Berkley Center

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Salvador, Bahia, a city on the northeastern coast of Brazil that is known for its prominent African influence. During the sixteenth century, Bahia was Brazil’s main seaport and the epicenter of the sugar industry and slave trade. The African slaves who came to Bahia brought the Candomblé religion, which survives today despite prohibitions and persecutions throughout its history in Brazil. Candomblé owes its survival partly to the fact that African worshippers aligned many of their deities with Catholic saints in an attempt to promote harmony between the two religions.

While in Salvador, I had the opportunity to observe a Candomblé ritual, which turned out to be one of the most fascinating experiences of my trip thus far. While Candomblé rituals are generally closed to the public, they sometimes open their doors to a small number of visitors. Before arriving at the terreiro, the temple-like space where the ritual takes place, our tour guide gave us a few guidelines.

Firstly, we were advised to dress only in white, so as to respect the orixás, the Candomblé deities. Secondly, we were prohibited from bringing cameras to the ritual, because the worshippers believe that the camera entraps the soul when a photo is taken during a Candomblé ceremony.

When we entered the terreiro, we took our seats on the outer edge of the room next to the band, which was comprised of a group of young men playing various percussive instruments. Before the ritual began, each of the worshippers processed into the terreiro and approached the front of the room, where they bent down and kissed the mãe de santo, or head priestess, before taking their seats.

The female worshippers were dressed in floor-length cotton white dresses with scarves wrapped around their hair, while the male worshippers wore white pants and a white tunic. Like us, the majority of the participants took their seats around the edge of the room, but 12 remained in the center of the room and formed a circle as they danced to the beat of the drums.

We learned from our tour guide that these 12 people were the higher priests and priestesses, who are able to “receive” the gods and thereby enter into a trance-like state. When one receives a god, his or her own spirit must leave the body in order to allow the god to enter; in essence, the priest is possessed by the god while in this trance-like state. At various times throughout the next hour, each of the 12 members began to spin in wild circles, which signaled that they were about to receive a god.

Once the god entered the body, each person reacted differently. The majority of the priests and priestesses appeared to be in a peaceful sleep, albeit while standing and with a strange, unmoving expression on their face. One of the most memorable sights of the ritual was one of the priestesses, who looked to be around 16 or 17 years old, by far the youngest of the group. Once she received the god, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she staggered around the room, occasionally convulsing and emitting loud-pitched wails at intermittent intervals.

About thirty minutes after the gods entered the priests and priestesses, each was escorted out of the terreiro for an intermission. After the short intermission, the priests and priestesses reentered the terreiro, now costumed in the garb of their respective god or goddess. It was truly impressive, if not somewhat frightening, to see each person decked in elaborate outfits and wielding various weapons, all while continuing to dance in close proximity to one another with their eyes closed shut.

Unfortunately we were unable to stay for the end of the ceremony, but by the time we left we already had about a hundred questions to ask our tour guide. He explained to us that a priest or priestess could receive a god at any age, as they are born with this capability. If one of your parents is able to receive a god or goddess, you will most likely be born with the ability as well, because it is passed down throughout families. Each priest or priestess receives the same god during each ritual, and the god whom they receive is either known at the time of birth (in this case, it would be the same god whom their parent received), or determined through a fortune-telling practice called búzios, which is the reading of shells.

Attending the Candomblé ritual has been one of the most remarkable things I have experienced during my time in Brazil. Although I have learned about various indigenous religions in my history classes, as a Catholic, I had never before witnessed these religious ceremonies firsthand. I am still not entirely sure what to make of the experience, and I have many questions that are still unanswered.

Do those born with the capability to receive a god truly believe that this god enters their body? Or are there some priests who engage in the ritual merely out of respect rather than personal belief? I hope that these and many other questions are answered as I continue my studies in Brazil.