Nicolau Pares - The Phenomenology of Spirit Possession PDF

THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT POSSESSION
IN THE TAMBOR DE MINA
(An ethnographic and audio-visual study)
PhD thesis
Luis NICOLAU PARÉS
Supervisor: Prof. Louis BRENNER

Department of African Languages and Cultures
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
University of London
London. July 1997

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"Ninguém pode mesmo falar coisas dos mistérios de certo. Os mistérios são
os mistérios. Os segrêdos são os segrêdos, e ninguém nunca sabe de nada. Os que
estudam, os que vem observar, estam observando, mas o fundamento eles não
sabem. Porque um diz uma coisa, outro diz outra, e aí faz uma confusão na cabeça.
Eu sempre deixo os pesquisadores em balanço..."
(Mãe Elzita, 09/08/93)
To Raimunda
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Abstract
The substantive focus of this thesis is on the spirit possession phenomenon in the Tambor de
Mina public drumming-dancing ceremonies. Seven cult houses in the city of São Luis
(Maranhão, Brazil) constitute the comparative framework for this phenomenological study. Two
of these cult houses were founded in the 19th century by freed African slaves, and five of them
were established in the 1940's and after. Public ritual performances were documented primarily
in the form of audio-visual recordings, supplemented by standard techniques of participant
observation, extensive interviews and the study of available published material. Close analysis
of this data revealed that differences in ritual singing, spirit possession behaviour, and
articulation of personal spiritual identity, determine at least three main patterns of ritual structure
and behaviour. Two of these patterns correspond to the two 19th century cult houses, and can
be identified with specific African traditions, the Jeje (Dahomean) and the Nagô (Yoruba). The
third pattern, called in this study the Mina de Caboclo, is found in the newer cult houses; it
incorporates certain "orthodox" African components, but also draws upon other symbolic
ensembles and practices, including popular Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritism, and especially the
Bantu and Amerindian-derived healing traditions (Pajelança). It is through the analysis of these
peripheral ritual practices, and their mutual influences, that the internal dynamics of the Tambor
de Mina institution are explained. In short, this thesis demonstrates, through the analysis of
discrete elements of ritual performance, such as song structures and spirit possession
behaviour, how contemporary Tambor de Mina has evolved through combining the practices of
the traditional African cult houses with a variety of other cultural sources. This thesis also
explores the methodological implications of using audio-visual documents in the presentation of
research findings, and the advantages which the juxtaposition of moving images and textual
discourse bring to the ethnographic study of religious performance.
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Table of contents
Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 3
Table of contents ....................................................................................................... 4
Index of text illustrations & video sequences contained in the VHS tape ........... 6
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................... 9
Introduction ................................................................................................................ 11
- The mediumship continuum, and spirit possession as focus of study ...................... 20
- Spirit possession and inspiration (Incorporação and irradiação) ............................... 23
Chapter 1: Comparative framework: classification and historic outline of

the cult houses. ......................................................................................................... 33
- The problem of representativeness ........................................................................... 33
- Religious criteria: "nations" and liturgical orthodoxies ............................................... 36
- The African sources of the "old" cult houses ............................................................. 40
The Jeje and Nagô religious predominance ................................................... 44
- The Brazilian sources of the "new" cult houses ......................................................... 52
Terreiro do Egito ............................................................................................. 56
Terreiro da Turquia ......................................................................................... 59
Chapter 2: The singing activity in the drumming-dancing ceremonies ............... 61

- The drumming-dancing ritual segment of public ceremony cycles............................ 61
- Instruments and basic "time lines"............................................................................. 64
- The doutrina .............................................................................................................. 72
- Analysis of ritual language: African "dialect" and Portuguese. .................................. 74
- Singing structure: language distribution .................................................................... 76
The Mina Nagô singing pattern ....................................................................... 78
The Mina de Caboclo singing pattern ............................................................. 79
- Strategies to legitimate ritual orthodoxy: The Imbarabô opening sequence.............. 83
- The ritual symmetry: encerramento or closing sequence .......................................... 90
- The linhas and the divisions of the spiritual world ..................................................... 95
Chapter 3: The phenomenology of spirit possession behaviour ......................... 100

- Spirit possession observed: behavioural signs and role ............................................ 100
The stages of ritual spirit possession .............................................................. 104
Spirit possession factors of variation .............................................................. 108
- Incorporation roles according to cult houses. ............................................................ 110
The Mina Jeje incorporation role..................................................................... 110
The Mina Nagô incorporation role................................................................... 118
The Mina de Caboclo incorporation role ......................................................... 122
- The polarity between calmness and violence ............................................................ 133
- Outside the dance hall: post drumming behaviour .................................................... 141
- The saída role............................................................................................................ 146
Chapter 4: The medium's articulation of personal spiritual identity .................... 149

- Two case studies ....................................................................................................... 149
Dona Rita case history .................................................................................... 150
Antonia case history........................................................................................ 153
- Recruitment of mediums: The dialect of conflict and healing. ................................... 154
Diagnosis: encosto versus calling of the gods ................................................ 156
Treatment: exorcism and mediumship development ...................................... 158
- The hierarchy of the head: dono da cabeça and personal linha................................ 162
- Techniques in the identification and naming of the encantados ................................ 166
- Viradas and ritual articulation of multiple spiritual identity ......................................... 171
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Chapter 5: Ritual expression of the medium's multiple spiritual identity ............ 173
- Some identity marks of spiritual entities: the toalha and necklaces .......................... 173
- The ritual construction of spirit possession roles ....................................................... 177
The old African vodun ..................................................................................... 178
The young female tobosa ............................................................................... 180
The corrente dos Akóssi ................................................................................. 184
The Borá Indian in the Tambor de São Miguel ............................................... 191
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 196
Chapter 6: The Cura and Spiritism rituals in the Mina cult houses ...................... 198
- The presence of curadores in the "new" cult houses ................................................ 198
- When the pajés became mineiros ............................................................................. 199
- The Brinquedo de Cura in Dona Elzita's house ......................................................... 202
- Between the Pajelança Cabocla and the Catimbó .................................................... 209
- The sessões de mesa in Margarita Mota's house ..................................................... 213
Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 219

- Summary of substantive conclusions ........................................................................ 219
- Methodological conclusions: The use of video as an ethnographic research
tool ............................................................................................................................... 223
Documentary and ethnographic film ............................................................... 223
An alternative to documentaries: visual documents and text .......................... 224
The video as a sophisticated notebook .......................................................... 228
The use of video in the field ............................................................................ 229
Video screening sessions ............................................................................... 231
Degree of intrusiveness and manipulation of the event. ................................. 233
Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 238

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Index of text illustrations & video sequences contained in the VHS tape
Page Tape time1
Chapter 2
V01.- Abatá drums 65 0.00.00
Casa de Nagô
V02.- Abatá drums and cabaças 66 0.00.20
Terreiro Yemanja
V03.- Hun, humpli, and gumply drums 66 0.00.38
Casa das Minas
V04.- Tambor de mata 67 0.01.19
Terreiro Yemanja
V05.- Ferro playing the dobrado rhythm 68 0.01.36
21-01-96. Tambor de São Sebastião. Casa de Nagô.
03-08-93. Tambor de Sant'Ana. Terreiro Fé em Deus.
15-06-96. Tambor de Santo Antonio. Tenda Rio Negro.
V08.- Ferro playing the cinquillo 70 0.02.58
05-12-92. Tambor de Santa Barbara. Casa das Minas.
V09.- Ferro playing the repinicado 71 0.03.24
V10.- Ferro playing the corrido rhythm 71 0.03.57
25-07-93. Tambor de Sant'Ana. Terreiro da Turquia.
V11.- Entrance of the mediums in the dance hall,
and Roda de Alauê dances 88 0.04.21
03-12-94. Tambor de Santa Barbara. Casa de Nagô.
V12.- Entrance of the mediums in the dance hall, and Imbarabô dances 89 0.06.33
06-04-96. Tambor de Aleluia. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia.
V13.- Exit from the dance hall, and end of drumming-dancing session 91 0.07.58
V14.- Encerramento closing segment 92 0.09.51
14-02-96. Tambor de São Lazaro. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia.
V15.- Final part of encerramento closing segment 93 0.12.13
V16.- Exit from the dance hall and encerramento praises 93 0.13.33
24-04-96 Tambor de São Jorge. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
V17.- Encostar closing segment 95 0.15.28
Chapter 3
V18.- The vodun's praises in front of the Catholic altar 112 0.16.25
1The tape time starts to count from 0.00.00 (hours, minutes, seconds) from the title screen
V01, ignoring the first three general titles.
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Page Tape time

V19.- Entrance of voduns in the guma 113 0.18.03
27-09-94. Tambor de São Cosme e Damião. Casa das Minas.
V20.- The vodun Jogoboruçu joining a medium 114 0.19.11
V21.- The vodun Averekete joining a medium 115 0.21.46
27-09-94. Tambor de São Cosme e Damião. Casa das Minas.
V22.- The Mina Nagô incorporation role during the Roda de Alauê 120 0.23.04
V23.- Detail of the hand-skirt gesture 121 0.25.09
V24.- The Turkish Juracema crossing necklaces after the incorporation 121 0.25.53
10-05-96. Tambor de Juracema. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
V25.- The Mina de Caboclo incorporation role 123 0.26.32
12-12-94. Tambor de Santa Luzia. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia.
V26.- Incorporations with whirling during a circle dance 126 0.29.52
V27.- Maria Bandeira's incorporation with whirling 127 0.32.06
V28.- Maria Bandeira's incorporation without whirling 127 0.33.10
24-04-96. Tambor de São Jorge. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
V29.- Circular choreagraphy with whirling dances in the centre 130 0.35.32
V30.- Interpersonal induction of the incorporation with dance 131 0.36.29
10-08-93. Tambor de São Lorenzo. Terreiro Yemanja.
V31.- Interpersonal induction of the incorporation with physical contact 132 0.37.13
07-12-92. Tambor de Yemanja. Terreiro Yemanja.
V32.- Incorporation of a medium during the Imbarabô sequence 135 0.39.16
V33.- Virada of a medium during the caboclo singing part 135 0.39.57
V34.- Manifestation of Legua in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia 138 0.42.09
V35.- Manifestation of the line of Legua in the Tenda Rio Negro 138 0.43.13
V36.- Manifestation of Indian spirits during the virada do tambor 140 0.44.51
V37.- Singing, smoking and saída during the post-drumming segment 142 0.46.47
V38.- Saída and festive dances during the post-drumming segment 143 0.48.00
V39.- Vodun smoking pipe 144 0.49.34
05-12-92. Tambor de Santa Barabara. Casa das Minas.
V40.- Surrupirinha's behaviour during the post-drumming segment,
and saídas 145 0.50.02
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Page Tape time

Chapter 5
V41.- A dance of Ogun in the Candomblé 174 0.54.29
23-04-96. Candomblé for Ogun. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
V42.- Manifestation of Badé 179 0.55.29
V43.- Manifestation of Vô Missã (Nana Buluku) 180 0.56.33
V44.- Manifestation of the Tobosas and their collective virada to caboclo 182 0.57.13
08-12-94. Tambor da Conceição. Terreiro Fé em Deus.
V45.- Tobosa with manta de contas necklace and doll 183 1.02.10
15-10-94. Tambor de Santa Teresa. Terreiro Yemanja.
V46.- Manifestation of the Akóssi in the Almôço dos Cachorros 188 1.03.02
13-12-94. Almôço dos Cachorros. Terreiro Fé em Deus.
V47.- Manifestation of the Borá Indians 194 1.09.52
29-09-94. Tambor de São Miguel. Terreiro Fé em Deus.
Chapter 6
V48.- Brinquedo de Cura 203 1.15.37
25-05-1996. Terreiro Fé em Deus.
V49.- Collective dance of pajés in the Brinquedo de Cura 206 1.18.28
V50.- Healing activity of the pajé in the Brinquedo de Cura 207 1.20.16
V51.- Sessão de mesa (Spiritism table session) 214 1.27.08
04-03-96. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia.
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Acknowledgements
This thesis, and the research involved in it, would not have been possible without the
help of many persons to whom I would like to express my gratitude. In the first instance, I want
to thank all the Tambor de Mina practitioners who have generously given of their time, and who
have enabled me to better understand their religious activities: Dona Deni Prata Jardim from
the Casa das Minas whose humanity and wisdom has always been a source of inspiration; Pai
Euclides Menezes Ferreira and Dona Isabel Costa from the Casa Fanti Ashanti; Dona Elzita
Vieira Martins from the Terreiro Fé em Deus; Dona Lucia, Dona Vituca, and Alex from the Casa
de Nagô; Pai Jorge Itaci from the Terreiro Yemanja; Dona Vicença, Dona Lozina and Dona Zizi
from the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia; Dona Josefa Silva and Dona Conceição from the Tenda
Rio Negro; and all the other people who have shared some of their knowledge with me, and
who have permitted me to participate in their ceremonies, and to video record some of their
public events.
I would also like to thank Prof. Louis Brenner, my thesis supervisor, who gave me the
chance to undertake this academic challenge, and who always encouraged and advised me
with great understanding and tolerance. His close reading of my text, his methodological and
editorial suggestions, his opportune bibliographical references regarding the African
background of this study, and his belief in the advantages of the use of audio-visual
technologies for research purposes, have proved invaluable help.
In London, I thank Lucy Duran, from the Department of African Languages and
Cultures (SOAS), who also supported my video activities and who helped me with the musical
aspects of this thesis; I thank Matthias Röhrig Assunção for his bibliographical indications about
the history of Maranhão. I thank Marina Coriolano Lykourezoz who checked my Portuguese
translations, and Mary Mchugh who revised the final version of the text.
In Maranhão, I thank the anthropologists Sergio and Mundicarmo Ferretti who

