A practioner of the Afro Brazilian religion Candomblé, which was developed in Brazil with the knowledge of enslaved African priests. In the last 20 years, however, it has been almost entirely pushed out by Christianity.
Photograph: Rosângela Silva
A practioner of the Afro Brazilian religion Candomblé, which was developed in Brazil with the knowledge of enslaved African priests. In the last 20 years, however, it has been almost entirely pushed out by Christianity.
Photograph: Rosângela Silva
Enrique Hernandez Armenteros "Enriquito", 90, grandson of an African slave from Congo and best known Yoruba Afro-American religion priest in Cuba, spills rum during a ritual 01 June, 2007 in Havana, Cuba.
Baptism II Moon Lake, MS 1997.
A group of baptism candidates make their way carefully over loose stones to the edge of Moon Lake, an oxbow of the Mississippi near Lula, MS
A young Cuban man, wearing a red blindfold, passes a secret initiation ritual of the Palo Monte religion in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, August 1, 2009. The Palo religion (Las Reglas de Congo) belongs to the group of syncretic religions which developed in Cuba amongst the black slaves, originally brought from Congo during the colonial period. Palo, having its roots in spiritual concepts of the indigenous people in Africa, worships the spirits and natural powers but can often give them faces and names known from the Christian dogma. Although there have been strong religious restrictions during the decades of the Cuban Revolution, the majority of Cubans still consult their problems with practitioners of some Afro Cuban religion.
This photo taken from the Brazilian group dressed in traditional costumes clothes. African-American women are performing ritual dance. This dance and costumes clothes are of Candomblé religion, this religion is based in African traditions with elements from Christianity.
1948
The Feast of Yemanjá
The Feast of Yemanjá is an offering given to the mother of the Orixás (deities) in the Umbanda cult. Its celebration attracts people from all over and messengers from the spiritual world that incorporate in human beings as a way of paying homage to this deity. The festival is held in the city of Salvador – Bahia, on the beach in Rio Vermelho and is a symbol of the culture of the people of Bahia.
Yemanjá in Umbanda (an Afro-Brazilian cult that comes from Candomblé) is recognized as the mother of the Orixás (deities), alongside Oxalá, the father of the Orixás (deities). Known as the Queen of the Waters, Yemanjá is very vain and likes to receive gifts (mirrors, combs, bracelets, crowns, perfume and flowers) A woman with a fish tail, a mermaid, half woman, half fish, she is very respected by fishermen who consider her as their protector, together with Our Lady of Saint Anne, the Catholic patron saint of fishermen.
The homage to the mother of the waters takes place on two different dates: December 31 (last day of the year) and February 2. On December 31 (New Year’s eve), Yemanjá together with her Orixás sons receive gifts from their devotees as a show of gratitude for what they were able to accomplish in the past year and also so that they can make new requests for the coming year. On February 2, Yemanjá’s official date, all gifts and requests are only for her. Gifts are placed on straw baskets together with notes with requests written on them and are taken out to sea.
Brazil, Bahia. 1990. A procession of worshippers dressed as Candomble orishas. The procession was led by Oxala, King of the Orishas, with Ogun, the Orishsa of Iron, following next to the beach outside Salvador, Bahia. The orishas are the dieties of Candomble, the Yoruba religion in Brazil.
Casa de Africa in Havana, Cuba Dance told story from one of the afro-cuban religions per Dianna, this is Yemaya from the Yoruba pantheon.
Easter Sunday, Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Itapuã, Praça Dorival Caymi, Salvador da Bahia.
Easter Sunday, Church of Our Lady of the Conception of Itapuã Square Dorival Caymi, Salvador da Bahia.
Ceremony of initiation at a Candomblé in Salvador, Bahia. Two iaôs ("daughters of saint"), preparing to get into the trance.
A Candomblé follower becomes possessed during the ritual ceremony in honor to Yemanjá, the goddess of the sea, in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil.
deitada do candomblé
lying candomblé
Afro-Brazilian Umbanda devotees pouring libation as way of reaching their ancestors
Umbanda is a syncretic religion that incorporated Catholicism, Native South American beliefs and Kardecism -- French spiritualism -- into the African possession cults that survived Jesuit extermination. The origins of Umbanda go back to the Yoruban religion, brought to Brazil by the African slaves in the 16th century. This African religion, based on the channeling of deities who represent forces of nature while sharing, like the Greek gods, human passions, is the foundation for a variety of possession cults of which Umbanda is a later manifestation.
Haitian women and veve
Photo: Ned Sublette
Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa
Chester Higgins
Cachoeira in Bahia Reconcavo
Women of the Sisterhood of the Good Death. A religious confraternity, guardian of the links between Africa and the Catholic worship, and over 200 years of life .