Candomble - A Religious Syncretism In Brazil

In Bahia, the former capital of Brazil, the descendants of the inhabitants of South-West Nigeria have continued to worship their ancestral gods or Orixa to this very day, in spite of the time and distance which separates them from their place of origin. Bahians have not only maintained their ancestors' language but also their traditional songs, their musical instruments, and their dances. The African influence was felt by Brazilians from the earliest child-hood; children were brought up by black nannies who were generally of Yoruba descent. While being rocked to sleep, such children listened to Africa songs, they were told the fables of Africa, they were taught to fear the same super-natural beings as those known in Western Nigeria in case they misbehaved, and their health was protected by medicines made from the same leaves as the ones used in Africa.

Adopted at first by the African section of the population alone, this religious manifestation has gone on growing and gaining grounds in new surroundings and in our times it has taken an important place in the spiritual life of the country. This syncretism brings together, confuses and identifies the worship of Africa gods with the adoration of the saints in the catholic religion.

The liturgy itself and the ritual of candomble ceremonies in Bahia have been kept very pure. It is necessary to point out also the atmosphere of complete dignity and profound respect in which these cults are held and the sources of inspiration that they provide for the artists and the intellectuals. Painters and sculptors exhibit works in art galleries inspired on these beautiful ceremonies. In literature, some plays are based on the myths of these African gods. Composers try to transpose for voice and piano candomble tunes collected in Bahia. Dancers recreate certain legends of these gods using the choreography from the dances of the orixa worshippers.

WHAT IS CANDOMBLE
The name candomble is applied to the place where the Brazilian perform their religious feasts. The candomble temple walls are made of clay and its floor of brick or comment; the initiated must dance barefooted, dragging their feet on the ground.

The spectators segregated according to sex, sit down on benches, chairs and sofas. Besides them, is the drums place, isolated by a small wall; on the other side, on a shelf, there is a statue of the house patron saint. The aim of the candomble is to propitiate the possession of the initiated by the god. Each individual is under the protection of a particular deity, but only some have the privilege of incorporating their god. After the first 'visit' of an orixa to a person's body, this person must undergo the initiation rites. They involve seclusion for a certain period of time, the offering of periodic sacrifices, following certain rules, etc. As a result of the initiation rites, the neophyte acquires privileges as the possibility of becoming an initiator; the capacity of incorporating the god; and prestige in the religious community. The initiated one is then blessed by the Pai de Santo or Mãe de Santo, the headmasters of the candomble house.
A sacrifice is made at the beginning of all candomble rituals, accompanied by the music of the drums and songs. Each god, or orixa, has a particular invocation song and rhythm. Sacred dances are then performed by the 'Mother', the sacrificer, and senior initiated. After that, an offering is presented to Exu, the messenger god, and his permission is solicited to begin the public ceremony and to complete it without problems.
At the end of the candomble ceremony, all the incarnated orixa dressed in their ritual garments come to the room and dance, one by one, expressing their divine characteristics.

CANDOMBLE GODS, OR ORIXA

Oxala
Oxala´s counterpart in the Catholic religion is the crucified Christ. Friday is the day dedicated to him and his favorite color is white. He is the god of creation and father of all the other Orixa. He assumes the figure of an old man, placid and benevolent. He is sometimes called 'Grandfather' by candomble practicers. Oxala, as the other main gods, is bisexual, representing their all-embracing powers which comprehends the control of both sexes.

Yemanja
Yemanja is the goddess of creation, mother of all orixa, also known as our lady of the conception, or the Virgin Mary. She is the sea-goddess, nymph of fresh water. Crystal-clear is her favorite color and Saturday is the day devoted to her. The person possessed by Yemanja presents the archetype of the haughty Great Mother. Her dance is solemn; she imitates the movements of the sea.

