for the female head of household. An example of syncretism was the cultural fusion of African deities and

Catholic saints. Syncretism was especially important in

Afro-Brazilian religions, and I discuss it at greater length later in this chapter.

In Brazil, African slaves were introduced in the sixteenth century to man the sugar plantations in the northeastern part of the country. Throughout the period of slavery, African religions were retained from Dahomey and

Yorubaland on the Guinea Coast and from the more southern areas of Congo and Angola. After the emancipation of slaves in 1BBB, Afro-Brazilians began to practice more openly their religion in cult houses in urban areas. These religions were known under various names: Tambor das Minas in SSo Luis, Batuque in P5rto Alegre, Xang6 in Recife, and

Candombl£ in Salvador. Dahomean elements tended to dominate in SSo Luis, while Yoruban traits were more important in the other areas. These and other cults of African origin have

been described by Bastide (1952, 1958, I960), Carneiro

(1940, 1964), Eduardo (1948), Herskovits (1943, 1959,

1966), Landes (1940b, 1947), Leacock (1964a, 1964b, 1966),

Ramos (1934, 1935), Ribeiro (1952, 1956), and Stainbrook

(1952). Candombl£ is perhaps the most widely known Afro-

Brazilian cult in the anthropological literature. For

this reason, as well as for the fact that Umbanda includes

a number of cultural traits from Candombl£, I now outline

some of the more salient features of this traditional Afro-

Brazilian religion. The major portion of the following

data on Candombl£ comes from Landes (1947) and Herskovits (1966). Brazilians tend to regard the old northeastern city

of Bahia— today, called Salvador— as the heart of African

racial and cultural elements such as Candombll. Two

temples, or terreiros, are especially noted for their

Yoruba-influenced rites in this city. The oldest is Engenho Velho, founded about 1830 (McGregor 196?:73)» The other is Gantois, which was the original breakaway organi­ zation. Other, less well-known cult houses later separated

from these two highly respected terreiros. The major

ritual activities at these temples center on beliefs about 17 the Yoruba orixi^ deities. These are spirits of gods which are regarded as being between the high and remote god, or Olorun, and man on earth. There are a number of orix£s. both male and female, each having a particular name and special sphere of influence over human activities, e.g., Oxfice is the god of the hunt, Oxum is the goddess of beauty, and Ogura is the god of iron. According to Landes

(1947) it is women who are mediums for the orix& deities in the older and more conservative cult houses of CandomblS. Men, however, do participate as drummers for the orix£ ceremonies. They also assume the role of ogan. i.e., a man who looks after some of the more mundane aspects of a cult house such as financial affairs. In the newer

CandomblS cult houses which began to break away from the

Yoruba tradition in Brazil, men were allowed to become possessed by the orix&s. A CandomblS medium is possessed by only one orixj., and is said to be the filha (daughter) of that orixl. The deity acts as a guardian spirit for its medium. In turn, the "daughter11 owes a number of duties, such as providing food and sacrificial offerings, to her deity.

3l use the Portuguese orthography throughout this dissertation. The x is equivalent to the English sh. An m at the end of a word indicates that the preceding vowel Ts nasalized, e.g., -am. -em. -im. -um. It is not a bilabial m. Beliefs about the orix6s in Brazil are intertwined with Catholicism. Rapprochements of African religious traits and Catholicism were both structural and cultural

(Bastide I960). Structurally, both Catholic saints and

African orixfis were intermediaries between man on earth and the high God, or Olorun. In addition to structural simi­ larities, cultural beliefs about Catholic saints and the orix&s were sometimes similar and could easily be syncre- tized. For example, the Yoruba deity Ogum, who was the patron of blacksmiths and protector of iron farm tools and iron weapons of war, became identified and equated in some regions of Brazil with St. George. St. George was usually depicted on a white charger, slaying the dragon with a long iron sword. The obvious material connection between African deity and Catholic saint was the iron weapon. Since the slaves no longer had their own farms, iron field tools became less important to them. On the other hand, Ogum!s role in warfare became more important In the social milieu of the master-slave relationship. Herskovits (1937) has pointed out that the slaves syncretized Ogum and other orixls with various saints of their masters until the dis­ tinctive cult of CandomblS emerged. The slaves secretly held rituals on special days of the saints and more openly practiced their religion after the emancipation of Brazilian slaves in 1BBB. Today, throughout Brazil, African orlx&s and Catholic saints are regarded by many persons as being 19 one and the same. I found individuals of Italian and German descent in SSo Paulo who said that Africans and

Europeans simply had had different names for their spiri­

tual entities* The rapprochement was made complete in Brazil where cultures from the two continents were merged

in the sphere of religion.

Two other types of spirits should be mentioned here*

One is the deity known as Exu who among the Yoruba,

according to Bascom (1969:79), is the youngest and clever­

est of the Yoruba deities. He acts as a messenger who delivers sacrifices prescribed by a diviner to Olorun. Exu

is a trickster who can start fights or cause "accidents” to occur. In Brazil, Exu is sometimes associated with Satan; however there is considerable disagreement on this point. Normally, works of Exu were not associated with the tradi­ tional houses of Candombl£, but were in the hands of diviners. The other type of spirit found in Candomblfi is the ere, or child spirit. In this cult, after a medium comes out of a deep trance and possession by an orix£, she is possessed by a playful ere while in a light trance.

This occurs in the more secluded part of the cult house and is not normally observed by the public. Landes (1947:56) writes that the ere were usually hungry. They would be put to sleep as children are and sometimes would lie "as though dead to the world for twenty-four hours" (Landes 1947:57)*

I bring up these two spirits— Exu and the ere--because they 20 seem to be somewhat outside of the realm of the orix£ cult proper in Candombll, but still are related to it. Further­ more, in Urabanda, Exu and the ere came to assume important roles, while the orix£s were promoted to higher oblivion.

The ere are called criancas in Umbanda.

Members of a traditional Candombll cult house go through a long and arduous training period. It is so diffi­ cult that a developed medium is said to be a "slave to her saint." The literature does not provide much information on the reasons for making a decision to become a medium in

Candombl6. Landes (1947:152) tells of some women who fell ill and were cured by a cult leader. After they regained their health, they entered the terreiro as novices for priestly training. This is interesting since many persons today enter Umbanda because they are experiencing illnesses.

Herskovits (1966) provides some data on three major statuses the women can choose to pass through in Candombll. In the first stage, a woman is known as an abian. In this status, a woman knows to which orix£ she belongs. This might have been revealed through possession and/or divination. An abian has the ritual beads which symbolize her spirit and has ritual objects for her deity in the cult house. She helps out with everyday tasks around the cult house, and begins to learn the rituals for the orix£s through observa­ tion and by minor participation. She may decide to go no further than the abian status. If a woman chooses to go on to the next stage, she becomes known as a iawo♦ She goes into a period of seclusion in the cult house for instruc­ tion and spiritual preparation. Her head is shaved and she becomes feito (made, i.e., initiated). Emerging from seclusion in an impressive public ceremony, she becomes a

junior member of the cult house. A iawo is permitted to dance for, and be possessed by, her orix! at public cere­ monies. She remains in this status for seven years, learning more about the beliefs and rituals of Candombl!.

After this lengthy period, a Candombl! member can decide to go through a special ceremony known as the obrieacao de sete anos (obligation of seven years) in which her spiritual powers are renewed. She then attains full status in Candombl! and is referred to as a vodunsi. She can now guide others in the worship of their orix!s. and may set up a cult house of her own. This does not imply full separa­ tion from the cult leader who initiated her. A cult leader is called ialorix!. the Yoruba term, or a mffe-de-santo. the

Portuguese term. The maes (mothers) refer to the mediums in their temples as filhas (daughters). The membership in

Candombl! was primarily Afro-Brazilian and lower class.

In Bahia and elsewhere, many of the cult houses which broke away from the Yoruba tradition began to borrow cultural elements from the caboclo (Indian or mixed Indian-

Portuguese) cults. Besides following the Yoruba tradition in a loose way, they also featured possession by spirits of 22 dead Brazilian Indians. Frequently these were known as houses of Angola and Congo. Caboclo cult houses of Angola and Congo "nations" use ritual songs which supposedly have words from these more southern African regions. They also use ritual songs with Portuguese words. Their term for the high god is Zambe, instead of the Yoruba term of

Olorun. Kopytoff (1965:467) says that the Suku of south­ western Congo refer to their creator god as Nzambi.

Farther to the south of Bahia, in the states of Minas

Gerais, Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro) and S3o Paulo, the major cult was known as Macumba. Little is known about the cults which preceded Macumba in these areas prior to the twentieth century. When these earlier groups were first studied, they were in a state of fluid and rapid transfor­ mation into Macumba. Bastide (1960:411) states that Macumba was partly an outgrowth of the introduction of the orix&s into earlier "Bantu" cults known as Cabula. Macumba included possession by spirits of dead pretos velhos (old blacks, i.e., Brazilian slaves) and dead caboclos. The orix£ spirits were retained in Macumba, but the social solidarity found among the members of Candombl6 was not present. This may have been due to the fragmentary nature of these more highly urbanized and industrialized areas.

Europeans participated to a greater degree in Macumba than in Candombl£ and Caboclo cult houses of Bahia. Macumba was like the Caboclo cults in that it tended to emphasize 23 spirits of the dead, incorporated indigenous Indian

elements, and utilized Bantu and Portuguese words in their

rituals. Spirits linked to Exu assumed more importance in

Macumba. They would perform evil spiritual work for pay­

ing clients* Today, Umbanda has pretty much supplanted Macumba, but the term macumbeiro is still popularly used in SSo Paulo to denote an individual engaged in evil magic. Within Umbanda, the term macumbeiro is used more as a

friendly term of jest to refer to fellow umbandists. The

descendants of the old practioners of black magic are

today found in a cult known as Quimbanda. Quimbandists

specialize in working with spirits of Exu which are said to

be the spirits of dead people who lived especially wicked

lives. This brief sketch of Candombl!, of Caboclo cults, and

of Macumba indicates that the Afro-Brazilian roots of

Umbanda are quite old in Brazil. It also shows that some

indigenous Indian elements as well as Catholic beliefs have become a part of the heritage from which Umbanda emerged.

One other line of development needs to be discussed here.

This is the spiritualist religion known as Kardecismo. This religion was brought to Brazil from France in the nineteenth century. While the followers of the Afro-

Brazllian religions tended to be lower class, the Brazilians who came to practice Kardecismo were usually middle and upper class. The spirits of Kardecismo are more "elevated," 24 i.e., they are spirits of dead doctors, lawyers, teachers and even kings. In that Kardecismo focused on possession by spirits of the dead, it was more in congruence with the later Afro-Brazilian cults than with Candombl^. Many of the doctrines of Kardecismo have been incorporated into

Umbanda, and I discuss this aspect at greater length else­ where in.this dissertation. According to Camargo (1961) a

continuum of spiritualism exists between Kardecismo and

Umbanda in SSo Paulo. In addition to Umbanda and Karde­ cismo, a third religion in modern Brazil emphasizes spirit possession. This is the protestant Pentecostalist sect.

Pentecostalists believe that they may be possessed by the

Holy Spirit through the act of tomada (seizure). These three religions all seem to have developed to a greater degree in the modern milieu of culture change. Willems (1966) believes that the existence of these movements con­ stitutes evidence of a major change of the traditional

Brazilian social structure. They are alike in three ways: 1) all are concerned with spirit possession; 2) all recruit the bulk of their membership from the upwardly mobile; and

3) all perform similar functions (Willems 1966:221-230).

Healing is emphasized in these groups whose members cannot always afford adequate medical services. Each group attempts to reconstruct the personal community for its members who have often left the security of their families as well as their traditional religion in rural villages. 25 Finally, in rejecting the paternalistic tutelage of the upper class of Brazil, these three groups emphasize a certain amount of social equality among their members.

One final observation should be made in this dis­ cussion of Afro-Brazilian religions, Candombl!, Caboclo,

Macumba and several other cults continue to exist in certain regions of Brazil. Umbandists tend to regard these cults as more "folkloric" in nature. They recognize their own roots in these religions, and many umbandists feel that these earlier religious forms, especially Candombl!, were more "powerful” than Umbanda. They believe this is especially true for the magical aspects of their religion.

Other umbandists, more in tune with Kardecismo, look upon the animal sacrifices of the earlier religious forms as more "primitive" and debasing. What are regarded today as folkloric aspects are frequently played up. A few cult leaders utilize their mediums to give special public pro­ ductions which tourists and curious Brazilians pay to see.

In some instances theatrical productions of Macumba are staged in theaters and night clubs in SSo Paulo and, I would assume, in Rio de Janeiro. I found some umbandists who disagreed with, and others who approved of, these theatrical activities. A very tiny minority of umbandists participate in these money-making productions. For them, special rituals are held to ensure that they do not experience possession-trance during the performance.

Interestingly, the preventive rituals are not always effective• To summarize, I have discussed in this chapter some general aspects of trance and possession, and I have attempted to sketch a brief historical background of

Umbanda. I have also indicated that Umbanda is not the only type of spiritualist religion existing in the modern social environment of Brazil. CHAPTER II

SELECTION OF A RESEARCH SITE AND METHODOLOGY

The number of possible research sites is practically unlimited since trance and possession are found in one form or another in nearly all societies. With only a year in which to collect data and as a novice in anthropological field work, it seemed that a place where trance and spirit possession were openly practiced several times a week would be the best situation for my purposes. The anthropological literature indicated that Brazil would be an ideal place to meet these special research needs. From my preparatory reading, I learned that Umbanda is not the only spiritualist religion in Brazil today. Trance and spirit possession are practiced among the indigenous Indians of Brazil, in the traditional lower class Afro-Brazilian cults such as

Candombl^ and Macumba, in Protestant sects such as the Pentecostalists, and in Kardecismo which is a form of French spiritualism introduced to Brazil in the nineteenth century.

Out of these varied possibilities, I selected Umbanda for three reasons* First, nearly all previous research on possession cults in Brazil had been focused on the older syncretized

27 28 religions such as Candombl^ in northeastern Brazil. A

study of Umbanda would introduce new data on a religion which (1) has national rather than regional appeal; (2) is

apparently linked with modern rather than with traditional

Brazilian culture; (3) is not limited to the African- and

Indian-derived populations in Brazil, but has wide appeal

to European descendants as well; and (4) is middle class rather than lower class in its orientation. Second, very * little has been published on Umbanda. One notable excep­ tion is Camargo's (1961) study of the spiritual continuum which exists between Umbanda and Kardecismo in SSo Paulo.

Renshaw (1966) provides a very brief descriptive account of

Umbanda in Campinas. McGregor (1967) has written a per­ sonal journalistic account. Levy (1968) studied Umbanda in

SSo Paulo and wrote her M.A. thesis on this subject. Third, very little research has been done on the learning pro­ cesses involved in dissociational states. Since Umbanda leaders hold sessions in which mediumistic abilities are developed, I felt that this learning situation could easily be studied.

Nearly all of the field research for this disserta­ tion was conducted in the city of SSo Paulo. I made brief side trips of Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, P6rto Alegre,

Santos and to the small interior city of Bauru where I was able to locate centros (centers, i.e., places of worship) of Umbanda with no difficulty. In addition to my trips 29 outside of SSo Paulo I collected data about the national

spread of Umbanda from the popular press as well as from

books, magazines and newspapers published by umbandists

themselves. In SSo Paulo I was able to visit twelve centers

to become acquainted with the tremendous variety of ritual

and belief found in what Camargo (1961) has called "a con­

tinuum of spiritualism in SSo Paulo." At one pole of

Carmargo’s continuum are the more African forms of Umbanda,

heavily influenced by Candombl^ and Macumba. At the other

pole is the European spiritualism of Allen Kardec. The wide middle band includes just about every type of mixture

of African and European spiritualism as well as admixtures with Catholic and a few indigenous Indian elements.

From the twelve centers which I visited In SSo Paulo,

I selected two for further research. In terms of ritual

songs and dances, these two centers tended to fall cultur­ ally toward the African end of the continuum. However, the underlying beliefs and theory of spirits of these two groups are those of familiar spirits of Kardecismo and not those of spirits of African deities which one finds in the

conservative cults of Candombl^. The active membership in the one center was about 20 and in the other, about 40*

Using the racial categories of the United States I estimate that the percentage of whites in the former was about 60, in the latter, about 20. It is difficult to state pre­

cisely percentages and numbers because roughly 30 percent 30 of the total number of 60 changed during the year of field work. Mediums left for other centers while new partici­ pants arrived on the scene. Indeed, the centers seemed to revolve about the cult leader and a few close assistants. Clearly, in no instance was the group as a whole in charge, as in Protestant congregations in the United States, which may hire and fire their spiritual leader. In addition to these national and local observations,

I did an intensive study of the importance of spirits in the personal lives of nine people. Five of them formed a friendship clique which conducted private sessions in the homes of "clients.1' These private sessions provided me with an opportunity to converse more freely with the spirits than is normally possible in the public sessions at the centers. Members of this clique participated in the sessions of the two centers which I finally selected for study. I did in depth open-ended interviews based on the Ohio State group's "Cross-cultural Outline for the

Study of Dissociational States" with these nine individuals. The interviews were taped and typed up verbatim. When ideas from these interviews seemed significant, I further checked them out in conversations with umbandists from other centers, in books and newspapers published by umban­ dists, and in conversations with other social scientists who have studied Umbanda. In doing this research, a number of methodological problems arose. I chose to follow the traditional anthro­ pological approach of "participation-observation" and found It extremely difficult to be in all places at one time. The metropolitan nature of SSo Paulo simply did not permit this. I lived only a half block from my major informant and could visit her frequently with little difficulty.

However, I was often forced to rely on personal, and proba­ bly biased, accounts from my informants as to what had occurred to them during working hours in factories and offices and in their homes. Members of a particular center tend not to live very close to each other. This meant that

I often had to travel over a wide area of SSo Paulo to see informants in their homes. Furthermore, when I visited them, there was a good chance that they would be watching television programs after a long day of work. Some of the best data was perhaps gathered in restaurants where my major informants went for pizza and drinks after attending a public or private spiritual session. The anthropologist who works in a small village obviously has certain advantages in collecting data which

I did not have. Nevertheless, I believe that the data which I recorded in my notes are superior to those which I might have obtained from impersonal questionnaires. In spite of urbanization, Brazilians are still largely personal in psychological orientation and It is highly doubtful that 32

they would have responded to standardized questions on a piece of paper. One Brazilian social scientist advised me

at the beginning of the year, "You will find that Brazil­

ians either will like you as a person and will do every­ thing to help you with your studies, or they will not like you and will be of no use whatsoever." Throughout the year of field work, I found little to contradict this prophesy.

Although I did not carry with me any letters of intro­ duction to umbandists, there was never any difficulty in making contacts. For example, during my first day in SSo

Paulo, I wandered into a downtown restaurant owned by a middle-aged man of Italian descent who has traveled through­ out Brazil and South America. I mentioned that I was a university student from the United States and that I was planning to study Umbanda. I said that my research was a part of a larger comparative study of spiritualist religions throughout the world. This explanation of my presence I offered to all acquaintances formally or informally made throughout the year. In the instance of the restaurant owner, as well as with nearly everyone else, my statement of purpose was enough to induce him to begin talking about his personal experiences with Umbanda. The better-educated individual was usually more cautious in exposing his belief in spirits and would usually first ask me whether I believed in spirits. I usually responded with my personal belief, namely, that all religions are but roads to the same "God." When pressed on whether I really did believe in spirits, I

simply replied that I had not had the opportunity to be

brought up in a spiritualist religion and felt it only fair

to withhold judgement until learning more about Umbanda. These answers seemed to satisfy the people I met and worked with and, I believe, helped to maintain the "observer” part

of my status. Some close Brazilian friends were obviously curious about my own capacities for mediumship, urging me to take a more active "participant" role. I strongly suspected that a dissociated anthropologist would not be able to do much observing. I therefore begged off by noting that in only half-learning to become a medium, I might run the risk of

"spiritual disorders" upon my return home where there would be no Umbanda centers to help me. Toward the end of the year I did agree to participate in a limited way, which incidently led to additional useful data. My informants, however, could never come to an agreement as to whether a spirit had actually possessed me or whether a spirit was just nearby, influencing my behavior a bit. Since cultural reality is in large measure socially determined, I cannot explain what had possessed me to do such a thing* CHAPTER III

THE SOCIO-CULTURAL SETTING OF UMBANDA

Modern Brazil is a developing society in which tech­ nological change has brought a multitude of social innova­ tions in the areas of economy, politics, family and religion. In most parts of Brazil the traditional semi- feudal rural agrarian economy has been or is in the process of being replaced by a technologically-oriented, urban industrial economy. During the Vargas era in the 1930*s, what had once been strong state and regional groupings became politically oriented toward the federal government.

A new sense of national Ideology and pride developed and remains quite strong in Brazil today. The federal govern­ ment's emphasis upon modernization of agriculture and industrialization has led to the migration of large numbers of unemployed rural persons to urban centers where they hope to find jobs. City life has tended to weaken the large extended family system and as a result a nuclear family orientation is becoming more prevalent. Socio­ cultural change is being accompanied by new life styles, modern role expectations and changing values. In this milieu of socio-cultural transformation, many people turn

34 to Umbanda for help In coping with new problems In their

dally lives. This chapter is a description of the socio­

cultural setting of Umbanda. I first present data on the historical background and change of Brazilian society. Second, I focus on the specific setting of my research which was SSo Paulo. Since Umbanda has developed in a

socio-cultural setting of change, this chapter should help the reader become aware first, of traditional Brazilian

culture in which Umbanda was not present, and second, of the fluid nature of modern Brazil in which Umbanda operates. In the final part of this chapter, I discuss some aspects of the membership and structure of Umbanda.

Brazil stretches east to west 2700 miles and north to south 2500 miles. In terms of land mass it is the fifth largest country in the world and covers about one-half of the continent of South America. Brazil*s population is approximately 65 million people, making it eighth in world population (Momsen 1966:7)* Smith (1963:12) has character­ ized the tremendous diversity one finds in Brazil as a

"cultural mosaic." The mosaic is, in part, related to the wide-ranging forms of natural environments— tropics, deserts, and temperate regions— which have helped to shape regional cultural differences in Brazil. From another point of view

Brazil can be seen as a "melting pot" of races and cultures which succeeded to a degree not found in the United States.

In Brazil, the European Portuguese settled and interbred 36 with Indigenous Indian populations. Later, when African

slaves were imported to labor on the sugar plantations in

the northeastern part of the country, the mixture came to include African physical types and cultural beliefs. In the past 100 years a new wave of immigrants from Germany,

Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal and other countries have

come to be a part of the population and national culture

of Brazil. While Brazil is composed primarily of African,

European and New World Indian races and cultures,

its major institutions, its language, and its basic ideal patterns of behavior are European ones, modified and developed in the New World environment (Wagley 1963:24).

Three things give modern Brazil unity: its Great Tradition of language and social institutions from Portugal; its particular development in the New World setting of indige­ nous, European and African races and cultures; and its special nationalistic outlook since 1930. Between 1500 and 1821 Brazil was a Portuguese colony.

In 1822 Dom Pedro I declared Brazil an independent empire and set up a constitutional monarchy. Momsen (1968:29) tells us that in 1888, Isabel, the daughter of Dom Pedro II, decreed the emancipation of Brazilian slaves while acting as regent during one of her father^ many trips abroad.

The conservative plantation owners sided with the military and the liberal anti-monarchists, who did not feel they wanted to deal with Isabel and her unpopular husband when Dom Pedro II died. The alliance forced the emperor to leave the country and Brazil became a republic on November

15, 1S69* During the early years of the republic, Brazil had a formal democracy, but was in fact ruled by a tradi­ tional oligarchy. Individual states had more power than the federal government. Then, in 1930, political power shifted from the plantation northeast to the southern industrial states. Gettilio Vargas assumed control of the federal government by military force. From the period of

Vargas up to the present, Brazil has undergone a political and economic reorientation from traditional state oligar­ chies to a more tightly controlled central government which is forced to consider the ever-increasing needs and aspira­ tions and the opinions of the masses (Dulles 1966:4)* A more detailed discussion of changes in the economy, class structure and politics follows.

The most striking phenomena of the pre-industrial economy of Brazil were its production of primary products, dependence upon world markets resulting in boom and bust cycles, and the importation of manufactured goods. In various periods sugar, gold, rubber, cacao and coffee have reached a peak and then declined in importance. Brazilian industry began its slow growth in the southern part of the country in the early part of this century. By 1930 politi­ cal power shifted to the south. During the Vargas era between 1930 and 1945 the central government began to 38 control the selection of imports by heavily taxing luxury items and by providing incentives for the importation of machines to make machines (Popplno 1966:243)* During World

War II and afterward it was difficult to import goods from

Europe and North America because of shortages in these areas. Brazilians found that they would have to produce their own goods or do without. In later years industriali­ zation became more a matter of economic nationalism. In the forty years between 1920 and I960 the number of indus­ trial plants expanded more than eight times and the indus­ trial labor force increased nearly seven times. During the same time period the population doubled (Poppino 1968:239)* Industrialisation has become more intensive in recent years and imported industrial goods are being replaced by those produced in Brazil. Between 1948 and 1961 durable consumer goods imported fell from 9*6 to 1.2 percent of total imports.

The domestic production of equipment rose from 29.9 to 46.8 percent between 1947 and 1959 while equipment imports fell from 24 to 15*6 percent (Gudin 1969:3-4).

Since the time of Vargas the national government has deliberately pushed for economic development in both private and public sectors of the economy. Large scale projects directly or indirectly backed by the federal government have included the Volta Redonda steel mill, the Brazilian cellulose and paper industry, the construction of Brasilia, the Superintendencia do Desenvolvimento do Nordeste (SUDENE), and the important current project to open up and develop the Amazon region. The Brazilian attitude toward develop­ ment perhaps can be best summarized in Kubitschek's state­ ment of "fifty years of progress in five" (Dulles 1966:38)* Both nationalist sentiment and currency inflation are part of BrazilTs economic development. Development has, in part, been financed by printing currency. The amount of money in circulation at the end of 1955 was 69 billion cruzeiros. By the beginning of 1961 it had increased to 202 billion cruzeiros (Dulles 1966:38). During the Goulart regime which preceded the 1964 military coup, the cost of living went up 340 percent between 1961 and 1963- During the same period the international monetary value of the cruzeiro decreased from 300 per dollar to 1200 per dollar (Dulles

1966:48). National economic difficulties have been aug­ mented by increasing population pressures in urban areas.

Between 1950 and I960 the urban population increased from

36 to 45 percent of the total Brazilian population. Urban growth accounted for 70 cercent of the national population increase in the same decade (Chardon 1966:162). Most of the population growth has occurred in the industrial south and represents a rural-urban migration. The usual social problems associated with such migrations have been com­ pounded by spiralling inflation. In this type of environ­ ment economic nationalism comes to be seen as a national 40 commitment to the betterment of living conditions for the masses.

Economic development in Brazil is reflected in changes in the class structure. Formerlyt Brazilian class structure was essentially a two-part system which included an elite class of European origin which held power and a lower class of peasants whose lives were directed by the elite. A very small middle class filled bureaucratic posts but it identified with the upper elite. Together, the elite and the middle class shared the written tradition inherited from Europe, or what Redfield has called the Great Tradition.

