Religions of Brazil

The Goddess of the Sea and Mother of the Waters is worshipped on New Year's Eve in Rio de Janeiro and on August 15 in Salvador.

Brief descriptions of the churches and religious ceremonies in São Paulo plus more information for the visitor.

Ancient religions: In Brazil its name is "Macumba" (sanctuary), and in Rio de Janeiro there are 65,000 temples, with 40 million Brazilians combining Christian beliefs with Spirit worship.

Text and photos describing the different facets of these two beliefs.

Descriptions of religious and secular festivals and holidays.

"Iemanja was a riverine Orixa in Africa, but became associated with the Sea after the "Middle Passage" (a euphamism for the terror of the slave trade). She is the Orixa of the phototropic ocean (as opposed to Olokun, who is the Lord of the Deep). She is also the ultimate mother figure and the "national" Orixa of Brazil."

News, editorials, current events, and shuls in Portuguese and English.

When in Rio, the visitor is never far from Macumba, the African black magic (known in Haiti as voodoo), which plays such a large part in the life of Afro-Brazilians.

This is about the Afro_Brazilian religians in Brazil, know collectively as Candomble, but popularly referred to as Macumba.

Macumba is the "umbrella" term used for two principle forms of African spirit worship: Candomble and Umbanda.

Macumba originated with African slaves shipped to Brazil in the 1550's, who continued to worship their African Gods, called ORIXAS,

The Macumba religion is practiced by a large number of Brazilians, and involves the apparent possession of worshippers by their gods; in a process that in some respects resembles that of Voodoo ceremonies.

Santeria is a syncretistic religion of Caribbean origin. It incorporates the worship of the Orisha (literally "head guardian") and beliefs of the Yoruba and Bantu people.

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Vodun is sometimes called Voodoo, Vodoun, Vodou. Religions related to Vodun are: Candomble, Lucumi, Macumba, and Yoruba)

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