Omulu
Omulu´s counterpart is Saint Lazarus, the god of the epidemic diseases, mainly the smallpox. His colors are red and black and his day is Monday. Omolu has the power of producing or extinguishing diseases and is, therefore, very much respected by the people, to the extent that someone has to touch the ground with the fingers, in reverence, every time his name is pronounced. He is also known as the 'doctor of the poor'. He is characterized by a repulsive aspect, with his face covered and dances very slowly, as an old man.

Nanan
Nanan is the water-goddess, the eldest nymph of the yoruba pantheon. She is Saint Anne for the Catholics, her colors are white and blue, and her day is Tuesday. Nanan is known as Grandmother' and one possessed by her dances very slowly, feigning to rock a baby to sleep.

Xango
Xango´s Catholic counterpart is Saint Jerome, the god of thunder and lighting . His day is Wednesday and his colors are red and white. His symbol is a double-axe and he dances to lively, warlike rhythms, brandishing his weapon.

Yansan
Yansan, or Saint Barbara for the Catholics, is the wife of Xango and the goddess of wind and storms. Her color is red and her is Saturday. She is depicted as an active, tempestuous, restless woman. To drive away the bad spirits, she only has to extend her arms, a gesture she often repeats in her agile, nervous and beautiful dances.

Oxum
Oxum is the goddess of beauty, of coquetry. She dresses in a beautiful golden yellow and wears many kinds of bracelets. Her dance expresses her femininity and graciousness, feigning to bathe in a river, taking off her clothes and looking at herself in a mirror.

Oxossi
Oxossi's day is Thursday and his favorite colors are green and blue. He is also known as Saint George and he is the god of the hunters. His symbols are a bow and an arrow which he holds upright, as if hunting, while dancing.

Ogun
Ogun is the god of the blacksmiths, warriors and agriculturers. His symbols are all the iron instruments, especially the helmet and sword. He is the patron of the handicraftsmen and the inventor of the industries. He dances brandishing a sword or feigning a due, with a ferocious look on his face.

Exu
Exu is sometimes identified with the devil for his love of disturbances, his phallic characteristics, his predilection for alcoholic beverages and for his moody temperament. He is actually the messenger, a mediator between men and gods. He is the first to be invoked in a candomble feast. It is necessary to please Exu with his favorites gifts, so that everything goes well in a ceremony. He usually has a jocose and challenging appearance, and a cheerful but sinister look on his face.

Capoeira - Dance or Fight?

Capoeira is a dance of rare physical beauty. It is also violent and very fast, a delicate and astute fight - the highest choreographic expression of a suffering race.

Capoeira is a word with no translation, though possibly somehow connected with the word poeira, meaning dust. Capoeira is a dance of rare physical beauty. It is also violent and very fast, a delicate and astute fight - the highest choreographic expression of a suffering race.

The capoeira appeared in Brazil with the arrival of the slaves. At first, its performance was persecuted by the senhores de Engenho, the farmers-owners, and later by the police, because of the highly dangerous nature of the capoeira as a mean of aggression as well as defense.

The present, playful capoeira is done accompanied by the sound of musical instruments such as reco-reco, caxixí and tambourines, but chiefly by one exotic instrument which is the very soul of the capoeira: the berimbau de barriga or simply the berimbau. There is a great variety of rhythm in the sounds of the berimbau: Angola, Sao Bento Grande, Sao Bento Pequeno, Santa Maria, Angelinha and Cavalaria are the names of just a few of them. The dancers, moving in accordance with the rhythm, use many different golpes (strikes) to hit the adversary with legs and feet only. All these golpes have again their names: rabo de arraia (tail of a kite), volta ao mundo around the world), tombo de ladeira (slope tumble), rasteira (tripping), bencao (blessing), martelo (hammer), etc.
During the vadiacao (idleness), the rest between the fighting dances, they sing the chulas country dances tunes) which usually speak of the feats of the famous capoeiristas, of tales from the past, or give challenge to other capoeira-dancers, or even to the audience.