introduced me to some of my informants in São Luis, and who were always ready to help me
during my fieldwork both in the logistics and in many other aspects of the research, including
bibliographical references. I thank Prof. Euclides, from the Reitoria of the UFMA, who
generously provided video equipment for the video screenings I organised in different cult
houses. I thank the anthropologists Didier de Laveleye with whom I shared interesting
discussions on the Mina and the Pajelança, Patricia Sandler who taught me the basics of
ethnomusicology, and Silvana Martins who provided insight into the popular dances of
Maranhão.
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In Bahia I thank Yedâ Pessoa from the Fundação Gregorio Matos, and the
anthropologist Kadya Tall for their hospitality when I was in Salvador. I thank Vivaldo Costa da
Lima for his generous collaboration, and for putting at my disposal his personal library. I would
like to thank all the Candomblé priests and priestesses who kindly received me in their
terreiros, and showed me different aspects of their religion: Humbono Vicente from Matatu,
Pejigan Everaldo Duarte and the personnel from the Terreiro do Bogum, Pai Amilton from
Curuzu, Dona Olga de Alaketu; and in Cachoeira, the personnel from the Roça do Ventura, and
Gaiaku Luisa amongst others.
In Benin, I thank Celestin Dako for his invaluable help in different aspects of my
fieldwork for the three months I stayed there, and Blandine Legonou and her family for their
hospitality in Abomey. I thank the Avimanjenon and the Nesuxwe priests for honouring me with
their friendship. I thank the photographer Milton Guran for his friendship and for being
"compañero de fatigas" in the use of visual media in academic research. I thank Ulrike
Sulikowsky for her contacts in Benin.
In Barcelona, I thank my parents for all the unconditional support they have provided
through the years; Cristina Vilallonga for her musical transcriptions, and the "old friends" for
their moral support. In London, I thank the "Toifund posse", Paul Vickers, Kate Reditt, Patrick
Tichy who have put up with me during the last year of writing, and Alejandra Jimenez and Eva
Palacios who helped me to digitise the video frames for printing.
The video post-production took place in the off-line editing facilities of the School of
Oriental and African Studies, and the South Bank University. The on-line editing was completed
at London Electronic Arts. The School of Oriental and African Studies also provided funding for
travel expenses in my fieldwork in Benin. Finally, this thesis would have not been possible
without the award of a British Academy Studentship. To all these institutions my recognition for
their support.
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Introduction
Tambor de Mina constitutes one of the regional developments of Afro-Brazilian

religion2 which appeared in the city São Luis3, in the state of Maranhão4, during the first half of
the 19th century. Like other religious expressions which originated in African traditions brought
into Brazil by slaves, the Tambor de Mina is based on the worship of a series of spiritual entities
known in Maranhão as voduns, orixás5, gentis6 or caboclos7, and generically designated as
encantados8 (the enchanted) or invisíveis (the invisible). The worship of such deities associated
2 In other states of Brazil, this religion is known by different names such as Candomblé in
Bahia, Xangô in Pernambuco, Batuque in Pará and Rio Grande do Sul, or Macumba in Rio de
Janeiro.
3 São Luis is located on a pre-Amazonian island in the São Marcos bay on the Atlantic coast,
two degrees below the equator. The city was founded by the French around the Fort of São
Luis in the late 16th century. It was occupied by the Portuguese in 1615 and invaded by the
Dutch between 1641 and 1644. Subsequently, it was colonised by the Portuguese, until the
independence of the state of Maranhão in 1822.
4 The state of Maranhão is located in North Brazil, below the Amazon rain forest. It is
surrounded by the states of Piaui in the South, Tocantins in the West, and Pará in the North.
Maranhão is a tropical region with a rainy season that goes from January to June. Due to
geographical and historical circumstances, Maranhão remained a relatively isolated area for
many years. Until 1822, both the states of Maranhão and Grão Pará were politically dependent
upon the Portuguese Metropolis, thus separated from the rest of Brazil.
5 Vodun is a Fon word, and orixá is the corresponding Yoruba word. Both terms designate
spiritual entities or deities who can manifest in mediums. For a detailed description of the vodun
concept in the African context see Maupoil (1988) and Verger (1957). In this study these terms
will not be written in italics.
6 The gentil is a category of spiritual entities which includes spirits of members of European
nobility. They are not African, like vodun or orixá, and sometimes they are called os brancos
(the whites). They are held in great respect by mediums because of their noble and prestigious
reputation. They are old in the Tambor de Mina and very numerous. Dom João, Rei Sebastião,
Dom Luis Rei da França, are a few of the most famous.
7 In Maranhão, the caboclo does not only represent spirits of Brazilian native population
(Indians), as it happens in other parts of Brazil, but also spirits of members of the social
segments excluded from the elites. They are known as being "de fora dos palacios" (from
outside the palace). Some caboclos are of noble origin but they abandoned the power circles to
join the povão (the popular masses). The Turkish family is a very famous family of noble
Turkish spirits whom are sometimes considered as gentis and more often as caboclos. The
caboclo, although not always of Brazilian origin, appeared as spiritual entities for the first time in
Brazil, and in that sense they are Brazilian, as opposed to the African voduns and orixás.
Although the caboclos of the Mina may have had human life in the past, they are never
confused with the spirits of the dead; they are rather considered as having been enchanted, or
to have disappeared mysteriously although they did not die. Despite their popularity in the
Tambor de Mina, usually they are considered to be hierarchically inferior to vodun and orixás,
with whom they are never confused.
In this study, the use of the term caboclo as spiritual entity, should be distinguished from the
caboclo referring to detribalised Indians (Indio manso) and/or to the white and Indian mestiço
(mamelucos). To do so I propose to use the italic style when referring to the latter.
8 Strictly speaking the term encantado refers to human spirits who were enchanted by some
sort of magic (the etymology of the word implies that the magic is effected through a chant or
song, but this is not always the case), and are supposed to dwell as spiritual entities in
particular objects or natural sites like lagoons, trees, flowers, etc. However, nowadays in the
Tambor de Mina context the term encantado refers to any spiritual entity who manifests in a
medium, regardless of its nature or origin. Therefore, in this thesis the term will be used as a
synonym of spiritual entity, including African voduns or orixás, Brazilian caboclos, or any other
spirit received by mediums.
12
sometimes with forces of nature, sometimes with enchanted human spirits, is organised around
a series of shrines which receive periodic ritual offerings. At the same time the Tambor de Mina
is a spirit possession cult where some devotees, through different processes, are prepared to
embody, to impersonate, or, to use local terminology, to incorporate a plurality of encantados,
who during public ceremonies will dance for hours to the sound of the drums. The Tambor de
Mina is still a cult practised by a majority of black or mestiço women belonging to the lower
social classes, while men usually help in some activities like drum playing. Nevertheless, in the
last decades participation of male mediums, and affiliation of devotees belonging to the white
middle classes has increased.
In Maranhão the expression Tambor de Mina is used to refer to the religious institution,
while the expressions casa de mina (mina house) or terreiro are used to designate the sacred
space or temple where the cult is held. In this study the term cult house, or just house, will be
used to refer to the space where the religious community organises the cult practices. Tambor
de Mina literally translates as Mina drum, or drum of the Mina. Tambor, in this context, refers to
the musical instrument as well as to the religious ceremonies in which the drum is played. That
the name of the cult is taken from the musical instrument is already significant, as drum-playing
is one of the main identifying elements which differentiates the Tambor de Mina from other
mediumistic practices. The term Mina derives from the Portuguese Forte de São Jorge da Mina
(d'Elmina or del-Mina) in the Gold Coast, present Republic of Ghana9. São Jorge da Mina was
an important slave trade centre, and Africans who were shipped to Brazil from this port were
known as Mina. However the word Mina was known in several parts of Brazil, including
Maranhão, as a generic term to designate Africans not only from the Gold Coast, but also from
the Ivory Coast and the Slave Coast, the latter including Togoland, Benin and Western Nigeria
(N. Rodrigues 1977: 108)10.
In Afro-Brazilian studies the interest in the Tambor the Mina has remained somehow
overshadowed by the attention paid to the Bahian Candomblé, the Pernambucan Xangô or the
Carioca Macumba. It was not until the end of the 1940's that the first important studies
referring to the Maranhese context were published11, most specially by Nunes Pereira (1979),
Costa Eduardo (1948), Alvarenga (1948), Verger (1952), and Bastide (1971). Except for Costa
Eduardo and Alvarenga, these authors focused on the oldest cult house of São Luis, the so
called Casa das Minas. The Dahomean religious traditions preserved in this cult house for
9 Mina is also the name of a language and an ethnic group from South Dahomey, also known
as Gen, who incidentally were involved in the slave trade. They are located in the Grand Popo
area in South Benin.
10 In Maranhão, expressions such as Mina Nagô, Mina Jeje, Mina Popo, Mina Fulupa, and
even Mina Angola and Mina Cambinda, were known or heard (Costa Eduardo, 1948: 10). This
suggests that the term Mina may have been used to designate Africans in general.
11 For a detailed bibliography on black studies in Maranhão see "Evolução dos estudos sobre o
negro e os cultos afro-brasileiros no Maranhão" (Ferretti S., 1996: 15-38) and "As pesquisas
sobre Tambor de Mina do Maranhão" (Ferretti M., 1993: 34-45)
13
more than a century at that time, stood as a remarkable example of African cultural resistance,
and this fact aroused the interest of the first researchers. As a result, the Casa das Minas
became the emblematic reference of the Maranhese Tambor de Mina, and the Mina cult was
promptly labelled and identified as an Afro-Brazilian religion, and especially as the "purest" or
most important survival of the Jeje tradition in Brazil. Jeje is the term by which African slaves
belonging to different Adja-Ewe ethnic groups from South Benin (ex Dahomey) were known in
Brazil. Similarly, the slaves belonging to the Yoruba-speaking ethnic groups were called
Nagô12. As we will see below, these ethnic differences have survived as different religious
traditions. However, in Maranhão, the Casa das Minas, despite its historical importance,
constitutes an exceptional case, and it would be an error to measure and to evaluate the
Tambor de Mina only by the standards of the Mina Jeje practised in this cult house. The
Dahomean tradition was one African tradition among others, and it was probably the Mina Nagô
as practised in the Casa de Nagô, another cult house established in the first half of the 19th
century, which according to the mineiros13, exerted a larger influence on the Tambor de Mina
as we know it nowadays. Therefore both scholars and local exegesis tend to conceive the
Tambor de Mina as a derived form of West African religious traditions.
Without denying the importance of these West African traditions in the formative
process of the Tambor de Mina, this thesis would like to bring to the attention of the reader
other magico-religious traditions which account for some of the distinctive features of
contemporary Tambor de Mina.
In order to do so, this thesis proposes a comparative analysis of some aspects of ritual
performance in the Tambor de Mina as practised in São Luis. Ritual spirit possession in the
context of public drumming-dancing ceremonies constitutes the primary focus of this analysis
although other related issues are addressed. A phenomenological approach examines what
people do and, to a certain extent, what people say about what they do. Because of the
importance given to ritual performance, the thesis methodology places particular emphasis on
the use of audio-visual recordings as ethnographic documents. At the same time, historic
contextualisation of ritual practices, both of the Tambor de Mina and other magico-religious
ensembles co-existing with the Tambor de Mina, is outlined in order to provide some
understanding of the internal dynamics of the religion.
The comparative framework of the thesis comprises seven cult houses, two of them,
the Casa das Minas and the Casa de Nagô, established in the 19th century by freed African
slaves, and five of them established in the 1940's and after. For purposes of clarity the former
will be called the "old" cult houses, and the latter will be called the "new" cult houses.
Examination of ritual singing structure, spirit possession behaviour, and the articulation of the
medium's spiritual identity, shows the existence of at least three main patterns or ritual
12 Vivaldo da Costa Lima (1977: 14-16) provides a detailed hypothesis as regards the
etymology of both the Jeje and Nagô terms.
13 Term to refer to the practitioners of Tambor de Mina.
14
orthodoxies. Two of them correspond to the two 19th century cult houses and can be identified
with specific African traditions, the Jeje (Dahomean) and the Nagô (Yoruba). However the third
one, corresponding to the majority of "new" cult houses, does not follow the "orthodox" West
African models. In a religious culture legitimated by the preservation of inherited values and
practices, this thesis argues that the consistent changes presented by all "new" cult houses can
not be explained only in terms of a "disaggregation" process, and a loss of group control
caused by changes in social structures and values (Bastide, 1971). Instead, close examination
of other magico-religious traditions co-existing with the Tambor de Mina seem to account for
the internal dynamics of the religion. The need for historic religious contextualisation in studies
of spirit possession has been pointed out by Olivier de Sardan:
"C'est en fait toute insertion des phénomènes de possession dans un