An upper class person from the northeast had essentially the same cultural expectations and behavior as his counterpart several thousand miles away in the southern part of the country. On the other hand, the culture of the peasants varied greatly throughout the different regions of Brazil.

Until recently Brazil had a highly stable class-structure in which upward mobility did not exist to any significant degree. Observers of the modern Brazilian scene agree that class structure today is in rapid flux and that social and economic mobility is definitely present. Wagley (1963:101- 102) perceives four new classes emerging in Brazil today: l ) a new factory in the field proletariat; 2) a rapidly expanding metropolitan lower class; 3) a new middle class; and 4) a metropolitan upper class. What follows is mostly 41 a summary of Wagley's (1963:101-131) observations on the emerging class structure.

In the rural areas a field proletariat has emerged as

small family plantations and farms have been reorganized

into the national marketing system. The companies give the field proletariat housing, and theoretically there is social

legislation to protect the laborers. The traditional close personal ties between employer and worker are gone. As a result the workers are turning more toward labor unions and politicians for help in improving their conditions and gain­ ing their rights. The members of the field proletariat frequently are illiterate and vulnerable to charismatic leaders. Peasant Leagues and other movements promise pro­ tection in an uncertain and impersonal world. As farming becomes big business and mechanization of agriculture occurs, increasing numbers of persons from the traditional peasant class migrate to urban areas to seek employment. They form the rapidly expanding metropolitan lower class which also includes industrial workers. The migrants usually live in shacks located in the outlying favelas. or slums. Running water, sewage systems and electricity are not always avail­ able in these areas. Women come to the city because they frequently can obtain work as domestics in middle and upper class homes. The first generation usually is rural in out­ look and culture, but the second generation rapidly acquires new tastes for material possessions. Education in these 42 areas is not good or is non-existant. While upward class mobility is possible, it is extremely difficult to achieve with an inadequate education and increasing competition as more migrants arrive on the scene. The industrial workers are usually better off than those living in the favelas.

Their houses are better constructed and have more modern conveniences. It is not too unusual to find a television set in the homes of the factory workers. These people are in the upper part of the lower class, aspiring for upward mobility into the middle class. Many are hoping to achieve it through education and hard work. Until recently the middle class was not significant in either size or power. As industry and commerce have rapidly expanded many new jobs have become available in offices and stores. One of the major criteria for being accepted into the middle class is an occupation which does not involve manual labor. In this respect the middle class remains traditional in its outlook. But it differs from the old middle class in its increased expectations of material possessions which include a privately-owned apart­ ment or house, a car and all the gadgets and conveniences one finds in a modern home. Whenever possible middle class people send their children to private schools where they believe a better education is offered than in the over­ crowded public schools. Spiralling inflation is the worst enemy of the new middle class. The traditional upper class 43 In Brazil was a land-owning aristocracy. A new metropoli­ tan upper class is taking the place of the old elite.

People in this class are the owners of industries and commercial enterprises. Marriage, in many cases, welds together the traditional elite and the arrivistas from the middle class. The new upper class remains open, at least for the present, to those who can manipulate their way up through a combination of education, money, professional competence and political influence. Up to this point I have been discussing class struc­ ture primarily in social, economic and educational terms and we have seen that Brazil has a form of complex strati­ fication and an increasing amount of social mobility.

There is another factor which is significant, and this is race. The traditional upper elite was, for all intents and purposes, white. The lower peasant class was composed of

African, American Indian, European and mixed ancestry.

Because much of the country!s population is racially mixed,

Brazil has often been looked to as somewhat of a paradise of racial harmony. When the slaves were freed, nearly all records of slaving activities were intentionally destroyed by the government to ensure that all of its citizens were equal. However, the general rule of thumb, "the lower the class, the darker the color and the higher the class, the lighter the color," is still present in Brazil. A North

American might falaciously conclude that their own two-fold division into "black" and "white" is present in Brazil.

This just is not true, as evidenced by Harris's (1970:2)

findings of 492 different categorizations of racial

identity! Harris*s subjects had a great deal of difficulty

in agreeing among themselves as to just which specific

category a particular person belonged. The Brazilian cate* gories are not based only on racial traits, but include other criteria such as education, wealth and personal attributes. The individualistic interpretations of the various criteria of "racial categories" for a given indivi­ dual make it more difficult to practice the kind of dis­ crimination found in the United States. Historically, both dark and light skin colors were present in the lower class. In the modern urban slums and in some middle class areas one finds a wide range of physical types. I would expect color to become a signigicant issue in Brazil only in the event that lower class whites should begin to move into the middle class more rapidly and in larger numbers than Brazilians with African and Indian racial backgrounds.

Economic changes in Brazil are also reflected in the political arena. According to Lopez (1966:60) the real protagonists of the political system prior to the Vargas period were oligarchical regional (state) groups, whose power was based, locally, on the economic, social and political power of the large land owners (the coronfis). 45 Lopez views the Brazilian political structure as having undergone a profound transformation since 1930. The focus of power is no longer on the governments of the states, but has shifted to the urban masses who are playing a more crucial role. Lopez (1966:59-77) has analyzed some basic developments in Brazilian politics and society. The follow­

ing is a - summary of some of his material.

The real basis for the limited democracy Brazil has experienced lies in the concept of populismo (populism).

Politicians appeal to the povo. This term refers primarily to the urban masses, specifically the industrial workers and the middle class. While the old political structure to a great degree has broken up, no new formal structure has developed to mediate between the uprooted masses and the leaders on the top. Lopez believes that political parties can be disregarded as intermediary structures. Therefore, national leaders must establish a charismatic relation with the urban masses. With urbanization and industrialization, a society which is more highly differentiated has developed*

The national congress and the state legislatures reflect the heterogeneity of interest groups. In this modern socio­ political milieu Lopez sees two new types of deputies as having emerged— the economic group representative and the clientele politician. The economic group representative buys off, directly or indirectly, the cabos eleitorais. who act as 46 intermediaries between the large impersonal institutional framework of the city and the people of a neighborhood, a favela or a recreational club (Lopez 1966:64).

If their representatives win a political seat the cabos

eleitorais can secure services for their clients such as

obtaining a job, a place in a school or hos­ pital, bringing water or electricity to a street, getting a public telephone installed, or having a bus route changed (Lopez 1966:65). This system of electing a deputy involves smaller indus­

trial concerns, or a small number of firms controlled by an

economic group. It does not include a whole industry.

Lopez (1966:66) does not see the Brazilian capitalists as

being organized as a class to pursue political interests.

The second type of deputy which has emerged is the clientele

politician who is really a bigger cabo eleitoral. The

clientele politician is important enough to represent and get himself elected by a particular segment of the popula­ tion such as an ethnic group.

The role of the military in Brazilian politics cannot be ignored. Unrest and tensions, problems of food shortages

and inflation, and the state of "semi-anarchy” (Busey 1969:

82) of the Goulart regime brought General Humberto Castelo

Branco to presidential power through a military coup in

1964* This was not an entirely new form of behavior for the army. In 1930, the military brought Vargas to power.

Since an open democracy was restored in 1945 the army has

intervened in political affairs on a number of occasions with the 1964 coup being its most overt maneuver. Observers

agree that military intervention has always been relatively

bloodless, for Brazilians do not like to kill other

Brazilians. Technically, the constitution of 1945 provided

for an orderly transfer of presidential power every five

years. Between 1945 and 1964, two presidents survived

their five-year terms (Dutra and Kubitschek); two presidents

resigned under pressure (Vargas and Quadros) and were

replaced by their vice presidents (Filho and Goulart); and

finally, Goulart was overthrown by the military in 1964*

In the traditional political system of rule by the

coronals, wealth, power, and prestige resided in the same

social status. Today, it is more difficult to always link

these attributes in a single individual. Furthermore, the

problem is complicated by the fact that what is regarded as

prestigious by one social class may not be acceptable to another. For example, the arrivistas. or nouveaux riches,

often shock the old elite by "their ostentation, their

manners, and their unscrupulous methods" (Wagley 1963*129).

Their behavior, on the other hand, is accepted by some of

the people in the emerging middle class because it repre­

sents a break with tradition. Another example of status

inconsistency was the late low-keyed President Castelo

Branco. He lacked great charismatic appeal and therefore was not prestigious in the eyes of the povo. But he cer­

tainly wielded power. The "economic group" deputy 48 described earlier did not necessarily have great personal wealth, for he was financially supported by economic interests. However, he had some real voting power before the 1964 military coup. A general observation would seem to be that wealth, power and prestige are no longer neces­ sarily found together in the increasingly heterogeneous

Brazilian society. I now wish to turn from this general background dis­ cussion on Brazilian economy, class structure and politics to describe briefly the city of Sgfo Paulo where I did my field study. The metropolis of SSo Paulo is the industrial and financial heart of Brazil. Brazilians say that the quality of life there differs from that found in the rest of the country. The tempo of life is faster. One senses the difference as five million bodies spill into the streets of the city each morning. Perhaps the difference is in part due to the city’s location. Other major Brazilian cities—

Recife, Sao Salvador, Rio de Janeiro— are situated along the coast where their inhabitants can easily visit, and enjoy the leisure of, the beaches. Sao Paulo is located on an inland plateau. For relaxation paulistas must journey several hours down a steep escarpment over the winding rail and auto roads which finally lead to the small port city of

Santos. The rainy season in June, July and August seems cold and damp without central heating. A thick industrial smog sets in at this time of year. To combat the heaviness 49 of this sunless atmosphere one almost feels that he is

forced to exert the energy of his body in work until the bright sunny skies of January, February and March once again appear. Concrete and steel buildings and bridges and roads

sprawl out over the landscape. Skyscrapers reach upward on

either side of narrow and winding dark streets through which throngs of humanity pour, rushing to destinations unknown to the passerby. Hundreds of lumbering buses and thousands of impatient taxis and private cars struggle through the congested streets. The absence of an under­ ground transit system compounds the traffic problem.

During the long rush hours it may take as much as an hour to travel the short distance of a mile, and even the pro­ verbial patience and good nature of Brazilians wears thin at times. A ring of several dozens of largely middle class bairros (districts, quarters) surround the central downtown area. One or two major throughfares in each barrio link it to the central city. They are always filled with noisy buses and automobiles. The hundreds of residential streets are empty by comparison. The main arteries are lined with small shops of all kinds, restaurants, and bars where one can purchase a tiny cup of thick Brazilian coffee half­ filled with sugar or a small glass of pinga (Brazilian sugar cane alcohol). Each middle-class bairro has its own 50 business district in which its inhabitants may purchase much of the same merchandise found in the center city— medicines, clothing, furniture, electrical appliances, etc.

There is usually an open market area where food and flowers are available. The diet is varied, but fresh beef, rice, beans, Italian pasta and fresh fruits are the most impor­ tant. A few air-conditioned supermarkets provide food at slightly higher costs than the markets. Each bairro usually has at least one Catholic church, schools, small parks, and several movie theaters, though they are not quite as grand as those in the center city. Brazilians are avid movie-goers who seem to prefer films from Italy and the

United States to those produced in their own country.

The middle class bairro is usually filled with a variety of housing types. Most prevalent are two-story single family houses enclosed by an outside wall for privacy.

The fa9ades are usually tile and stucco painted in muted pastel colors. One also finds many older three and four story apartment buildings. Some private houses are now being replaced by ten to fifteen story apartment buildings in gleaming white. There are servants1 quarters in nearly all middle class homes since domestic help is still rela­ tively inexpensive. Private houses and apartments have terraces and balconies on which sit potted plants, flowers and palms. They provide a small measure of serenity in this busy city. Some of the older and larger private homes have 51 been turned into pensSes where students and people without families room and board. A few of the large houses have shamefully been transformed Into slum dwellings in which a family of five lives in one room, sharing lavatory facil­ ities with as many as ten other families.

One occasionally finds pockets of favelas (slums) interspersed among the middle class bairros. But on the whole the shacks of the impoverished migrants are situated on the perimeter of Sao Paulo. The reader who is interested in learning about the life of the favelado should turn to

Child of the Dark which is the personal diary of Carolina

Maria de Jesus who lived in one of the tin and rough lumber shacks. The cityfs population is a conglomerate of first- and second-generation Germans, Japanese, Italians, Polish,

Portuguese, Spanish and Syrians who intermingle with the native paulistas and with the thousands of other Brazilians who leave their rural homelands each year to seek new and better lives in the city. The Latin immigrants soon blend into the Brazilian culture since they have the least diffi­ culty in learning to speak Portuguese. The particular accents and slightly different patterns of behavior of the estrangeiros (foreigners) sometimes become the focus of good-natured joking. People who come to live in the city from other regions in Brazil are also recognized by their 52 slightly different usage of a few words and speech patterns and by their stereotyped personalities:

The paulista from the state of SSo Paulo is an energetic, efficient businessman. The gaticho from Rio Grande do Sul is a crude cowboy. The carioca. the inhabitant of Rio do Janeiro, is sly, urbane, talkative, and fun-loving. The cearense from the northeastern state of Cearl is a keen commercial man and a wandering exile driven by drought from his beloved homeland like the proverbial Jew. The mineiro from Minas Gerais is political and highly traditional, with a dry sense of humor, and the bahiano from Bahia is eloquent and superficially brilliant. "Bahiano burro nasce morto" (The stupid Bahian is a still birth), as the saying goes (bagley 1963:25).

Differences among ethnic and regional peoples are notice­

able and are frequently focal points of conversation. There are also the differences in social statuses which I

discussed earlier.

It is in the urban milieu that one usually finds Umbanda. Umbanda is strongest in the larger cities, and it diffuses to smaller Brazilian towns as they become linked

to the developing national socio-economic structure. It is difficult to know with any certainty just how many umban- dists there are in S£o Paulo or in the whole of Brazil.

Unfortunately the national census does not make a distinc­ tion between the spiritualists of Kardecismo and of Umbanda.

This does not make much difference, since many spiritualists

still think of themselves officially for the census as

Catholics. Umbandists tend to exaggerate their membership

figures into "millions and millions of faithful." Camargo 53 (1961:53-54) found that in the city of SSo Paulo the * Federa?ffo Espirita de Umbanda claimed 260 affiliated # centers, followed by the UniSo Espirita de Umbanda and the Igreja Cristff de Umbanda which controlled 100 centers each. Other minor federations had 30 to 50 cult groups in them.

According to Levy (1963:35), The number of centros in the city has been calculated by the two inspectors1*- as being about 4000. I am confident that this is not an exaggeration.

The long lists of centers and meeting times found in

Umbanda newspapers indicates that the figure of 4000 centers may be fairly accurate. Some other indices of the popularity of Umbanda are the elections in recent years of several State Deputies who are umbandists in Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro), SSo Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul. Atilla

Nunes campaigned by daily playing over the radio two hours of Umbanda music and chants interspersed with news of what goes on in the world of Umbanda both here and in the 1Aruanda* (the spiritual dwelling of Indian and Negro spirit guides) (McGregor 1967:179)* The second Umbanda Congress in 1961 was held in Rio de Janeiro!s Maracanazinho stadium (McGregor 1967:178)*

^Levy is referring to men of the delegacia de costumes. or special police, who deal with "moraT^ affairs. In the case of Umbanda centers, they look into complaints stemming from loud drumming into the night. This suggests national strength. What is conspicuously

absent is national structure. Nor are there any nationally recognized leaders. The authors of Umbanda books and writers in Umbanda newspapers, some of which are published by the Umbanda federations, agree that the movement should be unified. But when one takes into account Brazilian individuality, nobody can agree just how it should be done.

Even in the city of Sao Paulo there are at least fourteen very loosely federated bodies with which the centers may affiliate. About the only thing that each of the larger federations appear to manage is an annual meeting. The

centers of a particular federation attend en masse in ritual garments to listen to the leaders of the federation extoll the virtues and growth of Umbanda. Then, most of the several thousand mediums gathered there go simultan­ eously into trance, receiving a spirit. In addition to experiencing this annual display of esprit de corps, the individual cult centers seem to find membership in the federations useful for one other reason. The certificate of membership in a federation apparently helps to keep the police from looking into "illegal practicing of medicine.” The relative lack of structure in Umbanda is noted by

Camargo (1961:53) who points out that attempts to unify the movement are "fracos, senSo negativos" (weak, or else negative). He observes that there is much animosity among cult leaders who attack each other's doctrines and rituals.

They even go so far as to claim that what their competitors are religiously practicing completely lacks authenticity

(Camargo 1961:53)* I found this to be true time and again during the year of field work. It seems that this lack of unity at the lower level of structure, which is the cult house and leader, is reflected in the overall absence of unity of Umbanda at the level of the federations. The real functioning units of structure in Umbanda are the individual centers. The observer can find centers in all parts of the city— rich and poor. Usually, they are located in middle class and working class districts. Some are above stores and in abandoned garages. Most either rent or own their own building near the main business districts as well as in ordinary residential neighborhoods of the city. The head of a Umbanda center is called a mffe- . or pai-de-santo (mother-, father-in-sainthood). The cult leader usually has charismatic qualities which are used to attract and direct the mediums who practice at the center. The mediums are referred to as filhos (sons and daughters). Cambonos are persons (male or female) who are either in the early stages of developing their mediumship or they are people who prefer not to be mediums. Their major function is to assist the mediums who are possessed by spirits. Another type of participant in Umbanda centers 56 is the drummer. There are usually two or three drummers

and they are nearly always men.

The cult leader makes the final decision on which

mediums, assistants, and drummers will be allowed to

participate in the center1s ritual activities. Theoreti­

cally, the cult leader also makes the final decisions in all matters pertaining to ritual, behavior of the filhos

while in the center, and finances. Some of these matters

may be delegated to the center’s beard of directors or to

a mffe- or pai-peoueno (little mother, father) who is the

cult leader’s closest assistant. The board of directors

may include between two and five persons, nearly always

men. They tend to be selected by the cult leader on the

basis of what they can provide for the center. Frequently,

they are individuals who can help provide financial aid in

the form of paying the rent for a center. They may have a

car to assist the cult leader and some mediums who wish to

attend sessions at another center or go to the ocean for a

special ritual. The directors may help to keep records on membership dues and contributions made to a center. Being

solidly middle class, the directors lend a certain amount

of prestige to the center, and in return they assume a

feeling of prestige in acting out their role. They usually

believe that they receive good advice and magical assist­

ance in their personal business affairs from the cult

leader's spirits. In some instances which I observed it 57 appeared that the directors enjoyed the opportunity to

meet in a somewhat structured situation the single women

who were mediums. While Umbanda centers include persons from every socio-economic class, upper lower and middle class indivi­

duals make up the bulk of the membership. In the twelve Umbanda centers I visited in SSo Paulo, women accounted for 60 to 75 percent of the spirit mediums. As I have just

pointed out, men do participate in other ways. They act as drummers for Umbanda music and are important figures on the

boards of directors of Umbanda centers. The majority of

umbandists are in their twenties or thirties. A lesser

number are hO years or older. About 50 percent of umban­

dists in S£o Paulo are of European descent. Most of the

others are racially mixed, and a few umbandists are

Japanese-Brazilians. It is difficult to estimate the prestige of Umbanda within the context of the larger Brazilian society. The

size of the membership is one indicator. The election of umbandists to state legislatures is another. Popular maga­

zines read by the middle and upper classes very frequently

include articles and photographs of Umbanda activities. These reports are sometimes straightforward and other times,

sensational, in nature. The ideology on spirits is fairly

common throughout Brazilian society, and I later discuss

this matter in more depth in Chapter IX. I would say that 5* on the whole, Brazilians are very accepting of spiritualist religions. Some people, however, tend to think of Umbanda as being "lower class" and, therefore, less prestigious than Kardecismo which emphasizes intellectual understanding of doctrine and intellectual discussions among their spirits and members of the audience. Umbandists, on the whole, are not as intellectually-oriented, and say that their religion is "one of the heart, and not of the mind," CHAPTER IV

UMBANDA CENTERS: BELIEF AND RITUAL

Umbanda centres (centers, i.e., places of worship)

represent an amazing variety of external forms, rituals and

beliefs. Yet, there seem to be some features which are

relatively constant. Everywhere one finds that the major ritual activity in the centers involves dissociation which umbandists interpret as possession by spirits of the dead.

The spiritual entities diagnose and treat illnesses and

help solve a myriad of personal problems of the believers who may come to the two weekly public sessions in search of

spiritual assistance* In this chapter, I first describe

two major sets of religious beliefs found in Umbanda. One

set of beliefs has to do with five major types of spirits.

The second involves a theory of spiritual "fluids" which

umbandists have apparently borrowed from Kardecismo. After

outlining Umbanda beliefs, I describe the physical setting

of Umbanda centers and the typical ritual activities con­

ducted in them. The data in this chapter come from four major sources: 1) my own observations in 13 Umbanda centers, 12 of which were in SSo Paulo; 2) the views of informants--some of these individuals were mediums in

59 centers other than those I had visited; 3) books written by umbandists; and 4) the observations of social scientists such as Camargo (1961) and Levy (1966). Both Camargo and

Levy have commented on the tremendous variation in Umbanda belief and ritual, and I agree with their observation.

Therefore, in reading this chapter, one should be aware that each medium has his or her own highly individual interpretation of what is "right,1' and that a visit to any given Umbanda center is bound to yield some beliefs and rituals which are at variance with my description.

In Umbanda, four of the five major spirit types are fairly common and appear with regularity at Umbanda centers.

First, the caboclo spirits (See Appendix, Figure 1) possess the mediums once each week. They are said to be spirits of dead Brazilian Indians. While they are possessing mediums, their faces display protruded lips, furrowed brows and eyes which slowly open and close, staring into space. A few may beat their chest and jump into the air landing in a position ready to shoot an imaginary arrow. They like to puff on a cigar while drinking beer. The caboclos are stern and aloof. If one should argue with an Indian spirit, the caboclo would quickly reprimand him. This particular spirit is appreciated for his advice in situations which require quick and decisive action, e.g., getting and holding a job.

The second type of spirit is the preto veiho (See Appendix,

Figure 2) ; spirits of this type possess the mediums at the second weekly session* Regarded as spirits of dead Afro- Brazilian slaves, stooped and bent over from many years of hard labor, they tremble from old age. The pretos velhos

speak with slow and quivering voices as they smoke their pipes and sip red wine. Unlike the stern and aloof

caboclos, the pretos velhos are gentle and easy to approach.

Seated on their low stools and conversing with someone who has come for help, they are almost grandfatherly in manner.

The pretos velhos. with their apparently infinite patience, are adept at handling long and drawn out intricate personal problems such as familial difficulties or love affairs.

Also, their extensive knowledge of herbal remedies is use­ ful in treating illnesses. The third type of spirit is the crianca (See Appendix, Figure 3) which is the spirit of a dead child, usually between 3 and 5 years of age. Spirits of this type usually appear once each month. The playful child spirit is more accessible than the other spirits. He skips, rolls and tumbles throughout the entire Umbanda center, approaching members of the audience to ask for sweets and soft drinks. It is especially interesting to observe a 50-year old medium possessed by a child spirit.

Everyone present loves to tease this extroverted creature.

Unlike the caboclo and the preto velho. the crianca spirit is not so stringently defined by race and culture. If one asks for the child1s ethnic origins, the crianca spirit will usually describe them* But ordinarily, the child is 62 thought to be Brazilian, 1. e., without a specific ethnic identity. One can apparently ask the child spirit to help with any illness or personal problem. He does not seem to specialize as the other spirits do. The fourth type of spirit is the exu and his feminine counterpart, the pomba- gira. These are spirits of people who led especially wicked lives. Not infrequently, exus are foreigners. I encountered exus with such diverse backgrounds as French,

Mexican and Japanese. My informants indicated that there were also exus who were German, Italian, and Portuguese, although I did not run across any spirits belonging to these ethnic backgrounds myself. I did, however, find some exus who were Brazilian, but with special regional back­ grounds. The exus are always anti-social characters and exhibit their base nature through cursing, off-color stories and songs and bad manners in general. The more wicked exus may specialize in performing anti-social acts such as breaking up marriages and crushing business competi­ tors. Other "good1' exus. said to be more spiritually evolved, may be used to counteract the evil magic of the

"bad” exus. Exu spirits are usually present in Umbanda centers one night each month.

The four spirit types described above can be either male or female* Both men and women who are mediums may be possessed by a spirit of either sex. Each medium is pos­ sessed by all four spirits. While I have outlined the 63 general characteristics of each spirit type, it should be

noted that each individual spirit has its own particular

personality* The more general role of each of the four

spirit types is learned by every Umbanda medium. The more

specific personality traits of each spirit seem to stem from the medium and his interaction with others. Three of these four spirit types— the caboclo, preto velho and crianca— are said to be "with light." This means that they had lived rather good lives and at death they passed on

into the aruanda (heaven). The exus. on the other hand, had led especially wicked lives. They failed to make it to the aruanda (heaven) and are usually said to be "without spiritual light." Spirits of persons who commit suicide automatically become exus. The exus spend much of their time in cemeteries which are regarded as particularly dangerous places for mediums who have not yet developed their inborn spiritual abilities. Some umbandists claim that they do not "work" with exus. On closer inspection, however, I found this to be usually false. Other umban­ dists say that they practice only with "good" exus who are more developed spiritually. To move into a higher spiritual plane and be regarded as a "good" exu. the spirit has had to perform a number of good works which counteract the magla negra (black magic) performed by the less spiritually evolved exus. There are special centers known as Quimbanda which deal almost exclusively with black magic. The 64 situation is not as simple as saying what is black

(Quimbanda) and what is white (Umbanda) magic. What is regarded as good for one person may be thought of as being bad by another individual, and the matter seems to be one of expediency and personal inclinations. In reality, a continuum of sorts exists between Quimbanda and Umbanda. Exus differ from the other spirit types in one other important way. They usually demand some sort of payment, either in money or material goods, before a service will be performed for a client. None of the other spirits make this requirement. However, if a client is satisfied with the assistance he has received from the other spirits, it is quite proper to offer a small gift such as flowers, candles, tobacco or any other ritual paraphernalia used by umbandists. The fifth type of spirit, known as an or l x i. differs markedly from the other four spirits and is therefore treated spearately here. The cultural concept of the orix& spirits was brought to Brazil primarily by slaves from Yorubaland in Nigeria. As I pointed out in Chapter I, rapprochements of African religious traits and Catholicism were both structural and cultural in Brazil. To review, both Catholic saints and the African deities, i.e., the orixfis. were intermediaries between man on earth and a high remote God, or Olorun. In addition to this structural similarity, cultural beliefs about Catholic saints and the 65 orix&s were sometimes similar and could easily be syncre- tized. For example, the Yoruba deity Ogum, who was the patron of blacksmiths and protector of iron farm tools and iron weapons of war, became identified and equated in some regions of Brazil with St. George. The saint's name and that of the orix& are simply regarded as two terms for the same entity. There are, however, a few things about the orix£s which changed as the earlier Afro-Catholic cults evolved into Umbanda. For one thing, the membership in the conservative Candombl£ cult houses was primarily female

(Landes 1947). In Umbanda, both men and women may be possessed by an orix£. Second, in Candombl6 the orix5s possessing the women were regarded as deities. In Umbanda, while the orix£s are still regarded as deities, they have become more remote from man on earth and send spiritual envoys to possess the Umbanda mediums. My informants believed that if an orixfi, itself, were to possess a medium, he or she would explode from its great force. The spiritual envoys sent by the orix£s are spirits of dead persons.