Cuisine - Food For The Body And For The Spirit
Hardly, if ever, you can find a kind of people who enjoys cooking and eating as much as people from Bahia. Eating, in Bahia, is not merely a matter of physiologic needs, but it also involves a whole complex rituals and beliefs. The food in Bahia is mostly influenced by African traditions from slavery times; since the 1500's. The Africans brought with them the candomble', a religion which still exists in Bahia, and most parts of Brazil; practising candomble' involves praising gods of thunder, lightning, hunt, etc., and giving gifts to them, especially gifts of food which are placed on a special kind of alter to the specific god you want to praise. These foods are later on shared with friends who come to participate of the ceremonies or members of the family. Of course, this is only the religious aspect of Bahian gastronomy, and it functions almost as an excuse for partying and having friends over to eat and enjoy the good food. There is also the business side the whole thing, run by the 'baianas', women dressed in very colorful skirts and blouses, bringing with them their trays full of small appetizers and sweets that are consumed by the native population and tourists. They are everywhere on the streets of Bahia and at lunch time the 'baianas' beat by far the competition of fast-food houses.

Palm oil and pepper are the main ingredients in any bahian food. The palm oil, extracted from the palm tree (Elaeis Guinneasis), originally from the African coast, gives the typical dishes an attractive reddish yellow color and a delicious smell that is supposed to 'open your appetite', as we say over here. The pepper gives a hot taste, so strong that leads the one who is eating to indecision: to stop eating because it's too hot, or not to stop eating because it's extremely delicious. This pepper (Granum Paradisi) comes from India and it's supposed to motivate the stomach, liver and intestines to work better, digesting well all the food. These two main ingredients are very healthy and make digestion of the typical dishes very easy to the whole body.
With no doubt, the major influence on Bahian cuisine comes from Africa, but we also have a strong influence from the native Indians and the Portuguese who colonized Brazil. The Indians contributed mainly with cassava flour, or 'gari', which works mostly as a topper to juicy foods and also gives a nice smell and taste to the foods. From this kind of flour many other side-dishes are made and they generally accompany stews and soups. The Portuguese contribution is mainly on desserts, fish dishes and olive oil-based dishes. All those influences ended up being mixed up by the Bahian cuisine experts and that's gives our cuisine a whole new taste.

So, if suddenly you find someone telling you he is feeding his spirit and has in front of him a delicious and juicy dish, don't be amazed: you are in Bahia.

Parties in Bahia
It is affectionately said that "when Bahians are not actually participating in a festival they are rehearsing for one." And in a way it's true. The people of Bahia, a fusion of Africans, Native Americans and Europeans, are carefree and upbeat, always looking for a good time. Although most of the folk celebrations in Bahia take place during the summer months, from December to March, there are festivities throughout the year, even in June when the São João festivities are commemorated. These cultural manifestations, from a variety of origins, are a delight for both locals and tourists with open-air shows or nightclub presentations of capoeira-an Afro-Brazilian martial art practiced to music, a warrior's dance; maculelê-a sword dance imitating actual battles; and samba-de-roda-the most traditional style of samba danced in a circle. The faith of the Bahian people is manifested in a wide variety of events. Some are in honor of Candomblé orixás, the deities of an animist religion with origins in West Africa. When the drums sound at the terreiros, or places of worship, the initiates, literally the children of the saints, incorporate the holy spirits as they dance. Others are of Catholic origin, when believers, after their religious duties are fulfilled, enjoy the profane part of the festival at special stands serving beverages and a variety of local dishes, to the rhythm of samba-de-roda. Other types of music are also popular such Bahia's own Axé Music, or Pagode. During summer, singers from the many Carnival groups put on almost daily shows or "rehearsals," as they are locally known, in private clubs or public areas throughout the city. The energy of all these festivities impregnates Salvador from morning to night.
The year begins midsummer with the Bom Jesus dos Navegantes festival on January 1, literally the Good Jesus of the Mariners festival, during which hundreds of vessels of all types sail through All Saints' Bay carrying the image of Good Jesus from Conceição da Praia church to the Chapel at Boa Viagem, a beautiful procession of faith. From then on there is a series of festivals, one of the most noteworthy of which is the Procession of Senhor do Bonfim when nearly 800,000 people dressed in white accompany traditional "Baianas" wearing typical multi-layered white-lace petticoats and turbans. The multitudes parade through the Lower City from Conceição da Praia to Bonfim church, where the Bahian women bless those present by showering them with lavender water and perform the traditional "washing of the steps", in a ritual of faith and hope. It is said that Senhor do Bonfim, literally Lord of the Good End, who is associated with the father of all the orixás-Oxalá, protects only those who go on foot, hence the local expression, "those with faith walk all the way."

