Umbanda Religion
This post is a little different, but you can continue to expect that. I aim to provide posts on a wide range of subjects so you might learn something new, broaden your mind, or find a new interest for example. Today you can learn about a Brazilian religion named Umbanda. To me, it comes across as a type of Voodoo, and scares me to think about it, if it does actually work. First you can watch a short video of it below, followed by some further information and link.
Umbanda is a religion that blends Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritualism, and Afro-Brazilian religions. It originated in Brazil in the early 20th century through a medium, Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, who worked among the Afro-Brazilian population of Rio de Janeiro. It has since spread across Brazil and to Uruguay and Argentina. The term “Umbanda” derives from Kimbundu, an Angolan language, and means “religious practitioners”.
Umbanda is a syncretic religion based on the worship of Angolan spirits, brought to Brazil by the African slaves during the colonial period, and on elements drawn from Brazilian popular culture. Additionally, Orixás, from the Yoruba pantheon, are given token rule over the various legions of spirits and are associated with a Catholic saint under whose guidance the spirits work. This association started during the time when the African slaves in Brazil were persecuted by their owners for practicing their religion. The solution they found was to hide the original worshipping objects that represented the spiritual entities under different Catholic saint statues in order to give the slave owners the impression that they were worshipping that saint, which had the same personality or qualities of the worshipped entity.
