Umbanda, the overview of a religion
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Umbanda is a spiritualist religion within the new religious movements. Originated in Brazil Umbanda was formalized as a faith in 1908 with Zélio Fernandino de Moraes, according to its codifier Umbanda can be described as the incorporation of spirits by mediums for the practice of charity.
The religion is pluralistic and syncretic by nature bringing together elements of Catholicism, Spiritism, Indigenous spirituality and African spirituality. There is no definite book determining the elements of the faith and each temple differs on the way the religion is practised.
History
There is no consensus on the origin of Umbanda and there is an ongoing effort to reinterpret the religion
The foundational myth that unites most practitioners is that 17 years old infirm boy, Fernandino de Moraes (1891-1975), was taken to a Spiritist centre with the hope of being cured. During the meeting Zélio channelled the spirits of an Indigenous, the Caboclo das Sete Flechas (lit trans. “Indigenous of the Seven Arrows” - a caboclo is a term used for the mix of Indigenous and Portuguese but in this case was used referring to an indigenous). Still according to the myth, due to widespread racism, the idea of an indigenous being a spirit of light and higher conscience shocked the society of that time. The caboclo replied saying that he will create a religion where all are welcomed and spirits will be channelled for the practice of charity.
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| Izabel, Zélio (with the sunglasses) and Ronaldo Linhares. Pictue was taken from the book História da Umbanda, by Alexandre Cumino. |
Foundational myths are stories made to create a reason for a group to exist independently from others. These myths can be religious like the one mentioned above, political, artistic or to justify the existence of any other group. In the case above, the goal was to create an identity of Umbanda as being an inclusive religion focused on lower classes, in opposition to the ‘elitism’ of Spiritism (a religion that came from France through middle and upper class families who could afford to visit Europe and learn with the intellectual trends discussed in “enlighted” circles).
This foundational myth has been under intense scrutiny. A growing number of Umbanda followers are tracing the beginning of the religion to its African ancestry. A different criticism comes from Alexandre Cumino who mentioned that one in every three Spiritualist centres of that time channelled caboclos and preto-velhos, spirits commonly associated with Umbanda, and that the point of schism with Umbanda was the presence of magical rituals, completely unacceptable to the scientific aspirations of Spiritism.
Organization and structure
Its followers are called umbandistas in Portuguese and the temples are called centres (centros) with variations as “terreiros”, “tendas” (tent).
Centres are independent from each other and can voluntarily affiliate to a national organization, in Brazil the Federação Brasileira de Umbanda (FBU). The temples are directed by a high priest with a title that is determined by gender, for males “Pai-de-santo” (lit trans. Father of Saint) or female “Mãe-de-santo” (lit trans. Mother of Saint). Under the high priest there is an indefinite number of mediums and with each medium a helper called “cambono”. Rituals are usually accompanied by drums played by “ogans”.
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| An example of an Umbanda centre with the altar in the background and balievers dressed in white. Photo taken from the book Macumbas e Candomblés na Umbanda, by W. W. da Matta e Silva (1970). |
During rituals the community gathers facing an altar called “congá”. A series of statues are displayed, usually forming a triangle. Traditionally a statue of Jesus is placed at the top, with a statue for each Orishà and their respective Catholic Saint placed at a lower level. This may vary from temple to temple.
Beliefs
Umbandistas have ceremonies to worship orishàs (with Portuguese variation being “Orixás”) and channel spirits for the practice of charity.
Rituals are called “giras” where external followers (believers) can communicate with spirits through the help of a medium. Believers can ask for help with personal issues, financial or even romantic issues. Spirits are believed to have a higher level of conscience and can help believers with advice, they may also ask for offerings or for a magical ritual (called “trabalho”, lit trans. “work”) to be made.