Another highlight of the summer season, which attracts the faithful from all over Brazil, is the Yemanjá Festival. On the second of February the initiates of Candomblé pay homage to the Goddess of the Sea, who is represented symbolically by a mermaid. The festival takes place in the neighborhood of Rio Vermelho, an impressive manifestation of faith in the power of the "Mother of the Waters". The faithful leave offerings and in return ask for a blessing. Alongside the religiously inclined are revelers who take advantage of the festivities at street stalls where the line between the sacred and the profane gets more tenuous as the days goes on.

Yet the high point of all of the festivals in Bahia is without a doubt Carnival, a truly unbelievable outpouring of emotion, a week-long delirium of the masses that ends on the morning of Ash Wednesday. The largest festival in the world in terms of the number of participants takes over the city. Revelers, some wearing costumes or the outfits of their favorite Carnival groups, others simply enjoying the music of the many independent bands, invade the various Carnival routes. The two most frenzied are between Campo Grande and Castro Alves Plaza, and from Barra to Ondina along the coast road, while old-style Carnival reigns in the Pelourinho and on Rua Chile, in and around the old city.

Bands in the Pelourinho do not use amplifiers, relying instead on brass and percussion instruments. Afro-Carnival Associations and Afoxés, groups that jealously maintain Bahia's strong African traditions, as well as improvised gatherings of costumed revelers, also parade through the old city. On the two main routes, large Carnival groups take to the avenues where brightly dressed throngs of people frolic to the beat of bands who play atop powerful roving sound systems, known as Trios Elétricos, which were invented by two pioneering Bahian musicians, Dodô and Osmar, and are now popular throughout Brazil.

AFRICAN HERITAGE IN BAHIA

The state of Bahia and its capital, Salvador, are very important centers of study of the immense African Diaspora to the New World. For over 350 years the negreiros (slave ships) brought their human cargo from Africa to work in the plantations and mines of Brazil. They came from Guinea, Angola, the Congo and finally from Yorubá speaking West Africa.
          
The main port of departure for this latter cycle was Ouidah in the People's Republic of Benin (ex-Dahomey). The ships left laden for the treacherous Atlantic crossing to Bahia, and for those who survived, the grueling work of the mines and plantations that stoked the Portuguese economy. A bi-lateral trading in slaves arose due to the very high value placed on a third grade tobacco, prohibited for sale in Europe, but much sought after by those dealing in slaves in West Africa. Slaves from West Africa were traded for tobacco and aguardente (sugar-cane rum) from Bahia. It is mainly for this reason that such a strong Yorubá influence is so evident in Bahia. In no other part of Brazil is this influence so strongly felt. Although other influences are found, (Bantu's from Angola, Gêges from Benin, and so on), the over-riding influence is that of the Nagô's from Nigeria.
         
In Bahia, Africa abounds. Salvador is the most African of the Brazilian cities with up to 80% of its population of over 2 million people having African origins. The local cuisine, music and dance forms and its extremely vibrant visual arts traditions are all testament to this permeating African influence.
          
A stroll though the historical Pelourinho section of Salvador bears this out. Baiana's, local women dressed in traditional costumes sell a wide variety of food on street corners from their tray full of Bahia's delicacies. The acarajé or bean dumpling fried in the dendê (palm oil) is also to be found on the West Africa by the name acará. On the sidewalks and in the ateliers artists can be seen working on their canvases in bright bold colors similar to Haitian art. Somebody plays the berimbau, a bowed instrument that forms the rhythm for the mesmerizing capoeira dance/martial art, somebody else is practicing intricate percussion exercises. The omnipresent radio plays the latest in Bahian music fused with African polyrhythms. The buildings may be European but the rest is Africa.
          
