Light Through the Crystal

For the list of all articles, click here. I’m bringing a second ponto of Exu. Pontos are songs sung during Umbanda rituals, usually to either worship the orixás gods or help medium achieve mediunistic trance. The video below is interesting because it shows a ritual in practice. The medium with a black cape, cane and top hat apparently  channelling the Exu Street Locker with the believers dressed in white clapping and singing.   The lyrics in Portuguese and English side to side: Deu meia-noite - It's midnight A Lua se escondeu - The moon has hidden itself Lá na encruzilhada, dando a sua gargalhada - He is at the crossroads, laughing out loud Tranca Rua apareceu - Exu Street Locker is here É laroyê, é laroyê, é laroyê - Hail the messenger! Hail the messenger! Hail the messenger! É mojubá, é mojubá, é mojubá - I salute you!  I salute you!  I salute you! Ele é odara, dando a sua gargalhada - He is the greatest, filling the room with his laughter Quem tem fé em Tranca...

For the list of all articles, click here. Pontos are songs sung by the members of a centre similar to Christian hymns. Pontos for Exu are very famous and tend to include themes that involve revenge, hell, the Moon, darkness and cemeteries. The ponto below is probably one of the most popular and its know by many umbandistas. The name of the ponto is " Quando o Sol Aqui Não Mais Brilhar " with the literal translation being "When the Sun No Longer Shines Here", or a free translation being "At sundown", and is usually sung for Exu Tranca Ruas (Exu Street Locker), an entity associated with the crossroads and is responsible for opening and closing—or "locking and unlocking"—the paths of a person's life.   Quando o sol aqui não mais brilhar - When the sun here no longer shines. Quando a lua o seu clarão refletir - When the Moon shines É sinal que está na hora - It is a sign that it's time É ele quem chega agora, já deu meia-noite - He is com...

For the list of all articles, click here. Exu is by far one of the most mysterious and controversial figures in Umbanda and Youruba spirituality. Out of 70 books about Umbanda 41 mentioned this entity and 17 were books solely devoted to understanding more about this force. Many describe Exu as an essence of movement, the famous medium Norberto Peixoto gives us a paradoxical but insightful description of Exu as the reorganizing force of chaos.   One of the earliest depictions of Exu as a guiding spirit. Taken from the book Trabalhos Praticos de Magia Negra, Antonio de Alva (1984) (lit trans. Practical Works of Black Magic). African roots Yoruba spirituality gives a central role to Exu (in Yoruba language graphed as èsù and in English as eshu) and he is considered to be of the main gods of Yoruba traditional religion, called orixás . In its cosmogony when Olorum gives to the heavenly god Oxalá the task of creating the world he asks first Oxalá to do an offering to Exu. Oxalá doesn’t...

For the list of all articles, click here. Same as we did with the caboclos (Indigenous guiding spirits) I think it would be a good idea to translate a ponto about the preto velho (the old black man) so we can learn while singing along. As mentioned in the overview article about Umbanda , pontos are songs sung by the members of a centre similar to Christian hymns. The aim of pontos is to induce mediumistic trance in the mediums of the temple and honour orixás or guiding spirits. The lyrics in Portuguese and English side to side: No tempo do cativeiro - During my captivity Quando o senhor me batia - When the owner beat me Eu rezava pra Nossa Senhora - I'd pray to Holy Mary Ai meu Deus... - My God... Como a pancada doía - How the blow hurt No tempo do cativeiro - During my captivity Quando o senhor me batia - When the master beat me Eu rezava pra Nossa Senhora - I'd pray to Holy Mary Ai meu Deus... - My God... Como a pancada doía - How the blow hurt Trabalhava na lavo...

For the list of all articles, click here.   The preto-velho (lit trans.Old Black Man) is, as a pair with the caboclos, the most important spirits in Umbanda. Zélio de Moraes announced the creation of Umbanda as a formalized religion with the Caboclo das Sete Flechas (lit trans. Caboclo of the Seven Arrows). What many don’t know is that before the Indigenous announced the religion Zélio channelled the spirit of Pai Antônio (lit trans. Father Antônio ) a preto-velho at his home. Some see this gesture as a symbolic tribute to the African influence in the religion that was going to be announced on the following day. The pretos-velhos are the essence of the most kind, benevolent and patient spirits possible. Their Christian equivalent would be the angel. In the spectrum from left hand magic to right hand mentioned in the article about the overview of Umbanda the preto-velho would take the most right hand position possible. They usually participate in magical works ( trabalho ) of heal...