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| A believer showing her devotion to the goddess Oxum. Photo taken from the book Macumbas e Candomblés na Umbanda, by W. W. da Matta e Silva (1970). |
Believers often visit an umbanda centre while identifying with a doctrinal religion (Christianity, Spiritism, Judaism). This social phenomenon was described in an article by Tito Romão (2018) where the author characterizes Umbanda as a “transactional religion”, meaning a religion that is demanded in moments of need but that does not have a cohesive set of beliefs to create a sentiment of religious community. The phenomenon might explain why the religious census underestimates the number of followers of Umbanda as 1.8 million while the percentage of the population who looks for help in Umbanda is significantly higher.
Giras can also be conducted to worship and honour orishàs. Ogans conduct the community with their drums by choosing the next song that will be sung by the community, the songs are chosen based on the intuition of ogãs to help mediums achieve mediumistic trance. These hymns are called “pontos” (lit trans. “points”) and follow the structure of popular songs from Brazil in the 1930s when Umbanda was formalized.
Mediumship is viewed as a spiritual gift that all individuals can develop and services are provided for free following the principle of charity from Spiritism under the motto of “What God has given you for free should be given for free”.
Orixás
The number of orixás worshiped in each centre might vary. There are usually seven lines of Umbanda (“sete linhas de umbanda”). Due to the syncretic nature of Umbanda each orishà is represented by a Christian character.
Taking the historicist principle that the older takes precedent over the newer source, one of the oldest books I could find with the seven line was published in 1933, O Espiritismo e as Sete Linhas ds Umbanda from Leal de Souza and the author divides the lines as:
First line: Oxalá, Heavenly God, syncretized as Jesus Christ and the colour is white.
Second line: Ogum, god of war, syncretized as Saint George and the colour is red.
Third line: Oxossi, the hunter god, Saint Sebastian and colour green.
Fourth, Xangô, the god of justice, Saint Jerome, purple.
Fifth, Iansa, the goddess of winds, Saint Barbara, yellow.
Sixth, Iemanjar, the mother goddess, Our Lady of Conception, blue.
Seventh, the line of saints or line of souls. There is no orixá for this line.
Each orixá has its own personality much like the Greek or Hindu gods. More on orixás in a separate article.
Guiding spirits
Under the gods there are the guiding spirits, a literal translation for “guias”. These are the classes or archetypes of spirits channelled during a gira.
The number of classes of spirits has increased over time and the classes that are channelled will vary from centre to centre. I never found a definitive division, the most accepted division would be:
Preto-velho (the old black man), representing the African slaves that worked in plantations in Brazil
Caboclo, a mix of indigenous and Portuguese but usually representing the indigenous influence in umbanda
Marinheiro, literally sailor
Boiadeiro, literally the cowboy or cattlemen
Baiano, the gentilic of someone who lives in the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Ciganos, literally gypsy
Malandros, similar to a bohemian or a dandy from Rio de Janeiro.
Eres, an Yoruba word for “child”
Exu, that in Santeria and Candomblé is an orishà and graphed as eshù.
Pomba gira, with a long development in umbanda but usually considered a female version of Exu.
These entities are divided between the left line and right line, a probable reference to left hand and right hand in magic.
The left hand of magic is related to black (sic) magic, destruction magic, curses and dense energy related to the material (profane) world and in Umbanda are represented by exu and pomba-gira.
The right hand of magic is related to white magic, healing, protection and the divine aspects of existence. In Umbanda the guiding spirits of the right hand are the preto-velho (the old black man), the caboclos (the indigenous) and the erês (the children).
The sailors, cowboys and the gypsies can work in either the left hand or the right hand.
This is a basic overview of Umbanda and in future articles I hope to explore a little more about the Yoruba pantheon of orishàs, the contributions that the Catholic/Spiritist/African/Indigenous made to form what we see today as Umbanda, a little about each guiding spirit and more.
Unlike Allan Kardec’s Spiritism, so far I haven’t encountered a significant effort from Umbanda to translate the doctrine to languages other than Portuguese or Spanish so it could reach an audience outside of Latin America.
This article was written by Eduardo Guimarães and registered in the Brazilian National Library. The content is copyrighted. Reproduction for sale or profit is prohibited. With reproduction without a profit motive is allowed with the consent of the author.
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