CANDOMBLÉ AND AFRICAN RELIGION
| Derived from the Yoruba
people of West Africa, Candomblé seeks harmony with nature. The
religion is organized around religious centres known as terreiros, which
are usually led by high priestesses, mães de santo (mother of saints) or
priests, pais de santo (father of saints). Followers worship a
pantheon of orixás in an annual cycle, like the liturgical cycle of the
Catholic Church . . . In the religious ceremonies, practitioners dress in
the colours of the orixás and place food at the altar before singing
special songs and dancing precisely choreographed steps to the sacred
drums. The anthropomorphic nature of the orixá allows an intimate contact
between believer and deity, and the highlight of the Candomblé ceremony
is the epiphany, or possession, when the orixá takes over the believer's
body.
Darién J Davis (see this page) |