contexte plus large qui semble rencontrer d'âpres résistances, que ce contexte soit
historique, social ou même religieux: l'interaction entre la possession et les autres
ensembles symboliques avec lesquels, au sein d'une même societé, elle coexiste ou
dans lesquels elle est incrustée (...) n'a jusqu'ici guère retenu l'attention de notre
profession" (1986:153)
The thesis argues that, in the "new" cult houses, the singing structure, and some of the
basic aspects of spirit possession behaviour and ideology, incorporate certain "orthodox" West
African components, but also draw upon other symbolic ensembles and practices, like
Kardecist Spiritism and the Bantu and Amerindian-derived healing traditions as perpetuated in
the Pajelança Cabocla14, and in other hybrid forms of "low spiritism". Due to the limits of the
thesis other ensembles like the Umbanda15 or the Bahian Candomblé which play an
increasingly important role in the configuration of contemporary Tambor de Mina are
commented upon but not fully developed. In short, this thesis demonstrates, through the
analysis of discrete elements of ritual performance, such as song structures and spirit
14 The Pajelança is the healing and magical activity practised by the pajé. The pajé (a Tupi
word) is the diviner-healer-sorcerer who assisted by a plurality of spiritual entities (by extension
also called pajés, companheiros do fundo, or encantados) performs the curative rituals. The
Pajelança is an Amerindian tradition practised by many Brazilian Indians, especially the Tupi. It
must be distinguished from the Pajelança practised by the caboclos in the Amazon area and in
Maranhão. In this thesis I propose to use the term Pajelança Cabocla (Galvão, 1976) to refer to
the Pajelança practised by the caboclos in the Amazon area, and the term Cura when referring
to the Pajelança Cabocla of Maranhão. When this cultural and geographical differentiation is
not critical, the generic term Pajelança will be used.
15 Mediumistic religion appeared from a fusion of elements from the Candomblé de Caboclo
from Rio de Janeiro (Macumba), and Kardecist Spiritism. Elements from Catholicism, European
and Oriental esoteric traditions are also present. The term Umbanda applied to these cults
seems to have appeared between 1936 and 1940 (Cacciatore, 1977). The Umbanda's spiritual
universe is hierarchically structured into linhas commanded by orixás. The caboclos, preto
velhos and exus are the main categories of spiritual entities worshipped in the Umbanda. Today
the Umbanda is largely spread in all Brazil, and since the 1980's it expanded to Argentina,
Uruguay, and even the United States and Europe (Ferretti S., 1996).
15
possession behaviour, how contemporary Tambor de Mina has evolved through combining the
practices of the traditional African cult houses with a variety of other cultural sources.
Since mid 18th century, with the first massive presence of slaves in Maranhão, different
African magico-religious practices and beliefs began to adjust in different ways to the new
socio-economic circumstances of slavery. As the result of a progressive and complex cultural
interpenetration process16, magico-religious African practices experienced significant
transformations in Brazil. This happened not only due to an inherent "African syncretism", that
is the borrowings and modifications occurring within the different African traditions, which may
have already started in Africa, but also due to the encounter between African traditions and pre-
existing or emerging cultural manifestations of Iberian and Amerindian origin, namely the
"caboclo universe" prevailing in all North and Northeast Brazil. The expression "caboclo
universe" basically refers to the culture resulting from the emergence of a new social and
ethnic class composed of detribalised Indian, and the mixed white and Indian mestiço
population (mamelucos), both groups generically known as caboclos. This "caboclo universe"
began its genesis from the earliest times of colonisation, and was probably fully configured by
the time of Brazilian independence in 1822 (Grenand F. & P., 1990), although being an ongoing
process it cannot be said that it has ever attained a definitive form 17. The African cultural
traditions began to interact from the very beginning with Iberian folklore like the autos populares
imported by the Jesuits, the Saints feasts organised by Catholic brotherhoods, or the Pajelança
rituals. These ceremonies presented the African slaves with new conceptual ensembles and
"pantheons" like the spiritual guides of the pajés living in the encantarias18, the imagery of
Catholic saints and their associated life stories, the legends of European nobility such as the
Sebastianism movement, or the battles of Christian and Moors stages in the Cheganças, just to
mention a few of them. This cultural encounter resulted in mutual influences, and in the same
way that the African traditions appropriated and assimilated alien values and practices, the
caboclo universe was nurtured by the African traditions. These mutual influences corresponded
with an increasing ethnic mixture of society, and were operated by a participation of Creole
individuals in traditions which initially were not practised by black people. Therefore Creole and
16 The interpenetration concept (interpénétration) was used by Bastide (1971) as an alternative

to the concept of acculturation or cultural contact. I have used this term to refer to acculturation
processes because it clearly suggests the double sense of cultural interactions. Alternatively
the terms "borrowings" or "assimilation" may be used in the text when the appropriation of
cultural elements is clearly unidirectional.
17 For the formative process of the caboclo culture in Brazil see Ribeiro (1996). For the role
played by the mamelucos in the 16th century as an intermediary social class between the
Portuguese and the Indians see Vainfas (1995). For the history of the Amazon caboclo culture
see Galvão (1976). For the formation of "regional subcultures and ethnic variants" in Maranhão
see Röhrig Assunção (1995).
18 Sacred nature locations where enchanted spirits are supposed to dwell. Normally the
encantarias are associated with the bottom of the rivers, underwater streams, wells, interior of
trunk trees, beaches, etc.
16
mulatto individuals began to organise in Catholic brotherhoods or to behave as pajés. In this

way a rich tapestry of values, ideas and practices were interwoven resulting in various local
forms of magico-religious expression. These were subsequently influenced by new imported
traditions, like for instance Kardecist Spiritism at the end of the 19th century. At the same time,
all the different local or regional forms of magico-religious expression interacted among
themselves producing an ever-changing cultural evolution which is still active today. As a
result of this historic cultural interpenetration process, contemporary Tambor de Mina seems to
have evolved from the interwoven convergence of a plurality of traditions. Consequently, the
Tambor de Mina has recently been labelled, more accurately in my opinion, a Brazilian religion
of African origin rather than an Afro-Brazilian religion (Ferretti M., 1995; Carvalho Santos &
Santos Neto, 1989). Still, the question remains whether the West African sources are as
central as current bibliography on the subject leads us to think.
In relation to the Batuque from the neighbouring state of Pará - a similar form of
religion with strong influence from the Tambor de Mina -, Figueiredo & Vergolino e Silva (1966,
1972) and Figueiredo N. (1975: 183) stress the need to consider this religion as a whole,
abandoning the "Africanism" which has traditionally prevailed when approaching it. These
authors suggest that the original cultural traits which comprised the Batuque have been diluted
and mixed in such a way that it is impossible to distinguish or to isolate one from the other.
They see the Batuque as one mediumistic religion which forms part of a continuum with other
practices such as the Umbanda, Kardecist Spiritism, and Evangelical churches, all sharing in
one degree or another the basic common denominator of mediumship (Figueiredo, 1975;
Vergolino e Silva, 1973)
Seth and Ruth Leacok agree in general terms with this position, and they remark that,
"the cult, of which the Batuque is the central ceremony, has become a Brazilian religion,
practised by Brazilians, and dedicated to a group of supernatural beings most of whom have
Brazilian names and speak only Portuguese" (Leacok, S. & R. 1975: 5). This statement could
be applied to a certain extent to the Tambor de Mina too.
Present day observation of Tambor de Mina ritual practices, and analysis of songs and
"pantheons", show obvious signs of African heritage. The installation of shrines or
assentamentos19 dedicated to specific deities, the performance of food and animal offerings to
these deities, the use of drum playing and dance in public ceremonies, and the song praises of
a series of African spiritual entities, are all original, unequivocal African features which
distinguish the Tambor de Mina from other mediumistic practices such as the Cura, Kardecist
Spiritism, or even the Umbanda. However, close examination of the Tambor de Mina rituals
and "pantheons", also reveals an increasingly significant presence of Brazilian elements derived
19 The shrine where spiritual entities are supposed to inhabit, where their axé is fixed, and
through where they canalise their force (axé). It can be an ensemble of ritually prepared stones,
and/or other elements normally buried or kept in hidden locations of the cult house, or in trees.
Food and animal offerings are regularly performed in the assentamento to feed the spiritual
entities.
17
from the interpenetration of African, European and Amerindian cultural traditions, or more
precisely the interpenetration of their intermediate hybrid forms.
This thesis does not intend to present a picture of the Tambor de Mina as a whole, but
to discuss a certain number of phenomena which occur in a limited number of cult houses.
Therefore in chapter 1 the different reasons which determined the selection of the domain of
study are given. Different ways to classify the seven cult houses are discussed, and a division
based on the different ritual orthodoxies is proposed. The different orthodoxies operating in
each cult house constitute a means to build an identity, or style, build upon particular actions,
attitudes and discourse. These orthodoxies are legitimated in terms of a link with tradition,
although tradition is always an ideological construct processed by personal charisma. However
despite the ideological construct of discourses, the praxis of ritual actions and behaviour permit
one to distinguish three main orthodoxies: the Mina Jeje, the Mina Nagô and what may be
called the Mina de Caboclo. In order to explain the Jeje and Nagô traditions, a historic outline of
the emergence of the Tambor de Mina in Maranhão contextualises the establishment of the two
"old" cult houses in the 19th century, and reasons are given for the religious predominance of
the Jeje and Nagô traditions versus other African traditions like the Bantu. The "new" cult
houses are then presented, and the different religious genealogies of the high priests and
priestess of each house suggest that the transmission of traditions is not exclusively based on
relations of religious affiliation established by initiation processes, but that they are articulated
within a wider network of social interactions where the learning can occur in less systematic
ways.
In chapter 2 analysis of the drumming-dancing ceremonies where spirit possession
takes place is provided with an emphasis on the singing structure. This examination of the ritual
dynamic shows that the Mina Nagô and the Mina de Caboclo present quite distinct singing
structures not only as regards the use of African language and Portuguese, but also in the
different order in which the African and the Brazilian spiritual entities are praised. Furthermore it
is suggested that the characteristic division of the singing into linhas (groups of spiritual entities)
of the Mina de Caboclo presents great similitude with the Pajelança singing structure.
In chapter 3 the spirit possession phenomenon is introduced by a theoretical discussion
on the concept of possession, and the establishment of a series of stages into which the
process can be divided. Analysing the stage called incorporation, when the medium receives
the spiritual entity, differences between the three orthodoxies are observed both in relation to
the moment when spirit possession occurs within the singing sequence, as in relation to the
behaviour of mediums. The West African derived orthodoxies present a more calm behaviour
which contrasts with a higher degree of "violence" in the Mina de Caboclo. However it is argued
that such "violent" behaviour not only answers to the expression of individual emotions and
impulses, but that it also responds to a particular cultural patterning. It is suggested, for
18
instance, that the characteristic whirling of the caboclo's incorporation may be related to the
Bantu dance traditions. Then other stages of the possession process, like the departure or exit
of the spiritual entities, are examined.
In chapter 4 the articulation of personal spiritual identity, that is the identity constructed
around the relationship between the self and the group of spiritual entities that a medium can
receive in possession, is examined. By means of two case histories, different recruitment
strategies of mediums are presented, and different diagnosis and treatment of conflicts are
examined. This analysis provides ground for further distinguishing between the West African
tradition, and the Bantu and Amerindian traditions operating within the Tambor de Mina. The
notion of person in the West African derived cult houses, and the one operating within the Mina
de Caboclo present new differences. While in the former a medium will tend to receive a small
number of spiritual entities, the latter is characterised by the fact that a medium can receive a
large number of spiritual entities. The different notions of person constitute different spirit
possession ideologies, and the Mina de Caboclo possession ideology, with its multiple and
accumulative personal spiritual identity, can once more be traced back to the spirit possession
ideology operating in the Pajelança, where the healer pajé during ritual performance "gives
passage" to a great variety of spirits. Kardecist Spiritism is also examined as a cultural source
which may have contributed to the tradition of a multiple personal spiritual identity.
Chapter 5 explores the way in which this multiple spiritual identity is expressed at the
ritual level, showing the different ways in which the identity of spiritual entities is communicated
to the audience. This examination analyses the performance of a single medium incorporating
four categories of spiritual entities in four different ritual contexts. These examples show the
way in which particular possession roles are defined, and how a single medium is capable of
enacting different roles, demonstrating the cultural patterning of these behaviours
Finally, chapter 6 analyses the Pajelança and the Spiritism table sessions as practised
in the Tambor de Mina cult houses, and discusses some interpenetration processes between
these traditions and the Mina. This interpenetration is examined at the ritual level rather than at
the level of spiritual entities. A historic outline of the process by which the pajés began to
organise Mina cult houses provides some insight into the problematic of the Mina de Caboclo
formative process. The chapter concludes with the suggestion that it is the multiple spirit
possession ideology of the Mina de Caboclo, resulting from the influences of the Pajelança and
Spiritism which accounts for the proliferation of new Brazilian caboclo spiritual entities, and a
progressive disappearance of the African voduns and orixás, both in the ritual performance and
in the Mina imaginaire.
In summary, this thesis demonstrates that there is a discontinuity in terms of ritual
orthodoxies and spirit possession ideologies between the West African derived traditions and
the Mina de Caboclo as practised in the "new" cult houses. On a second level, the thesis points
19
at the possible historic magico-religious traditions which were involved in the formative process
of the Mina de Caboclo.
The methodology adopted in this thesis was designed to document ritual performance
in a manner which provided an analytical framework for the comparative study of both the
internal dynamics and the history of religious expression. Field work in São Luis took place over
13 months in different periods between 1992 and 199620. The research was conducted as
already mentioned in seven cult houses. It consisted of standard techniques of participant
observation of public ceremonies, together with extensive recorded interviews and informal
conversations with several individuals having different degrees of affiliation with these terreiros.
The main informants were experienced mediums with high positions within the religious
hierarchy, most of them leaders of the cult houses, but occasional interviews were also
conducted with inexperienced mediums, musicians or cult attendants. This data was
supplemented by the study of available published material.
The field work research was documented in large part by ethnographic audio-visual
recording of public ceremonies. After the recordings, the video material was subsequently
screened in the cult houses to generate further discussion and comment on the ritual
performances. Video recording has permitted documenting dynamic temporal events, such as
spirit possession behaviour, which otherwise would have been very difficult to analyse in detail.
Audio-visual documentation has provided constant empirical reference throughout the research.
It was used as visual source text, and repeated screenings permitted me to "read", a posteriori ,
new information which was not perceived when recording the actual event. In the thesis, audio-
visual material is primarily used as testimonial evidence, and as a starting point for analysis of
ritual performance and ritual set up. In some cases by confronting side by side contrasting
audio-visual documents the images and sounds are used for argumentative purposes, or
presentation of conclusions. The video becomes descriptive evidence. A video tape with
relevant video sequences accompanies the thesis, and a black and white print of a frame of
each sequence is inserted in the appropriate text location for reference purposes. The dialectic
juxtaposition of moving images and text is one of the main methodological issues of this thesis,
20 Complementary fieldwork was conducted for a total of 4 months between July and October
1995 in Benin (West Africa), and a total of 3 months in the cities of Salvador and Cachoeira in
the state of Bahia (Brazil). The following list details the periods of time spend in the Brazilian
cities.
A.- 12- 09-92 to 17-12-92. Salvador: 30-09-92 to 05-10-92; 15-11-92 to 03-12-92
São Luis: 11-10-92 to 15-11-92; 03-12-92 to 13-12-92
B.- 20-07-93 to 07-09-93. Salvador: 31-08-93 to 07-09-93
São Luis: 20-07-93 to 25-08-93
C.- 04-09-94 to 11-01-95. Salvador: 12-11-94 to 25-11-94; 17-12-94 to 11-01-95
São Luis: 04-09-94 to 12-11-94; 26-11-94 to 17-12-94
D.-12-12-95 to 24-08-96. Salvador: 12-12-95 to 10-01-96; 04-08-96 to 24-08-96
São Luis: 10-01-96 to 04-08-96
20
and the conclusion chapter further develops the methodological implications of the use of video
in ethnographic religious studies.
At the same time, the methodology of this thesis is based on the classical comparative
method of socio-cultural anthropology, which combines fieldwork techniques and its
interpretative elaboration with a diachronic vision of the formative patterns of religious traditions,
and the dynamics of its variations in a situation of cultural interpenetration.
Due to the limits of the thesis, and probably determined by the audio-visual recording
activity, special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the transformative dynamic of religious
expression at the ritual level, the domain of action, gesture and objects, rather than at the
conceptual level of the "pantheons" and religious values or ideas. Obviously both levels
complement each other and when necessary I address these issues too, but the primary stress
has been placed on the former. For the sake of clarity, spiritual entities are usually referred to in
terms of broad categories acknowledged by participants, rather than in their complex and often
contradictory individualities. Many aspects of the Tambor de Mina are inevitably only mentioned
without further development as for instance several ceremonies like the Festa do Divino, or the
Bumba Boi. Priority has been given to the ritual activities in which spirit possession is an
essential component. As regards the interpenetration processes I have only vaguely
commented on the Catholic influence, stressing the importance of other symbolic ensembles
like the Pajelança and in a minor degree the Spiritism. This again has to do with the relevance
that such traditions play in the spirit possession dynamics.
The mediumship continuum, and spirit possession as focus of study
It is quite normal for a medium belonging to the Tambor de Mina to participate