Once the center of the slave trade, today the Pelourinho is the nucleus of the Black Movement in Bahia with different organizations working in cultural and social areas. 
         
The most deeply felt African influence is the Candomblé, the worshipping of the ancestral spirits or orixá's. The orixá's can be thought of as an enlarged family with a common background that encapsulates the living and the dead. The orixá is a deified ancestor who, when alive, established links which guaranteed him or her control over certain natural forces, e.g. thunder, the winds or the sea; or which allowed him or her the possibility to exercise certain activities such as hunting or working with metals; or somebody who learnt the properties of plants and how to use these properties. This power (or AXÉ, pronounced ah-shay) of the ancestral orixá would have, after death, the power to incarnate itself in one of his or her descendants through the sacred rhythms, dances and songs of the Candomblé.
          
A popular greeting in Bahia is Axé!, a kind of "may the force be with you!" and this Axé is the driving force of Salvador and Bahia. Originally the slave masters permitted the practice of the Candomblé. The masters thought that the dances and songs of the Candomblé were nothing more than entertainment, nostalgia almost, as the slaves remembered their ancestors. They were allowed to gather in batuques playing the drums and the sacred songs of the orixá's. When the slave masters began to distrust these gatherings as possible means of organizing revolts they began to prohibit these meetings. The slaves, who often accompanied the masters to church, would choose different Catholic saints to represent the deities from Africa. It was at this point that the phenomenon of syncretism appeared in Brazil.
         
There were always tangible connections between the saints chosen and the orixá represented. In Bahia, Saint George, who slew the dragon, was adopted to represent Oxossi, the orixá of the forest and the hunt. Saint Anthony, who was given an honorary rank in the Portuguese army, was chosen to represent Ogum, the orixá of iron and anybody who used this metal as part of their work, and so on through the pantheon.
         
One of the oldest examples of this phenomenon of syncretism is the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte (Good Death) in Cachoeira, 120 km's. from Salvador. This is a society of women which had it's beginnings in the senzalas (slaves quarters) where slaves would gather to discuss the news about abolition and pray for the slaves killed in the liberation movement. Once freed, ex-slaves would often form religious associations, sisterhoods and brotherhoods, often using the Catholic church as a vehicle but these associations were really cultural centers whose aims were to free other slaves from captivity and to preserve the traditions handed down verbally from generation to generation. This was the case of the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte. Their aim was to help newly freed slaves to survive in a world where there was no longer a master with his whips and chains.
         
Reminiscent of secret female societies in Africa, the Sisterhood of the Boa Morte worship the iyá's, the female spirits of the dead. A "good death" (or Boa Morte ) was seen as being a proper passage from the material to the spiritual world, no longer a slave. The Boa Morte festival takes place in Cachoeira every August and is deeply syncretised with the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is perhaps the most important festival in the African Heritage calendar in Bahia and is a living document of African culture and Diaspora to the New World.
         
Carnival in Bahia is a joyous explosion of African music, rhythm and dance. Being a port, Salvador was always a great melting pot of musical traditions receiving influences from Africa and the Caribbean and this blend of musical influences is most clearly heard at Carnival time, the great showcase of Bahian music. For many years the Blocos Afros (drum based carnival groups) were seen as the poor cousins of the more powerful trios elétricos (sophisticated, mobile sound trucks on top of which live bands play using the latest in sound equipment). These trios elétricos originally played a frantic electric frevo rhythm on special short fretted guitars but in recent years the trios have been drawing more and more on the African influenced rhythms of the bloco afros which has lead to a new musical term called "Axé Music".
         