Umbandists believe that the spirits sent by the orix^s are more highly evolved spiritually than the other four spirit types. Unlike the other spirits, the orixfis, or more accurately their envoys, do not communicate with clients who come to Umbanda centers for assistance. These spirits are looked upon with awe, and they may communicate a bless­ ing through very limited gestures. In fact, the orix&s rarely appear. They are Important, however, as guardian

spirits. Each Umbanda member is a filhofa) (son, daughter)

of a particular orixfi. An individual can learn who his

orix£ protector is after paying a fee to his cult leader

for the necessary divination. However, this does not

always occur and friends of the medium speculate about the matter. -This is entirely possible since an orixA exercises

a certain amount of influence over the everyday behavior

of his filho(a). For example, a medium (male or female) who is protected by the goddess Oxum, or Saint Mary, behaves

in a suave, very feminine manner.

Umbandists loosely organize their spirits into a hierarchy of linhas. falanges and legiSes (lines, phalanxes, and legions). There are seven linhas. each commanded by an orixfi. Each linha is divided into seven falanges. which in turn are subdivided into seven legiffes of spirits. There is much disagreement over which spirits belong in the specific parts of the hierarchy. Even the seven major orixfis which head the hierarchy vary from one Umbanda center to another. Umbandists, attempting to codify their reli­ gious beliefs in books, disagree among themselves as to which linhas should be included. Furthermore, the syncreti- zation of orixl and saint is not always the same for differ­ ent Umbanda authors, e.g., Iemanj£ is sometimes thought to 67 be Saint Barbara, and sometimes Saint Mary. An arrangement

of the linhas found to be common in Sffo Paulo by Camargo

(1961:36) follows: 1 . Linha do Oxalff Jesus Cristo 2 . Linha de Iemanja Virgem Maria 3- Linha do Oriente - Sffo Joffo Batista Linha de 0x6ce Sffo SebastiSo 5. Linha de Xango Sffo Jeronimo 6 . Linha de Ogum Sffo Jorge 7. Linha Africans Sffo Cipriano One should note that in this particular arrangement, two of the major divisions— Linha do Oriente and Linha Africans—

are not commanded by orixls. Many umbandists would argue

against including the Linha do Oriente. The Linha Africans, however, is very popular and most of the preto velho

spirits are included in this subdivision. The caboclo

spirits are found in various parts of the spiritual organi­

zation, but they are most frequently thought of as belong­

ing to the hunter, 0x6ce. Some umbandists believe that one of the seven major divisions is headed by saints Cosmas and

Damian and they link the crianca spirits to this linha.

It is now useful to turn to a discussion of the second important set of beliefs which directs much of the ritual activity in Umbanda centers and which apparently comes from Kardecismo. While umbandists place a great deal of emphasis on a theory of supernatural fluids, they have not developed an elaborate cosmology which goes beyond describing the relationship between supernatural fluids and the behavior and well-being of an individual. Kardecists, who tend to be more intellectually-oriented than umbandists,

do have a broader sense of how the theory of fluids fits

into their cosmology. Supernatural fluids are spiritual

emanations which surround ones body and affect ones well­

being. These supernatural fluids are believed to come from

three sources: 1) from ones own innate spirit; 2) from

spirits of the dead which are freely floating about; and

3) from spirits of living persons who are close by oneself.

Both good and bad fluids exist. The latter is usually

associated with the exus. An individual surrounded by bad

fluids is sickly and trouble-ridden. A healthy individual

free from anxiety is said to be surrounded by good fluids.

Umbandists lump together illness and personal difficulties under the term "spiritual disorders.” These are classified

etiologically by umbandists. Camargo (1961:100-102) has drawn up a list of five commonly recognized causes of

illnesses. I have taken a few illustrations from my field

notes to illustrate these categories.

1. Sickness as a consequence of religious negligence or ignorance. This occurs when a medium has neglected to fulfill the obrigacSes (obligations) due to his orix£ or other lesser spirits divinely designated to protect him.

These vary but usually include some food and drink to be left for the spirit in an appropriate place or to be con­ sumed by the spirit while it possesses its medium. 69 Example: A 25-year old white male employed in the international accounting department of a major Brazilian

airline constantly and inexplicably bumped into furniture

at work and in his home seriously bruising his arms and legs. He believed this was possibly caused by his failure

to perform duties for his exu. It was highly probable that

his exu would demand the obrigacSo to be made in a cemetery

at midnight— something which this young man greatly feared.

To avoid learning more about the specific details of this

duty, he attempted to restrain his exu from possessing him.

However, throughout the year his personal control over the

situation weakened considerably. At exu sessions it is

customary to explode small amounts of gun powder as a means

of driving away evil fluids. When this occurred his exu would attempt to possess him, jerking his head up and back and drawing him backward from the waist until his face

became contorted with pain. His knees would bend, causing

his body to be drawn downward until his back was only a few

inches from the floor. His hands stiffened into hook-like

forms of an exu. The shock was only momentary and his

rigid body would immediately collapse on the floor. He

would get up on his feet, a bit stunned and very sore. He

reported neck and back aches for days following these

sessions. Friends and spirits of his friends continued to

remind him that the bruises resulting from apparently

unexplained bumping into furniture were a sign given to him 70 from his exu that an obrigacSo should be offered. Neck and back pains resulting from attempted possession by his exu would also continue. Sometime later in the year possession did occur. The heretofore restricted exu announced that

his cavalo (horse, i.e., medium) did not like him. He was

assured that this was not true. He then stated that he

would continue to make his cavalo ill until the necessary

obligations were fulfilled. When the exu left the young

man became quite ill, rushing to the bathroom where he vomited. As far as I am aware, the matter of the obrigacSo was not resolved during the period of field work. However, the young man did begin to take the matter more seriously

than he had heretofore. 2. Magical etiology of illnesses. A coisa feita

literally means "thing done." In practice, it refers to an evil thing deliberately done through the black magic of the exus in Quimbanda. A service commonly performed is the blocking of the paths (caminhos fechados) of the client’s

competitors in business or love. Bringing illness is fre­

quently one means of accomplishing this aim. Example: A 40-year old white male who is a solidly middle class proprietor of a modern electrical appliance store and his wife were the supposed victims of a coisa feita* The wife underwent an operation on internal organs.

While she was in the hospital, a nurse incorrectly adminis­ tered medications. This severely burned the abdomen and thighs of the patient, putting her on the critical list for a few days. Sometime later her husband was out driving his

VW bus when it skidded on the wet pavement. He fell out, his head striking the pavement, and was knocked unconscious.

He suffered a broken nose and a gash on his head which required a number of stitches. Members of the Umbanda center where this man served as financial director held several sessions for him and his wife. The "good" and more evolved exus of Umbanda "undid" the black magic of an evil exu of Quimbanda. Supposedly, it was the disappointed mulatto mistress of the husband in this case who had paid the evil exu to victimize her former lover and his wife. 3. Perturbations provoked by spirits. These are disturbances caused by an unhappy spirit which may agitate the "fluids" in an individual, bringing illness or various kinds of personal problems. Such a spirit may come to disturb an individual to get revenge for things committed in a previous incarnation. Sometimes the spirit is merely perverse and through its ignorance disturbs the life of an innocent victim. Such spirits need to be enlightened in a center as to their proper behavior.

Example: A young married man about 30 years old of

European and possibly of some Indian origins was abnormally tense and nervous. One night he broke the furniture and dishes in his home and then ran out, not returning for several days. When he did return he could not recall where he had been. His clothing and hair were covered with mud

and leaves, suggesting that he had spent some time in a wooded area. His wife convinced him to go to a center for

spiritual assistance. At the first two or three sessions which he attended, his possessing spirit rolled on the

floor in a fetal position. At first, the spirit was

apparently fearful of being touched by the cult leader. He

thrashed about on the floor, striking and kicking anyone who came near. Considering some of his body movements during possession, some of the mediums secretly confided

in each other that it was an exu which was troubling him.

However, the cult leader worked with the young man on the assumption that it was only a wild caboclo spirit which was disturbing him and which needed to be enlightened through participation in the sessions. After several sessions with him, the cult leader was able to educate the spirit in the modes of behavior of a caboclo. The spirit began to dance in the normal manner, together with the other spirits in that center. 4. Karmic illnesses. A new incarnation of a spirit may bring trials in the forms of illnesses and other dis­ orders to an individual. These may serve to redeem sins in a former life. The concept of karmic illnesses, like the general theory of fluids, is found in Kardecismo and was probably borrowed from this religion by Umbanda* Example: An unmarried woman of African, Indian, and possibly some European background felt that many of her problems and illnesses were trials sent as a result of a former wicked life as a French courtesan. At twenty-five she was a well-developed medium with respected spirits in

Umbanda. Despite this success, tiredness, nervousness, headaches, and social maladjustments persisted. Not able to attain the fame and wealth which she wanted as an actress, she was very discouraged with earning her living as a model for artists and photographers. It is interest­ ing to note that this young woman, normally a very impatient individual, felt that she had learned from her preta velha to control some of her impatience. The "old blacks” are spirits characterized by great calmness and infinite patience. 5. Illnesses resulting from undeveloped mediumship.

This category is a general catchall. In a sense it overlaps with any of the other categories in this list. Undeveloped mediumship is frequently cited when no other cause is easily discernible. One must learn how to interpret spiritual realities as well as defend oneself against these realities.

Only through spiritual development may an individual retain sound general health by taking proper precautions.

6 . To this list of etiological categories of spiritual disorders I should like to add a sixth cause, viz., ill­ nesses caused by "the evil eve.” The belief in mau-olhado 74 Is not limited in Brazil to spiritualist religions. As in other parts of the world where the evil eye exists, chil­ dren are especially defenseless. Umbandists believe that adults with strong inborn mediumistic tendencies are more receptive to the influences of the evil eye of others. They should develop their mediumship as a precautionary measure against bad fluids passed along through the mechanism of the evil eye. In assigning one of these six categories, the manifes­ tations of the illness ^re regarded as secondary. When assigning causes 1, 2, 3 and 6, what is taken into account is the behavior of the patient or of persons with whom the patient has social relations. When social-psychological signs are absent or unknown to the diagnostician, "undevel­ oped mediumship" is designated as the cause of illness or other misfortunes of the client. However, even after a course of successful development of the client’s medium­ istic capacity, illnesses and personal problems may remain.

As in the case of the young woman who worked as a model, Karmic causes may be used to explain chronic states of poor health and difficulties. The reliance on social-psychological signs rather than biological symptoms in the diagnosis of spiritual illness is due to three things. First, the same biological manifestation, e.g., a headache, nervousness, may be due to any of the six causes listed above. Second, certain other 75 difficulties arise from using biological symptoms in the diagnosis* Many illnesses caused by spirits appear to be exactly the same as those of purely biologically-caused illnesses which umbandists also recognize. Many claim that tuberculosis, chronic sores from burns, cancer and liver problems may be manifestations due to spiritual causes. .Some mediums cite numerous cases which spirits have cured after the patient had been given up by a medical doctor. The patients attest to the claim. Some centers specialize in spiritual "operations." Just as spiritual illnesses may appear to be the same as purely biological illnesses, umbandists admit that other manifestations may be the same as those of purely mental illnesses which umbandists recognize, but do not attempt to cure. Again, they like to cite cases in which a patient was temporarily released from a mental hospital to learn whether the illness could be cured spiritually. They believe that many psychiatric patients are not being cured simply because the etiology of the case is "spiritual" rather than "mental."

The classification of the patient's disorder as a spiritual instead of a mental illness appears to be determined by whether a spiritual cause can be found and whether the patient can again become an adequately functioning member of his society.

A third reason for the reliance on social-psycholog­ ical causes in diagnosis is the presence of effects other than illnesses. Inability to attain a desired level of wealth and status in an upwardly mobile society frequently

appear together with some illnesses. The insecurity

involved in choosing unfamiliar roles in a rapidly develop­

ing society requires a certain modicum of assurance that one

is doing the right thing in breaking with tradition.

Failures occur and explanations must be found. Psycho­ somatic illnesses are a frequent result of a situation in which it becomes increasingly impossible to turn back to traditional ways. The relationship between a personal pro­ blem and illness, when explained by a common cause, i.e., bad fluids, may be better understood by the patient and more effectively treated in a center.

I now turn to a description of Umbanda centers and of the ritual activities in these places of worship. Umbanda centers are usually located in the middle class and working class districts in SSo Paulo. As noted in Chapter III, some are above stores or in abandoned garages. However, most either rent or own their own building near the business district as well as in ordinary residential neighborhoods of the city. Over the entrance of each center hangs a sign such as: Tenda Espiritual SSo Benedito e SSo Jorge;

Terreiro Espiritual Umbanda Pai Joaquim de Aruanda; Templo

Espiritual Umbanda InhacS e Ieman; Tenda Espiritual

Umbanda Pai Jos£ de Angola. These names refer to the saint, or orix£, or to the spirits of dead slaves and Indians who are the major protectors and guides of the center's cult

leader. Tenda and terreiro refer to open structures used

in the warmer climates of Bahia which is considered to be

the spiritual home of African culture in Brazil. The

cooler physical and social climate of SSo Paulo precludes

the use of open structures. Outside the main entrance of

many centers is a small inconspicuously placed "altar”

dedicated to the exu spirits. Before entering the center

an individual may pause briefly to pay homage at the exu altar. Fingers interlaced and palms extended downward, the

individual softly repeats the word ”exu" several times.

The altar is inside a small box in which offerings of food

and drink are placed to satisfy the demands of these

spirits. Hopefully this will permit spiritual sessions in

the center to proceed without the interference of the

potentially maleficent exus.

Upon entering the center, one usually finds it

illuminated by glaring electric lights. There is often a

table at the door where several men sit. They are the

"directors” of the center who have been selected by the

cult leader and who look after the more mundane aspects of

running the center. Sometimes, the Yoruba term ogan is used to refer to a director. Their functions vary, but

they primarily look after the financial affairs. At the table they collect money for monthly dues of the associates

if they care to pay. They may also see to it that each 73 person who enters signs his name in a guest book. Some­ where near the entrance there may be a bulletin board on which have been posted a notice of a fund-raising picnic, a notice saying that women are not permitted to wear slacks in the center, and perhaps a few photographs of members possessed by their spirits taken at a religious festa (celebration, i.e., special ritual event held in honor of an orixA). Umbanda centers are divided into two major parts by a railing. Those who have come to ask for spiritual assist­ ance sit in the rear half on wooden benches arranged in two rows. The two sexes, about equal in number, sit on oppo­ site sides of the room. Depending on the size of the cen­ ter there may be as few as 30, and as many as 300, persons who have come for the session. There is frequently a sign on the wall which reminds those seated on the benches that

"silence is a prayer." But it is ignored as friends from opposite sides of the city gossip about their daily affairs.

A few people may hold bouquets of roses, carnations, or gladioli which they will present to a favorite spirit.

They may also bring cigars for caboclo (Indian) spirits and pipe tobacco for the preto velho (old black) spirits. The front half of the center is devoted to the ritual activities of the spirits. The major piece of furniture in this part of the center is the cong& (altar) which is covered by a white drape. Statues of the orixas. caboclos and pr§to 79 velhos are found on the altar. The orix£s, or saints, nearly always present on the altar are the blessing Christ with open arms, the Virgin Mary, and St. George on a white charger. Usually there are statues of saints Cosmas and

Damian who represent the crianca (child) spirits in

Umbanda. The large altar also holds flowers, candles and a glass of water. The water is considered to be necessity since it is supppsed to aid in drawing off evil spiritual fluids from any exu spirits which may appear in the center.

Two or three atebaques (drums) which f,call" the spirits to possess the mediums are off to the side of the altar. Men normally play the drums, but in a few centers a woman may also participate as a drummer. On the night of a public session one can observe the mediums entering the dressing rooms of a center from about

7:30 on. There they change from street clothing into their ritual garments. They have prepared for the session by avoiding heavy foods and alcohol during the day. Before coming to the center they took an ordinary bath followed by a ritual bath of seven herbs in their homes. As the rear half of the center fills up with those who have come for help, the mediums gradually begin to wander into the front part of the center. Men and women stand at opposite sides of the altar. Women account for 60 to 75 percent of the total number of mediums. The ritual garb of the mediums is nearly always white. Colored clothing may be do seen in a few centers which use more African cultural

elements. Women wear blouses with a simple round or square

neckline and billowing skirts at mid-calf length. Under­

neath are as many as five stiffly starched petticoats which

partially cover ankle-length pantalettes. A small triangu­

lar kerchief is tied behind the head. Yards of lace have

been sewed through all the items. The men wear trousers

and a shirt which resembles a medical uniform. Both sexes

wear white tennis shoes. Everyone carries a white hand

towel embroidered with the symbol of the center and edged with lace, and which is used to wipe perspiration and on

occasion to help control a wild spirit which may appear.

Some cult, leaders T'eouire* mediums in their centers to wear a ribbon diagonally across the chest or around the waist.

It is usually the symbolic color of the leaderfs orixl. The most important single items of the ritual costume are the guias. or strands of beads, which represent the spirits of each medium. The numbers of strings of beads is limited only by what the medium is able to afford and the number of spirits which possess him.

About 8:30, when a sufficient number of mediums have assembled in front of the altar, the cult leader opens the gira (turn-around, i.e., the session). The drummers begin to beat the atebaaues as the mediums sway or dance counter­ clockwise to the rhythm. The audience joins in the singing of songs, or pontos. to various orixAs and to the other $1 lesser spiritual entities. An assistant brings in a silver censer hanging from a long chain in which perfuming herbs

burn. It is used for the defumacSo (perfuming and purifi­

cation). The assistant carries it to the altar, to the

drums, to each of the mediums and finally to the members of

the audience. A wave of the hand brings the fumes closer

to purify the body and to offer protection against evil

fluids brought to the center. Then, each medium goes to

sarav§ (salute, i.e., prostrate himself) the altar as the

cult leader blesses him and extends a hand to be kissed.

In some centers it is customary to pay homage to, then send away through songs, any exus which may be lurking around.

After more drumming and singing an assistant may take up a collection from the audience. The cult leader or an assis­

tant may then give a brief sermon in which the mediums are reminded of the Christian virtues of love and charity and

of the superiority of the works of Umbanda— small today, but grand tomorrow. The faults in ritual behavior of the mediums may be called to attention. Prayers are offered to

Oxal£ (Jesus Christ) and to other spiritual entities for

the sick and troubled and then permission is asked to open

the trabalho (work, i.e., session of spirits who will

"work" that night).

Without drum accompaniment the mediums and the audience join together in singing B2

Eu abro a minha "gira," Com Deus e Nossa Senhora...

I open my session. With God and Our Lady...

When this song is ended, the drums are once more beaten

furiously and as everyone sings, the mediums begin to call

their spirits. Pontos may be sung to call specific spirits such as Caboclo Sete Flechas (Indian of Seven Arrows). Caboclo das Sete Flechas Quando vem, la de Aruanda, Trazendo arco e flechas, £ara salvar, filhas de Umbanda ie £ caboclo, ele £ flecheiro, fle £ caboclo matador de feiticeiro. When "Indian of Seven Arrows" Comes, there from Heaven, Bringing a bow and arrows, To save, children of Umbanda He is an Indian, he is an archer, He is the Indian who kills the black magician.

Some mediums begin to spin around rapidly, and as their heads and chests jerk back and forth in opposing directions, the spirits baixam (lower) themselves into their cavalos. The hair of some female mediums becomes disarrayed. Since it is the night of the Indian spirits, facial expressions of what had been smiling mediums are transformed into the stern countenance of the caboclo spirits. Their faces display protruded lips, furrowed brow and eyes that slowly open and close, staring off into space* Head held high and the body erect, a few beat their chests, some may jump into the air, landing in a position ready for shooting an imaginary arrow into the air. They shout in the lingua (tongue) of their 83 "nation." The spirits may dance for a few minutes, greet­ ing each other by touching each other!s right and then left forearms. When the drumming stops they find their places and wait for members of the audience to come for the consulta (consultation) during which requests for help are made. The hands of the mediums rest behind their bodies, palms outward and fingers snapping impatiently.

An assistant known as a cambono watches over each spirit. He (or she) frequently is a medium still at the elementary levels of spiritual development. In some instances the cambono may be a developed medium who for one reason or another does not choose to participate by receiv­ ing spirits. The cambono makes certain that the spirit does not cause a medium to fall while in trance and sees to the general needs of the incorporated spirit. For example, in the case of an Indian spirit, the cambono lights his cigar for smoking during the session. When a spirit causes its medium to perspire heavily, the cambono takes the embroidered towel from the medium’s waist and wipes his wet face and neck.

Before the members of the audience can enter the front area of the center where the spirits stand they must remove their shoes. Some umbandists believe this allows for better contact with the ground, thus permitting the "fluid charges" to become more activated. Others say that remov-- ing ones shoes is merely a sign of respect to the spirits. 84 This behavior may simply be a retention of the similar

practice found in Candombll. A more practical explanation

lies in the fact that part of the ritual sometimes involves

spinning an Individual and that high heels could be

dangerous. Upon entering the sacred front area, a person

is directed to one of the spirits by an assistant. If an

individual wishes to speak with a specific spirit, he must

wait his turn in a line. The cult leader's spirit may be quite popular, and it may be necessary for a person to

pick up a numbered tag at the entrance door. This encour­

ages people to come early so they can get a low number and

not be forced to wait until eleven or twelve o'clock for

their consultation.

The consults may cover any illness or personal pro­

blem that one could imagine— qualquer coisa (anything) as

informants put it. There are the usual aches and pains, nervous tension, fatigue, "heart" and "liver" ailments.

When people wish to emphasize the spectacular, they cite reported cases of cancer cures by the spirits or refer to the several centers which specialize in spiritual "opera­

tions." There is always the problem of getting and holding

a better job. But it is not just employees who experience difficulty. Some businessmen also feel a need for some

assistance from the "good" Umbanda exus who can help break

a spell placed on them by some practitioner of black magic. Family quarrels, difficulties in love affairs, and even

poor scholastic grades are brought to Umbanda centers.

Each personal problem or illness requires and receives

individual attention from a spirit. In addition to giving

advice for the specific difficulty, a spirit may tell one

to stop by an Umbanda store to purchase herbs for special baths in his home, or candles which may be burned while

praying to an orixl. For illnesses some spirits may recom­

mend a trip to a modern drugstore. Before an individual takes leave of a spirit, the bad fluids which are in him and which are giving him difficulty are removed through

passes. The spirit passes his right hand over the person1s

body, pulling out the bad fluids. With each downward stroke the spirit flicks his wrist and with a snap of his

fingers disposes of them. Before sending away the indivi­

dual, the spirit may ritually blow smoke over that person for added protection from evil fluids. After a final

embrace from the spirit, the person returns to his seat.

Drumming and singing continue off and on during the

consultation period. A spirit may occasionally possess a member of the audience, causing the individual to shriek

and shake violently. The cult leader or an assistant will walk back to the possessed and gently quiet him. If the uninvited spirit should insist on remaining, he will be led

to the front part of the centro (See Appendix, Figure 4). The cult leader tells the spirit that his cavalo needs to 66 attend sessions regularly to develop his mediumistic capacities. After the spirit has left, the individual him­ self is told that he must return for further spiritual development.

As the crowd gradually begins to thin out, a few spirits not occupied with consultations begin to converse with each other. Others may dance a bit as long as they do not disturb the session. Several caboclos may decide to leave early and hand their unfinished cigar to an assistant.

To avoid leaving his medium carregado (loaded, charged) with evil fluids accumulated during the "passes,” the spirit shakes the clothing of his medium and makes "passes" with his hand over the body. Particular attention is paid to the head. As the spirit begins jerking the head and chest of its medium with opposing motions back and forth, a cambono steps near to assist the medium if necessary. Some mediums fall backward into the arms of the cambono as the spirit leaves. They squint their eyes as if not accus­ tomed to the bright light, wipe away perspiration and may accept a glass of water. Disoriented, they may put their hand over their eyes (See Appendix, Figure 5). As the lines shorten in front of some of the more respected and developed spirits, the assistants and those mediums whose spirits have already left may go to consult with a caboclo. The sessions usually last three hours. As the few who remain in the rear begin to yawn an assistant moves among the spirits, quietly letting them know that the end of the session is near.

The remaining spirits leave together as a special song is

sung. The spirit may be dancing at this point. While

everyone joins in singing the closing song, each medium prostrates himself again in front of the altar and the cult leader gives him a final blessing. The mediums return to the dressing rooms. After changing into street clothing, they leave with friends or relatives who have remained until the end. Later in the week the mediums return to the center for another night of spiritual "works.” But instead of the caboclos. it is the pretos velhos who possess the mediums. Usually, the crianca spirits and the exus appear at an Umbanda center once each month. In addition to the regular public sessions cult leaders hold special festas (celebrations) for various orix^s in their centers throughout the year. The most pop­ ular are those for Qxoce (St. Sebastian) and for Ogum (St.

George). People bring special foods and frequently liquor to these festive occasions. There may also be a festa for the pretos velhos on May 13 to celebrate the liberation of

Brazilian slaves. In December the entire center may journey to the seashore in rented buses to honor IemanjS (Saint Mary or Saint Barbara) who is the goddess of the sea. There may be special £aster sessions and at Christmas gifts are brought for the poor. A cult leader's spirit may perform baptism of babies (See Appendix, Figure 6) and marriages, 66 although these are not recognized as legally bfhding. All of these activities are highly idiosyncratic. The ritual

is always changing with the fluctuating whims of a cult leader and/or his spirits. CHAPTER V

A CULT LEADER

The special characteristics of belief and ritual of

each Umbanda center are a reflection of the individuality

of its cult leader. No two centers are alike, just as no two cult leaders can ever be equated. As Camargo (1961:33) has put i t : a Umbanda e aspiracSo religiose em busca de uma forma. Realmente, o que se ve em SSo Paulo, sSo cambientes variados de organiza^Ses religiosas, sem unidade doutrinlria e ritualistica. Todo "terreiro1’ tem seu sistema e cada Dirigente pensa monopolizar a mais acabada verdade.5

Cult leaders and their spirits draw mediums and a follow­ ing of people with spiritual problems on a personal level.

Whenever there is conflict between a medium and a cult leader, it is the former who withdraws from a center and seeks to practice spiritualism in another center. A cult leader is referred to as mSe-de-santo or pai-de-santo

^Umbanda is a religious aspiration in search of a form. Really, what is seen in SSo Paulo are various inter­ changes between religious organizations, without unity of doctrine or of ritual. Each terreiro has its system and each cult leader thinks that he monopolizes the most complete truth. (My trans.)