alternatively in different ritual practices. A medium can declare herself Catholic and go to mass
in the morning, dance a Mina ceremony in the evening and assist next afternoon to a Spiritist
session, and if she belongs to the Cura precept, she may occasionally dance in a Pajelança.
Nowadays in Maranhão, all these cults and ritual practices coexist, and their audiences and
practitioners intersect in different degrees.
Tambor de Mina, Terecô21, Pajelança, Kardecist Spiritism, Candomblé, Umbanda and
even Evangelical Christianity, all involve in one degree or another the participation of mediums,
and the idea of transcendent spiritual entities as agencies of ritual activity. These cults and
21 Mediumistic cult of African origin practised in the city of Codó, in the interior of Maranhão. It
is characterised by the use of the tambor de mata (the bush drum), and it is known as the
source of the linha da mata spiritual entities (bush line). In the Mina context this tradition is often
referred as Tambor de Mata. Although it combines elements from different traditions, among
others the Jeje (M. Ferretti, 1993), it has an important input of Bantu elements. (Syn.: brinquedo
de Santa Barbara, pagé). Costa Eduardo (1948) provides documentation of these practices in
the Santo Antonio dos Pretos community in the Codó area.
21
magico-religious institutions constitute what I will call a mediumship continuum, the belief in
mediumship (mediunidade) being their main common denominator.
At the base of the medium's vision of the world there is the fundamental belief in a
duality between a material, sensible, phenomenological world, and a spiritual, invisible "other"
world, which in many cases, are conceived as symmetric and correlated. The notion of two
separate and parallel realities is complemented by the notion of the existence of specific ways
to communicate between these spheres. Mediumship is the human faculty whereby the two
separate planes are connected. It is believed that through mediumship the human body
becomes a bridge, a connection point, or a mediating agent between the invisible realm of
spirits and the material world of men.
Mediumship is usually considered a divine gift granted by God in the moment of birth.
Some informants say that everybody has some degree or another of mediumship, other
informants suggest that mediumship is a faculty particular to only a few individuals who are, by
this gift, predestined to serve the spiritual entities. All of them coincide in claiming that
mediumship is a faculty with different qualities and intensities, which can be strong or mild, and
which must be educated and fine tuned to develop its full potential22.
The concept of mediumship is culturally shaped and encompasses a wide range of
modalities which are worth commenting upon for the sake of clarity. The mildest form of
mediumship would be intuition, presentiment or premonition. The individual can or cannot
acknowledge such feelings as signs of the "other world", and will or will not behave according to
them, but the experience of such feeling is already considered as a manifestation of
mediumship faculties. In that sense everybody would be endowed with a certain degree of
mediumship.
However mediums are usually identified because they have some other paranormal
faculties beyond simple intuition. There are mediums, classified by Kardec as sensitive or
impressionable, whose mediumship will affect their sense of touch. These mediums can sense
the presence of spirits, through the vague impressions they perceive through a sensation
resembling friction in the body. There are mediums endowed with auditory mediumship
(auditívos) who hear voices of spirits and can converse with them. It may appear as an inner
voice, or as a clear and distinct voice from the outside. Normally these voices communicate
messages from the encantados giving some advice or warning23. Mediums with visual
mediumship (vidência) claim to see phenomena not perceived by the normal eye. Visions of the
spirits can occur in an ordinary state of awareness, in an unconscious state, or in a dreaming-
22 When there are signs of mediumship in a child, the development of this faculty is usually
discouraged, and a series of actions will be performed in order to block or to deactivate it. This
is called "suspender a mediunidade" (to suspend mediumship), and it is usually only a
temporary measure, to delay the moment when the individual will have to fully develop the
faculty, usually assuming a religious compromise.
23 Glossolalia or "speaking in tongues" is considered a form of mediumship associated with the
organs of speech. While glossolalia is quite frequent in Kardecist Spiritism and evangelical
Christianity, it is not characteristic of the Tambor de Mina.
22
somnambulistic state. Some mediums give detailed descriptions of the anatomy, gestures,
facial expressions, and clothing of particular spiritual entities. Others receive more generalised
pictures of whole groups of spirits, shadows, lights and so on. The clairvoyant can also claim to
have visions of what happened in the past, what is happening in a distant location, or what will
happen in the future.
This auditory mediumship can be combined with visual mediumship in what Dona Deni,
the current main responsible of the Casa das Minas, calls the "thought or mind's connection"
(conexão do pensamento). The medium, in some sort of meditative state where there is usually
focused attention or concentration (concentração), can communicate with the encantados
receiving information through voices and/or visions. The intuitive and often unconscious
thinking activity, at one point becomes certainty and knowledge. This sort of mental
communication can be used when a medium, helped by her spiritual guides, is involved in
healing activity establishing a diagnosis, or prescribing a particular treatment.
Preparing a remedy or medicine, or actually practising healing activity such as applying
magnetic passes to a patient are sometimes considered to be actions "inspired" by the spiritual
guides which canalise their knowledge and supernatural power through the hands of the
medium. This form of healing mediumship where the medium is involved in therapeutic action is
especially relevant in the Spiritism and Pajelança contexts.
Some mediums claim to travel through space and time by means of their vision. This is
not only visual mediumship, but the possibility of controlling such power and focusing the vision
according to one's will. Ultimately this faculty would allow experienced mediums to control to a
certain degree the action and the dynamic of events within the vision. This form of "soul
projection" is closer to the idea of a shamanic journey, and the idea that the individual soul can
leave the body. Dreams are conceived as a way of communication between humans and the
invisible world too, and can be interpreted as premonition, advice or warning. Some informants
believe that, during sleep, the human spirit can temporarily abandon the body and travel to the
spirit's realm.
There are mediums that possess some or all of the above mentioned forms of
mediumship. Visual mediumship may be one of the most common claims of the mineiros.
However all these forms of mediumship are clearly differentiated from spirit possession, which
although considered a mediumistic faculty, presents characteristics of its own. In a way spirit
possession is the most dramatic form of mediumship, where the spirits not only communicate
with the medium, but use the medium's body as an instrument to manifest and express
themselves, replacing the medium's personality.
23
Spirit possession and inspiration (Incorporação and irradiação)
Spirit-possession, and especially the implicit trance state associated with it, seem to
resist any attempt to be systematically analysed. Considerable scholarly comment has been
written on the subject by specialists belonging to different disciplines (psychiatrists,
psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists and ethnologists among others). Let us examine
some of the most relevant bibliography on the subject.
In Afro-Brazilian studies, the possession-trance phenomenon has been variously treated.
The psychiatrist Nina Rodrigues (1935) considered possession as a somnambulic state with
disassociating and substitution of personality, that can be induced by hypnotism. Based on ideas
from Charcot and Oesterreich, another psychiatrist, Arthur Ramos (1988) explained trance as a
very complex phenomenon based on a series of psychological morbid states. These early studies
tried to explain the nature of trance by reducing it to an individual bio-psychological level.
Herskovits (1941, 1948) analyses trance among the blacks in Africa and in America and
considers it as a conditioned reflex with dislocation of personality. He argues against the previous
interpretations of trance that saw the phenomenon as a psychopathological state related to
hysteria or other neurotic manifestations. He explains trance as a behaviour culturally determined
by learning and discipline. After his theoretical positioning, which dates from 1947, trance was
seen as a socially induced phenomenon.
Roger Bastide (1958, 1971) follows this approach and he says that trance is the nucleus
of the Afro-Brazilian religions; that it occurs in a controlled ritual where the individual has to adjust
to specific mythological models and behavioural patterns. He tries to identify the pressures of the
community over the individual, but he admits that there is a synthesis between the collective
representations imposed by the religious tradition and the hidden unconscious tendencies of the
individual. Possession cults would also work as a form of psychodrama where the adepts can
express their personal emotional conflicts. In his "sociology of mysticism", he tried to explain
changes in the expression of religious experience as determined by changes in the social
structures.
Both these authors and their disciples Costa Eduardo (1948) and Ribeiro (1952) would
insist on the socially adaptive nature of trance. Socially discriminated individuals find in the Afro-
Brazilian possession cults, a way to invert their social status. Possessed by the spirits, they
become gods and gain prestige and respect in the community. Verger (1957) also assumed a
sociological and psycho-analytical point of view seeing trance as a conditioned reflex where the
unconscious personality of the individual is developed and expressed within a socially controlled
context.
In Haiti, L'Hérison and Dorsainvil (1931) had established, like Nina Rodrigues in Bahia, a
parallel between vodun possession and phenomena of hysterical disassociation of personality.
Price Mars (1928) rejected such pathological interpretations and defined possession as a
mystical state "caracterisé par le delire de la possession théomaniaque et le dédoublement de la
24
personalité". From a psycho-analytical angle, Louis Mars (1952) interpreted trance as a condition
which permitted one to explore the unconscious "I". He admitted the social aspect but he
emphasised the subjective side of possession.
Alfred Métraux (1958) doubted the sincerity or authenticity of the trance state. He asked
himself whether there was a real disassociation of personality or whether it was a simulation
responding to ritual imperatives. He saw possession cults as ritual comedy, a liturgical drama
where possessed adepts were playing a role as theatre actors do in another context. This position
was shared by Leiris (1989) when he examined possession in the Zâr cult in Ethiopia. These two
authors were the first to point out the theatrical aspect of spirit possession, and this study, with
slight nuances, is not far away from this line of interpretation.
Since the 1970's more theories evolved from the previous studies. Lewis (1971, 1986),
developing further the sociological model of interpretation, tried to elaborate a sociology of
religious ecstasy by studying trance and possession. He divided possession cults into two groups:
peripheral possession by amoral spirits, and central possession by ancestor spirits and
autonomous deities. He considered peripheral possession, in which participants normally belong
to underprivileged groups such as women or homosexuals, as a form of ritualised protest or
rebellion. He considered central possession, in which participants are normally men competing for
power and authority, as an instrument of social control. Despite his comparative approach, Lewis
took very little interest in Brazilian cults.
Luc de Heusch (1971) insisted on the sociological nature of possession and criticised the
functionalist theories that describe religion as an instrument of social control. He stated that
religions involving initiation of its members constitute a rational utopia to confront conflict and
illness which are seen as forms of supernatural aggression. Using a structuralist methodology he
attempted to establish a typology of the different spirit possession cults.
Marcio Goldman (1984) provided one of the best surveys and critics of spirit possession
studies. Goldman also took a structuralist point of view. He argued against the bio-psychological
interpretation as obsolete and the sociological model as reductionist. He advocated that only
through a previous analysis of the ritual structure and the notion of person within the cultural
complex where possession cults take place, will it be possible to establish the relationship with the
wider social aspects. He examined the initiation process in the Candomblé as a ritual construction
of the individual's new personality. Despite his lack of fieldwork experience, Goldman's theoretical
positioning has also been inspirational in this study.
The behavioural American school, led by Erika Bourguignon and her assistants,
conducted in 1963 an extensive survey of ethnographic data in relation to the occurrence of
altered states of consciousness in small non Western societies. Research findings showed that
90% of these societies, had one or more institutionalised, culturally patterned forms of the
religious altered state of consciousness. In Bourguignon's words "possession offers alternative
roles, which satisfy certain individual needs, and it does so by providing the alibi that the behavior
25
is that of the spirits and not of the human beings themselves" (1976: 40) Therefore, Bourguignon
subscribed to the role-playing interpretation of possession in which performers behave like actors,
and by changing roles keep a balance between personal needs and social expectations.
In recent years the bio-psychological line of interpretation has found new followers. Neher
(1962), Walker (1972), Goodman (1988), and others, have tried to explore the neurophysiological
aspects of altered states of consciousness. Some have resorted to comparisons with the so called
multiple personality disorder, a subcategory of the dissociative disorders identified by psychiatrists
in Western culture. Finally, in the Afro-Brazilian context, Binon Cossard (1970), Lepine (1978),
Verger (1981), Augras (1983), and others, have proposed an interpretation of the Yoruba orixá
pantheon prevailing in Bahia as defining character archetypes which would allow for a
psychological typology.
Many other studies have been written on the subject, but these suffice to show their
diversity. The different theories regarding the functionality of trance and spirit possession cults,
as a possible therapeutic means to express the repressed inner self in a socially acceptable
way, as a means to achieve or to invert the social status of the medium (Verger, 1981; Bastide,
1971), or as a means to relieve tensions in the social structure, especially in conflicts between
women and men (Belo, 1960; Lewis, 1971, 1986), are all partially relevant but none of them
seems to be wholly satisfying. To these interpretations other factors such as the solidarity of
the group, may be added as possible reasons for the practice of spirit possession cults. The
communal participation in a routine involving friendship, responsibility, personal pride and
amusement, may play an important role too. In any case, this diversity of interpretations
already suggests the complexity of the issue at hand, and the need for an interdisciplinary
approach if any real understanding of the phenomenon is to be achieved.
In order to discuss some aspects of spirit possession it may be useful first to establish
a linguistic distinction between spirit possession and trance, and then between possession and
inspiration. Rouget (1985: 30) defines possession as:
"the socialized behavior of an individual, consisting, given certain circumstances, in

