Follow Up on Candomble

Today, we had a field trip to feira de Sao Joaquim, a market where some ingredients for Candomble rituals are sold. Okay, most of the things, being food, are pretty common to any market, but the market did include a selection of colorful beaded necklaces and artistic statues incorporating the symbols of any given orixá. Our guide explained more about the process of being initiated into Candomble. It went something like this:
During the initiation, designs are drawn on the scalp, as the word orixá breaks down into two root words meaning 'head' and 'spirit'. So all initiates get to shave their heads. For the first year, all initiates wear white and refrain from parties and alcohol. For the three months following initation, the initiates sleep on mats in the temple, coming home early from work (unless they work at night), and don't have sex. Also, they must cover their heads (in white) every time they are outside. After three months, they go back to sleeping in their houses. After seven years, they move up the ranks, which means they can now wear shoes to Candomble ceremonies and don't have to have a downcast gaze all the time in the temple. The guide also explained how the statues fit in, but it escapes me at this point.


Going to the Candomble ceremony (two weeks ago) was interesting. The entire ceremony lasts a day, so clearly we do not see all of it, and some of it is only for the initiated members and participants of the ceremony. On the van ride there, Fred the tour guide was freaking us out, telling us things like, "the guys and the girls will be separated many kilometers apart, so if you feel strange, like your Orixá is possessing you, give us a signal, and we'll do what needs to be done." (Both teachers on this particular field trip were male) Apparently, it isn't only the initiated members who have gone thru the whole ceremony who get orixás. Audience members, including an exchange student a few years ago, get an orixá, but they aren't supposed to stay in the trance state and dance, since they haven't gone thru the cleansing rituals.

Fred explained further that there would be three parts to the ceremony we would see. In the first, the partipants would be dancing themselves into the trance, dressed in white. As they fell into the trance, helpers would take them away and dress them according to which orixá they were hosting. (Fred informed us that while a person hosts an orixá, they are not considered to be human but orixá) Then, there would be a pause and food would be offered. We were supposed to be prepared to be pushy to get food or a good view of the ceremony, because waiting politely would only get us a spot at the back. The third part would be when the orixás returned and danced together. Each orixá has a different dance, a different noise, and interacts with the other orixás differently.
Happily, the Sunday ceremony was much less crowded than Fred expected, so no crowd weaving was required. As we were walking in, a young women among the audience was shaking and generally looking like an orixá was possessing her. The audience members around her caught a helper's attention, and they splashed some water on her face, calmed her down, and led her out for a bit. We were later than intended, so we missed most of the first section. No trip ever leaves on time, and in this instance, several people had to go home to change because of the dress code requirements. Because there were fewer people attending this ceremony, everyone who was interested was able to try a plate of the food. Portions of several different foods decorated every plate. The second half, with the dancing of the orixás, was what I had expected, from the various descriptions we had seen that far. Perhaps it has more significance to those who know more about the orixás and the relationships between the different orixás and other related items.



Later, the Illinois students had a discussion about the Candomble ceremony. Most of the students had attended one of the two offered excursions to Candomble, but the experience was different from each day.

One of the students said that watching the participants fall into trance was similar to seeing members of her church in the states get the Holy Spirit and start speaking in tongues. I don't believe I had ever seen anyone experience anything similar, and one of the things I noticed most was the girls of about 12 watching from the side, practicing the dance steps.

From a skeptical viewpoint, I asked them why anyone would practice the dance steps if being entranced means that the orixá is in control. Various people answered, pointing out that not all people become entranced, that some initiated members never become entranced, so those girls might just be mimicking, wondering what it would be like. Also, many popular dance steps the area are similar and related to the dances of the orixás. And it was said too that across many cultures and religions, there is a long history of dancing into an altered state of consciousness.

Our discussion also touched on how the depiction of Candomble in Folkloric Ballet we attended compared to attending a real Candomble ceremony. Apparently, some leaders of Candomble are displeased by the inclusion of Candomble in a performance. Similarities between Candomble as depicted in a show by actors and Candomble in a temple is maybe not a desirable thing.

In the end, someone said that she thinks that some of the people thought to be entranced or with the Holy Spirit are faking it, some of the time, but that some people are truly experiencing something, and we are not likely to ever be able to distinguish the two.