69 90 (mother (father)-in sainthood). The more formal and tradi­

tional terms of ialorix& (female) and babalaO (male) are

used in Umbanda newspapers. They are Yoruba terms. There

appear to be more women who become cult leaders than men. Out of 150 centros listed in the December, 1966, edition of

the Tribuna Umbandista. 93 were headed by ialorix&s and 57 by babalSes. During the period of field work I frequented sessions

at two centers headed by mSe-de-santos. Both centers were

linked to larger Umbanda federations in SSTo Paulo. The

one cult leader, Badia, a dark Afro-Brazilian^ about 50

years old, had a rather simple but active center in which

about forty mediums practiced. Most of her filhos ("sons”

and "daughters," i.e., mediums) were between twenty and

thirty years old and were not too well developed spiritually.

The public sessions were frequently disorderly, causing some

of the older mediums and directors of the center to comment

on Badia1s unwillingness to assert her authority. The relative absence of developed mediums in the center meant

that Badia*s spirits had to handle a large number of people who came for help and she frequently was busy with private * sessions both afternoons and evenings throughout the entire

^All names in this and the following chapters are fictitious. I mention racial and/or ethnic identities throughout this dissertation to emphasize the point that Umbanda is not a folk religion limited to a specific racial or ethnic group such as traditional Candombl£, which was primarily Afro-Brazilian. 91 week. The second cult leader, Nalr, was less occupied with the activities of her center. She permitted me to inter­ view her at some length in her home. The data provide some insight into the reasons for becoming a medium.

Nair was born in SSo Paulo in 1907. Her mother had come from Italy to Brazil when she was two years old.

Nairfs father was the son of a Portuguese and had been an official in the Brazilian army. There was enough money to send Nair to primary school and later to the gin^slo. She did well in school and went on to normal school, becoming a primary school teacher. Nair believed that she had experienced spiritual problems as a child in school, but that her mother and father were unable to recognize the difficulties as such. In school she could do arithmetic problems in her head but when called to the blackboard her mind became a blank and she would feel nervous and tense. When told by her teacher to paint a particular form, she would follow instructions but always with some modification of her own. She now attributes these problems and special traits to spirits. When she married, Nair gave up her position as a primary school teacher and her difficulties began. She had six children, but only two lived. There were frequent illnesses which doctors could not cure. Her husband earned very little. There was much intrafamilial bickering until her husband left her temporarily. Finally a friend suggested 92 to her husband that he should attend a spiritual session of Kardecismo. He liked it and wanted Nair to attend with him.

She did not care to change her religion from Catholicism to Kardecismo and did not go with him. Nairfs husband returned to live with her and eventu­

ally persuaded her to attend a session. When they arrived

at the meeting, the president of the session told her to

sit at the table with the mediums. She was reluctant to do

this, saying that she knew nothing about this religion and

had come only as a visitor. The leader responded that she would sit at the table for she had mediumship. He told

her that she was the cause of her family problems, and

explained that her capacity for mediumship was like a

lightning rod. Since she had not developed this particular ability, she attracted only bad spiritual fluids. Nair was told that she would have to develop her mediumship so she could become a focal point for good fluids which would help improve the situation in her home. Nair agreed to join the

corrente^ of mediums, but felt nothing the first, second

and third sessions she attended. After some time the

sessions presiding officer told Nair that she was to take a pencil in her hand. She was to rest her hand on the table, but with the arm off the surface. He asked her to

*^In Kardecismo corrente refers to the chain formed when mediums join hands to concentrate on spirits. In Umbanda, corrente is used,synonymously with linha. speak­ ing of a corrente dos espiritos. pray about anything for five minutes. Nair said that the pencil began to move and that she wrote page after page,

stopping only for the president to tear off the filled

sheets. The message which the spirit gave at this time was that she needed to practice caridade (charity), that the presence of her troubles in life were due to her great

capacity.for mediumship, and that she needed to develop her spiritual abilities. The spirit continued to give her messages which Nair said she had typed and made into a

"book." She was about thirty-five years old at this time.

Nair and her husband continued to attend spiritualist sessions. Eventually they were conducting sessions in their own home. Nair began to receive a caboclo spirit whose name was Aguia Branca (White Eagle). A prSto velho with the name of Pai Candu (Father Candu) also began to possess her. Although they were still practicing "at the £ table," NairTs possessing spirits would leave the table to make strange and unknown marks, or pontos risouados. on the floor. It was obvious to everyone that Nair's spirits belonged to Umbanda and not to the more refined, dignified and intellectual table of Kardec spirits of dead doctors, lawyers, teachers and even kings. Nair's husband regarded her spirits as uneducated and stupid. Finally, a friend

Mediums in Kardecismo sit at a table where they are possessed by spirits. A session of Kardecismo is consider­ ably more subdued than Umbanda sessions. 94 suggested that Nair should attend a session of Umbanda.

She followed this advice and one night while she was seated

in the audience the pai-de-santo called her to come to the front. A caboclo spirit possessed her, jumped about and

did a number of other things until the cult leader told her

that she needed to practice spiritualism in Umbanda. When

Nair told her husband this he became quite angry. Their

arguments increased as her caboclo and preto velho spirits

continued to possess her during the sessions of Kardecismo

in their home. The altercations became so bad that Nair’s

husband decided the marriage was not workable and left his

home and wife for the second time, going to live with their

married daughter. Nair was about forty-two years old at

the time; her seven year old son remained with her.

Nair continued to hold sessions in her home. One day

Pai Candu, who was possessing Nair, told the group gathered for a session that Nair's husband had left because her

spirits had sent him away. He explained that the spirits had known that Nair had to develop her mediumship in

Umbanda; that her husband would not accept her Umbanda

spirits; and that the spirits had separated the couple to

enable Nair to develop spiritually. Pai Candu added that

Nair was to have patience since she would suffer even more, but that she would later be compensated for her present difficulties. During this time Nair and her spirits helped many individuals with spiritual problems. She practiced Umbanda for eight years in another cult leader!s center. Satisfied with the assistance they received, Nairas followers brought gifts such as statues of Catholic saints (orixas) for the altar in her home. Mediums began to practice with Nair in her home. Eventually, her following was large enough and the necessary ritual paraphernalia sufficient for Nair to open a Umbanda center of her own. Before she opened her center, Nair decided to be formally initiated (fazer o_ santo) by JoSozinho da Gomeia in Rio de Janeiro. He is one of the major cult leaders in Brazilian Candomble, according to an elaborate article in 0 Cruzeiro (September 23» 1967).

Nair underwent the twenty-one day period of seclusion as a filha da Ieman.iA. The usual shaving of the hair of the head was performed. When she emerged from isolation Nair was possessed by the elevated spiritual envoy of Iemanja.

In one rare moment of speech the envoy announced that her name was Iatagum and that she was an Afro-Brazilian. Nair could have become a mgi-de-santo through the less rigorous rituals of Umbanda in which a three-day seclusion period is acceptable and the head is not shaved. There is, however, a certain mystique and feeling of awe about Candombll.

People believe that it represents something more pure and knowledgeable and difficult than Umbanda. After her 96 initiation Nair went to Bahia to tour the famous centers of Candombli. Returning to SSo Paulo in 1956 Nair opened her center with the help of one of her major followers, Ildicir. Ildicir provided space for Nair's center rent-free and paid all taxes and utilities. Nair called it the Terreiro de

Iatagum to honor the envoy of her orix&. Iemanj£. This orix£ is goddess of sea waters and is turbulent like the ocean. Nair wears the symbol of Iemanjl which is a silver fish hung from a chain about her neck. Imprinted fish symbols are on the curtain which separates the front and back portions of Nair's center. Each year on the anniver­ sary of her initiation, Nair holds a special celebration in honor of Iemanj£ and dresses in the ritual costume of her orix& (See Appendix, Figure 7)- Some time after Nair had opened her center, both her preto velho, Pai Candu, and her second caboclo. Pene Verde

(Green Feather), announced that there would be a great change in her life within four months. Nair's reaction on learning this news was, "My God, is it possible that I shall suffer still more?" Within the four months Nair's married daughter came to tell her that Nair's husband was desperately ill with asthmatic bronchitis. She asked her mother to visit him. Nair went and found him in such poor condition that he did not recognize her at first. She stayed with him for two days during which time he seemed to 97 improve somewhat. Three days later Nair had a special

festa at her center and Ildicir invited Nair's husband to

attend. He came and, according to Nair, liked it and decided to live with her after fifteen years of separation.

Nair pointed out that she did not ask him to return home, saying that it was the spirits who decided that he should return. She also believed that the spirits began to help him better understand her form of spiritualism. His physi­

cal condition also began to improve. Nair believes that spiritual and physical illnesses display identical symptoms. She believes that many people mistakenly go to doctors for what appears to be a physical illness. When there is no improvement through medicine they often turn to seek a spiritual cause and cure. Head­ aches are the most common illness, but they do not make spectacular stories to tell a curious anthropologist. The cases which Pena Verde is said to have cured, and which

Nair related, perhaps are not representative, but they do give some indication of spiritual illnesses mediums deal with. Three of these cases follow: There was a little girl who lived here on Christiano Viana in an apartment. She was five years old and did not walk. She did not walk! The servant brought her here in her arms. STTe said that she could not bring the girl again because her employer, the girl's mother, did not believe in our religion. So I took the name of the girl and her address. We held a session "at a distance" for her here in the house. One month later the servant returned with the girl walking beside her. The mother learned about the cure later and invited me to her home to thank me* 9$ Some days later a woman whose father was the owner of this apartment came to me. The superin­ tendent of the apartment building knew about my curing the little girl's legs and told her about me. She brought me her infant whose skin was dry and had the face of a monkey. When I looked at the infant I was badly frightened. It was truly a monkey, understand? The flesh was dried on top of its bones; only skin and bones. So I said to her, nI cannot cure this.” She said, ”0h, I was told that you bless.” I replied, ”1 never bless.” And at this point my spirit said to me, "Put the infant on the bed and go do what I tell you." So I carried the child to the bed and the spirit asked for good oil and some cotton. He told me to remove all the child's clothing. I took off its clothes and began to grease it starting with the head, then under the arms— everything. I said a prayer which I don't remember anymore because it was in that hour that the spirit gave it to me. I did this and the woman even brought me a can of oil. I told her it was necessary to come seven times. And she said, "Yes, senhora. Tomorrow I shall come." The child vomited, did not eat, was dying. On the seventh day, she told me that the child already was sucking and no longer was ill. After four or five months, she brought the child to me, fat, much fatter. I was so pleased that I felt giddy. Then she said to me, "Oh Dona Nair, if it had not been for you I would have lost my son.” I felt giddy because I had never done such a thing before. I do things my spirits tell me, but I myself do not know how to perform them.

There was another case. The man was president of a Lions Club just outside of S£o Paulo. The director of my terreiro brought him. He met him in a bar, and noticing that this man was limping he asked, "What is it that you have?" And he spoke, "I have an illness which doctors cannot cure.” So he brought him to the terreiro. He entered, just crying to speak with Pena Verda and he could hardly walk. So Pena Verde said, "You come tomorrow to the house of my horse, and she is going to do something for you." And me, myself, saying, "Oh, whatever am I going to do? I don't know how to cure this.” The next day I got some sheep's wool, washed it, disinfected it with alcohol and put it in a bottle. He came just as I had finished dinner with my son, Antdnio. I had told the man to bring oil, and 99

now I asked him to pull up the leg of his trousers. God forgive me, but when I saw the man's leg I was so upset that I wanted to vomit. I had just finished dinner, understand? I really felt badly. I said to Antonio, "I'll return in a minute.” And I went out and vomited. Those scabs. Bloody. With that pus. And I said, "Whatever shall I do with this leg?" And then I went to my bedroom and Ant6nio said to me, "Mother, concentrate on this. Who knows? The spirits may help." At this, the spirit came and went to clean the man's leg with oil. Next the sheep's skin was pasted on the scabs and then ripped off. Everything was raw flesh. I remem­ ber a little piece of the prayer, but not all of it. I know it went something like this: Peter and Paul went to Home. Peter and Paul returned from Rome. Jesus Christ questioned, "Peter and Paul, Why did you return from Rome?" And then they replied, "Y/e went to Rome With erysipelas and returned without it."

After seven days the man's leg was better but still delicate. The skin had a rosy color, Pena Verde spoke, "Now, you need to take care. Don't bruise it. And avoid exerting yourself because the skin is very delicate yet." He was com­ pletely cured. Now, later when I went to make this same prayer on other persons, nothing happened because I wasn't with Pena Verde. Understand? There are these things, no?

These three examples, I believe, were probably among more spectacular cases Nair had dealt with during her years of practice. They are similar to exciting cases other mediums enjoy repeating, perhaps because they illustrate the superiority of spiritualism over medicine. However, during my year of research I saw no miraculous cures. What did appear with great frequency in my notes were cases of social-psychological adjustments. The spirits seemed quite capable of handling these problems. For example, in 100 December, 1966, Nair and her spirits began working with

the problems of Virginia, who was thirty-five years old.

Virginia had Italian and Portuguese ancestry. The family

evidently had done well. Her brother had studied science

in the university and Virginia had been graduated from

normal school. She had married and had had three sons, the

eldest being twelve years old. The family had been in

contact with Umbanda three or four times before Virginia began attending Nair's sessions regularly. They felt other

centers were dirty, the spirits drank too much liquor and

were sometimes crude, and they rarely found any mediums who were as educated as they.^ Nair's center was without most

of these faults and Virginia found it compatible. Some of

the mediums at Hair's center told me that Virginia's

husband had left her and that Nair had held a private

session of exu to help bring him back. As far as I know,

he did not return during the year of field work.

Meantime Virginia had difficulties in disciplining

her sons. The eldest, according to Nair, told lies, was

very nervous, and refused to study his school lessons. To

counteract the bad "fluids" which were troubling him, Nair

held a private session for him. For five days he took an

^However, practically all of the mediums in Nair's center were not as educated as Nair or Virginia's family. The family related better to Nair and a few of the more formally educated individuals in her center. 101 ordinary bath each day after school. Then he was sent over

to Nair's home where one of Nair's assistants gave him a

ritual bath filled with special herbs to help purify him.

He later joined his mother in the group of mediums at

Nair!s center. Whenever Virginia was unable to discipline

him, she telephoned Nair. At the next public session

Nair's caboclo. Pena Verde, would reprimand the boy. This mother believed that her son's behavior improved.

Virginia's second son later joined his brother and mother

in the group of mediums. Nair said that she did not care

to take such young children into her center. However, the

second son was jealous of the attention given to his

brother, and Nair let him in to reduce these difficulties.

Virginia's sister, Luisa, was a Catholic who faith­

fully attended mass each week. She came to Nair's sessions

only to keep her sister company and perhaps out of curiosity.

She had finished her secondary schooling and had been pre­ paring for two years to take the entrance exams of the medical school at the University of S3o Paulo. When she

took these in January of 1967, she was quite ill with grippe. As a result, she failed the exams and had felt depressed for several months. She did not quite believe

in spiritualism and said that she would not join the mediums. But Pena Verde turned her in a circle one evening until she felt weightless, as if being lifted into the air.

As she left the center that night, she could not keep 102 herself from crying. Within a week she received a notice from the university stating that there were openings in the veterinary medical school, where the first year of classes is identical to that for medicine* She began to feel less depressed and wondered whether her good fortune was perhaps due to Pena Verde's help. She made plans to take the medical school entrance exams the following year.

The activities at Nair’s center did not occupy all of her time. At sixty, she was a very active woman who looked ten to fifteen years younger than her age. She liked to take short courses in art and music and had at one time even taken a course in breeding chickens. While her hus­ band was away for fifteen years she had opened a shop on fashionable Rua Augusta where she made and sold dresses.

This shop was closed but she continued to make knit dresses on special machines in her home. She had had a small shop where she sold special herbs, candles, images and other

Umbanda paraphernalia. She closed this store sometime after she decided to move the ritual of her center from that of

Umbanda to Candombl4. The incident which precipitated this decision is described in the next paragraph

Before I came to do this research, Nair had held weekly Umbanda sessions for the pretos velhos and caboclos.

The mediums each held individual consultations at these sessions. One night a spirit told Nair’s special assistant and close friend that she had heart disease and was soon 103 going to die. The supposedly afflicted woman put the

center into turmoil, complaining and crying to Pena Verde. Pena Verde announced that the mediums could no longer hold consultations with clients. Henceforth, only Pena Verde would conduct consultations. More than half of Nair*s filhos left their mge-de-santo for other Umbanda centers.

Those who remained performed ritual dances during which

their caboclos possessed them. People who came for spiri­

tual assistance were asked to think about their problems

and wishes while the caboclos danced. After the spirits

left, Pena Verde possessed Nair and individuals could speak only with him. If it appeared that a longer consultation was needed, the individual was invited to Nair*s home for

special attention.

Attendance rapidly dropped off at Nair*s center. The first night that I attended a session Pena Verde announced that henceforth there would be only one session per week.

During the year I often heard some complaints in the neighborhood and from Nair*s filhos that she was moving more toward the folkloric aspects of Umbanda and she was interested only in making money. Nair held three of what she termed "folkloric demonstrations of Candomble" during my year of research— two in the center and the third at a radio station. These events are interesting in terms of Firth*s (1967) material on the dramatic aspects of spirit possession which I discussed in Chapter I. The 104 demonstrations were obviously intended to be "shows,” and

tickets were sold for one of these productions. There was

a specific program, but no dramatic script was written.

The mediums were supposed to dance for their orix£, and were not to be possessed by them. However, most mediums did

become possessed, and I believe this might have been due to the pressure they were put under as "amateur actors" by

Nair. As the year of field work progressed, I found Nair demanding that the orixas of her filhos appear at regular sessions. These elevated spirits were often followed by child spirits which she referred to as ere, the term used in Candombl£. Pena Verde continually emphasized that his cavalo was a genuine mae-de-santo. having undergone the arduous initiation of Candomble which made her a "slave to her saint," i.e., to Iemanja. Furthermore, Pena Verde continued one night to explain to the audience that this meant his cavalo was no longer permitted to have sexual relations. The spirit turned to Nair's husband for confir­ mation, but he was already fleeing from the center. Pena

Verde explained that this did not mean his cavalo was a refrigerator. He only wanted to emphasize the privations of becoming a true cult leader. That evening, Nair had some difficulty in coming out of trance. Her husband did return to help bring her out of trance. However, he did not return to the sessions for several months. When he did 105 return, he sat in the rear portion of the center with the

audience, rather than in the special section reserved for

guests of honor in the front where previously he had sat.

Nairfs filhos discussed the impropriety of Pena Verde*s behavior. Some even went so far as to question whether it had, indeed, been Pena Verde speaking. Everyone agreed that it was a most strange happening.

This was not the only occasion of questioning within the center. It had been rumored that a new director of the center had offered Nair another location for her center.

Soon after this, Pena Verde talked with Ildicir, the owner of the present location, at a public session. Pena Verde told Ildicir that the orixas were no longer with her, and that she would be surrounded by exu spirits. Pena Verde asked Ildicir to hand over the deed of the center to Nair.

After some discussion, Ildicir told Pena Verde that she was going to say something to him in her thoughts. If her thoughts were incorrect, then Pena Verde was to correct her verbally. He was to remain silent if Ildicir were correct.

Ildicir then mentally "talked” to Pena Verde:

This building is currently in the hands of myself and my husband. The building was origi­ nally given to our daughter by her grandparents and it is illegal to sell or give away the building without our daughterfs permission. If I attempt to get permission to give away this building, it will only create a great deal of 106 trouble in our family* I have already been very enerous to allow your cavalo to use the build- fng rent-free for as long as she wants it.10 Pena Verde responded, but on a totally different subject.

Ildicir concluded that Pena Verde was not really present,

and that it had been Nair who was speaking. During the

remainder of my field research Ildicir did not return to

Nair!s center. Instead, she attended Badia's sessions which she felt were disorderly, but at least honest.

The data in this chapter illustrate the dynamic

quality of a cult center and its activities. Nair's center

could be placed somewhere toward the African end of the

continuum of Umbanda and Kardecismo in SSo Paulo. This placement is not based on belief, but primarily on the use of ritual clothing which was colored, instead of white, and on the absence of consultations, except for Pena Verde, in the public ritual of this center. Nair was a proud woman, an authoritarian who maintained full control of discipline in her center. She did not permit the spirits of her mediums to express themselves. So it was said that the spirits told their cavalos to seek new mge-de-santos»

Some of Nair's filhos remained and new filhos joined. Five of Nair's mediums formed a special friendship clique.

obtained this data second-hand from my major informant, Cecilia, whom I describe in Chapter VI. Ildicir had given Cecilia this information. It is this group of friends who were my major informants.

I describe their backgrounds and reasons for becoming mediums, as well as some of their activities I observed, in the following three chapters. CHAPTER VI

THE CLIQUE: CECILIA , THE LEADER

Cult leaders usually do not want their mediums to practice outside of the public sessions held at centers. They state that most mediums are not sufficiently developed spiritually to handle private sessions. Their filhos. how­ ever, argue that the cult leaders are jealous of their mediumship and of the private sessions outside of their centers. The five mediums who practiced in the clique believed that their spirits needed to express themselves.

Since this was not possible in NairTs center, they held private sessions behind her back. The small group included

JoSo, a thirty-three year old light mulatto male who was cook and waiter in an exclusive beauty salonJuvenir, a twenty-five year old white male who was an accounting clerk in the offices of a major Brazilian airline; Thales, a twenty-one year old white male who had just gotten out of the army and was a servant for a wealthy family; Maria, a thirty-seven year old mulatto female who operated a beauty salon; and Cecilia, a fifty-two year old mulatto female who

^ J o S o cooked lunch for the employees at the salon and served coffee to the customers.

10a 109 was the wife of a taxi driver. All of the five had come to the city of SSo Paulo from elsewhere. As a group they per­ formed private sessions for their friends and for them­ selves. They were thus able to conform to Nair!s particular demand that spirits ought not to speak in her center. The private sessions seemed to allow an opportunity for their spirits to express themselves.

Cecilia, the oldest and most experienced medium was the focal point of this group. She v/as born in 1915 in a small town in the interior of the state of S§b Paulo. Her father had been the head cook on a fazenda (large farm).

Her mother was a seamstress. CeciliaTs formal education was limited to two years of primary schooling. She said that her first experience relating to the spiritual world occurred when she was eight years old. She saw an image of a woman from the waist up in a pool of water. Her mother told her that it was only her eyes playing tricks on her as the children were romping about the water. Cecilia today believes the image might have been her orix£. NanS. When she was several years older Cecilia began to think seriously about the nature of spiritual forces. Her mother had been nervous and quite ill, losing consciousness and breaking out into a cold sweat for periods of ten to fifteen minutes.

The family called in a Syrian to bless the sick woman. He told Cecilia that whenever her mother became nervous and ill, she should pray because she had the right forces to 110 # help her mother. Cecilia turned the man's words over in

her head. It must not be physical force he was talking

about, for she could not possibly lift her heavy mother.

She decided that the Syrian was talking about some sort of

spiritual force she had* She said she used this inner

strength several times when her mother attempted suicide.

Later in her life Cecilia came to believe that her mother*s

difficulty had been due to undeveloped mediumship. There

had been no center in their small town to which her mother

might have been taken. Cecilia did not learn about such

places until she was fourteen, when her family went to visit relatives in Rio de Janeiro.

When she was seventeen Cecilia moved to SSo Paulo where she worked as a cook in a wealthy home— the same occu­ pation as her father's, she added. She remembers the great fun she had going to the bailes pretos (dances for blacks) at that time. Cecilia married when she was twenty years old. Her husband had a pushcart from which he sold ice

cream. He gradually worked his way up until he was operat­

ing a bar. They had three children— a girl when Cecilia was twenty-five and a set of mixed twins the following year.

Then a series of events began to occur to upset their secure family life. Her husband began acting strangely. He fought with and fired his employees, and soon lost his bar. The youngest girl died when Cecilia was twenty-eight and the boy in the set of twins was killed by an automobile the Ill following year. A friend suggested that Cecilia should go to a center for spiritual help. There, a spirit advised

Cec Ilia that she needed to think seriously about her medium- ship, for her dead mother had a mission to fulfill through her. She felt sad upon learning this news because she had never wanted to become involved with spiritualism. Cecilia left temporarily for the nearby port city of Santos where she bathed in the ocean waters. She believed this helped prepare her spiritually. When she returned she attended a session which was a mixture of Kardecismo and Umbanda. At the table of mediums, she was possessed by her mother’s spirit. Cecilia learned that her mother’s suffering in life had been due to undeveloped mediumship. The spirit could evolve, however, through Cecilia’s own spiritual develop­ ment. The group of mediums then passed to another room where they received Umbanda spirits. A cabaclo whose name was Sete Forquilha (Seven Fork) possessed Cecilia. At a later session she was possessed by Pai Augostinho, a preto velho. There was never any doubts in Cecilia’s mind that spirits existed, but she was reluctant to become a medium. Still, strange things occurred which seemed to push her in this direction. One night she dreamed that she and her husband were fleeing through a wooded area. Pursuing them was her Indian spirit who was carrying a spear. The caboclo caught up with them and attempted to seize her from her 112 husband for the purpose of sexual relations. There were

some other unusual events which she related to me:

One day I was cooking beans and I took a little bit of meal and mixed it with the beans and fried it together with some meat I had drying in the house. I took some in my hand and sat down on the floor to eat it. It was so good! When I finished eating I looked at corner in the kitchen and I saw this face and neck, sweating! Oh, how the sweat rolled off his face. His hair was falling. Loose! With sideburns. Beard. I said, "Our Lady! What can this be?" I wasn't troubled by his presence. He didn't want to incorporate. I was alone in the house with my daughter. She was still small. And I wasn't even troubled by him.

Several days later when day broke and I awakened, I had a head the size of a clothes closet. I tried to go outside but I just ran into the door. I vomited, I vomited what I didn't even have in my stomach. I hadn't even eaten, yet! I had only taken seme coffee. That coffee had turned into something like you find in a chamber pot in my stomach. So, I went running, feeling terrible, running to the house of my mSe-de-santo. And I told her, "Look mother, for t W T o v e of Cod, help me! I don't know what has taken hold of me today, but I can't stand it. I'm really sick. Help me!" And she said to me, "Well, good for you! You deserve what you've got. I'm not going to hurry just for this. First, I'm going to take my bath, and then I'm going to take my ritual bath with herbs. And only then will I see you." Then I begged her, "For the love of God, see me now, for I can't stand this any longer." And that which I felt in my stomach, my head— such heaviness— left me. But my face stayed fixed in a strange manner and my arms were open. At that point she became

l^jncorporar is a term frequently used in SSo Paulo to describe spirit possession. Another term used to refer to possession is receber (to receive) a spirit. I never heard the Portuguese word possessSo (possession) utilized when referring to spirits. 113 more calm. She knew what it was.1^ She also knew that I didn’t like it! That I wanted none of this. So she had been tormenting me.

As she started talking with me, I received a Japanese!^ spirit. He said that every time I didn’t want to go to the center, he was going to come and strike me with these things. And then he told the story of his life. That he had been a prisoner of war. He had hid children in a tunnel so they wouldn't get killed. He was discovered and put into solitary confinement. A room so small he could only stand up in it. They threw hot water on his head until he was forced to tell what he knew at times. He then said that all of the symptoms I felt were his. And that he was going to stay by my side. That he was one more light which would be at my side while I practiced spiritualism. He bid the mae goodbye and left. And then I received the boiadeiro (cowboy). 15 V.:hen he left I received an old boyfriend who had died in an accident.