a change taking place within him, with the effect that his usual personality (which
governs his every day behaviour) is replaced by the persona of the deity, who
dictates different forms of behaviour to him; this substitution being accompanied by
an alteration in psychic activity generally termed trance".
In this study, I will be mainly dealing with spirit possession as defined by Rouget, rather
than with the accompanying trance state or the nature of such psychic alteration or mental
dissociation. Spirit possession will be here understood as a behavioural complex endowed with
26
significance and communicative purposes, expressing a certain type of relationship between

the individual and the spiritual entity. Spirit possession implies an "identificatory behavior",
mainly based on the naming of the deity (Zemplini 1966: 356 ff., 402 ff.). I will address this
important aspect in chapter 4.
Having said that, to differentiate between possession and other forms of mediumship in
which the medium is under the influence of spirits is not an easy task, as such distinctions
respond to the combined effect of both social conventions and the subjective experience of
mediumship. Despite its social and cultural dimension, spirit possession is above all an
individual religious experience. Rouget (1985: 20) speaks of "a transcendence of one's normal
self, as a liberation resulting from the intensification of a mental or physical disposition, in short,
an exaltation (...) of the self".
The identification of certain experiences as possession or other forms of mediumship
respond in part to the medium's relationship with his or her own imaginaire. The imaginaire is
understood here as the psychical universe of references the individual acquires to understand
the world and his own sense of self. According to the medium's perception of his or her own
mind's functioning, some experiences will be understood and explained as possession or other
forms of mediumship. This interpretation, being the result of a social learning process, may
differ greatly from the assumptions of Western culture. What in Western culture would be
referred to as distraction, euphoria or mental stress, in the mediumship continuum can be
identified as caused by an external spiritual agent. Culture determines the interpretation and
thus the nature of both mediumship and its inclusive form of possession. To start with, it is to be
noted that the term possession is rarely used by the mineiros, and that other expressions like
incorporation or manifestation are used to refer to the idea of the medium's personality being
replaced by the spirit's personality. This switch of personality is what is usually emphasised in
relation to possession as opposed to other forms of mediumship
Irradiação, aproximação or vibração (irradiation, approximation or vibration) are

common terms borrowed from Spiritism terminology to refer to the state in which the medium
can feel the proximity of the encantado's energy, but before proper possession has occurred.
Spiritual entities are believed to be always around, although invisible, they are sensed and
perceived by mediums. The irradiation is a form of this "feeling of presence" which affects the
medium with different intensities. Mental interference with partial loss of consciousness, and
some physical signs such as cold, sleepiness, dizziness or acceleration of the heart beat, are
possible symptoms. The irradiation is sometimes considered a previous stage to attain proper
possession, but in some cult practices like Kardecist Spiritism and derived forms like the
Spiritism table sessions of caboclos, this is usually the only sort of mediumship required.
27
The irradiation would correspond to what Rouget (1985: 44) calls obsession 24, the
effect of an "external agent" as opposed to possession considered as an "internal principle"
which implies actual habitation by the spirit within a body. However in the Maranhão
mediumship continuum 25 the cause of irradiation is not necessarily attributed to malevolent
spirits, as is the case with obsession as defined by Rouget. This author (1985:26) establishes
another distinction between possession and inspiration which may be more appropriate for our
domain of study.
"Possession is characterised by the fact that during trance, the subject is

thought to have acquired a different personality: that of a god, spirit, genius, or
ancestor - for which we may use the general term 'deity'- who has taken possession
of the subject, substituted itself for him, and is now acting in the subject's place (...)
for a longer or shorter period the subject then becomes the god. He is the god. We
can call this possession in the strict sense of the word"
He then defines inspiration in the following terms:
"rather than having switched personalities, the subject is thought to have been
invested by the deity, or by a force emanating from it, which then coexists in some
way with the subject but nevertheless controls him and causes him to act and speak
in its name"
To further distinguish possession from inspiration the author attributes to possession