The first of the Afro blocos were "Os Filhos de Ghandy (the Sons of Ghandi) who first participated in the carnival of 1949. These were dock workers were on strike during the carnival of that year who decided to join in the festivities, choosing Mahatma Ghandi as their inspiration. From humble beginnings, "Os Filhos de Ghandi" are nowadays the highlight of carnival processions as they parade in their distinctive white and blue costumes with as many as 5500 members passing through the streets of Salvador to the shuffling sound of the infectious ijexá rhythm, a river of blue, white and black in the ocean of brightly dressed carnival revelers.
         
Ilê Aiyê, (the House of Life), from the Liberdade/Curuzu district, is one of the most traditional Afro Blocos in Salvador and was one of the first of the modern drumming troupes. Their parade is another highlight of carnival as they dance through the city streets in their flowing costumes of African patterns in red, white, yellow and black singing songs with a strong political and social content.
         
The most famous internationally is "Olodum" (an abbreviation of Olodumaré, the orixá who controls the sky and the earth). Olodum are based in the Pelourinho, the heart of Salvador, and have traveled extensively in Europe and the US. The term given to their style of music is samba reggae, and their famous rehearsals on Tuesday evenings in the Pelourinho area draw large crowds.
         
All of these groups are much more than just carnival groups. They work in their respective communities promoting work on African heritage, discussion groups on social issues and promote other cultural activities celebrating their African origins.

The Axé Project
One of the most successful child welfare and education programmes for street children, the Axé Project, constantly visited by international authorities and persons carrying out studies, is considered to be a model solution for the social problem caused by children and adolescents abandoned in the streets. Axé is a non-governmental organization largely maintained by private initiative resources. Formed in 1990, it had already assisted more than two thousand children up to July 1993. Focussing on children and adolescents at risk personally and socially, the project is officially recognized by the UN, through the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Unicef. At the beginning of its activities, it trained educators and created units for culture, literacy, preparation for work, health education, vocational training and employment guidance.

HANDICRAFT: BAHIAN FOLK ART
Handicraft is one of the most typical inheritances of Bahia and much sought either for home or personal use. Blouses embroidered for decoration and trimmed with lace, shoes, untanned leather sandals and purses, and straw bags are very popular.

Bahia's folk art takes various forms and shapes in its handicraft. The handicraft of the Bahian people is still made in a very rustic manner, yet with much attention and care. One ceramic pot is never exactly like another pot, just as one tablecloth made of bobbin lace from the Island of Mare will not be identical to another such tablecloth.

Bahian handicraft is very diverse, being outstanding in the fields of leather, wood, ceramics, metal, basket weaving and braiding (natural fibers), spinning and weaving, and beadwork. Handmade objects have always been very much in demand both because of the originally of design and the different options for their use. In general, the ceramics are used as home utensils (typical food such as feijoada and fish moqueca are much tastier when cooked in clay pots) and in home decoration. Handwork from fibers, spinning and weaving form rustic or sophisticated areas when used in interior decoration giving a special touch of elegance to curtains, rugs and table centerpieces.

Itapuã Golf Club
Salvador is the capital of different ethnic groups. There is the Itapuã Golf Club, located at the poetical beach of Itapoã, mentioned in the song by Vinicius de Moraes.

This interestingly built nine holes golf course inaugurated in 1990 has narrow fairways flanked by palm trees and other native trees.

From its higher point it is possible to see the Itapoã beach. The white sand Abaeté dunes also are part of the scenario of this golf course.

Four ponds and a constantly blowing breeze add challenge to its design. The golf course is located inside the Salvador Sofitel Hotel, a luxury hotel that offers multiple leisure attractions as well as sports activities and excellent gastronomy.

Itapuã Golf Club offers driving range, putting green, pitching green, snack bar, restaurant, hotel, pro-shop and equipment for hire. It has 9 holes, par 72 and 5100 yards. It is open from 7h00 till 18h00 mondays through sundays.
The average temperature is 24oC and the golf course altitude is 40m over sea level.

Location:
Ru da Passárgada, s/no - Itapoã
Phone: (71) 3374-8522