He said that he wanted to possess me, because he also needed to evolve spiritually. But that he wasn't going to stay with me. He had come only this one time. He said that while he was still alive he had wanted me very much, but now he was staying only to protect me; that he was going to open the road for me so I would have some luck; that I had found someone who would care for me just as he would have done if alive; that he had come only to ask for a pardon for certain things* He had courted me but had liked another girl. He did wrong by the other girl. I knew it and separated myself from him. He didn't want me to leave. Thought that I should marry him, even with things as they were. But I said to him, "Why should I make the other girl unhappy? I don’t have to.

^Cecilia apparently had entered a trance state at this point.

l^This possession occurred sometime during World War II.

15The spirit she had seen in her kitchen several days earlier. 114 I fm free. I'm still young. Marry the other girl." I didn!t want him anymore. Then he tried to attack me, but even at this I still told him that I didn't want him anymore. I really didn't want him. Even now I like him less because ne wanted to come against me. He followed me around to all the places I went. Where I'd go he'd follow. So, his spirit had come this time to ask for pardon. That he was wrong. And after he left, my uncle's spirit came. All of this in one day!

In addition to these rather strange spiritual events occurring in Cecilia's life at about age thirty, her hus­ band was believed to be experiencing the effects of a bad exu spirit. He had had a mistress who had become dissatis­ fied with him. She supposedly had paid an exu spirit to bring harm to him. Cecilia claimed that as a result he had gone berserk, selling his possessions, smashing his car with his bare fists (By this time he was a taxi driver.). Her neighbors told her that she should urge him to go to a center for help. When he refused to go for a spiritual con­ sultation, Cecilia went herself. The cult leader told her that she would have to develop her mediumistic abilities to help her husband overcome his spiritual problems. Cecilia had been reluctant to develop her mediumship, but the fate of several spirits of the dead and the solution of her family problems seemed to rest with her willingness to become a medium. She believed it was the will of God and that she no longer could ignore her destiny.

The first center in which she practiced was a mixture of Kardecismo and Umbanda. After several years, it closed. 115 She then moved to an Umbanda center which had both a male and a female cult leader. She felt she had learned a great deal from the pai-de-santo. She left this center volun­ tarily, explaining to me that there had been too many con­ flicts between him and his wife, who was the mSe-de-santo.

The two cult leaders could not agree on procedures to be followed in their center. This made Cecilia feel insecure in practicing her mediumship. She then joined Hair's center. When Nair moved more toward Candomble, Cecilia stayed but also began practicing at Badia's center part- time. Badia did not have very many developed mediums practicing at her center and she welcomed Cecilia's presence. Cecilia said that Badia had asked her to become her mae pequena (little mother, i.e., major assistant).

She had turned down the generous offer, privately telling her friends that she would like to be fully initiated into

Candomble before assuming such an important role in the religion. She also felt that her daughter and grandchil­ dren needed her. For this reason, she said, she must remain in her home. Cida, her twenty-six year old daughter, her husband and their three youngsters lived with Cecilia and her hus­ band in a small two-bedroom apartment. Cecilia looked after the children while their parents worked. The eldest, a boy, was five, the next boy was three, and a baby girl was born on February 9 ( 1967. I mention this date as the 116 starting point for a number of stressful events which seem to lead into unusual behavior for Cecilia's spirits in the following weeks. The baby had a cleft lip which was repaired| but the family worried a great deal about it.

About the time of the baby's birth, Cecilia's teenaged niece moved into the household, so that she could attend school in SSo Paulo. Although Cecilia rarely mentioned her desire to become a cult leader, she had a caboclo spirit,

Pena Branca (White Feather) who began to act and speak on behalf of his medium. One week after the birth of her granddaughter, I took the following notes on Cecilia's very unusual behavior in Nair's center: During the preliminary dances, Cecilia frequently wipes perspiration from her brow. Later, when the caboclos come, her spirit does not dance in the counter-clockwise circle with the others. Instead, she^6 wanders around the front of the center, stopping, looking as if she is lost, dropping her head slightly forward, shutting her eyes, and then wandering off in another direction. At one point she comes over to where I am sitting in the front row. Nair, who is not possessed, has been observ­ ing Cecilia. Cecilia's spirit looks as if he wants to speak to me and, to avoid possible trouble,17 I

161 use the word "she," but it should be noted that Cecilia is possessed at this point by a male spirit. thought perhaps that her spirit wished to speak to me— something not permitted by Nair. This incident occurred near the beginning of my field work when, perhaps, I was overly concerned with the possibility of unwittingly creating disturbances in the field and perhaps being asked to leave the center. As I look back on this affair now, I doubt that Cecilia was even aware of my presence. The spirit's strange behavior was probably more related to troubling circumstances in Cecilia's life at the time. 117 turn my head away, ignoring Cecilia. She stays in the corner in front of me for about a half minute, wandering around. Then she suddenly lowers her head and begins half vaulting, half falling across the rear of the center's front half, toward door WX."1« She sticks the upper part of her body past the door, and by this time the assistants are trying to help her back into the front of the center. Cecilia flails her arms around as she moves to the wall next to the door. She does not seem to want any assistance. For a few seconds she pounds her head on the wall beside the door. Then her eyes seem to be aware of what is going on in the room, she loses her balance for a second, swaying, and goes back into trance. During the rest of the dances of the caboclos. Cecilia dances in the circle with the other caboclos. but occa­ sionally wanders out of the circle, again locking as if lost. The reasons for this unusual behavior became clearer the

following night when the clique held a private session for

one of their friends. The exu spirits of Cecilia, Maria

and JoSo had come; had performed the major item of business for their friend; and had left. After a few minutes Cecilia

was possessed by Pena Branca, who is not her regular caboclo

spirit. My notes follow: Pena Branca speaks in a very loud voice and the facial expression is one of great anger. He says that he is not happy with his "horse" because she did not want him to come to earth. He announced that he will cut each year that his horse has yet to live in half, i.e., Cecilia's life will be cut in half, if she does not let Pena Branca possess her. Pena Branca says that he does not like Nair's terreiro because the caboclos there have to put their heads between their legs, i.e., be humble and obedient. He emphasizes this

l^An open door behind which is a closet where Nair keeps the elaborate feathered costume of Pena Verde, used for special occasions. us point several times by throwing Cecilia*s hand between her thighs, and then between the thighs of Joffo and Juvenir who are not incorporated at this time by spirits. At the terreiro. the caboclos are not permitted to talk, smokeor drink, and Pena Branca says he does not like this. He says he is going to make his horse urinate in Kair*s terreiro in front of everybody. Then Pena Branca shouts that he is a chief, that he wants to be the head of his own terreiro. At this point Pena Branca violently throws down his glass of beer, smashing it on the floor. Immediately, Pena Branca leaves and Cecilia collapses on the floor, stretched out. But she is still in trance. Juvenir starts cleaning up the shattered glass and Jo£o is bent over Cecilia, saying "Dona Cecilia" several times. JoSo and my landlady, who is at the session, manage to lift Cecilia to a sitting position on the floor. Her eyes are open and staring straight ahead. No movements of the others can attract her attention. She remains like this for three minutes. Then she returns to normal, gets up while clutching her abdomen, and drinks some water.

On the day following this outpouring by Pena Branca, I talked with Cecilia. She told me that she ached a great deal because Pena Branca had been extremely rough with her.

She had put hot compresses on her arms and shoulders. Cecilia said that she was ashamed of the things Pena Branca had said the night before,^ and that she liked her Sete

Forquilha much better. Cecilia explained that it had been

Pena Branca who had possessed her two nights before at Nair*s center. She hypothesized that Pena Branca had gone to the open closet looking for Pena Verde's green feathered costume which Nair uses on special ritual occasions. She

^9*rhis, and other later comments from mediums, began to suggest to me that mediums were not always in a deep trance and could remember what their spirits had said* 119 believed that Pena Branca was jealous of Pena Verde. That day Cecilia asked me for a small loan of money for food and for school books for her niece who had just come to live with her. It was the first and only time she requested financial aid from me. During the following weeks she

began to complain to friends about her ne*er-do-well son- in-law. This intensified when he was out drinking with friends instead of baby-sitting on the nights of spirit

sessions at Nair's center. At the time his wife, Cida, was

* working the 3 to 11 p.m. shift as a nursed aid. Cecilia never linked Pena Branca*s appearances with the family and financial difficulties she was having. It does seem evident, however, that her unconscious desire for power was expressed in the symbolic form of Pena Branca. Pena Branca appeared once more, much later during the year of field work. By this time Cecilia was beginning to admit to close friends that she would like to be a cult leader. She would always add that her husband wanted a wife and not a mSe-de-santo.^ When Pena Branca did possess Cecilia again, he was considerably more subdued and gave Cecilia no difficulty. He did not appear to behave in a manner significantly different from that of her regular caboclo. Sete Forquilha. The exact reason for his final

^ T h i s is a reference to Pena Verde*s (Nair*s caboclo) comment that his medium no longer had sexual relations since having been initiated into Candomble. 120 appearance during the year of field work still is uncertain

to me, but three things are suggestive. First, the private

session which the clique was holding that day was for an

important local man. He was the operator of a small factory in which a variety of Italian pasta was made. The owner of the building had ordered the man to pay more rent or move out. Pena Branca told the man that he was the head of a linha of spirits. Perhaps, then, the difficult spiritual task at hand had required a spirit more evolved and more powerful than Sete Forquilha. Second, the session was held on a Sunday afternoon because Cecilia's husband had tempo­ rarily "grounded” her late nighttime activities having to do with private sessions. He was a very understanding husband who never complained about Cecilia's being away until 2 or 3 a.m., but she always had to inform him of her activities and whereabouts before leaving the house. She had forgotten to do this and he had taken away her house key for three weeks. She did not overtly blame him, but seemed more annoyed with herself at having forgotten to tell him. Therefore, the session was being held on a

Sunday afternoon, and possibly Pena Branca appeared as a symbol of domestic power. Third, Nair was having an elaborate ritual sacrificing of a goat on the following Tuesday for her special festa of Iemanja the following

Thursday. Perhaps Cecilia's covert jealousy of Nair was symbolized in Pena Brancars appearance. Cecilia said that 121 She did not understand Pena Branca*s reason for possessing her. She was happy, though, that he seemed to realize

that she had familial obligations and could not immediately

become a cult leader and that he was no longer giving her

so much trouble.

# During the year of field work, I observed Cecilia

possessed by eleven different spirits. Pena Branca was the

only spirit who seemed to give Cec Ilia personal difficulty. * His presence was apparently linked to Cecilia's familial

and financial problems and with her desire to become a cult leader. In addition to her two caboclos. Sete Forquilha and Pena Branca, Cecilia called and was possessed by the

envoy of the female orixa, liana, two male and one female pretos velhos, a male child spirit, a male boiadeiro

(cowboy), a male caipoeiro (a "hick" from the interior of Sfio Paulo), and two male exu spirits. Each spirit could be distinguished by its own personal behavioral attributes.

With the single exception of Nana, all of them could enter­ tain their audience for hours with jokes and funmaking and with an occasional story about their lives on earth. Exam­ ples of special services performed by two of these spirits--

Sete Forquilha (caboclo) and Marimbondo (exu)— follow.

Sete Forouilha Cecilia invited me to attend a private session for some friends who lived in a nearby bairro where she had lived for a number of years. The couple was about forty 122 years old. They had three daughters whose ages were four­

teen, ten and seven* The husband was a carpenter in charge

of maintenance at one of the local schools. The family

lived in a six-room house with spacious rooms and they had

an American car of late 1940 or early 1950 vintage. The

wife was of Italian descent. The husband's mother had come

from Hungary. When she came to Brazil she had been very

poor, but had managed to work her way up the ladder finan­

cially. She had purchased a house in which she lived with

her son and his family until her death a year earlier. She

also had two daughters but they had not cared for her in

her old age as her son and his wife had. The old woman

had wanted the house to remain in the family. After she died, her two daughters wanted their two-thirds of the

inheritance. Since their brother was unable to raise the

cash necessary to pay them off immediately, they wanted him to sell the house. The man's eldest daughter was especi­ ally sentimental about her grandmother's wish for the house to remain in the family. Her father felt he had no alterna­ tive except to sell it. Her mother, a good friend of

Cecilia, had asked that Sete Forquilha offer some advice.

When we arrived, we were ushered into the combination living-bedroom. Cecilia lit a white candle for her guardian angel, the orix&. Nan3, Cecilia did not bother to change into any special ritual garb, but she did put on the guias

(beads) of her various spirits. She sat on a straight chair facing a sofa on which the couple, their oldest daughter and myself were seated. There were no opening songs or special ritual except a brief opening prayer.

Cec£lia did not look at us as she prepared for possession. Instead, she looked upward and at the various walls. Then she put her hand over her eyes, drawing it down over her mouth, yawning. It seemed as if she were attempting to shut out her surroundings so that she could concentrate on receiving her caboclo. She drew in two sharp and deep breaths, holding each one for a few seconds. Her head rapidly fell forward and when she straightened up in the chair Sete Forquilha was possessing her. There was no perspiration before or during possession. The caboclo greeted the group with a "boa noite" ("good evening") and then asked each person how he was. The husband and two of the girls replied that they had colds. The rest of us were able to say "Y/ell, thanks to God." Next, Sete asked the husband to draw up a chair beside the caboclo. The man seemed to be quite nervous. He frequently moved his posi­ tion in the chair and fingered a cushion which he was hold­ ing. As Sete slowly got into the problem of the house, the man had frequent outbursts which interrupted the caboclo.

Sete reprimanded him, telling him that he should first say

"I beg your pardon” before interrupting with a point of disagreement. His wife tried to smooth over the awkward situation by explaining that her husband was not too familiar 124 with this religion, that he was upset over the problem, and that he had a cold and was not feeling well. The oldest

girl listened intently to everything while her two younger

sisters silently giggled whenever Sete was not looking in their direction. Nothing new came out of the conversation

between the caboclo and the man, Sete suggested that the man ask his sisters to allow him to keep the house while he paid them off in installments. The man did not want to do

0 this, and Cecilia later told me that he had too much pride to ask his sisters this favor. After the consultation the caboclo asked for a glass of pinga (Brazilian sugar cane alcohol) and for some leaves of a special plant growing outside the house. When the oldest girl brought the leaves, Sete Forquilha crushed them into the pinga. He separately called each of those present to his chair to remove any bad spiritual fluids. He offered each person a drink of the mixture which he claimed would deter evil fluids and keep one well. After a closing

0 prayer the caboclo left Cecilia who remained seated in her chair. She looked around the room and at the small group of people. For about five seconds Cecilia seemed like a person who has just awakened and is putting the environment into some mental order before proceeding to get u p . ^ After

^lAfter having observed Cecilia’s possessions closely for nearly a year, I tend to think that this behavior was well acted out by Cecilia to make the possession seem more 125 the session the seven, who were present, went to the kitchen for a light snack and conversation. Cecilia asked for and received a photograph of the m a ^ s dead mother.

She said she would take it home to the small altar filled with statues of the orix^s-santos. There she would try to make mental contact with the dead woman and to ask for her

0 help. Cecilia made a tentative appointment for a future session with the family. As far as I know the second session did not occur. However, the wife did visit Cecilia several times after this particular session. The house was not sold immediately, and there was still some hope that her husband would swallow his pride and ask his sisters for a loan.

Marimbondo Early in the year of field work Cecilia and three other members of the clique— Maria, Jojio and Juvenir— held a private session for a male acquaintance of theirs. Since the spirits often like company they had invited, in addi­ tion to myself, my landlady (a mulatto) and two white adult males. One was a university graduate in economics and the apartment mate of Juvenir. The other was the habitually

convincing to the male head of the household who might have had some personal doubts about the validity of spirits. Deep trance is regarded as a good sign that a medium is not faking possession. Cecilia recalled and discussed the entire session with me as we rode home together after the session. She was not in a deep trance. 126 unemployed brother of Juvenir. They were holding the session for Roberto, who was about thirty-five years old and of Italian descent. They explained the purpose of the session during the short bus ride to Roberto’s apartment. Roberto and his father operated a small industry of things made from plaited straw, principally hats and ladies1 purses. -During the past year Roberto had become somewhat independent of his family, buying his own apartment. Some­ time earlier, he had started to make his own hats, pur­ chasing the plaited straw from his father and selling the finished products independently. Recently, however, he had been unable to find a sufficient number of retail sellers. In the Brazilian idiom, he had caminhos fechados, i.e., his paths had mysteriously been closed or blocked. I soon learned that this generally meant that someone had paid an evil exu spirit of Quimbanda to obstruct his enemy’s progress. The purpose of this session was to discover what had happened and to reopen Roberto’s paths. We arrived at Roberto’s apartment about 9:00 p.m. The four mediums changed into their ritual garb. Cecilia, the oldest and the most experienced medium of the group, assumed the leadership role, telling the men to arrange a temporary altar from a work bench covered with a white sheet. Each of us lighted a candle for our guardian angel.

The candles were placed on a plate which was carried to another room. Someone turned out the lights and the four 127 mediums began to dance in a counter-clockwise direction around a glass of pinga and a lighted candle placed in the center of the floor. They clapped hands to the rhythm of the song which they were singing for the exu spirits. Then the two male mediums picked up the glass and candle, carrying them to the terrace. The objects were left just outside the back door to placate any maleficent exus of

Quimbanda who might have been lurking in the vicinity and who might have been jealous of the rituals of the Umbanda exus of these mediums. By the time they had returned a few minutes later, Maria had already been possessed by her * male exu spirit, Sete Escada. Cecilia was calling her exu through song. She stood in place, putting most of her weight on one foot and balancing her body slowly forward and backward about five times. Her eyes were alternately closed or staring at an unmarked spot on the wall. Suddenly, head and chest jerked once or twice in opposite directions.

As she slowly straightened up her body, we could see that her face had been transformed into the devilish countenance of Marimbondo, her male exu.

Marimbondo wore a crooked smile and as he slowly began to open his eyes, he shouted in a low rasping voice, "Boa noite!" l"good evening!"). When he heard the somewhat weak response from the audience, Marimbondo shut his eyes, furrowed his brow and with great aplomb loudly emitted intestinal gas to show his displeasure. Everyone laughed 128 and as Marimbondo opened his eyes, he began to scold every­ one, saying that he wanted to hear a strong nBoa noite11 from each person. We complied. The two exus began to make their rounds of individual greetings, extending alternately left and right forearms and hands stiffened into hook-like forms to each member of the audience who stood up to respond in a like manner. By this time, Juvenir had lighted cigars which he gave to Marimbondo and Sete Escada.

Marimbondo looked around, asking if there were nothing in the house to drink. Roberto provided some pinga. The preliminary greetings finished, Marimbondo began to converse with Roberto who explained his financial pro­ blems to him. Also, he said that he felt depressed and tired. Nonchalantly flicking his ashes to the floor,

Marimbondo picked up a handful of manioc meal from the altar. Telling Roberto to stand in an open space in the room, he sprinkled the meal over Roberto!s head. The two moved away from the spot and Marimbondo began to inspect the pattern of the meal which had fallen to the floor.

After a few minutes of scrutinizing the manioc from differ­ ent angles, the exu bent over and with several sweeps of his hand outlined the head, two breasts and hips of a woman.

Marimbondo straightened up and announced to Roberto that his problems were due to his ex-fianc£e. She had payed an evil exu to block all of Roberto!s roads to success soon after their engagement had been broken off five years ago. 129 Roberto confirmed that he had broken off the engagement and that hie difficulties had begun about that time. As the two continued to converse, Marimbondo accepted another glass of pinga and another cigar. Sete Escada, who had been discussing the problems of the others in the room refused more pinga. saying that he wanted only water now.

Marimbondo placed Roberto facing the closed front door. Juvenir was told to mix together a small amount of gunpowder and manioc meal. It was wrapped in a piece of paper which Marimbondo placed on the floor behind Roberto.

The exu flicked the live coals from his cigar onto the paper. The ensuing explosion broke up the evil spiritual

"fluids" which had plagued Roberto, sending them through the door. Marimbondo asked Roberto how he was feeling now.

He responded with a smile that he was fine. The two con­ tinued to discuss the case, Marimbondo maneuvering the con­ versation until he had learned that Roberto had been sleeping with the woman in question. He asked Roberto whether his sex life had been the same since the engagement had been broken off. Roberto replied that it had not. With a sinister laugh the exu announced that he was sending

Roberto to the bathroom to urinate. Furthermore, since

Roberto had so much evil fluid to get rid of he was ordering all of the men in the room to assist Roberto by urinating, too. A line formed outside of the bathroom door. 130

This ritual in the bathroom finished, Marimbondo once

more placed Roberto facing the front door. The exu stood

behind Roberto. Pouring a small amount of gunpowder into

his own hand, Marimbondo instructed Roberto to concentrate

on all of the things that he wanted for the future, now

that all obstacles had been removed. A few sparks from

Marimbondo's cigar ignited the gunpowder held in his hand. The ensuing explosion terminated Marimbondo's business with

Roberto and he began to converse with and amuse the others

in the room at his leisure. Sometime later, the exus left.

They were followed by spirits of caboclos. pretos velhos,

orix£s and criancas. During the months which followed,

Roberto said that his business affairs gradually improved.

He took some interest in women after this session.

These examples of private sessions conducted by

Cecilia illustrate the definite personality differences of the spirits. They also indicate the diversity of problems which a successful medium may be called upon to deal with.

Cecilia and her spirits were greatly respected by her many friends and acquaintances who came from all walks of life # for personal help. Cecilia had a special insight which enabled her to understand in unsophisticated ways the com­ plexities of human life. This ability seemed to come from her own personal experiences and spiritual development over 131 the past twenty years. During that period of time she had learned to control her spirits and to effectively use them to solve her own difficulties as well as the problems of others. CHAPTER VII

THE CLIQUE: TWO CHILDREN OF MAMAE OXUM

Mamffe Oxum, linked with Saint Mary, is without doubt

the most feminine of all the orix^s. As goddess of the

fresh waters MamSe Oxum is quiet, suave, delicate. When­

ever she possesses one of her filhos (children) her

behavior contrasts with that of the great undulating IemanjA whose domain is the ocean waters. As the guardian spirit of two members of the clique, JoSo and Maria, Oxum was believed to exert a direct influence over their everyday behavior.

Both JoSo and Maria believed that their other, lesser spirits also played important roles in their lives and both experi­

enced spontaneous possessions outside of the formal context of spirit sessions. Most of the data in this chapter are about their experiences with spirits which occurred during the year of field work.

JoSo

It was JoSo who took me for my first visit to Nairfs center where I met the clique. At that time he was a waiter in the pensSo (boarding house) where I briefly lived. On the surface JoSo was a mild person. Physically, he was small and delicate and his soft mannerisms and speech were

132 133 almost feminine. To all his friends it was clear that he was protected and influenced by MamSe Oxum.

I found it extremely difficult to learn much about

JoSo's background. There were great gaps in his life history. Friends of a specific individual under study were usually able to verify for me the data collected from that person or to fill in new material. None of the clique mem­ bers were able to do this for JoSo's background. I know only that he was born in 1934 in the northern state of Alagoas; that in Joao's Catholic family one of his brothers was a spiritualist medium; that JoSo had had two years of primary school; and that he later had attended a religious school (Catholic) for three ye^rs. JoSo's family moved to SSo Paulo in 1950, when he was sixteen. His father worked as a carpenter and JoSo had been unsteadily employed at various jobs. More recently, he had worked as a waiter.

When JoSo was twenty-three years old his friends sug­ gested that he begin developing his mediumship. He said that at that time he was suffering both at home and at work.

He was not willing, however, to explain the particular details. JoSo remained in Umbanda for about one and a half years. When he was twenty-five, half of his family joined the Pentecostal church. JoSo was also baptized into this

Protestant church. Five years later JoSo had more personal difficulties of an unspecified nature and friends directed him to Nair's center. Jofiofs life history, then, does not 134 shed much light on his reasons for being a medium. To

understand Jogto’s participation in spiritualism, it is

necessary to consider some observations of his behavior

during the year of field work.

The shy and mild mannered person I first met was

apparently a superficial JoSo. Y7hat his friends regarded as

his more gross feminine characteristics erupted in the form

of Margarida, a female exu spirit known as a pomba-gira.

JoSo, and everyone who knew him, recognized his homosexual

tendencies.^ Everyone agreed that this behavior was due to

the overwhelming influence of Margarida. The first time I

saw Margarida was on a sidewalk beside the main throughfare

in a middle class bairro at about 12:30 a.m. It was early

in the year of field work and that evening I had attended my third session at Nair’s center. Afterward, Cecilia,

JoSo, Juvenir and myself had gone to a local restaurant where we were eating pizza and drinking beer and pinga.

JoSo discussed his current problems at the pensgo. where he was working. Most of the help had left that day and JoSo had had to cook the large meal. As he continued to talk,

Cecilia was leafing through the pages of a book Nair had

lent to me. It was filled with pictures of people dressed

22perhaps it should be noted here that Brazilians regard homosexuality as ’’different” behavior; however, Brazilians do not castigate or discriminate against homo­ sexuals as is frequently the case in the United States. 135 in the elaborate costumes of the orix£s. Cecilia gave particular attention to a photograph of a man dressed as

Oxum Mar€ (Oxum of the tides, different from MamSe Oxum).

She read aloud the caption which described the bisexual nature of Oxum Mar£. Everybody laughed.

Continuing the conversation, Cecilia brought up a male homosexual who for a short time had been a medium at Nair's center. She then moved on to discuss what she believed to be the great masculinity of Brazilian men. Cecilia claimed that they were all ouente (hot) and looked at a woman only from the waist down. She speculated that what gave

Brazilian men this great aspect of their temperament must be fei.jSo (beans). The laughter continued as the small group consumed more pinga. After some more conversation the bill was shared by all of us. Abruptly, JoSo jumped out of his chair and ran to the door. Juvenir followed close behind. When Cecilia and myself came outside a minute or two later, JoSo was sitting on a retaining wall beside the sidewalk. Margarida had spontaneously possessed h im.^

Margarida, in "her” high pitched voice, was cursing quite a bit. She said that her horse was a filho de puta (son of a whore) and that her horse sexually wanted two men who were

^ 1 observed this event during the fifth week after arriving in Brazil. I still had difficulty in understand­ ing Portuguese and was able to pick up only a small amount of what was occurring. Juvenir filled in some details two days later. 136 walking by. Cecilia replied that Margarida's horse should put such things out of his mind or things would be black.