an "identificatory" nature. The medium identifies with the deity, and therefore the deity has to be
identified too, while the irradiation would not usually involve a clear identification of the spiritual
agent causing it. The difference between possession and inspiration provides a helpful
conceptual distinction which broadly corresponds respectively with the concepts of
incorporation and irradiation as used in the Tambor de Mina context.
Expressions such as "o encantado entrou nela" (the encantado entered her), "o vodun
passa por mim" (the vodun passes through me), "ela dá passagem à várias entidades" (she
gives passage to various entities), or "ele está incorporado" (he is incorporated), convey the
idea of entrance of the spiritual entity into the body. Even in the context of the Cura, where the
notion of possession is more ambiguous (see below), the notion of entrance into the body is
24 Kardec stressed the term obsession, meaning that the evil spirits may dominate, subjugate
or even paralyse the will of men but nevertheless remain outside the body. He disregards the
term possession as the Catholic notion of entrance into the body. He distinguishes between:
moral obsession (acts on ideas and beliefs of the medium); corporeal obsession (acts on
organs of the medium); physical obsession (acts on objects, tables, noises etc.)
25 Contrary to what happens in Maranhão, in the Bahian Candomblé the term irradiação is often
understood as an obsession by malevolent spirits.
28
explicit in some songs, as this one belonging to the Baião26 repertoire in the Casa Fanti
Ashanti.
A mãe d'àgua do rio já vem The mãe d'àgua of the river is coming
Ela vai entrar no coro (corpo) She will enter the body
não sei de quem Of who? I do not know.
However, in the Mina, the idea of possession is not always clearly interpreted as actual
habitation by the spirit within a body. According to some informants of the Casa das Minas, the
energy of a vodun is too powerful to inhabit a human body27. The matter of the medium's body
is only dominated by this external energy or force, with different degrees of intensity, however
when this happens the vodunsi's28 personality changes and in a ritual context she will be
treated as the vodun itself. Therefore despite the cause being interpreted as an external agent,
the experience cannot be called just inspiration because there is the switch of personalities
characteristic of possession.
This conception of possession as a form of proximity rather than actual habitation, of
contiguity rather than embodiment or incorporation, is perceived in the use of the verb juntar or
ajuntar (to join)29. Expressions like "o vodun juntou ela" (the vodun joined her), "quando eu vi
aquilo juntar com ela" (when I saw that thing joining with her), "eu tenho medo de juntar eles" (I
am afraid to join them), or "ele vem e me ajunta" (he comes and joins me), are used by some
mediums of the Casa das Minas and the Margarita Mota cult house to refer to possession.
Possession may also be called atuação or estar atuado (the acting or to be acted upon)
26 Popular secular dance very famous in the 19th century in North Brazil associated with São
Gonçalo (Variants: baiano, bailão). In some Tambor de Mina cult houses it became a spirit
possession ceremony associated with the Cura tradition where spiritual entities from the linha
d'àgua doce, usually princesses, manifest. The mediums play castanets and use fans. The
dances are circular (de roda) and the whirling is characteristic. There are no drums; and guitar,
accordion (probably introduced after the Baião as a musical rhythm was popularised in the
mass media by Luís Gonzaga in the 1940's), tambourines, and rattles are the main
instruments. Câmara Cascudo (1988) provides information about the Baião as a secular dance,
and M. Ferretti (1993: 359-365) describes the ceremony in the Casa Fanti Ashanti.
27 This interpretation has to be contextualised with the notion of vodun prevailing in the Casa
das Minas, which significantly differs from the concept of encantado prevailing in the majority of
cult houses. In Dona Deni's discourse there is an ambivalence between the conception of the
vodun as generative principle of life, a "particle of god" responsible for the dynamics of the
natural world, and the vodun as a singular entity with name, family and other anthropomorphic
features. When Dona Deni denies the possibility of the vodun entering the body of the vodunsi,
she is conceiving the vodun as the generative principle of life, as a deity associated with the
sources of life, rather than as a spirit of human characteristics. The vodun is qualitatively
different from human spirits of the dead or enchanted men.
28 Vodunsi is the name given to a medium who has been initiated and consecrated to a vodun,
whom she receives in possession. In this study, the use of the term will be restricted to the
mediums of the Casa das Minas, where only voduns are received. Otherwise the term medium
will be used.
29 Juntar: Portuguese: Ajuntar-(se): Pôr junto; unir-(se), reunir-(se). English: to join, to connect;
to meet, to come together, to associate. The verb encostar in one of its meanings (Portuguese:
arrimar, apoiar, fazer aproximar. English: to put side by side) can also be used in a similar way
"o encantado encostou ela" (the encantado joined her).
29
suggesting the idea of a body being fully governed by an "other" who acts instead of the normal
self. Another common expression to refer to possession uses the verb to receive, "Eu recebo
os meus caboclos" (I receive my caboclos). In these two cases, there is no precise information
as regards the location of the spiritual agent in relation to the medium's body, but the implicit
idea of a "visit by a spirit" is always present.
Therefore, despite the fact that possession is usually conceived as habitation by the
spirit within a body, there is some ambivalence in the idea. Nevertheless, the mineiros always
establish a clear difference between possession and irradiation or other forms of mediumship
like clairvoyance or "mental inner dialogue". The distinction can not be established in terms of
degree of consciousness, as in many cases it is accepted that there is conscious, semi-
conscious, or unconscious possession, which may or may not be accompanied by subsequent
amnesia.
In this study, spirit possession will be defined as a change of personality, or more
accurately a change of attitude, acknowledged by the interlocutors or spectators with whom the
medium interacts and communicates. Each situation generates different social expectations,
and there are specific ritual circumstances in which the occurrence of possession is assumed
as a matter of fact, while in others where similar behaviour is replicated, the experience is
interpreted as irradiation. These are ideological conventions associated with particular ritual
contexts and traditions. In the Tambor de Mina public drumming-dancing ceremonies for
instance, the convention establishes that the mediums are possessed, while in a Spiritism
session the mediums are just irradiated. Outside the ritual context possession has to be
communicated by the medium either through explicit verbal statement or behaviour, but it must
be acknowledged by somebody, to be considered as such.
I have mentioned that ideological conventions establish an interpretative difference as
regards the nature of mediumship in the Tambor de Mina and Spiritism. The former is usually
associated with possession and the latter with irradiation or inspiration. The interpretative
difference is also established between the Tambor de Mina and the Pajelança, although here
the boundaries are more difficult to define30. At the ritual level, during public ceremonies, the
30 Based on Eliade (1968), Le Heusch (1971) and Rouget (1985: 18-19) defend the necessity
to distinguish between possession and shamanism. Rouget (1985: 24) summarises: "the
former (shamanism) is a journey made by a man to visit the spirits, the latter (possession) is a
visit by a spirit (or divinity) to the world of men; in the former the trance subject gains control
over the spirit embodied within him, in the latter the reverse is true; and lastly, the former is a
voluntary trance whereas the latter is an involuntary one". Lewis (1971: 43) defends that this
distinction is untenable because empirical evidence does not allow to distinguish the two
processes in such clear terms. He sustains that the idea of "journey" is not enough to define the
shaman's performance, and that uncontrolled or unsolicited possession, and controlled or
solicited possession, "far from belonging to separate cultic or religious traditions, regularly
reinforce each other within the same religion". This is the case in the Mina where the medium,
often a pajé (healer), in different stages of his or her religious career, or in different ritual
contexts, can experience different modalities of mediumship which can be identified either as
possession or shamanism. The Pajelança has been traditionally associated with shamanism,
but although the pajé may have some sort of control over his spiritual guides, and there may be
references to "journeys" to the realm of spirits, these ideas are also expressed in some cases
30
performance of the vodunsi and the pajé are very similar, and in both cases participants in the
ritual address the medium by the name of the manifested spiritual entity, and treat him or her
accordingly. However some informants establish a difference in the kind of mediumship
involved. As Dona Deni puts it: "Mina and Cura are different in the mediumship"31.
Dona Deni admits the possibility of a pajé being semi-conscious while in the company
of his spiritual guides. She suggests that among curadores32 this is the most common situation,
and also the most advisable. The consciousness or semi-consciousness of a pajé, helped by a
"good guide", allows him to manoeuvre, even to fight against evil spirits and other sorcerers
(feiticeiros), however the unconscious pajé "pode cair em atrito", he runs the risk of falling into
in an ambush prepared by evil forces. The curador has to remain semi-conscious "because he
has to apply a remedy, he has to listen to the caboclo and to take notes"33, the pajé has to
remain semiconscious in order to control and perform the necessary sequence of ritual
activities. The implicit idea behind these comments is that, to use Rouget's words, the pajé and
the spirits he embodies are coexisting in one and the same person.
On the other hand, Dona Deni says that, during a Mina ritual, semiconscious
possession is not encouraged, because "the vodun does not like the medium to participate in
his speech"34, meaning that the vodun does not like the medium's consciousness to interfere
with his speech. Dona Deni insists that the vodun must be allowed to express himself without
interference, because "He is the one who knows about his life"35. During the Mina rituals,
spiritual entities do not usually "communicate directly with the medium"36. Any message they
want to convey to the medium, is transmitted through a third person who will pass the vodun's
information, once the medium regains her normal state. "I receive but I do not coexist" 37. Dona
Deni's interpretation thus agrees with Rouget's distinction between inspiration and possession
as applied to the Tambor de Mina and the Pajelança, and she seems to imply that the
differences have to do with the degree of consciousness preserved by the medium, although,
as we have noted, this criterion is not accurate enough to distinguish between Mina and
Pajelança, since cases of conscious possession are also reported in the Mina.
Despite these nuances of interpretation regarding the nature of the relationship
between medium and spirits, it is the concept of mediumship which constitutes the unifying key
element of the magico-religious segments of the mediumship continuum. When analysing the
discourse of participants, despite the great heterogeneity of interpretations and opinions, we
by the mineiros. At the same time the idea of possession is also explicit in the Pajelança ritual
behaviour. Therefore the distinction between shamanism and possession in the Mina context
does not seem to be fully applicable.
31 "Mina e Cura é diferente na mediunidade"
32 Curador is the person who officiates a Cura or Pajelança ritual. The same as pajé.
33 "Porque tem que passar remedio, tem que escutar ao caboclo, e tomar notas".
34 "O vodun não gosta que o medium tome parte na palestra dele".
35 "Ele é quem sabe a vida dele".
36 "Eles não transmitem para o médium".
37 "Eu recebo mas não convivo".
31
observe the existence of a common language, a lingua franca of mediumship so to speak,

which permits its users, belonging to a variety of ritual traditions, to communicate and to
understand each other. The concept of mediumship accounts not only for basic assumptions as
regards the notion of person, but also constitutes a fundamental element in the articulation of
the vision of the world of believers.
At the same time, the concept of mediumship accounts for the lack of contradictions
when a medium participates alternatively in different ritual practices. The different ceremonies
are conceived as different contexts where the same faculty is put into practice in various ways.
The variation in ritual set up is usually associated with differences regarding the categories of
spiritual entities involved in the "communication" process, and sometimes with differences as
regards the activities performed by the same spiritual entities. But they are all conceived as
variations of the same theme.
For analytical purposes we could say that the mediumship continuum of Maranhão
includes the following main magico-religious institutions: Evangelic churches, Kardecist
Spiritism, Pajelança, Terecô, Tambor de Mina, Candomblé and Umbanda. All these
denominations respond to different ritual orthodoxies, in which the occurrence of possession as
opposed to irradiation constitutes, to a certain extent, a distinctive factor. The following table
represents the distribution of these two modalities of mediumship across the different segments
of the continuum. The black line indicates the occurrence, and the dotted line indicates the
possibility of occasional occurrence.
Evan. Spirit. Pajela. Terecô Mina Cand. Umb.
Mediumship
Irradiation ................................................
Possession ............
Spirit possession which is the central focus of this study is a distinctive feature of the
Terecô, Tambor de Mina, Candomblé and Umbanda. Incidentally these are the cults where the
dance and the drum playing are essential features during public ceremonies. Therefore the
ideology of possession and the dance and drumming activities seem to go together, and they
are the basic identifying ritual elements of the mediumship continuum segment which is
traditionally associated with African religious traditions. To further distinguish among the
African-derived religious institutions, one has to resort to the analysis of formal liturgical aspects
of the ritual in order to define differences between various precepts or traditions. Still, on many
occasions, denominational boundaries remain confused, and only approximate. The different
religious practices borrow elements from each other which are juxtaposed or re-elaborated
according to necessity, chance or personal creativity.
32
The progressive examination of the dynamics of spirit possession within the Tambor de
Mina revealed the necessity of a good ethnographic understanding of the cult organisation, and
especially of the singing structure of public ceremonies. Ritual singing structure reveals which
spiritual entities are being praised, and thus indicates the ritual content of public ceremonies. It
was through an understanding of the conceptual ensembles associated with spirit possession,
and the close examination of ritual behaviour that it was possible to begin to distinguish, first
between the Tambor de Mina and other mediumistic religions, and then, within the Tambor de
Mina among the different precepts or traditions.
The differentiation between one ritual orthodoxy and the other, is essential to the
participant as it constitutes the main way to legitimate his or her activities in a competitive
environment, and it constitutes the way to be recognised by the wider social order. As Beatriz
Gois Dantas puts it "Le langage de l'orthodoxie se transforme en un langage de la moralité et a
un sens éminemment pratique qui répond aux exigences de légitimité/illégitimité" (1982: 91, as
quoted in Boyer-Araújo, 1993: 182). The discourse of orthodoxy does not necessarily
correspond with what happens at the level of ritual action, as there is always a delicate tension
between what it is said and what it is done. Therefore, it is not enough to listen to participants
but it is necessary, if possible, to confirm what is said, contrasting the information with the
actual performance of the event. Only then will one be able to establish some effective typology
of ritual practices.
Following these criteria, and focusing upon the Tambor de Mina context, I propose to
analyse how spirit possession is culturally shaped, and which are the learned elements
operating in spirit possession behaviour, showing that, contrary to what is usually assumed,
there may be a wide variety of manifestations and cultural traditions intervening within a single
African derived religious institution such as the Tambor de Mina.
33
Chapter 1: Comparative framework: classification and historic outline of

