Rio De Janeiro—Day One Candomblé Ceremony

We had an incredible first day in Rio.   Of course, the entrance by sea into this incredibly beautiful city was breathtaking, even with the cloudiness.   We were especially glad to arrive in Rio because the journey from Montevideo was as rough as we've had. We were hit by several fifteen foot waves the night before our arrival. The ship was really shaking!

Last summer Barry had investigated the possibility of taking his two World Religions classes to a Candomblé ceremony in Rio.  Using a website called "Get Your Guide" he made contact with a tour guide in Rio named Joao Carlos Desales who offered guided tours to what seemed to be authentic Candomblé ceremonies.   (See http://www.getyourguide.com/j-carlos-desales-private-tour-guide-s3339/) Once he learned he was only to organize one field lab for each course and good things developed in Ghana and South Africa he dropped the idea.

The closer we got to Rio the more he decided he wanted to investigate the possibility again. He quickly discovered that he wouldn't be allowed to take students (because any organized trips using any thing other than public transportation have to be approved by the SAS offices in Charlottesville).   He almost gave up on the idea again until the he got an email from the guide in Rio with links to a CNN story  in which he is featured in a story on African heritage in Rio.  (http://edition.cnn.com/CNNI/Programs/insideafrica/)  

 That convinced Barry the guy was both legitimate and good so by email he negotiated a trip to a Candomble ceremony, a visit to a favela, and an African Heritage Tour.   We very easily found 12 people to share the 14 passenger van (indeed we had to refuse four people who really wanted to join us).  

So, soon after we landed in Rio our group set off for São João de Meriti, about an hour from the port north of Rio.  (We were joined Kay Slaughter of UVA, Linda Korbert a writing instructor from Charlottesville, Larry Silver an Art History Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Don Gogniat from Penn State who teaches the mandatory Global Studies class on the ship, Erica Patterson an English professor from the University of British Columbia, Terry Bangs Professor Communications formerly of the Air Force Academy and the Orris family (life-long learners: parents, two children, and grandparents).

Candomble is an Afro-Brazilian religion.  According to Wikipedia, "it was developed in Brazil with the knowledge of African Priests that were enslaved and brought to Brazil, together with their mythology, their culture and language, between 1549 and 1888.

The rituals involve the possession of the initiated by Orishas, offerings and sacrifices of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdom, healing, dancing/trance,and percussion. Candomblé draws inspiration from a variety of people of the African Diaspora, but it mainly features aspects Yoruba orisha veneration."

We found the Candomble house of worship at the top of hill in a neighborhood we would not describe as a slum, though it was surely not prosperous.   

 

The house of worship itself had a small courtyard and a large "sanctuary."  There was an exterior hallway that led to some rooms in the back of the sanctuary.  We were soon ushered into the sanctuary where there were three our four rows of benches around 3 walls of the rectangle.  We sat at the back facing the front where there were men on a slightly raised platform drumming and leading all the people in a chant.

Wikipedia is again helpful for making sense of what we witnessed.

 "The Candomblé ritual has two parts: the preparation, attended only by priests and initiates, which may start a week in advance; and a festive public 'mass' and banquet that starts in the late evening and ends around midnight."  [Our guide explained that now that Candomblé is legal, the ceremonies are often held in daytime as in this house.]

"In the first part, initiates and aides wash and iron the costumes for the ceremony, and decorate the house with paper flags and festoons, in the colors favored by the Orixas that are to be honored on that occasion. They also prepare food for the banquet. Some domestic animals are slaughtered; some parts reserved for sacrifice, the rest is prepared for the banquet. On the day of the ceremony, starting in the early morning, cowrie-shell divinations are performed, and sacrifices are offered to the desired Orixás, and to the messenger spirit."

We were witnessing the public part of the ceremony that follows. It involved a series of rhythmic prayer chants, in the Yoruba language of West Africa, accompanied by drumming which are intended to call the various West African Orixás or lesser gods to be present. Candomblé "initiates" (mostly older women) danced slowly in two concentric circles (older initiates in the center).   Between chants the initiates would kneel and kiss the floor or greet each other very warmly.  We were able to photograph this part of the service.  After awhile a woman we had not seen before made an announcement and it was signaled to us that photography was no longer allowed.

 We had arrived to the climatic part of the public ceremony during which some of the initiates become possessed by the Orixás and fall into a trance-like state.  Several did become possessed, but quite honestly, had it not been for the reaction of those around them it would not have been obvious to us.  Indeed, this part of the ceremony seemed very little different from what had gone on before.   Again, Wikipeida explanation suggests there may well have been more going on than we realized.  "After having fallen into trance, the priest-spirits perform dances symbolic of the Orixá's attributes, while the babalorixá or father of saint (leading male priest) leads songs that celebrate the spirit's deeds. The ceremony ends with a banquet."

We actually had to leave before the banquet, but we could smell meat grilling.   There was a table with food on it in the rooms behind the sanctuary and people were coming and going throughout the ceremony and going back there for a snack. It was made clear to us that we were welcome to do the same.  After awhile women began to circulate among the crowd in the sanctuary itself offering food and water (it was very hot.)

 

Despite the unfamiliarity and strangeness of the experience, the people were quite friendly and welcoming.  They seemed incredibly ordinary.   Our guide had gone to the head of the house to explain to her that we could not stay for the banquet and she came out to greet us as we left.

 

She gave us a little brochure about the house, which refers to it as a "space of resistance, preservation, and valorization of the afro-Brasilian cultural memory." She also explained to us that in addition to the ceremonies, the house has a feeding ministry for hungry people and a ministry for women who are victims of domestic violence.  The brochure refers to courses in drumming, dancing, care of Orixá vestments or clothing, introductory information (presumably on Candomblé), and afro-Brasilian culinary arts.

 All in all, it sounded like your run of the mill community church!

 

Jayne bought same beads after having someone determine who her guardian Orixá's were based on her birthday.  (We were told that a true determination was more complex and involved the use of playing cards.)

 One more thing to comment on.  There was a beautiful cake that was to be served as part of the ceremony.  It was partly decorated with popcorn.  According to an article in Jayne's cultural anthropology class popcorn has symbolic significance in Candomblé.   Sometime people "wash" in it and it is used to cleanse some of the most important saints. The fact that when popped its white, purified inside comes out seems to be a reason for its symbolic significance..

 

We had lunch at a Brazilian buffet restaurant that was mostly forgettable.  The afternoon was unforgettable.  We'll report on that in our next post.