There was a bit more conversation in which Margarida spoke with agitation and Cecilia with deliberate calmness. Cecilia suggested to the spirit that her horse should come to Ceciliafs home to discuss his problems. She told the spirit to leave and with a few Jerks of head and chest,

JoSo was again normal. The four of us then walked about a half block to

Cecilia's apartment building where she bid us goodnight. A taxi picked up JoSo, Juvenir and myself. During the short ride to the pensgo JoSo began to jerk his head and reached across me with his left arm. Juvenir held his hand for a few seconds and asked if he were alright. JoSo replied that he felt better. As the driver stopped a block from the pensao, Joao took out some money to pay for the fare. Sud­ denly, his facial expression changed and he began to giggle in a high pitched voice. Margarida had returned and since women do not usually pay taxi fares, "she" began to fold up the money and put it back into Joao's pocket. Margarida stuck out her tongue at the driver who by this time had turned around to look at the scene. He asked JoSo if he were louco (crazy, masculine). With a flirtatious nod of the head Margarida responded, "NSoI Estou louca." (No! I'm crazy, feminine). Then JoSo became normal again, although still somewhat inebriated. With some difficulty he walked 137 to the pensSo. making each step carefully and biting his

lower lip.

JoSo's difficulties at the pensgo continued to grow worse* The servants at the pensSo had not been payed and they began to leave, one by one. JoSo was not only working without pay; he was working harder and longer hours as the

others left. Between the time of Margaridafs sidewalk

appearance on January 5, 1967, and the day he quit his job on January 16, 1967, Jo§o's behavior changed. He appeared to become more aggressive, sometimes flailing his arms about. He talked in louder tones of voice and laughed at a high pitch. At times he became extremely nervous. The nervousness was especially apparent on Saturday, January 7, 1967, when JoSo, Cecilia, Juvenir, Renato (Juvenir's apart­ ment mate) and myself had gathered for an evening of con­ versation at the apartment of Juvenir and Renato. Joao's arms, hands and legs trembled. He drew attention to him­ self by teasing and shouting "chesuei!" (I arrived!").

This is a phrase some spirits use to announce their act of possessing a medium. The others in the room knew that JoSo was planning to quit his job, but had no prospect for a new

job. Renato and Juvenir told me that JoSo had rarely held a job for more than three months. They felt that he needed a stable job in a large firm like they each had. But, JoSo lacked the necessary education. The small group had gathered to provide some spiritual help for the afflicted 13 8 JoSo. As JoSo's cries became louder, Renato calmly looked on; Juvenir attempted to engage me in irrelevant conversa­ tion so as to distract me from JoSo's behaviorand

Cecilia quietly tried to talk with JoSo. Eventually,

Cecilia was able to calm JoSo sufficiently to initiate a * spirit session. Caboclo spirits possessed JoSo and Cecilia.

JoSo's caboclo wanted to speak with Juvenir privately and the two retired to another room for about fifteen minutes.

Soon after, both caboclos left. Cecilia received her caipoeiro (hick) spirit who entertained the group. Finally, the child spirits possessed Cecilia, JoSo and Juvenir. After the spirits left, JoSo appeared to be less tense and had, to some degree, returned to a more subdued state. The group met once more the following Monday, January

9, 1967, at the same place. There was no spirit session this time. JoSo was less tense. He complained a great deal about Nair, their cult leader, and said that he was planning to leave her center. The general gist of the conversation that evening had to do with the way Nair tended to cater to white people who had money. Renato pointed out that Nair usually wanted nothing to do with black people who had little money. No one disagreed.

2Vrhis incident occurred near the beginning of my year of field work. I would guess that Juvenir, a more educated person, was concerned with the image of Umbanda I would take away. He later became less concerned with concealing what he regarded as the more coarse aspects of Umbanda. 139 On Monday, January 16, 1967, JoSo quit working at the

pensSo and temporarily worked in a barbershop. Within a

month he had another job as cook and waiter in an exclusive beauty salon. Soon after, JoSo's friends visited his room

at the beauty salon one Sunday afternoon. They held a

special spiritual session to signal an auspicious beginning

for Jo3o. He liked his new occupation and was still work­

ing there as of December, 1969.

Another instance of JoSo's spirits playing a role in

his everyday affairs occurred on Sunday, March 12, 1967. Juvenir and Renato had invited Cecilia, JoSo and myself for

tea and sandwiches. Juvenir was wearing very short shorts, and JoSo continuously made cracks about them, e.g., telling Juvenir not to stand so near the food he was preparing for fear that hair from his legs might fall into it. I per­

ceived that JoSo was perhaps stimulated by Juvenir's sensu­ ality. That afternoon the group wanted to listen to the tape recorded version of the private spirit session they had held the night before at Maria's home. My notes follow:

We go into the living room^to listen to the tape of the night before. The pretos velhos are first. Cecilia and JoSo get up to dance to the taped reto velho music several times, then sit down, Surlng the music, JoSo is suddenly and violently seized by one of his spirits. Seated on the sofa, he suddenly curls up in what is almost a fetal position. He squirms in this position for about thirty seconds while we watch with some alarm. When JoSo returns to normal his face is very red and he utters a long sign, for he has been holding his breath. A few minutes later he gets up to dance again to the preto velho music. While he is 140 dancing! his preto velho comes to him in a normal manner. It is Pai Joaquim de Angola.

A stool is brought out for Pai Joaquim to sit on. Someone lights a pipe for him to smoke and a news­ paper is laid on the floor for him to spit on. I turn off the tape recorder, and Juvenir and Cecilia tell me to record Pai Joaquim. JoSo's body continuously trembles, especially feet, hands and head. As the session progresses the trembling alternately stops and starts,25 Pai Joaquim tells Juvenir to go change from his shorts into long pants. Juvenir complies. Pai Joaquim calms down somewhat and Cecilia receives her preto velho.

These events were especially interesting for several reasons.

It seems apparent that JoSo was sexually stimulated by

Juvenir which was interpreted, half seriously and half

jokingly, by the others present as Margarida's influence

over JoSo. However, it is more difficult to say that JoSo's

initial chooue (shock) on the sofa was linked to sexual 1 behavior. Finally, it is interesting that Pai Joaquim told

Juvenir to change into long pants. This spontaneous possession was a part of a series of events during the year

of field work which lend credibility to the beliefs of the

clique that JoSo was a homosexual and that his spirits played a role in causing his more feminine behavior (Margarida) and

in controlling this behavior (Pai Joaquim).

Maria

The second "child of Oxum" in the clique was Maria.

She was born in the interior of the state of SSo Paulo in

certain amount of trembling is usual for the pretos velhos who died at an old age. 141 1929* Maria said that she was a "true" Brazilian, for her ancestry was a mixture of Italian, bahiano (Afro-Brazilian), and Indian. As a child she had worked in the fields, plant* ing rice, corn and greens, and had helped to hoe out the weeds. There had been time for four years of primary school. Her mother had been a curandeiro (healer) who had worked with herbs, but had known little or nothing about spiritualism. When Maria was twenty-five years old, she moved to the city of Sgo Paulo. At first she worked as a servant in a private home. Two years later Maria began to study acting while working part-time as a servant. She says that she acted in several theaters. On one occasion she per­ formed in a Macumba production. Maria did not discuss in detail her activities between 1956, when she began to try her luck in the theater, and 1964, when she began to develop her mediumship. Lucinda, a friend of Maria, told me that during this period Maria had lived with a man for several years and had given birth to a boy. The child died before he reached the age of five. Sometime during this period, Maria began to work as a beautician in her home.

By 1963* several events had occurred which led Maria to begin her spiritual development in Umbanda. Her stated reasons for entering Umbanda follow:

In my life I have had much disillusionment. But, as a beautician, I came to know many mSes- de-santo and mediums who frequented my salon, and they always would look at me and would say: "Maria, are you familiar with spiritualism?"

"Mo,"

"You never went?" "Never."

"Which is to say that you don't know spiritualism?"

"X don't know it."

"But you are a medium. I see a guia (guide, spirit) at your side. You have a marvelous shining star at your side."

All of the mediuns vider.tes (mediums who see spirits) always told me these things. Even the young blonde man who came by to pick up my laundry every Monday told me that I was a medium I didn't like it. Understand? I didn't like it and I didn't believe it because I was born a Catholic. I was such a Catholic that I didn't go for any other religion. So then this young man told me that I was a medium. He said that he practiced spiritualism in Umbanda. He had a spiritual insight one day that he would see me practicing Umbanda. I was still critical. I didn't believe any of this would ever happen. One year later a series of problems started happening to me.

In 1963 I was planning to enter a contest of coiffures at the "House of Italy." X had entered a contest there once before and had won. There were many hairdressers who had won before, but I overtook them that time. They weren't happy. They were envious and thought it was impossible for a hairdresser without a name— which was me— to win. I worked at home. Hidden My salon wasn't even registered. How could such a person win a contest?

So, in 1963 I arranged seven models and entered them in the "House of Italy" contest. And as we were going to the club, I had a horrible car accident, I wasn't hurt too badly, but the most beautiful model had her neck dis­ located. I was terrified. So much blood. I screamed, "Nossa Senhora da AparedidaI" How I 143 screamed! The car seemed to be without brakes and without steering. It went up and down the sidewalk. It ran into cars in front of us. Finally it hit a tree and stopped. The car windows were broken and everyone was covered with blood. People stopped to help us and to take our group to the hospital. Although my dress was wet with the blood of the others, I took a taxi to the club to advise the directors of the contest that I would be unable to enter.

One month later I went to a Japanese who reads the hand quite well. He took my hand and as he looked at it he told me everything that had happened in that car accident as if he had been there himself. And he had never seen me before! He told me that the car wreck had been sent by a person who was envious of my success. It was someone who despised me and thought I shouldn't enter the club because I would defeat her in the contest. This is to say that some­ one paid an exu to do a powerful work so that all this wouldhappen to me— that I could not enter the contest at the club. The Japanese told me that I had to attend sessions of Umbanda. I replied that I would go although I was not familiar with spiritualism and did not believe in it.

The first time I went to a center, I thought the mediums were just faking. I believed it was something that anyone could imitate.26 When it came my turn to speak with the spirit of the cult leader, I stood about a half meter from him. He put his hand on my forehead and I became dizzy. I felt as if I had taken an alcoholic drink. I felt strange and it seemed as if I were going under. Suddenly my vision disappeared. I no longer knew where I was. When I came to I was bathed in perspiration from dancing with the other spirits. That is how I began to develop my mediumship. From then on I believed in spiritualism. They told me that I was a good medium and that I should make the ritual clothing for the center and "work.” When I don't "work” at a center, nothing goes right for me. I am a medium who needs to practice charity for others.

Maria, of course, had feigned possession as an actress in commercial Macumba productions. 144 Marla attended sessions at this Umbanda center for two years. She stopped attending sessions when a close friend, also a medium, was expelled from the center by the mSe-de-santo. The friend had fallen in love with another medium at the center who already had a girlfriend.

Malicious gossip about the affair disrupted the smooth running of the center and the cult leader dealt with the situation in the manner described above. Maria rarely got along well with persons in authority, and I suspect that it is highly probable that Maria was also not getting along too well with the cult leader, although she did not discuss this with me.

Much of the data I collected on Maria seem to suggest that she was achievement-oriented in terms of money and status. Her story about her reasons for becoming a medium indicate this. The remainder of this chapter deals with instances of her concern with, and her use of spirits in relation to, money. The first instance concerns Maria’s introduction to Nair’s center. After quitting the first center, Maria did not participate in sessions for three months. She said that during this time nothing went right for her and that business at her beauty salon dropped off.

One Saturday, not one customer came to her. Maria went to talk with Nair about her problems at the other center and about her lack of business in the salon. She wanted to know if the first cult leader had sent an exu to turn her 145 customers against her. Nair, according to Maria, responded: The other mSe-de-santo did nothing. The only thing holding you back "in the salon is your non­ participation in sessions. You are a medium and you need to "work.” Your spirits want to do charitable works. The hour you begin to "work,” business will liven up again in your salon.

Maria entered Nair!s center as a medium on a Monday, and by the following day her customers had returned. Maria con­ tinued to practice as a medium in Neir's center. Whenever business would become slow, Maria would dispel the evil fluids in her salon by exploding gun powder, lighting a candle, and saying prayers. She said that she sometimes wondered whether such things actually helped, but since business frequently improved, she continued to perform the ritual. The relationship between Maria and Nair was interest­ ing for it seemed to be based, in part, on money. Nair perceived Maria as a somewhat vain person who was too much interested in money. However, since Maria did small favors for her, such as going to Nair's home to do her hair free of charge at least once a week, Nair was willing to over­ look Maria's faults. Maria frequently sent her friends to

Nair for spiritual help, and believed that Nair profited financially in this way. Maria thought that Nair should appreciate her efforts on her behalf more openly. This, however, was difficult for a proud cult leader such as Nair.

A covert conflict seemed to exist between these two women 146 which would erupt to the surface from time to time. The

following account illustrates the use of spirits in this relationship. The first part of the account illustrates

some jealousy between Maria and Cecilia.

On December 29, 1966, the major part of the public

session at NairTs center had been completed. Nair then

asked Cecilia to step forward to do a special dance with her which would ritually help the center. Although Cecilia was not able to aid the center financially, she quietly went about giving a great deal of spiritual assistance to

* Nair in private sessions. Nair's selection of Cecilia for this special dance was perhaps a way to show her apprecia­ tion to CecTlia for her services. Before they could com­ plete the dance, Maria was possessed by her crianca (child) spirit, Rozinha. My notes follow: Suddenly, Rozinha springs forward, with a big smile, lifting her skirt slightly, skipping in and out of the dance which Cecilia and Nair are performing. The dancing stops and Cecilia walks to the wall. Rozinha skips to the railing which separates the audience from the sacred area, smiles, says something to the audience, and then continues to skip about. Nair calls a halt to the drumming and tells Rozinha to leave. She smiles and replies, "No!" Nair then tries to humor Rozinha, telling her to leave again. "No! I want to stay here," says Rozinha. She con­ tinues her antics while Nair comes to the railing to talk with the audience, keeping her composure, but she appears to be a little annoyed. She returns to talk with Rozinha, but she is still in no mood to leave and begins to pout. Nair signals the drummers to begin again and the mediums make their formal exit. Nair is still trying to talk Rozinha into leaving, motioning for her to follow the others into the dressing li*1 rooms. Rozinha skips to the opposite wall, always laughing. The drumming stops. Nair sits on her chair and calls Rozinha to her. She comes, sits on the floor and Nair talks with her, putting a blue taffeta cloth over the child spiritjs head which is now resting on Nair's lap. She tells Rozinha to leave, rips the cloth off her head, but it is Rozinha who leaps up, laughing silently, as Nair comes to the railing, smiling herself and talking with the audience. Nair returns to Rozinha, but appears not to know what to do. She signals the drummers to begin again. Rozinha skips a few steps, but now no one in the sacred area is paying any attention to her. Maria, possessed by Rozinha, bobs her head up and down slightly, and she throws her­ self across the room, ramming her back into the wall. Maria appears to be stunned by Rozinha*s violent departure and one of the drummers and an assistant go to help her. The drumming stops and Maria is assisted through the exit.

That night, after the public session, the clique held a special session for their child spirits in Maria*s home. Juvenir justified their private session outside the center by claiming it was necessary for the child spirits to come more frequently than Nair would permit. He explained that their mae-de-santo did not care for the child spirits because, like live children, they tended to dirty the center.

Maria later told me that Rozinha had felt sorry for Nair and had come to bring her happiness, but that Nair had not appreciated it. She added that Rozinha, on leaving the center that night, had told Nair that she would bring her money. A few weeks later, on January 26, 1967, Nair held a special ritual celebration for 0x6ce (St. Sebastian).

Umbandists believe that many of the Indian spirits belong 143 to the Llnha de Oxdce. That night Maria presented a bouquet of red roses to Pena Verde who was possessing Nair. The

Indian warmly embraced Maria. After the mediums completed the special ritual for Gx6ce, which included an elaborate spread of Indian food, Nair called the crianca spirits to come to earth. Rozinha was the first to arrive and the last to leave. As Rozinha prepared to go she pushed her face in front of Nair*s. Projecting a giant smile and with eyes wide open, Rozinha seemed almost to leer at Nair. The mge-de-santo smiled tolerantly, and after Rozinha made two more rounds in the sacred area, she left Maria. Several months later Nair presented two "folkloric demonstrations" of Candombl^ in her center. The production was elaborate and the costumes for certain orixas were quite expensive. Most of Nair*s filhos danced for:their particular orixl. V/henever possible, the filhos paid for their costumes. In a few instances of poverty, Nair paid for the costumes. Several filhos were asked to dance for orixgs other than their own. Nair wanted Maria to dance for Obaluae and to pay for the expensive straw costume.

The members of the center laughed behind Maria*s back for they knew that she would have preferred dancing for the beautiful and somewhat vain MatnSe Oxum who is Maria*s orixg.

Instead, Nair had asked Maria to cover her entire body, from head to toe, with the straw of Obaluae. Maria, however, agreed to Nair*s request without complaint. 149 When preparation was underway for the second presen­ tation of the "folkloric demonstration," Nair asked Maria to dance also for lansS. Payment for the second costume evidently was not clearly specified, and a conflict between Nair and Maria ensued one week after Nair*s second public demonstration of Candomble. At the next regular session at the center Nair's caboclo. Pena Verde, burst into a diatribe in which he castigated half of Nair's filhos. He said that his cavalo was especially provoked with Maria who had refused to pay for the rabo (a sword-like instrument) of

IansS. After the session Maria expressed her annoyance and other members of the clique found reasons to dislike Nair.

The night following Pena Verdefs outburst, Maria dreamed of Rozinha who was feeling sorry for Nair. The child spirit had a vase on her head and was skipping out of the center toward NairTs house. At Nair's front door

Rozinha poured out the contents of the vase— glittering gold dust. Maria awoke at this point in her dream. During our conversation about her dream, Maria told me that she believed that Nair was jealous of the applause she had received for her dance for Iansa. She explained that many of her friends who frequented her salon had been there and that it was only natural that they should want to offer loud 150 applause for her dance*27 Maria also noted that she had

sold more tickets to the production than any other filhos

had. On the morning following her dream, Maria encountered

* Virginia (See Chapter V) on her way to the salon* As she

began to relate her dream to Virginia, Rozinha possessed

Maria in the street. Her one leg was bent at the knee, as

if hopping upward, and Virginia had to assist Maria upstairs

to her salon. Rozinha evidently cried while she was talk­

ing with Virginia, for as the child spirit left Maria, she

found herself in tears. Maria said that she felt like ,

crying the remainder of that day while working in her salon.

At the following week's session in Nair's center Pena

Verde once again publicly complained that Maria had not

paid for the rabo. This time, Maria spoke back to the

caboclo, telling him that she would purchase the rabo if

she were permitted to buy the dress of IansS and to dance

for Iansa in the future. Pena Verde replied that Maria

could not dance for IansS in the future because IansS was

not Maria's orixa. Maria then declared that she would not buy the rabo. Outside of the center, Maria began to talk more about leaving Nair. She said that if Nair's guias

(beads) broke, she would steal one of them. She believed that this would protect her from any evil magic Nair might

27I did not note that Maria received more applause than any of the other dancers. 151 send against her if she were to leave the center. For

several weeks Maria did not participate as a medium,

although she did sometimes attend sessions as a member of

the audience. She explained to Nair that she was not "feeling well" and could not actively take part. Eventu­

ally, however, she returned as a medium and once again began

to introduce prospective mediums to Nair. Another instance of the relation of money to Maria*s

spiritual life concerned Cecilia's son-in-law, Maria had

lent him a considerably large sum of money sometime before the year of field work had begun. Cecilia's daughter dis­ liked Maria and claimed that her husband and Maria must have been on "intimate" terms for Maria to have lent him so much money. At the private session the clique held for

Roberto (See Chapter VI), Maria's caboclo Ubiratan called

Juvenir aside for a private conversation. Juvenir later told me that Ubiratan had asked him to tell his cavalo, i.e., Maria, that she should not visit Cecilia's home in the future. Juvenir added that this had been the second time Ubiratan had given him this particular message. He believed it was associated with Cecilia's son-in-law's failure to repay the loan. Later in the year, the clique held a private session for a man who operated a spaghetti factory. The major spiritual business for the man had been concluded. Various lesser spirits of the clique began to possess the 152 participants) evidently for their own enjoyment as well as

for the entertainment of the non-mediums. A bahiano

(inhabitant of Bahia) spirit possessed Maria and began to

converse with Cecilia who was not possessed at the time.

The bahiano asked for a small sum of money Cecilia owed

Maria. Cecilia requested more time, explaining that her

husband was in the process of making payments on his taxi.

She added that it would mean so much to her family when the

taxi was paid for. In the end no money was returned. It

is interesting to note that Maria was in the process of

getting money together to make a down payment on an apart­ ment at this time. Later, other members of the clique com­

plained among themselves about the behavior of the bahiano,

even to the point of questioning the authenticity of Mariafs

possession. They believed that a spirit would not go so far as to request money on behalf of his cavalo.

Juvenir and Thales— the two young men in the clique whom I discuss in the next chapter— regarded JoSo and Maria as "religious fanatics," They believed that these two children of Mamae Oxum tended to mix religion and personal life too much. Thales even went so far as to suggest that

Maria not only used her religion for financial benefit, but also used it to seduce the men she wanted. Maria was certainly interested in advancing herself financially.

However, I was not able to document the latter claim. CHAPTER VIII

THE CLIQUE: TV/O YOUNG MEN

Men do not actively participate as mediums to the extent that women do. In the centers I visited, men accounted for 25 to 40 percent of the total number of mediums. However, the men who are drummers and those who act as directors for a center increase the total number of men participating in a center. The majority of men who do participate as mediums are in their twenties and early thirties. After this age span men either drop out or they assume the role of director, looking after the financial affairs and other more mundane aspects of running an Umbanda center. The relative lack of male participation as mediums is perhaps linked to the strong Brazilian masculinity com­ plex and to the fact that men were not supposed to be pos­ sessed by the orixa deities in traditional Candomble rituals (Landes 1940a). A widespread notion in the larger Brazilian population that most males in many of the spiritualist religions are homosexuals continues to exist. However, I did not find this to be true. Umbandists, themselves, say that many male cult leaders are homosexuals. This claim remains undocumented in my field notes.

153 154 Juvenir and Thales, two men in the clique who were in

their early twenties, gave several reasons for the pre­

dominance of female mediums. Both pointed out that men work at jobs with regular hours. They are unable to spend

several nights per week at late Umbanda sessions and to get up feeling refreshed for their daily work. The same might be said for many female mediums; however, their employment

as domestics is not as strenuous as the work of men. Both

informants believed that the ritual costumes, the dancing and the singing are activities which are more "feminine."

Thales noted that women are more confined to their homes

than men, and that the sessions offered women an acceptable

opportunity to socialize outside of their homes. Men, on the other hand, can come together for an evening of conver­

sation at the local bars. Juvenir was especially fearful

that the predominantly middle-class young men he worked with would learn that he was a "macumbeiro" (a term sometimes used in a derogatory manner by non-umbandists to refer to

Umbanda mediums). Thales thought that homosexuals such as

JoSo tended to give the wrong impression about male mediums to outsiders. For this reason he seemed to be hesitant about his association with spiritualism. Finally, it should be noted that Brazilians generally regard religion in any form as a feminine activity. Even the Catholic church is unable to recruit a sufficient number of priests. About half the priests in the country are missionaries from Europe. 155 Neither of these two young men regarded spiritualism as a major part of their lives. This contrasted sharply with the attitudes and behavior of Nair, Cecilia, Maria and

JoSo. These two young men differed also in that neither had developed their mediumship as much as the others had.

Juvenir

Juvenir frequently commented that in recent years

Cecilia had come to be like a mother to him. His own mother had died when Juvenir was seventeen. His father had been born in Portugal and his mother was a Brazilian. Juvenir was the youngest of nine children. V/hen his father died

Juvenir left the small town in the interior of SSo Paulo where he was reared and went to live with his oldest sister in the city of SSo Paulo. She was twenty-three years older than Juvenir and he felt that she tried to dominate him too much. He preferred his other sister who was less intransi­ gent. Juvenir spent several hours each week with the latter sister and her two children, teaching them English. Juvenir had studied English when his firm— a major Brazilian air­ line— offered night classes. He worked in the accounting department of this company. Renato, his apartment-mate, worked for the same firm and was a university graduate in economics. Renato had helped Juvenir to get his job. Five years earlier he had taken Juvenir into his apartment as a favor to Juvenirfs oldest sister. However, in recent years 156 she argued that Renato was a bad influence on Juvenir for she believed that Juvenir now had less respect for her* It was a complicated triangle, one which I never fully under­ stood* However, it did seem possible that the bickering which went on among the three might have caused psycholog­

ical stress for Juvenir between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. When Juvenir was about twenty years old he had participated for a short time as a medium in Umbanda sessions which a male friend had held at home. However, his friend was also young and apparently lacked the maturity and sophistication which is necessary to help other mediums develop spiritually. Juvenir dropped out of this circle of friends and he felt that for four or five years nothing had gone well for him. He was insecure and nervous for no apparent reason that he could understand.

Sometime during the year before I began field work,

Cecilia had held a private session for Juvenir*s oldest sister. That evening a crianca (child) spirit possessed

Juvenir. For the first time he felt secure about a spirit incorporating him. Cecilia told him that she thought he should develop his mediumship and that he might enjoy Nair*s center. Juvenir accompanied Cecilia the following week and found that he liked Nair "because she is educated." Juvenir, himself, was the most educated member of the clique. He had completed the work for the gin&sia. and was thinking about attending a col&gio at night. The following week a caboclo 157 possessed Juvenir at Nair's center. He explained that at

first his caboclo did not know what to do, but gradually

learned to dance with the others. Juvenir*s caboclo spoke

only one time during the year, and with great difficulty

then. I believe this was related to the fact that Juvenir

was usually in deep trance and unconscious while possessed.

The exception to very deep trance for Juvenir might have

been possession by JoSozinho, his child spirit.

Joaozinho was Juvenirfs favorite spirit. The boy

spirit would roll on his back and pedal an imaginary bicycle

in the air, ask for candy and cakes, and blow a spray of

carbonated soft drink onto anyone who had the misfortune to

be too close to him. Even when Juvenir was not possessed

by JoSozinho, he would make childish faces at Renato to

annoy his apartment-mate. Renato did not think that it was proper to "play around" with something serious like

religion. Whenever Juvenir felt like it he would pray to

JoSozinho. His prayers were "like talking, but I don*t

hear any words from my child. I just know he is there

listening to me. I ask for help in my work, in my studies,

in my happiness."

A medium may know the personal history of his various

spirits* The spirit, itself, may tell his own life history while possessing a person. Sometimes another spirit may be

able to tell an individual about his spirits. The latter was the case for JoSozinho* At a private session Juvenir 15$ asked Maria's Rozinha if she knew anything about his

crianca. Rozinha provided the following account:

JoSozinho was the son of a fazendeiro (large farm owner) in the interior of Sao Paulo. He was only three years old. A school teacher came to the area. The children in the commun­ ity attended the school. The three-year old Joaozinho also attended because he was the son of the wealthy fazendeiro. But he was too young to learn. So he ran around and created a great deal of disturbance in the classroom. The teacher didn't correct the child because of his father's status. But one day the teacher got fed up with JoSozinho and put him in the unfinished cellar under the schoolhouse. There, a snake bit JoSozinho and killed him. And that is why you are afraid of snakes today.

Juvenir said that he tended to believe Rozinha's account for he, Juvenir, was indeed quite fearful of snakes.

The crianca spirits and the exus sharply contrast in behavior. The former are playful, joyful and innocent.