the cult houses.
The problem of representativeness
The seven cult houses in which I have conducted research are as follows: Casa das
Minas (CM); Casa de Nagô (CN); Casa Fanti-Ashanti (CFA); Terreiro Yemanja (TY); Terreiro
Fé em Deus (TFD); Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia (TDQG); and Tenda Rio Negro da Fé
Esperança e Caridade (TRN).
My interest in approaching several terreiros made it impossible to carry out a
systematic and thorough ethnography of each cult house. Many times public ceremonies
overlapped and it was impossible to attend all of them. However, because the research took
place over a period of five years I was able, in some cases, to attend the same ceremony in
different cult houses, or to see the same ceremony in the same cult house in different years,
providing enough data for a comparative analysis.
Some of the cult houses, such as the Casa das Minas and Casa Fanti Ashanti have
already been studied in depth by different authors, so in these cases there was no need to carry
out an ethnography, enabling me to concentrate on spirit possession behaviour and related
aspects. But other cult houses had little or no ethnographic bibliography, which obliged me to
gather information on the ritual and mythological background.
Due to the predominance of secrecy and the traditional reluctance of the mineiros to
reveal information about their religion, detailing the ethnography of these cult houses was not
an easy task, and remained inevitably partial and incomplete. The first two years of my
research (1992, 1993) were undertaken without academic supervision, and my approach to the
Tambor de Mina was not systematic, yet it permitted me to gain the trust of some informants.
During the last three years (1994, 1995, 1996), and most especially the last period from
January to August 1996, my fieldwork became more intensive and systematic. Nonetheless the
magnitude of the domain of study, and the limitations of time and human resources, resulted in
the prioritization of some cult houses over the others.
The criteria for such prioritization was based on different factors. The relevance of the
spirit possession performance was the critical factor, and this especially applied to the Casa
das Minas and the Casa de Nagô, where spirit possession presents some characteristics not
found in other cult houses. The Terreiro Fé em Deus was extensively documented with video,
and this permitted me to establish significant analytical comparisons. The Terreiro Deus é
Quem Guia, and the Tenda Rio Negro, where there were no previous ethnographic studies,
were also given certain priority. Finally the facilities offered by informants were another reason
that affected my selection, as with Pai Euclides and Pai Itaci, from the Casa Fanti Ashanti and
the Terreiro Yemanja respectively. These two high priests are accustomed to dealing with
researchers, and provided important background information.
34
The process by which the Mina houses legitimate their practises is complex and varied.
The historical seniority of a house is always an important element, but the charisma of the cult
leader plays often an even more important role which may relegate to a second position
historical considerations. In recent decades, five of the seven cult houses (Casa das Minas,
Casa de Nagô, Casa Fanti-Ashanti, Terreiro Yemanja, and Terreiro Fé em Deus) have
received special attention from researchers, and official institutions (Ferretti M., 1994: 117).
This institutional recognition is a recent phenomenon, and the Tambor de Mina, at least until
the 1970's, was severely repressed by police and condemned by the wider social order. It is
still discriminated against in many social sectors, but at the same time politicians have
recognised its potential value in the dynamics of their cultural policies. Intellectuals, through
their publications, may have contributed to some degree to the social visibility and recognition of
such cult houses too. Therefore these five cult houses constitute what could be called the
"official" Mina.
There is no precise information about how many Tambor de Mina cult houses operate
in São Luis or Maranhão38, but surely the five cult houses that I have labelled as "official" Mina
represent a very small percentage of the total number. Despite their prestigious status, they
may not necessarily be representative of the actual trend in the Tambor de Mina. Nowadays,
the two "old" houses, conventionally considered the two main models of the Tambor de Mina,
present important ritual differences with the rest of cult houses. Thus the prestige achieved by
historical seniority, or the official status granted by institutional and intellectual recognition, is
not a a guarantee of representativeness. The "Africaness" often attributed to the Tambor de
Mina may be appropriate to a certain extent to the "official" Mina, but it is not altogether clear
that it applies to the rest of Tambor de Mina houses.
The "unofficial" Mina is represented in this study by two cult houses: the Terreiro Deus
é Quem Guia and the Tenda Rio Negro. Although the former is considered a traditional cult
house, neither of them has been documented by ethnographic literature to my knowledge, nor
has been granted institutional recognition. These two terreiros, may present indications of
certain ritual practices and beliefs like the sessões de mesa (Spiritism table sessions) for
instance, which are absent, or are less important, in the "official" Mina cult houses, but which
today could be quite common in a majority of Tambor de Mina houses. If this were so, it would
38 In the late 1980's, figures presented by the Federação de Umbanda e Cultos Afro-
Brasileiros, and the Tribunal de Ogum Umbandista do Maranhão, provided an estimate of 1600
cult houses operating in the state of Maranhão (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto 1989: 128).
Certainly these figures are inaccurate, and it is accepted that a high percentage must be
identified as Umbanda cult houses rather than Tambor de Mina, and that in many cases the
numbers refer to affiliated individuals rather than to organised cult houses. In the same period,
Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto (1989: 128) identified in their research at least 150 cult houses
in the most populated neighbourhoods of São Luis.
35
suggest, paradoxically, that these two "unofficial" cult houses could be more representative of
contemporary Tambor de Mina than the "official" cult houses.
In that sense, the seven cult houses of this study may not be the best example of
present-day activities in other Tambor de Mina centres. However, if I wish to understand the
historical traditions from which the contemporary Tambor de Mina has emerged and the
process involved in its transformation, then I do think this particular selection includes some of
the most relevant contemporary cult houses for such a study.
As already stated, two of the cult houses of our domain of study, the Casa das Minas
and the Casa de Nagô, are the oldest active Tambor de Mina cult houses. They are
considered casas matrizes (matrix houses) because they were founded in the first half of the
19th century by Africans, and provided the cult model for the so called mineiros de raíz (root
mineiros)39. The Terreiro of Manoel Teu Santos40, and the Terreiro do Egito, founded in the
second half of the 19th century and already extinct, are the other two matrix houses of the
Tambor de Mina which oral tradition recalls.
The leaders of four of the five "new" cult houses of this study claim direct or indirect
links with the casas matrizes, and are therefore mineiros de raíz. These priests and priestesses
claim links with the Casa de Nagô, although none of them was initiated in this cult house.
However they were initiated, or had some sort of religious affiliation with the Terreiro do Egito or
the Terreiro da Turquia, two of the most prestigious cult houses of São Luis which will be
examined at the end of the chapter. The Egito, as we know, is a matrix house, and the Turquia
was founded in 1889 by Mãe Anastacia who was initiated by Manoel Teu Santos, chief of
39 Mineiros de raíz is an expression to designate the pais and mães-de-santo (literally: "father"
and "mother of the saint"; terms to designate the high priest and priestess in Afro-Brazilian
cults) whose cult houses are ramifications of the older traditional terreiros. The concept of
"root" is associated with the concept of religious affiliation achieved through initiation. If one
priestess initiates a devotee who later on opens her own cult house, the "new" cult house is
considered to be affiliated to the old one, however this sort of affiliation does not impose
religious dependence, and each cult house operates individually. The initiation learning
processes provide one of the basic means for specific ritual precepts and esoteric knowledge to
be transmitted from one generation to the other and perpetuated from one cult house to the
other.
40 According to oral testimonies collected by Pai Euclides, Manoel Teu Santos was an African
from Abeokuta who had tribal scarification on his face, three on each cheek and three on each
side of the lips. If this information was correct it would confirm the Nagô origin of Manoel Teu
Santos, probably the first pai de santo in São Luis. He opened his terreiro in the Madre de
Deus, in a site called Caldeirão Quebrado, close to the Casa das Minas and Casa de Nagô.
The Caldeirão Quebrado, was famous for a tree called "Pau do Santo". The resin of the trunk
seems to have shaped a form which resembled the image of São Sebastião, and the tree
became a site of devotion where the mineiros would go to light candles and make vows to the
saint. Manuel Teu Santos must have died before 1889, and some say he may have died in
Bahia. He is reputed to have initiated several vodunsi who later on founded their own terreiros,
among them Dona Anastacia founder of the Terreiro da Turquia, Raimunda Porca from
Xadatan who opened her terreiro in Madre de Deus, and Dona Doca who moved to Belém in
the late 19th century, and is reputed to have established the first Mina cult house which
subsequently gave origin to the Batuque in Pará.
36
another of the matrix houses. Despite the recent foundation of these four "new" cult houses, all
of their leaders legitimate their practices in these links with the traditional matrix houses.
Finally, the last cult house of the domain of study, the Tenda Rio Negro, although it has
no affiliation with the matrix houses, considers the traditional models as prestigious and partially
reproduces them in its ritual practices. Therefore, if the main objective of this thesis is to
identify the different cultural traditions and ritual orthodoxies operating within contemporary
Tambor de Mina, I think this particular domain of study comprising casas matrizes, and a high
percentage of casas de raíz, presents an adequately wide diversity of cases for the analysis of
the internal dynamics of the institution.
Religious criteria: "nations" and liturgical orthodoxies
The "official" versus "unofficial" distinction was established only to address the
problematic of representativeness; it is better to classify the cult houses in some way which will
be more relevant to my interpretative perspective. The proposed typology is based on
distinctions between liturgical orthodoxies, which local exegesis acknowledges and names, at
least in the case of the "old" cult houses, in terms of African "nations".
Vivaldo da Costa Lima, in his already classic "O conceito de Nação nos Candomblés
da Bahia"41, is probably the author who best described the concept of "nation" in the context of
the Bahian Candomblé, remarking how little by little it lost its political connotation to change into
an almost exclusively theological concept (1976: 77). Therefore the term "nation" became a
way to distinguish different ritual and ideological patterns, and this is why the category of
"nation" is of some interest to us. I will first discuss the concept of "nation" as religious precept
or orthodoxy in relation to the Tambor de Mina, and then in its historical perspective associated
with the two "old" cult houses.
The norm, the way, the law42, are important concepts which are highly valorised in the
internal discourse of the mineiros. High priests always insist on the fact that their explanations
refer to their own cult house and cannot be applied to others. The liturgical orthodoxy, the
precept, the way in which things are done, are of maximum importance because they configure
the cult house religious identity. Specific orthodoxies, together with their related ideologies, are
the main factors in the construction of specific traditions. Because what interests us is the way
in which such traditions are elaborated and transformed, interpreted and reinterpreted, it is
important to understand the content of these orthodoxies.
41 First presented as a communication in the encounter "Negritude et Amerique Latine" held in

Dakar in January 1974 and organised by the Senegal government and UNESCO. First
published in Afro-Asia no.12 in June 1976; it was afterwards re elaborated and published as
part of the introduction chapter of his Master's dissertation "A família-de-santo nos Candomblés
Jeje-Nagôs da Bahia: um estudo de relações intra-grupais" in 1977.
42 In Maranhão the precept or doctrine is sometimes called Lei da Mina (Mina law).
37
The precept or rite (preceito or rito) which I am calling orthodoxy, according to religious
experts, is characterised by specificities in different aspects of the religious activities and
beliefs, which for descriptive purposes can be divided into three main areas: the realm of
spiritual entities, the ritual level of public ceremonies, and the esoteric realm of internal and
secret rites.
In the first area, some of the main elements which configure the cult house identity are
the spiritual "owner" or "master" of the cult house (dono da casa), and the main spiritual guides
of the cult leader. In many cases the "owner" of the house coincides with the main spiritual
guide of the high priest or priestess founder of the house. Other identifying elements can be the
category of spiritual entities assentadas (with shrines), and/or the families or linhas of spiritual
entities most often incorporated by mediums43.
In the second area, the main cult house identifying elements are the ritual language,
the music sutaque, the opening and closing singing sequences in public ceremonies, and the
medium's behaviour while possessed. These will be the main areas of analysis of this study. To
a lesser degree the hierarchical organisation and the gender of the mediums also constitute
identifying elements; in the two "old" cult houses and in three of the "new" ones (TDQG, TFD,
TRN), only women are allowed to dance.
In the third area the identifying elements of each orthodoxy are mainly found in rites for
the cult house foundation, rites of animal and food offerings in the shrines, and rites of initiation
of new devotees among others. These rites are secret and constitute the so called
fundamento44, the esoteric knowledge controlled by the religious experts. As said this study
focuses on the second area of public ritual orthodoxy, and the matters of fundamento will only
be referred to indirectly.
Nowadays in São Luis, only the orthodoxies of the Casa das Minas Jeje and Casa de
Nagô are clearly identified with specific African "nations"45. In the Jeje tradition no vodunsi
initiated in this "nation" is allowed to open her own terreiro, therefore the Casa das Minas has
43 The old cult houses tend to receive a majority of African voduns and orixas together with
gentis, while the new cult houses will tend to receive a majority of gentis and caboclos, and yet
other cult houses, less concerned with the African tradition, will tend to receive a majority of
caboclos and Indian entities.
44 The fundamento refers to a deep knowledge of the ritual and the doctrine of a specific
"nation", which does not exclude certain familiarity with other rites from other "nations". "Ter
muito fundamento" (to have great fundamento) is an expression applied to a pai or mãe de
santo who knows, beside the rites and songs, the divinatory techniques and the sacred leaves,
which are associated with the initiation ceremonies and the empirical medicine of the
Candomblé. (A linguagem do Candomblé, CEAO).
45 Pai Euclides and Pai Itaci (CFA, TY) usually identify, their own cult houses, and other old cult
houses of Tambor de Mina as belonging to specific nations: Jeje, Nagô, Jeje-Nagô, Cambinda,
Cacheu or Bêta. Such emphasis on the concept of "nation" by these two priests can be
interpreted as biased by their predisposition to valorise the African traditions. The priests from
other "new" cult houses will not use such categories so consistently, although the Nagô and
Jeje are always recognised as African traditions associated with the two old cult houses.
38
no affiliated cult houses. Meanwhile the Casa de Nagô is known to have prepared many
mediums who afterwards founded their own cult houses. This fact, together with the Nagô-
centrism prevailing in Afro-Brazilian studies in the 1940's, may explain why Costa Eduardo
(1948), divided the cult houses in São Luis into three groups: the Dahomean house (Casa das
Minas), the Yoruba house (Casa de Nagô), and the "Yoruba-derived" houses.
According to Costa Eduardo, in 1943 there were only eighteen Mina cult houses beside
the two "orthodox" cult houses. From these eighteen terreiros Costa Eduardo is referring to as
"Yoruba-derived" cult houses, only less than half, may have been first generation or second
generation of the Casa de Nagô46. Already in 1943, the use of the term "Yoruba-derived" cult
houses, as originated by members linked with the Casa de Nagô, does not seem to be
appropriate or representative enough. And today with the increasing proliferation of cult houses,
it is still less so. This has been remarked upon by Mundicarmo Ferretti (1994: 110-111) who
criticises both the expression used by Costa Eduardo "nagô derivado" (Nagô derived), and
Bastide (1971, 1974) "nagô degenerado" (degenerated Nagô) to refer to the main bulk of
Tambor de Mina cult houses.
Mundicarmo Ferretti suggests the need to look for other African or Brazilian matrices
for such diversity. She points, in my opinion quite rightly, to the Terreiro do Egito and the
Terreiro da Turquia as two possible centres which may have operated as points of reference for
several Mina cult houses, especially from the 1940's on. She mentions other possible matrices
as the Terecô from Codó, the Tambor de Curador in Cururupu, and the Umbanda. In my
opinion we should add to this list the Pajelança Cabocla, Kardecist Spiritism, and the "mesas
de caboclo"47. There is very little ethnography about these different ritual practices which
constitute variations or gradations in the mediumistic continuum. Yet, as I will try to demonstrate
in future chapters, it is the analysis of such traditions which will provide some clues to explain
the differences presented by the orthodoxies of the "new" cult houses.
Thus if the orthodoxies of the majority of "new" cult houses, although sharing elements
from both the Jeje and the Nagô traditions, can not be easily classified in terms of African
"nation", or derived forms of African "nations", how shall we classify them?
The term bêta would be a first possibility. Bêta, is a local term used by the mineiros, but
it has different interpretations or meanings depending on the informants. According to Dona
Joana, a vodunsi from the Casa das Minas, bêta seems to apply to those precepts which are
46 The calculation has been made according to historic data presented by Carvalho Santos &
Santos Neto (1989), M. Ferretti (1993), J. I. Oliveira (1989), Ferreira (1984), and my own
fieldwork data. In 1943, there may have been some 20 or 23 documented cult houses operating
in São Luis, and only nine or ten were founded by mediums prepared in the Casa de Nagô.
47 The "mesa de caboclo" (table of caboclo) are Spiritism sessions performed around a table
where mediums instead of communicating with spirits of the dead, receive or incorporate a
series of caboclos. The caboclos who manifest in such "tables" often belong to the so called
linha de Ondina. This ritual activity often referred as "low spiritism", which integrates elements
from both Kardecist Spiritism and Pajelança, has not been properly documented in Maranhão.
Yet it seems to be a wide spread phenomenon in the mediumistic continuum of Maranhão (see
chapter 6).
39
neither Jeje nor Nagô. The linha bêta (bêta line) would be a line of caboclos, which appeared
before the Jeje and the Nagô traditions, but was not associated with the Pajelança (Ferretti, M.
1993: 99). According to Pai Euclides, bêta is applied to the Amerindian terreiros (Ferreira,
1984), and according to Pai Jorge Itaci, bêta is applied to the terreiros da mata de caboclo (cult
houses worshipping the bush caboclos) with strong influence from the Cabinda (Oliveira J. I.,
1989: 55). In Bahia, betô, a term with a slightly different pronunciation, is also known to refer to
cult houses which are not traditional or "pure", having mixed or heterogeneous origins48.
Therefore bêta, despite its various semantic fields, alludes to something that is neither
Jeje nor Nagô, that has links either with Amerindian or Congo-Angola traditions, and especially
with the caboclo spiritual entities of the bush line. All these features, together with the "mixture"
connotation, define with precision the elements that I will try to emphasise in relation to the
orthodoxies of the "new" cult houses. However, this term in Maranhão as used by the Mina
participants has acquired pejorative connotations which make its use problematic. Bêta is
normally used to disqualify cult houses which have no recognisable "roots", a fact which makes
its use in this thesis controversial as several of the cult houses studied here claim very specific
religious affiliations.
The alternative use of the term Mina de Caboclo, as opposed to Mina Jeje or Mina
Nagô, presents some difficulties too. Caboclo refers to a specific category of spiritual entities,
and such a term is not consistent with the Jeje and Nagô denominations which refer to ethnic-
religious categories. At the same time, what I propose to call the Mina de Caboclo cult houses
do not worship exclusively the caboclo spirits, although one could say that they are
predominant, and on the other hand, the Casa de Nagô does not worship exclusively African
spiritual entities either. The Mina de Caboclo expression has been used by scholarly comment,
but it is also a term used by Mina participants. According to Dona Deni, in 1936 only the Casa
de Nagô and the cult house of Vô Severa worshipped orixás. The other cult houses, she says,
were Mina de Caboclo. Thus her distinction among cult houses is made in relation to the
categories of spiritual entities worshipped in each one.
Caboclo refers to a generic category of spiritual entities created in Brazil, and the use of
such term conveys a certain opposition to the African derived traditions which worship a
majority of African voduns and orixás. The caboclo term in relation to Jeje and Nagô conveys a
significant duality or polarity between "Africaness" and "Brazilianess" which is expressed and
replicated at the ideological and ritual level. Therefore in this study I propose to use the term
Mina de Caboclo to refer to the religious orthodoxies which are neither Jeje nor Nagô. The
48 Betô as defined by Bolouvi (1994: 58) means profane, person who is not initiated nor well
informed about the cultural practices of the Candomblé. Although the general meaning
coincides with that of the term bêta, Bolouvi's etymology attributes to betô a Fon origin, deriving
from the word gbèto. Yeda Pessoa (personal communication 1996) attributes an Angolan origin
of the word. The term bêta is also found in the name of an old terreiro Jeje in Bahia, the Poçu
Beta from Manoel Falefa. Would this imply a mixed Jeje-Angola origin?
40
following table summarises the different criteria according to which the seven cult houses can
be categorised:
CM CN TDQG CFA TY TFD TRN

