Candomblé and Umbanda Festivities and holidays


Photo of artistical rendering of a Preto Velho - Old Negro Slave - taken from the Raiz Cultural (Cultural Roots) Blog

 The dates first:

  
January 20 - Oxóssi
February 2 - Iemanjá Day Bahia / Iguaçu
April 23 - Ogum
May 13 - Pretos Velhos (Old Negroes)
June 13 - Xangô
July 26 - Oxum
September 27 - Saints Cosmas and Damian
October 12 - Erê Children's Fest
November 02 - Omulú
November 15 – Umbanda’s Foundation / Flag Day
December 04 - Iansã (Yansan)
December 12 - Iemanjá (Yemanja)
25/12 - Oxalá

Now some words on the dates:

 These are not holydays in the sense that shops close, children do not go to school and offices normally do not have to open. These are more internal celebrations or festivities held in Umbanda and Candomblé ‘terreiros’ or centers. These special days are dedicated to one Orisha (Orixá). But two main dates above mark important events inside and outside umbanda. May 13 is the day when Brazilians celebrate Slavery Abolition Day. It is the day when Princess Isabel signed the law setting all slaves free.

The Umbanda tradition celebrates the Preto Velho Day, the Old Negro Slave Day. The second important date for all Brazilians is November 15, the Day the country celebrates the Republic Proclamation Day also known as Dia da Bandeira or Flag Day. The Black Brazilian Umbanda Nation celebrates the Umbanda’s Foundation Day. Last but not least there is a third interesting date. November the second when Christianity with a few exceptions celebrate the Dia dos Finados or Dia de los Muertos or All Souls' Day.

 The Afro-Brazilian religion as a religion of the oppressed used these days to protest, tough silently and cunningly, the injustices committed and the nearsighted, single-minded solutions offered like the mainstream society idea that freedom was given by the princess and not fought over bravely and very costly in lives and suffering by the negroes for over 100 years. Nearsighted because the end of slavery was the beginning of a free life of suffering where the only choice available was the choice of on which miserable place he or she or the family choose to die? Millions of free negroes took to the streets of a poor country, of city and urban misery. Something similar to the land enclosure measures in England prior and through the industrial revolution.

That mass of homeless migrating people marked the beginning of Brazilian-style ‘favelas’ with dispossessed former slaves climbing the ‘morros’, hill and mountains to hide in their makeshift shacks. In this sense it is interesting to highlight that Brazilian Negro Movements do not accept or celebrate Slavery Abolition Day neither on May 13 or under that name. They celebrate the end of slavery of sorts on November 20, which marks the date of Zumbi's death. Zumbi is the Afro-Brazilian anti-slavery hero who fought Portuguese, French and Dutch for nearly 100 years.

Zumbi was the leader of Quilombo dos Palmares Brazil’s largest and most successful quilombo in what is today the State of Alagoas. It was a community-republic of slaves who fled their owners and got ready to fight back and liberate fellow slaves. The Quilombo was finally subdued by Domingos Jorge Velho a “badeirante” Indian slave raider and gold prospector from São Paulo. The Bandeirantes were also responsible for the destruction of the Jesuit Missions in this region of Southern Brazil, Northeastern Argentina and Southern Paraguay. What a link!

The last date is a good example of religious adaptation when Brazilian slaves took advantage of the holiday not to celebrate the dead according to the Catholic Church but to honor Omulu the orisha responsible for protecting cemiteries and holy fields.

Soon to come:
Plan a visit!
What is an Orisha?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Umbanda and Candomblé Temples (Houses) in Foz do Iguaçu: address list

Image
  Mission accomplished. Members of the     Mãe Edna de Baru's (Mother Edna of Baru) house. An Afro-Brazilian Religious Space may be called "temple", "center" (centro) as in Centro de Umbanda (Umbanda Center), "terreiro" - a word derived from "terra (Earth) and simply "house".  A "terreiro" can be an area in the bush that is separated for the service, the undergrowth is cleared, the soil swept so that feet can tap and stump on the ground without the danger of snakes, insects that could somehow cause harm to the people in ceremony. "We do not need a cathedral. Men make cathedral. The little corner in the capoeira (second growth forest around the house) is god-made and all we need". Foz do Iguaçu is said to have 42 "houses". Each "house" is independent. There is no hierarchy. Houses do cooperate among them. Each house is presided over by a babalorisha (Babalorixá) or Yalorisha (Ialorixá). Bab
Read more

Poor Niagara! Has Eleanor Roosevelt ever been to Iguassu Falls?

Image
Photo from the US Embassy Brazil's FLICKR Gallery showing Eleanor Roosevelt, with Natal's Bishop Marcolino Dantas and General Gomes (in uniform) possibly translating. Upon seeing Iguassu Falls, Eleanor Roosevelt is reported to have said: Poor Niagara! You will find that in Spanish, Portuguese, French and possibly other languages. Everyone, when trying to learn about Iguassu Falls, will hear this Poor Niagara – Iguassu Story. What is happening hear now is that I have launched a campaign, through several of my blogs trying to find out whether this is true or false and what is the context in which the first lady said that. US First lady Eleanor Roosevelt visited Brazil in March 14-17 in 1944. She flew from the US over the Caribbean, made stops at some islands and for sure visited Trinidad and Tobago. From TT the First lady flew to Brazil entering the country through Belem – at the mouth of the Amazon River. Eleanor Roosevelt’s Belem visit has been well documented in Brazil.
Read more