The latter are base, crude and sometimes violent. Juvenir loved his crianca and made special offerings to JoSozinho.

On the other hand, he did not particularly like exu spirits.

When a medium fails to fulfill the obrigacSes (obligations) for a particular spirit, it may bring personal difficulties and illnesses to the medium. This occurred in Juvenir's case, which I described in Chapter IV under the heading of

"Sickness as a consequence of religious negligence or ignorance." I review Juvenir*s case once more in this chapter and add more data.

For some time, Juvenir had been constantly and inexplicably bumping into furniture at work and in his home 159 seriously bruising his arms and legs. He believed this was possibly caused by his failure to perform duties for his exu. It was highly probable that his exu would demand the obrigacgo to be made in a cemetery at midnight— something which Juvenir greatly feared. To avoid learning more about the specific details of this duty, he attempted to restrain his exu from possessing him. However, throughout the year his personal control over the situation weakened consider­ ably. At exu sessions it is customary to explode small amounts of gun powder as a means of driving away evil fluids.

When this occurred in private sessions of the clique,

Juvenir1s exu would attempt to possess him, jerking his head up and back and drawing him backward from the waist until his face became contorted with pain. His knees would bend, causing his body to be drawn downward until his back was only a few inches from the floor. His hands would stiffen into hook-like forms of an exu. The shock was only momen­ tary and his rigid body would immediately collapse on the floor. Juvenir would get up on his feet, a bit stunned and very sore. He reported neck and back aches the days follow­ ing these sessions. Members of the clique and their spirits continued to remind Juvenir that the bruises resulting from apparently unexplained bumping into furniture was a sign given to him from his exu that an obrigacSo should be offered. They added that neck and back pains resulting from attempted possession by his exu would also continue. 160 Sometime later in the year possession did occur at a private session* At that session, Cecilia was possessed by the exu. Mulambo— an alcoholic derelict. Mulambo was

sitting on the floor where he had made quite a mess with the seven cooked fish used and eaten earlier during this exu session. Mulambo had asked for a small piece of white cloth and had torn it into small strips. My field notes follow:

Mulambo instructs us to roll up the small pieces of white cloth into balls. He tells us to make circles on the floor with the cloth balls, making our wishes. Then we are to put the balls into the trash— fish bones, fish intestines and cigar butts and ashes— accumulat­ ing in front of Mulambo. The exu then pours rum over the trash, mashing it together, kneading it. He pours nearly a half cup of rum over his con­ coction. Mulambo next asks for p6lyera (gun powder), and sprinkles five times the normal amount over the mixture in front of him. Juvenir watches the proceedings with glazed eyes, as if he is terrified. He occasionally stands up; balances himself with one foot flat on the floor and the other foot is loose so that the toes are touching the floor; loses his balance temporarily; and supports himself on the wall. This occurs a number of times. He does not interact with the others as he usually does. I begin to wonder if he might not be possessed by an exu fairly soon. His strange behavior is noted by Mulambo who says nothing.

Mulambo resumes kneading the magical concoc­ tion and simultaneously talks with Roberto for whom the session is being held. Then the exu turns to another man Cecilia had invited to the session and asks him to write down on a piece of paper all the names of people he wishes to influence in his business. Mulambo looks at the names, tears the paper into strips, and mashes the strips into the mixture. He pours additional gun powder on top of it. Juvenir continues to watch with glazed eyes. 161 Mulambo ignites his magical concoction with sparks from his cigar. An explosion ensues and JoSo, sitting beside Mulambo, begins to laugh hysterically in a high pitched voice as Margarida possesses him. Juvenir falls backward to the floor, but he is not possessed. Mulambo calls Juvenir to sit beside him. Juvenir joins the exu on the floor and sits on his own feet. Mulambo holds Juvenir's right hand, quivering slightly. Juvenir leans backward, groaning, but regains his balance. Mulambo takes Juvenir's hand again, and after about fifteen seconds succeeds in inducing an exu into Juvenir. Juvenir leans back again, groaning, screaming, but the exu is not entirely incorporated into him. Suddenly Juvenir begins turning around and around in his seated position. The turning is the general pattern Juvenir uses to induce trance and possession of his other spirit.

Juvenir's hands begin to assume the hook-like appearance of an exu. Others, not possessed, help him to his feet. His exu speaks a round of curse words. The other spirits in the room try to get Juvenir's exu to tell his name, but he refuses. He says that his cavalo is a son-of- a-bitch who did not want to be possessed by the exu. He adds that his cavalo does not want to make the necessary obrigacoes, and that the people in the room must tell his cavalo to make the appropriate offerings. When the exu leaves, Juvenir has some difficulty coming out of trance. Juvenir moves into the next room during the final stages of trance termination. He then rushes to the bathroom where he vomits. He returns to sit in a chair, Mulambo calls Juvenir to him and is very gentle. Juvenir seems more or less resigned to his exu for the time being.

I am not aware that the obrigacSo was made during the period of field work. This was the last exu session the clique held while I was in SSo Paulo. 162 Thales

Thales had recently been discharged from the army when I first met him on May 7, 1967. On that day he accom­ panied the clique on a Sunday outing to Maria's small farm in the country* There, the mediums went into the forest to be possessed by their caboclo spirits and to leave small offerings for them. Thales differed somewhat from the others in his general outlook on life and in his everyday behavior. Perhaps this was idiosyncratic, or, it may have been related to his background in southern Brazil. Thales had been born and reared in the southern-mcst state of Rio

Grande do Sul. The southern states are more heavily popu­ lated by persons of northern European descent, especially

German. Part of Thales' grandparents' generation had come from Denmark, and he had a northern European surname. Thales had attended four years of primary school, but regarded himself as a self-taught person. He read widely and could converse to some extent on esoteric subjects such as Neanderthal Man. Thales did not like to work at one job for more than six months. He preferred to learn what he could at one job, and then move on to another job where he could learn some­ thing new and different. YJhen he first came to SSo Paulo,

Thales had worked as an electrician. After his discharge from the army he had gotten a job as a servant in a very wealthy home. Although his salary was nearly equal to that 163 of Juvenir and he had no expenses for room and board, his

position was regarded as being somewhat lower in status

than that of Juvenir, Thales, however, saw the financial

advantage to his job and, according to Cecilia, was saving

money to open a small shop specializing in men!s clothing.

Whenever Thales became restless he talked about leaving SSo Paulo for the Brazilian frontier of Matto Grosso or for

the United States where he could get employment as a servant

for a wealthy family. Since he was twenty-one years old,

the specter of the United States draft and Vietnam restrained

the latter ambition. Maria had introduced Thales to Nair, and he had been

participating as a medium in her center before serving his

year in the army. Nair had held a special ritual to separ­

ate Thales and his spirit so that the spirit would not

possess him while in the army. When Thales returned he no

longer wished to participate as a medium. However, during

the six and a half months I observed him, he was possessed

twelve times. The first possession occurred at a private session one

and a half months after I met Thales. Later he began to

participate at Nair's center on an irregular basis. His

attendance seemed to be regularly tied to the lack of

success he had in courting women. As Cecilia observed,

"When Thales has a girlfriend, he doesn't go to the center.

When he doesn't have a woman, he goes." Thales announced 164 that he was ready to get married and settle down, but his

difficulties in finding an acceptable (and accepting) woman perhaps put him under stress. At one point when he was having difficulty with a woman he did not go to the center, but reportedly was observed to have been drunk.

Thales was under stress in another way. A spirit would possess him during caboclo sessions and would behave more or less as if it were a caboclo. However, in ten out of twelve possessions, the clique agreed that Thales was possessed by an exu who pretended to be a caboclo. They pointed out that the spirit did not incorporate Thales properly. Usually, a caboclo is supposed to possess a medium with a few head and chest Jerks while the medium is in an upright position. When Thales’ spirit possessed him he would make the usual head and chest movements. Then he would bend forward from the waist with his head and arms dangling downward in front of his legs for a few seconds.

With a loud shout or sigh he would straighten himself into an upright position. Sometimes another person would have to help him move into the upright position. During posses­ sion his facial expression differed from the forceful countenance of other caboclos. His facial muscles would seem to relax and he would have a small smile. His eyelids would droop slightly giving him a somewhat dreamy appear­ ance. His spirit never projected the image of fierce aloofness that some caboclos do. 165 In private sessions Thales1 never had any difficulty in terminating trance. However, when he was in Nair!s center, his spirit frequently left in a violent manner, sometimes bruising Thales. Nair and her spirits told Thales that he must make a special obrieacao for his exu, but he did not wish to do this. One night Nair held a special session during which her filhos were possessed by an orixl. followed by a child spirit. Thales supposedly was possessed by Iemanja and then by a crianca. My notes follow: Pena Verde calls the criancas together to tell them that it is time to leave. In an unorganized fashion they prostrate themselves at the appro­ priate places in the sacred area. Thales' crianca prostrates himself in the center of the sacred area, striking his forehead very hard on the floor three times, (This should be done lightly.) His face begins to lose the expression of a child and a grimace replaces it. As he begins to stand up his "spirit" forces him backward. He is caught by two large male assistants who firmly grasp his upper arms. His head is thrown backward and his body is arched. His eyes are tightly squeezed shut. Pena Verde sharply looks at what is happening. As Thales is terminating possession the caboclo shouts, "This one is suspended for four weeks!.After the session Thales says that the other mediums told him of his suspension. He feels it is wrong for Nair to do this since he believes the disruption was the spirit's fault and not his own. He admits that it was an exu who was pretending to be Iemanj£ and the crianca. Thales says that the exu has something to tell Nair. According to Thales, since Nair does not want to hear what the exu has to say, the spirit struck his head on the floor with such severity. He is not willing to explain the conflict. Thales adds that when his body is arched backward, his exu makes him feel as if his head and chest will be thrown off the lower part of his body. 166 The session just described occurred toward the end of the year of field work. This was the first time Thales openly admitted that an exu was possessing him.

The members of the clique reacted to Thales and his 0 spiritual difficulties in various ways. Cecilia was always patient and understanding. Maria and JoSo frequently teased Thales and told him that his "caboclo” was really an exu. JoSo greatly annoyed Thales by suggesting that it was a £omba-gira {female exu). Publicly, Juvenir remained aloof, but he and his apartment mate, Renato, discussed

Thales1 behavior behind his back. They argued that Thales tended to overplay his role within the Brazilian masculin­ ity complex. The two men at one point said that Thales1 gross masculine behavior was being influenced by an exu.

At the end of my year of field work, Juvenir suggested that

Thales1 super-masculine behavior might be a psychological compensation for impotence. Cecilia told me that before

Thales had gone to the army, he had like a mulatto who at the time had been a filha of Nair. He had paid for various

# medical expenses when she had been sick. Cecilia went no 0 farther. Juvenir, however, told me the story Cecilia had once related to him. The mulatto had had an argument with

Nair and had left the center. Nair!s caboclo. Pena Verde, had told Thales in a public session that he should not see the girl again. Thales had responded that he would look after his own affairs and had told Pena Verde not to meddle. 167 Sometime later, Thales supposedly had told Cecilia that he

was impotent. Since he had stopped seeing the mulatto, he

believed that she had paid an exu to bring him this parti­

cular misfortune. Juvenir was convinced that Thales was impotent. Juvenir claimed to believe that an exu could not

bring impotence. He argued, instead, that Thales* problems

were more "psychological” than spiritual in origin. Whether

Thales would agree to this third-hand version of his spiri­

tual difficulties is seriously open to question. I was

unable to obtain a validation of these data from either

Thales or Cecilia. The data are nevertheless useful because

they illustrate the nature of some interpersonal relations within the clique. CHAPTER IX

ANALYSIS OF TRANCE AND SPIRIT POSSESSION IN UMBANDA

The biological state of dissociation, or trance, and its cultural interpretation as possession by spirits repre­ sent extremely complex forms of behavior, Salman (196#:

19#-200), summarizing the difficulties in studying such a complexity of behavior, has suggested that we try to under­ stand the absolute necessity of analyzing trance and spirit possession on a variety of different levels. The five levels which Salman has recommended for the interpretation and analysis of trance and spirit possession are the following: 1) the physiological level; 2) the level of the inner structures and functions of the personalities con­ cerned; 3) the level of interpersonal relations; 4) the level of study which regards possession as a form of social behavior within a specific cultural environment; and 5) the level of possession behavior as religious behavior. These five levels would seem to represent the following aspects of man: 1) biological; 2) psychological as affected by the biological and social levels; 3) social; 4) socio­ cultural; and 5) cultural. Salman, in discussing the fifth level, speaks of the need for a psychology of religion.

16# 169 However, the major portion of his discussion of possession

behavior as religious behavior seems to emphasize the

study of religion as a set of cultural beliefs which a people have. Certainly, it is logical that the fifth level

should be an analysis of cultural beliefs. In this chapter

I use Salman*s categories to facilitate the analysis of

trance and spirit possession in Umbanda. As I proceed

through these five levels of analysis, I shall be moving

along a continuum which begins with micro-changes at the

level of the individual and ends with macro-changes at the

level of culture.

Some Biological Aspects of Dissociation in Umbar.da Mediums

Dissociation, or trance, is a biological phenomenon which Bourguignon (1968:332) has defined as

a state in which we observe a certain alteration of consciousness, an alteration which may bring about changes, in varying degree, of certain functions: changes in concepts of identity, In memory functions, in sensory modalities, etc. (Trans, from the French by Bourguignon.)

Salman (1968:198) has pointed out several physiological

features of importance to a biological study of trance:

the central nervous system, the ascending reticular system,

the Papez-McLean circuit of limbic lobe, thalamus and

hypothamus. My field study of a few biological aspects of trance was considerably more modest in scope and depth. I relied

on observation of objective external aspects of trance 170 behavior and subjective reports given by my informants.

This section includes ray findings on seven items: the

types of trance recognized by umbandists, preparation for

trance, induction of trance, means for sustaining trance,

termination of trance, feelings after trance, and the

relation of trance states to emotional states. First, it is interesting to note that umbandists

categorize trance, or more accurately mediums, into three

types— conscious, semi-conscious and unconscious. Infor­ mants estimated that only 15 to 35 percent of Umbanda

mediums are unconscious during possession. I estimate that

no more than about five percent of the mediums experience

a deep unconscious trance with the following criteria: glazed eyes for two or three hours; profuse perspiring for

two or three hours, even when not physically active; pro­

duction of more saliva than normal, but no frothing; some

difficulty with motor coordination, i.e., jerky movements

and some difficulty with speech; unconsciousness; and the

need to be supported for 30 seconds after trance. One

young man told me that he was a semi-conscious medium

alternating between conscious and unconscious states.

While possessed by his caboclo or his orix£. XangS, he

rolled his eyes upward so that only whites of his eyes were displayed (See Appendix, Figure 8). He apparently experi­

enced a deeper trance when possessed by these two spirits than did the other mediums described in this dissertation. 171 When possessed by his child spirit he was in a lighter state of trance and conscious, and the extreme upward movement of his eyes did not occur. Conscious mediums exhibited fewer external physiological changes, but they did report changes in body image. They felt their body growing larger and more powerful when possessed by a caboclo spirit. When possessed by a child spirit they felt lighter and smaller, and a few mediums reported that the lightness in weight enabled them to spring upward like a child. One conscious medium reported that when she was possessed, people and objects in the room appeared to her to be small and far away. I described one case of fugue in

Chapter IV, and a second case was reported to me. Both apparently involved unconsciousness. Many Umbanda mediums told me that they felt that it was sometimes better to be an unconscious, rather than a conscious, medium. They observed that when one is conscious, it is difficult in the early stages of developing ones mediumship to be certain whether it is a spirit which is talking or whether it is actually oneself. Umbandists believe that having lost oneself to unconsciousness, it is more certain that a spirit is speaking. Unconsciousness seems also to help settle the question of the validity of a spirit*s presence to an observer or a client. Carmargo (1961:52) tells us that the closer an umbandist is to Kardecismo, the more he values being a conscious medium, and the closer he is to the more 172 African forms of Umbanda, the more unconsciousness is

valued. This, it seems to me, might be related to the

emphasis kardecists place on the intellectual abilities of

their spirits.

Second, umbandists prepare themselves for trance

states by avoiding heavy meals and alcohol on the day they

go to a public session. This practice is fairly routine,

but not universal. Total abstinence from food is not

common at all. Third, the induction of trance usually is

accompanied by polyrhythmic drumming and handclapping,

singing and ringing of a bell (See Appendix, Figure 9)*

Mediums are often dancing and spinning up to the point of

the head-chest jerk which signals possession by a spirit.

Private Umbanda sessions and some public sessions are more

sedate, and the mediums rely more on quietly concentrating

on the arrival of their spirit. Only the head-chest move­ ment occurs in these cases. In observing several hundred mediums during the year of field work, I saw only one case of hyperventilation being used to induce trance. This

individual, a woman, breathed deeply for a few minutes while her body was bent from the waist at about a 60° angle to the floor. Fourth, the trance state is difficult to sustain over a period of two or three hours unless the medium is in a deep unconscious state of dissociation.

Facial expressions, voice and gestures are modified by all mediums and glazed eyes appear in nearly all mediums. 173 However, after about 20 minutes of possession facial

expressions, voices, gestures and eyes return to normal in

the conscious mediums although they are said to be possessed

over a period of two or three hours. I observed mediums

drinking alcoholic beverages in private sessions. This

practice may aid in sustaining trance when drumming is not

present as it is in public sessions. Fifth, trance is

terminated when the cult leader announces that it is time

for the spirits to return to their heavenly dwelling places.

There may be some spinning on the part of the mediums,

followed by head-chest jerks. The medium frequently drops back into the arms of someone who is waiting to break the fall. Some difficulty may be encountered in coming out of trance. In Chapter V, I described the instance of liair, who had some difficulty in returning to normal after her caboclo publically announced that Nair no longer had sexual relation. In Chapter VI, I wrote about a private session

in which Ceciliafs caboclo had said that he was going to

cut her life in half if she did not become a cult leader.

At this point, the caboclo sent a glass of beer crashing to the floor, and Cecilia apparently went into a catatonic state for several minutes. Both of these women were normally conscious mediums. It would seem that in these instances, their spirits had said something which was not entirely acceptable to these women. Perhaps for this reason, unconsciousness and difficulty in terminating trance 174 occurred. In Chapter VIIIf I described Juvenir1s reluc­ tance to be possessed by an exu spirit who said that his cavalo does not like him and does not want to make offer­ ings to him. Furthermore, he called Juvenir a son-of-a- bitch. Juvenir had some difficulty in coming out of trance, and he immediately vomited. Sixth, mediums report that they feel very relaxed after trance. Personal tensions they may have had before trance are no longer present.

Many mediums say that they are hungry, and will eat at home or elsewhere after a session.

The final item of importance in this section is the relation of trance states to emotional states. It appears to me that trance states may frequently be related to what

Festinger (1957) calls cognitive dissonance, or conflict, at the cerebral level. Festinger (1957:16) states that cognitive dissonance acts in the same way as a state of drive or need or tension. Just as the presence of hunger leads to action to reduce hunger, the presence of disson­ ance leads to action to reduce it. As such, it seems to me, cognitive dissonance represents an internal force which provokes a state of stress in the body. The cogni­ tive conflict an individual experiences and the resulting physiological stress are often manifested as depression, aggression, or suppression of aggression. According to

Alexander (1950), when suppression occurs, the excitatory responses of the sympathetic nervous system may be blocked to such an extent that psychosomatic illnesses may emerge, e.g., migraine, hypertension, hyperthyrodism, cardiac neuroses, arthritis, vaso-depressor syncope, and possibly diabetes. When depression occurs and the inhibitory responses of the parasympathie nervous system are blocked, peptic ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, colitis, fatigue states and asthma may occur (Alexander, 1950)• It seems that the more common conscious trance state and possession are an attempt on the part of the individual to deal with these and other emotional feelings exemplified in some of the preceding sections. To some extent I regard the acting out of a spirit role as a type of ego defense mechanism. A novice in Umbanda has not yet learned to play or to utilize spirit roles. Therefore, if his other ego defense mechan­ isms are weakly developed, additional cognitive dissonance and physiological stress may build up to a higher level since depression, aggression, suppression and illnesses are not always acceptable either to the person himself, or to the people he interacts with. The added dissonance and stress may be the reason that it is fairly easy to induce a brief state of unconscious trance in the novice. Occa­ sionally, cognitive dissonance and stress may build up to a higher level in a developed medium who is normally conscious during possession, causing him to shift into a state of unconsciousness. 176 Inner Structures and Functions of a Spirit Medium’s

Personality The three aspects of a spirit medium's personality

I shall discuss in this section are 1) the cultural struc­

turing of spirit possession into the personality of an

individual; 2) the fact that possession states in the

novice are usually due to some inability of his personality

to function adequately in its socio-cultural environment;

and 3) the rewards which reinforce a person's decision to

continue practicing as a medium in Umbanda over a long period of years. Possession behavior, like all other forms of cultural

behavior, is learned. I observed children between the ages

of three and five imitating in a playful manner the body

movements for inducing and terminating possession states— a back and forth jerking of the head and chest in opposing

directions. They had visited Umbanda centers and were

repeating at home for their own amusement what they had

seen. Their behavior was not discouraged and it provided

entertainment for their elders who were mediums. However,

their fun-making was not recognized as spirit possession, for it lacked the accompanying spiritual disorders or the

intent to be possessed for the purpose of helping others with their problems. In addition to learning about body movements, the children had also learned the accompanying

cultural concept of possessing spirits from their family. 177 Usually, it is not until an individual reaches adulthood that he begins to find the concept of spirits significant to his personal life. It is then that he encounters diffi­ culties such as obtaining employment or has problems with his family. At this time his family and friends may urge him to secure spiritual aid at an Umbanda center.

Individuals who are beginning to develop their mediumship undergo some special training. Various techniques may be used to help a person learn to dissociate himself from his surroundings. The trance state which is induced seems to aid a novice in learning the proper roles of his spirits. The techniques used are similar to those used in hypnosis such as hav5rg a novice focus his attention on a lighted candle. Another technique is to turn an individual around about five times in front of a cult leader who then induces a trance state by passing his hand across the face of the novice and snapping his fingers. Another way of inducing trance involves a cult leader holding the two hands of a novice, relaxing him, and rocking him back and forth on his heels. This can easily lead into the head-chest jerks which signal possession by a spirit. Perhaps the most frequently used means for inducing trance is to have a novice turn himself around dozens of times until he loses some mental contact with his surroundings. The person may easily fall because he feels dizzy, and people gather in a circle about him to prevent any serious accidents. After a novice goes through this sort of activity over a period of

several sessions, he usually begins to pivot on one foot which prevents falling. Also, when he stops his turning,

he will not fall if he simply puts his body weight on one

foot and balances himself with the opposite foot and leg. I never heard a cult leader explain the pivot maneuver of

the body-balancing technique to a novice. They seem to be

unconsciously learned by an individual himself. The head- chest jerks are then added. Once a novice is experiencing

a state of dissociation, a cult leader will often tell or

show the "spirit" how it should behave. The cultural structuring of spirit possession into the personality of an individual is both an imitative process and a process of more directed learning of trance and spirit roles. A second factor of personality which can be taken

into account is that possession states in a novice are usually due to some inability of an individual to success­ fully function in his specific socio-cultural environment.

The informants described in this dissertation may be used as examples. Thales' problems seemed to revolve around his desire to get married and his inability to find a woman. It is interesting to note Cecilia's observation of

Thales: "When Thales has a girlfriend, he doesn't go to the center. When he doesn't have a woman, he goes." In other words, when Thales had a girlfriend he was not experi­ encing stress and did not feel a need for the sessions. Thales reportedly was drunk one night when he was having difficulty with a woman, and did not show up at the center.

This is interesting in that drunkeness and trance are two forms of altered states of consciousness. They would seem to be two ways of coping with cognitive conflict and the resulting psychobiological stress. Juvenir was apparently having difficulties with his oldest sister and his apart- ment-mate, Renato, when he entered Umbanda. JoSo claimed that he had personal difficulties when he first began developing his mediumship, although these remained unspeci­ fied to me. Maria had had various problems which may have been significant over a period of years: inability to become an actress; difficulty with a love affair; the death of a child; and the major auto wreck on the way to a con­ test for hairdressers. Nair, somewhat of an aggressive indi­ vidual, had given up her teaching career to marry a man who had difficulty providing for his wife. During the early years of her marriage, she had lost four children. Family illnesses and familial altercations were occurring when Nair made her decision to develop her mediumship.

The data on Cecilia clearly suggest that possession states in the novice can be linked to the inability of the personality to function adequately in its socio-cultural environment. In the span of two or three years a number of

0 events occurred in Cecilia's life which might have led her to seriously question the security of her roles as wife and ISO mother. Her husband behaved in a peculiar way, ruining the business he had built up. Sometime later he was involved with another woman. Two of her children died. If we regard spirits and dreams as projections of the inner personality, it is evident that Cecilia was troubled by events in her daily life. The Japanese spirit seemed to be projection of

Cecilia's personal warfare. He was a prisoner who is con­ cerned with saving children from getting killed. He was in solitary confinement and was forced to tell what he knew when hot water was thrown over him. These are perhaps projections of Cecilia's concern with the death of her children, with her aloneness, and with her need to express her feelings about saving children from dying, and her unconscious desire to express them under stress. It is also interesting to note that at a time when her husband had a girlfriend, her old boyfriend possessed her as a spirit and that she had a dream about her caboclo spirit pursuing her for the purpose of sexual relations. The short time she spent at the seashore at Santos probably gave Cecilia time to think more about developing her mediumship. When she returned to Sao Paulo, she was not yet willing to admit that she would like to assume the role of spirit medium, but three spirits which possessed her spoke her inner desires and needs. First, her dead mother's spirit could evolve only through Cecilia's own spiritual development. Second, the Japanese spirit said that if she did not develop her mediumship, he would bring her more

spiritual problems. He added that he would be a light by

her side if she did practice spiritualism. Finally, the

spirit of her dead boyfriend came to her because he needed to evolve spiritually and said that he would help her by

bringing some luck. It appears that Cecilia was unable to

openly accept her personal need to develop her mediumship.

Instead, she made her decision on the basis of the needs of

the spirits of her mother and her boy friend, and of her

husband who refused to go to a center for spiritual help.

Cecilia came across as a person who thought of herself as

independent and capable of handling her own problems. She was not able to see herself in special need perhaps of getting out of the house and away from her husband several nights a week as an Umbanda medium role would require.

Therefore, her spirits seemed to speak her inner desires

and personal needs. It is interesting to note that of the six spirits which possessed her at this time, five of them were male. I believe this was an expression of her persona­

lity which included more aggressiveness and independence

than one normally expects a Brazilian woman to have. Today, she says that her participation in Umbanda has given her

personal freedom which other Brazilian women do not have.

The third item relating to personality I wish to

discuss is the rewards which reinforce a person’s decision

to continue practicing as a medium in Umbanda over a long 182 period of years. For a very few individuals— specifically,

cult leaders— being a medium can be a financially rewarding role. Cult leaders usually do not become wealthy, but they

can manage to support themselves. But for most Umbanda mediums the rewards are more personal. In Cec£liafs case, being a medium meant that she could spend a great deal of

time outside of her house and in the presence of other men with her husband's approval. Furthermore, a medium such as

Cecflia who has developed his or her spiritual capacities and uses them in unselfish ways to help others is awarded a great amount of respect by others. I believe that a large number of mediums also attend Umbanda centers, in part, for the social life it offers. In addition to regular sessions, there are festas (parties, celebrations) for the orixas with special food and drink; there are outings to the seashore to celebrate the goddess Iemanja and to the forests to pay respects to the caboclo spirits; there are group visits which the members of one Umbanda center make to another center. When an individual decides to practice in a particular center, there is always the possibility of making new friends among the mediums. Then, there are the more theatrical and esthetic aspects of

Umbanda which bring personal satisfaction to a medium. The special ritual garb, the public dancing and singing, and the attention one gets while possessed cannot be overlooked.

While the character of most spirits in public Umbanda sessions is somewhat formal and to some degree subdued, the spirits at private sessions can become extremely entertaining to both their intimate audience as well as to themselves. Finally, it should be noted that personal difficulties may occur throughout the life span of a medium. There may be ongoing problems such as JoSo was experiencing, i.e., his homosexual tendencies which were interpreted as being the behavior of his pomba-gira.

Margarida. Other mediums may not experience chronic pro­ blems, but temporary difficulties may arise, e.g., the events which seemed to lead up to Cecilia's being possessed by Pena Branca, who was not the caboclo she usually worked with.

Negative sanctions are also present, and reinforce an individual's decision to not participate as an Umbanda medium. For one thing, men do not seem to participate as much as women because of the stigma of homosexuality which is sometimes attached to male mediums. Men have other outlets for tension build-up, such as drinking and convers­ ing in bars. The negative sanctions described by Mischel and Mischel (1958:25*3) for Trinidad, and which I listed in

Chapter I, are also present to some degree in Brazil.

Umbanda is regarded as more "African” than Kardecismo. In the minds of some Brazilians, e.g., Nair's husband, thi3 puts Umbanda into an intellectual category lower than

Kardecismo. An aversion to complete abandon and a fear 134 that a spirit may say something bad through its medium helps to reinforce the decision of some people to remain either outside of spiritualist religions altogether or to participate only as a client seeking spiritual advice.

Spirit Possession In Interpersonal Relations

Two major types of interpersonal relations^ between spirits and people seem to emerge from the data on Umbanda.

One of these has to do with the relation between a spirit and a client who comes to public or private Umbanda sessions for help. If the client is reasonably stable psychologi­ c a l l y , ^ the spirit will make suggestions which are geared toward reestablishing the social norms dictated by Brazi­ lian culture. For example, a spirit may tell a client how he should handle a difficult son or daughter or a wayward spouse. Some other personal difficulties which appear in my field notes included the following: problems of getting or holding a job; reducing the rent of a building which

use the term interpersonal relations to refer to the interaction between a spirit and a person. The term seems to be quite appropriate for describing this parti­ cular Brazilian phenomenon. should point out that the use of the terms "psychologically stable" and "psychologically unstable" are mine. Umbandists, themselves, talk instead about "spiritual disorders" which must be controlled by supernatural means. Umbandists also discuss "psychological problems," but con­ fine the use of this term to behavior which an individual can control without supernatural aid. What umbandists consider "psychological" and what they regard as "spiritual" seems to be a matter of personal inclination. 185 housed a small spaghetti-making factory; division of a small estate; increasing the number of retail buyers in a restaurant and in a beauty salon; increasing the number of retail sellers for a man who produced straw hats and purses; and determining who had stolen some musical instru­ ments from someones home. Usually there are the ever­ present headaches, nervousness and feelings of depression which go along with such difficulties. The spirit may or may not single out a specific spiritual cause for such difficulties, but in all cases they offer advice. Special rituals are performed by either the spirit or by the client at the direction of the spirit. Ke may tell the individual who has come for help to light a candle and pray to a specific orixa. or saint, or perhaps to fill a glass full of water which will draw bad spiritual fluids away from the client. In the cases just mentioned, the client was fairly stable psychologically. On the other hand, if a client appears to be somewhat unstable and is not function­ ing very well, or perhaps needs the social support of an Umbanda center, the spirit may single out one of the six causes of spiritual disorders. The cult leader may suggest that the individual begin to develop his mediumship. That is, the client will learn to become a medium for spirits at the center.

The second major type of interpersonal relation which

I found in Umbanda was the relation between a spirit and an individual who was not acting in the role of client. In

this type of situation the spirit seemed to be used by the medium to represent his normally hidden or inner desires vis-a-vis other individuals. A number of cases from my data illustrate this point. Nair's spirits explained that they had caused her husband to leave Nair so that she might develop her mediumship in Umbanda. JoSo's female spirit,

Margarida, possessed him in a taxi when he was unable to afford the fare. Sometime later in the year Jo§o, influenced by Margarida, behaved in a homosexual manner toward Juvenir. When this spirit's behavior was not accepted by his friends, he was possessed by his preto velho spirit who told Juvenir to replace his shorts with longer pants. Juvenir often chafed under Renatofs admoni­ tions on proper behavior for a 24-year old man. At private spirit sessions, when Juvenir was possessed by his crianca spirit, he would stick out his tongue and make other childish faces at Renato. Since it was a spirit, Renato generally ignored the gestures, but under other circum­ stances he would have become angry with Juvenir. Maria's crianca. Rozinha, once leered into Nair’s face, while Nair tolerantly watched. Sometime later, Nair's caboclo, Pena

Verde, told Maria to pay for the rabo of lansS. Then, at a private session I observed Maria's bahiano spirit demanding that Cecilia repay a small loan to Maria. These examples illustrate the interaction of a medium and his spirit with 137 others* All the cases seem to Indicate that spirits may

represent alternate roles which a medium may use in his

interpersonal relations (Bourguignon 1965-57). The spirit roles are usually accepted as valid by the medium1s friends and family. However, in five instances I found people questioning the validity of spirit roles.

Two cases involved a spirit directly asking for money on behalf of his medium. In another case, Nair's caboclo

announced to the entire center that his medium no longer had sexual relations with her husband. In a fourth instance,

Nair's spirit had asked Ildicir to turn the deed of the cen­ ter over to Nair. Ildicir put the caboclo to a test, telling him that she would think of some things without speaking. If what she thought were true, then Nair's caboclo was to remain silent. If her thoughts were not true, then the spirit was to correct her verbally. The spirit replied, but on an entirely different subject.

Ildicir concluded that it was Nair, and not her caboclo. who was speaking. Somehow, these forms of behavior were not socially acceptable, even for spirits. In a fifth case, someone had pinched a medium to find out whether she was possessed. The medium responded and the "tester1' decided it was a fake possession. Thus far in this discussion of spirit possession in interpersonal relations, I have been focusing my attention on first, the relation between a spirit and a client, and 1 8 8 second, the interaction between a spirit and its medium's friends or members of its medium's family who are not

clients* I now turn to a discussion of the use of spirit

possession between two individuals who are not mediums.

Specifically, I describe my observations on the use of exu

spirits in relationships between a man and a woman. Four

instances of a man having been harmed by an exu spirit were reported in this dissertation: 1) the proprietor of an

. 0 electrical appliance store, in Chapter IV; 2) Cecilia's husband, in Chapter VI; 3) Roberto, in Chapter VI; and

4) Thales, in Chapter VIII. In these and other cases of exu services involving relations between men and women which were recorded in my field notes, the following sequence of events occurred. First, an unmarried woman^® was the lover of either a married or an unmarried man.

Second, in some instances the woman was rejected by'the man.

In other cases the woman was not rejected, but wanted to make the relationship more secure by breaking up her lover's marriage, or if he were single, through marriage to her.

Third, the unmarried woman initiated an exu session of

Quimbanda which was designed to bring back her lover by magically causing him to be impotent with women other than herself. She might even wish to send harm to him, such as

3®This includes women who have been legally separated, but not divorced from, their husbands. There are no pro­ visions for divorce in Brazilian law. financial ruin or various "accidents." One man claimed that his automobile wreck and hospitalisation was magically sent by his former mistress. Fourth, the man who suffered from any of these difficulties went to an exu apirit of

Umbanda to obtain counter-magical assistance. It was not possible to verify the accusations made by the men and by the spirits that the third stage had actually occurred.

The only relevant bit of information that I was able to obtain was a threat reportedly made to a lover. The woman in this instance had informed her lover in the heat of an argument that she had hidden a lock of his hair and a sweat-stained shirt. She had said that she would not hesi­ tate to give them to an exu if he continued to visit his wife. These phenomena began to appear with such regularity that I asked my informants whether they had ever heard of a disappointed male lover victimizing the involved woman, and the woman then asking for counter-magical assistance.

Only one case could be recalled. Although I could not learn the full details of this one deviation from the norm, my informant added that the man was usually regarded as

"crazy." In attempting to explain the particular sequence of events in these cases, it is useful to consider some obser­ vations made by Willems (1953:340-342) on the "virginity" and the "virility" complexes in middle class Brazilian families. According to Willems, the virginity complex is a 190 cluster of values around which the female role is centered.

Interviews conducted by Willems over a period of twelve years indicated That even liberal-minded men would not marry a deflowered girl. If a man should unknowingly marry a woman who was not a virgin, he could use the Brazilian law (C6digo Civil Brasileiro, Articles 218, 219, IV) to have the marriage adjudged void. Traditionally, when a woman's chances for marriage were gone, she had two alter­ natives. She could become a spinster in some relative's home, or she could become a concubine or practice prostitu­ tion. Today, there are a variety of ways in which work and concubinage can be combined with erotic adventures.

A married woman is a3so restricted sexually. She can­ not engage in any activities which could be in any way interpreted as inviting the attentions of men other than her husband. A man has sexual monopoly over his wife.

There are sanctions against an unfaithful wife which are comparable to those against pre-marital sexual relations discussed above. If a husband finds his wife and her lover in flagrante delicto, he is supposed to go into a raging fit. According to Willems (1953) it is legally acceptable for the husband, in such an emotional state, to severely beat or even kill the lovers. Even if the husband does not resort to such drastic measures, it is almost inevitable that he will insist on a legal separation. There is no divorce in Brazil. Therefore, the woman cannot remarry. 191 The man, however, will be expected to take a concubine, and no damage will be done to his reputation.

The virility complex is a set of values around which the male role is centered. Early and frequent sexual activity for men is regarded as not only healthy, but also as an essential attribute of manhood. Chastity in a man is ridiculed and is a possible sign of impotence. Marriage does not channelize or restrict sexual intercourse for a man. According to Willems:

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Brazilian male learns to build up his self­ esteem largely in terms of sexual prowess. Erotic adventures obviously perform the func­ tion of bolstering up his ego. Obviously, institutionalized prostitution becomes an indispensable corollary to a social order wherein males are encouraged to indulge in promiscuous sexual relationships and respect­ able females are expected to accept severe restrictions regarding their association with men (Willems 1953:343)*

In view of the foregoing data from Willems, it seems to me that the normal sequence of events of exu sessions which involve relations between men and women is a function of the statuses of the sexes in Brazil and of the Brazilian image of male and female behavior. The unattached woman, single or separated, lacking a respectable social status may become the scapegoat for a variety of personal problems and illnesses which might plague a man. In the normal course of events it is naturally assumed that the woman, accused of initiating an exu service is not an innocent 192 party. Unless she has a particular job skill and the

personal character to withstand malicious gossip, the only

other thing she could be expected to turn to is prostitu­

tion. Furthermore, Willems1 comments on the virility com­ plex help to explain the absence of cases in which a man initiates an exu session, followed by a counter-magical session held by a woman. A man who must resort to the assistance of spirits to control his relations with women is automatically negating his virility. A man is able to handle his relationships with women, but he is powerless before the Quimbanda spirits sent by a woman to bring him harm. Under the latter circumstance a man is justified in seeking the aid of Umbanda spirits in his relations with women.

Spirit Possession as a Form of Social Behavior within the

Brazilian Cultural Environment

In this section I discuss several aspects of Brazilian culture which help explain the acceptance of spirit posses­ sion as a form of social behavior within the context of the religious institution of Umbanda. The historical back­ ground, the inadequacies of the tradition-oriented Catholic church and of medical facilities, and the important concept of the spiritual self are all a part of the cultural environment of Umbanda. Historically, syncretic religions which involve

spirit possession, such as Umbanda, are not at all unusual

in Brazil where Amerindian, African and European have

intermingled to a degree not found in the United States.

As I pointed out in Chapter I, during the colonial period in Brazil religious beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples were intermixed with Catholicism. Later, when slaves were imported from Africa to man the Brazilian sugar plantations, African religious traits and Catholicism were syncretized. Stemming from the Afro-Catholic point of origin are syncretic religions such as Candombl£, Batuque,

Caboclo, Casa das Minas, Kacumba, and XangS. These syncre­ tic cults have borrowed varying elements from indigenous

Indian religions and, in some instances, from, the French spiritualism of Allan Kardec which is practiced by some middle and upper class Brazilians. The cultural concept of possession by spirits has historically been present and widespread in Brazil. A spiritualist religion such as '

Umbanda is nothing new to the Brazilian scene. However, the earlier religious cults were tied to a traditional social structure and membership was predominately lower class Afro-

Brazilian. What makes Umbanda so unusual is its ties to the modern milieu of urbanization and industrialization. The majority of umbandists are part of the emerging middle class or a part of the upwardly mobile part of the lower class. In Sffo Paulo fifty percent of the Umbanda 194 membership is entirely of European origin. In some instances orientals participate. Umbanda includes a wide spectrum of economic and educational statuses. Some indi­ viduals with university degrees actively participate as mediums for spirits. Why should a spiritualist religion like Umbanda emerge with such popularity in a cultural setting of expanding technology and rational economic principles? Obviously, the historical presence of the cultural concept of possession by spirits is a partial answer, but not sufficient. Some other answers may lie in the nature of the

Catholic church and in the availability of health services in Brazil. The hierarchy of the church tends to be oriented toward the traditional elites in Brazil. It has a great deal of difficulty in recruiting priests in Brazil and many of its present priests are missionaries from other countries (Wagley 1963*237-236). In short, the church does not seem to be equipping itself to deal with the personal needs of the masses in Brazil. It is interesting to note that Umbanda is not the only spiritualist religion which is developing to fill the vacuum left by the Catholic church.

The protestant Pentacostal sect is also growing as well as a religion known as Kardecismo (Willems 1966). Both involve spirit possession— the former, possession by the Holy

Spirit; the latter, possession by spirits of the dead.

Umbandists also deal with problems of health. While there 195 are private physicians, they are usually too expensive for many Brazilians to afford. The government has public medical services, but one must wait in line. In both cases, the patient does not get the personal attention— so impor­ tant psychologically to well-being— that he can obtain during "spiritual consultations" at an Umbanda center.

Another reason for the popularity of spiritualist religions in Brazil may be related to the cultural premise,

"Man has a spiritual self." The concept of a spiritual self is frequently discussed within the narrow confines of religion. However in Brazil, as in much of Latin America, the spiritual self is something which has a scope consid­ erably wider than its religious meaning. The concept of the spiritual self is perhaps best understood by examining what constitutes the self-image of an individual. Accord­ ing to Goodenough (1963:1?S) the self-image is divided into personal identity and social identity. Social identity is defined in terms of social rights and duties. On the other hand, personal identity refers to how one conducts himself stylistically within the boundaries of his social status. It also includes any other features of the indivi­ dual to which no rights and duties are attached (Goodenough

1963:17(J). It seems to me that personal identity is symbolized in Brazilian culture as the spiritual self. For

Brazilians the spiritual self represents an individual's inner worth or dignity and how it is expressed stylistically in nearly all spheres of living. Inner worth and integrity

of a person are sharply distinguished from his social value.

For Brazilians it is quite possible for a highly valued person to be poor in monetary means, but rich in terms of a

spiritual self. I believe it is somewhat difficult for many North Americans to understand the great importance which Brazilians attach to the concept of the spiritual self. In our culture we tend to emphasize social identity and social worth to the near exclusion of personal identity, or spiritual self. If one can mentally come to grips with the significance of the spiritual self in Brazilian culture, then perhaps it is easier to understand why Brazilians do not find it difficult to accept the related cultural concept of spirits which can possess an individual.

There is something else which is related to the pre­ mise, "Man has a spiritual self." This is the idea that it is difficult for one to know and understand the spiritual self of another unless there is a very close personal relationship between the two. Family and a small circle of friends are the only people who can come to know the spiritual self of an individual. This fact sets people into two very distinct categories for Brazilians. Santos

(1966:240) refers to these categories as the ”I-you, we- they" attitude of Brazilians. An individual has as little to do with "them" as is possible for "they" do not under­ stand ones spiritual self. There are practically no sets of reciprocal rights and duties associated between "us" and

"them." The North American notion of casual friendship, as a type of "in-between" relationship, is not commonly found in Brazil. I believe an understanding of these Brazilian attitudes helps explain why Umbanda spirits are so popular.

An individual may have personal problems with someone in his family or circle of close friends. However, he may not feel able to discuss his difficulties either with family or friends or with outsiders, i.e., "them." It seems to me that the concept of spirits is a very convenient way for getting out of this dilemma. A person who comes to Umbanda is speaking with a spirit and not to the medium, who just may happen to be his sister, his close friend, or even one of "them."

Umbanda as a Religious Form of Cultural Behavior

As I noted in Chapter IV, the major ritual activities focus on states of dissociation and possession by spirits, and revolve around two major sets of beliefs. One of these deals with the cultural theory of spiritual fluids borrowed from Kardecismo. The second has to do with beliefs in five major types of spirits. To anyone who has studied the historical background of folk religions in Brazil, one of the most interesting questions relates to the particular cultural form Umbanda assumed in an environment of socio­ cultural change. In this section I discuss the changes 198 which occurred in the retention of certain cultural traits.

1 also offer an analysis of the spirits as symbols to help

explain why certain spirits became more important than

others in Umbanda. The orix^s. a cultural retention from Candombl£, were

promoted to higher oblivion in Umbanda. Instead of posses­

sing individuals, as they had in Candombll, it is now

believed that they send spiritual envoys--highly evolved

spirits of the dead— to possess Umbanda mediums. It seems

to me that the retention of the orix£s signifies the great

importance umbandists attach to the African heritage in

their religion. However, umbandists see themselves as

Brazilian, not as Afro-Brnzilian. This would help to

explain why the orixas have been "moved upstairs,” so to

speak. It is something like what occurred in Christianity.

The Old Testament of Jewish life and belief is viewed as a

significant part of the Christian heritage, but the major

everyday doctrine of Christians is found in the New Testa­ ment. Christianity is accepted by a broader population

than the earlier tribal religion of Judaism. As I pointed

out in Chapter I, Exu and the ere spirits were a part of

Candombl£, but were considered to be outside of the orixa

cult proper. Both were regarded as spirits of deities.

In Umbanda, they took on the concept of being spirits of the dead. The crianca spirit in Umbanda would seem to be a retention of the older concept of ere. Nair, when she 199 moved to her notion of Candombll, began to use the term ere instead of crianca. But Maria’s Rozinha and Juvenir’s

JoSozinho did not change in the least bit. The preto velho and caboclo spirits were a part of Macumba and other earlier religions. In the past there were, many other types of spirits. Even today, umbandists are possessed by other spirit types, but why do they not assume the central impor­ tance which the caboclo. preto velho, crianca and exu spirits have in Umbanda? It seems to me that the answer to the question of the particular cultural form that emerged in Umbanda can be related to the fact that these four major spirit types in Umbanda are cultural symbols which have multiple referents, and all are linked to change.

First, three of the four spirit types apparently symbolize the major ethnic heritages in Brazil. The preto velho and the caboclo represent the African and Amerindian contributions to modern Brazilian culture. The exu seems to represent the other foreign elements, frequently European.^ Some umbandists have noted that the child spirit is Ujust like us,” i.e., the crianca has the out­ going personality of Brazilians and he lacks a specific

■^As noted earlier, exus sometimes represent special regional characters in Brazil. This aspect of exus might be related to the second set of referents in which the exu plays the part of the "outsider.” More field work in areas outside of Sao Paulo is needed to help clarify this problem of the exu spirits and their ’’ethnicity.” 200 racial identity. The emergence of these four symbols in

Umbanda coincided with vast social and economic changes since the late 1920*s which reoriented Brazilian perspec­ tives from regional groupings to one that was more national.

According to Wagley (1963:270), Brazilian writers at this time began to recognize the importance of African and Indian cultures in their national life styles. Umbanda, then, is something of a "national folk religion.” Each medium, so to speak, "incorporates” his national heritage as four spiritual symbols. As noted earlier, Umbanda diffuses to the smaller cities in the interior of Brazil as they become integrated into the national socio-economic structure and begin to accept the culture of the modern Brazilian masses.

The second thing which I believe the spirit types may represent is the evolutionary stages of spiritualist reli­ gions in Brazil. The African origins in Umbanda are the oldest. Indian and European cultural elements were later added to the earlier African religions. This is symbolized in the relative ages of the four spirit types. The preto velho is the oldest, the caboclo and the exu are middle- aged, and the child spirit, which symbolizes the new

Brazilian, is the youngest. Third, some of my informants expressed the idea that the spirits were like a family: "The indulgent preto velho is like a grandfather; the stern caboclo is more like a father; and the child spirit is like a brother or sister." 201

The anti-social exu. in contrast, is like a stranger. The functional importance of this set of symbols cannot be over­ estimated in the life of an individual who has left his family to migrate to the city. Fourth, it seems to me that when the four spirit types are considered as a combined unit they represent a well-balanced personality. There are the calm and indulgent preto velhos and the stern and aloof caboclos who appear once each week. There are also playful and innocent criancas and the aggressive and base exus. who appear less frequently, about once a month. Each medium must learn to successfully play the roles of each of the four spirits.

One of these personality traits may be weakly developed in an individual. In the social context of Umbanda such a mode of behavior is learned and is carried over into the individual's life outside of the religious context, e.g., an impatient individual learns to relate the calmness of his preto velho to his everyday life. All of these traits are useful in a milieu of rapid culture change in which one must adapt to new social and economic roles. Most of my informants were either upper lower or middle class, and all were upwardly mobile. The greater frequency with which the pretos velhos and caboclo appear, I believe, represents the importance attached to their personality traits in an indi­ vidual. CHAPTER X

CONCLUSIONS

In the Introduction, I stated that I would attempt to

demonstrate that Umbanda is a religious innovation in a

4 developing society. In using the term "developing," I am

not limiting its meaning to economic development. While I

recognize the primacy of economic changes, I am also interested in social and political changes as these relate to Brazilian economic modernization. I wish to show how

all of these changes are reflected in Umbanda. In this chapter, I use Wallace’s definition of innova­

tion. Wallace, following Barnett (1953)* states that

"Every innovation (or discovery) is essentially a recom­ bination of two or more mental configurations" (Wallace

1970:167). The configurations which I discuss in this

chapter, viz., 1) ethnic identity, 2) class identity,

3 ) conceptualization of personal problems, 4) structure of

Umbanda, and 5) spirit types, all represent special

cultural ways of thinking about social changes in Brazil.

First, as I pointed out in Chapter I, earlier religious institutions out of which Umbanda developed, e.g., Candombl£, were primarily Afro-Brazilian, not only in terms of cultural

202 203

forms, but also in terms of membership. Umbanda, then, is

an innovation in that its membership in SSo Paulo is

approximately 50 percent white. Its members focus on the

cultural concept of a Brazilian identity, rather than on the concept of an African or an Indian or a European

identity. As I noted in Chapter III, a strong sense of

nationalism began to develop in the 1 9 2 0 's and 1930*s.

Umbanda seemed to emerge at about the same time. Second, the membership in Candomble and other fore­

runners of Umbanda was derived primarily from the tradi­

tional lower class (See Chapter III). As economic

development began, there was a breakdown in the two-part

social system composed of an elite and a peasant class.

A new upper lower class of industrial workers and a new middle class emerged. It is from these two groups that

Umbanda draws the major portion of its membership. These

are the individuals who compose the povo. It is these people who have a greater say in electing political officials, e.g., state deputies who appeal to umbandists by playing religious music and Umbanda chants over the

radio (See Chapter III). Umbandists are middle-class

oriented in that they are, to some degree, upwardly mobile and are more concerned with material goods and modern

services such as those advertised in journals published by umbandists. Therefore, in that umbandists view themselves 204 in the manner I have just described, an innovation has

occurred in the area of class identity.

Third, there is a lesser degree of formal social

structure in Umbanda than in Candomble. This decline in

social structure and the greater emphasis placed upon a charismatic Umbanda cult leader are perhaps related to the

breakdown of the traditional social structure as people from the old peasant class move into the yet unorganized

and still developing middle class. This new configuration

is yet another example of the changing social order in

Brazil. Fourth, many of the problems which Umbanda deals with

are obviously related to the new social order. It is

highly doubtful that Candomble mediums would have handled

problems such as getting into medical school or reducing

the rent of a spaghetti factory. As people move into the

middle class they meet new problems, and decisions must

be made about things for which there is no previous model.

The conceptualization of what constitutes a problem has

therefore changed, and I regard Umbanda once again as an

innovation in a developing society. Finally, it seems to me that the particular configura­ tion of spirits found in Umbanda is an innovation which is

especially adapted to the milieu of change, and particu­

larly to the development of a complex modern society. I believe that Umbanda emerged in its present form because its four major spirits are cultural symbols which have

multiple referents. If there were only one set of refer­

ents , fewer persons of differing backgrounds would find Umbanda significant to their lives. In rejecting that one

set of referents, they would be rejecting the whole of

Umbanda. The importance of symbols with multiple refer­

ents would seem to be that the four Umbanda symbols can be

meaningful to different people in different ways. This,

I believe is a useful characteristic of symbols in a com­

plex society such as Brazil. Furthermore, a specific indi­

vidual may find two or more referents meaningful for

himself. This, I believe, would tend to strengthen the

importance an individual might assign to Umbanda in his life. Historically, the four spiritual symbols seemed to emerge and come together as a unit primarily on the uncon­

scious level as a response to changing needs of the indivi­

dual in the Brazilian milieu of cultural change. It is interesting to note that all four sets of referents are

linked to change— one to individual change, and the other

three to social changes at various levels in Brazilian society. The first set of referents discussed in the pre­

ceding chapter represents change at the level of national

identity. The second set has to do with change within the

evolutionary stream of Brazilian folk religions. The third

set of referents deals with changes in the social struc­ tural unit most close to an individual, i.e., his family. The fourth set of referents is the most individualized or personal. These four sets of referents of four major

Umbanda spirit types form a continuum from macro- to micro-changes found in Brazil, and help to explain Umbanda as a religious innovation in the developing society of

Brazil. APPENDIX 206

Fig. 1. Caboclo Spirit 209

Preto Velho Spirit 210

Fig. 3* Crianca Spirits 211

Fig* 4* Undeveloped Medium Fig. 5. Termination of Trance 213

Fig. 6 . Baptism of Baby in Umbanda 2X4

Fig. 7* Nair Possessed by Iemanj£ 215

\.

Fig. 6 . Deep Trance 216

Fig. 9* Induction of Trance BIBLIOGRAPHY

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