Old X X
New X X X X X
Official X X X X X
Unofficial X X
Mina Jeje X
Mina Nagô X X
Mina de Caboclo X X X X X
The third classification which refers to the different orthodoxies, will take precedence in
this analysis. The first part of the thesis will analyse the differences between these orthodoxies;
the second part will address the main problematic: why the "new" cult houses do not follow the
orthodoxies of the "old" cult houses, and how do they articulate and construct the "new"
orthodoxies. But before that I shall provide some historical background regarding the foundation
of the "old" cult houses which will clarify the concepts of Jeje and Nagô.
The African sources of the "old" cult houses
An ethno-historical analysis will help to clarify the concept of "nation" which informs the
ideology of the two oldest Tambor de Mina cult houses. Sergio Ferretti (1995: 119) records oral
testimonies collected by the Spiritist writer Waldemiro Reis (n.d.) in the 1950's, which provide
information about two Mina cult houses having operated before the Casa das Minas in the first
half of the 19th century. Despite these vague but very valuable references to these precedents,
the Casa das Minas is considered in São Luis to be the oldest terreiro de mina in Maranhão.
According to Sergio Ferretti (1985: 59), the Casa das Minas located in the Rua São Pantaleão
857 may have been founded in the decade of 1840 by Maria Jesuína (Massecutô), a
Dahomean slave who worshipped the vodun Zomadonu, and who was probably initiated by Na
Agontimé.
Based on his research conducted in Maranhão and Benin, Pierre Verger (1952)
presented the hypothesis that the Casa das Minas could have been founded by queen Na
Agontimé, wife of king Angongolo, and mother of King Ghezo, who ruled Danxomè between
1818 and 1858. Na Agontime was apparently sold as a slave by king Adandozan, Ghezo's step
brother, who ruled between 1797 and 1818. To prove this, Verger presented data related to two
embassies sent by king Ghezo to the Americas in search of his queen mother.
41
Costa Eduardo (1948: 77) had already mentioned that among the voduns worshipped
in the Casa das Minas, there were several names of different kings of the Kingdom of
Danxomè. He also added that at the time of his research, the members of the Casa das Minas
were not aware of this fact. Pierre Verger obtained from Mãe Andresa, the high priestess at the
time, a list of the voduns worshipped in this cult house. He went to Benin with this list, and after
a meeting with the Mivede, high priest of the Nesuxwe royal cult in Abomey, confirmed that
most of the voduns of the Davice and Savaluno families49, were names of deified ancestors of
the royal family of Abomey. That proved that only a person very close to the royal family could
have established such a cult in Brazil.
Verger, comparing the names of kings known in Brazil with the historical lineage of the
Fon dynasty as reported in Benin, concluded that Agongolo was chronologically the last king
known in Brazil, demonstrating that whatever member of the royal entourage founded the Casa
das Minas, must have arrived in Brazil after 1797, the end of Agongolo's reign. He then
suggested that the founder could have been Na Agontime, the queen who was sold as a slave
by Adandozan in that period. He published his research findings (1952: 157-62) under the title
"Le Culte des Vodun d'Abomey aurait-il eté apporté à Saint-Louis de Maranhon par la mère de
Ghezo". Later on he provided additional data for his hypothesis in a second paper (Verger,
1990).
The presence of voduns of the Fon royal family in Brazil, is quite an exceptional fact,
because the Fon kings were the slave owners who were selling the conquered neighbouring
populations (Mahi, Hweda, Aïzo, Hula, Oyo etc.) to the European and Brazilian slave traders
installed in Ouidah. The case of religious experts of the royal family being sold as slaves must
have been caused by some extraordinary circumstance, and the dispute for the throne between
Adandozan and Ghezo (Glélé, 1974) is a credible scenario. It is to be observed that in
Danxomè, priesthood in the cult of royal voduns was delegated to members of anato families,
that is, persons not belonging to the ahovi or royal clan. At the same time, all the king's wives
had to be anato. Therefore Na Agontimé who was a Mahi, despite being a royal by marriage,
may have been allowed to get involved in religious activity. Another indication which favours
Verger's hypothesis is that, whatever person or group of persons established the Casa das
Minas, they must have had access to the esoteric knowledge of the toxosu50 cults, because
the vodun Zomadonu, spiritual "owner" of the cult house, is a toxosu himself. Still today,
49 The voduns in the Casa das Minas are grouped in four families: Keviosô, Dambirá,
Savaluno, and Davice (Ferretti, S. 1996). Verger refers to three families, where the Savaluno
and Davice would be only one. The Keviosô family includes voduns of Hula, Hweda or Aïzo
origin. The Dambirá family includes voduns of Mahi origin or from the Ouémé region. The
Davice and Savaluno families include voduns exclusive to the Fon royal family of Abomey. The
Davice family is considered the host family, being one of its members, the vodun Zomadonu,
the spiritual "owner" of the cult house.
50 Category of spiritual entities worshipped in the Nesuxwe cult. The toxosu are spirits of the
royal children who were born with some physical abnormality, and were subsequently deified as
river-water spirits.
42
Zomadonu, "monster" son of king Akaba, is the first and most important toxosu in the Nesuxwe
cult of Abomey. There are evidences that the toxosu cult was appropriated by the Fon kings
from their neighbours the Mahi (Falcon, 1970; Verger, 1957). If Na Agotime was indeed a
priestess, being queen and of Mahi origin, it is not unthinkable that she was in charge of the cult
of the most important toxosu, the vodun Zomadonu. If this was the case, it is not only possible,
but probable that Na Agontime was involved in the foundation of the Casa das Minas, even if its
members nowadays do not acknowledge the fact.
However, the founder or founders of the Casa das Minas must have accepted, from the
very beginning, other Dahomean slaves in their ceremonies. This is suggested by the presence
of two other families of voduns in the same temple: the Dambirá, and Keviosô families, the
latter also known as Nagô family51, which include several voduns who do not belong to the
royal family of Abomey and who nowadays in South Benin are considered to be "public"
voduns. The Casa das Minas juxtaposition of "royal" and "public" cults, which in Benin were,
and still are, clearly distinct and separate practices, suggests that the Casa das Minas took in
members from different ethnic groups from the Adja-Ewe branch, although always maintaining
some sort of clear boundaries between them.
The Casa de Nagô is located in the Rua Cândido Ribeiro 799, only some blocks away
from the Casa das Minas. Its foundation seems to have occurred only a few years after the
foundation of the Casa das Minas, probably around 1850. Mundicarmo Ferretti (1993:128)
suggests that this cult house may have integrated from the beginning influences from several
African "nations", either because the founders belonged to different ethnic groups, or because
they were possessed by spiritual entities of different "nations". According to the stories told to
Rosario Santos by the eldest devotees of the house (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto, 1989:
52), the Casa de Nagô was founded by two African sisters, Josefa de Nagô and Joana,
originally from Angola, in collaboration with Maria Jesuína, belonging to the Jeje "nation", and
founder of the Casa das Minas. Rosario Santos suggests that the first mãe-de-santo was a
devotee of Xangô, the Nagô spiritual "owner" of the house, identified sometimes with the vodun
Badé. Another version about the origin of the founders Josefa and Joana, would assign the
Nagô-Tapa "nation" to the former, and the Cabinda "nation" to the latter (Oliveira J. I., 1989:
31).
51 The Keviosô family includes voduns such as Averekete, Abé, Naité, Badé, Sogbo, Liça,
Loko, Nana, etc. (Ferretti 1996: 122). All these voduns belong to ethnic groups of the Adja-Ewe
branch, like the Aïzo, Hula or Hweda. A few were appropriated by Adja-Ewe groups from their
Yoruba neighbours (Liça from Orisa, Loko from Iroko). While all these voduns belong to Adja-
Ewe groups which in Brazil are known as Jeje, in the Casa das Minas these voduns are called
Nagô, a term usually applied to the groups coming from the Yoruba area (Lima, da Costa 1977:
15-16). This apparent incongruity, does not have an easy explanation. Either the term Nagô
originally applied to voduns like Liça and Loko who were of Yoruba origin, or either to voduns
Hula like Averekete, Abé and Naité. Some Hula populations escaping from the Fon expansion
reached parts of the Nigerian coast, specially Badagri in the mouth of the Yewa river populated
by the Egbado, and the Nagô or Anago (Smith, 1988: 70).
43
Given the strong link between the vodun and orixá cults and kinship corporations in
West Africa, one would think that the first Tambor de Mina cult houses should have brought
together, at least at the beginning, individuals of the same African origin or their descendants,
and that religious cults may have operated as strong foci of ethnic identity. However, it is well
known that slave owners, in order to avoid potential conflict, promoted the separation of
individuals belonging to the same families, and encouraged ethnic mixture among the slave
population from the early times of slavery.
According to the data contained in some 100 inventários52 of São Luis and Codó53
(Costa Eduardo, 1948: 7), in the first half of the 19th century, more than half of the slaves
mentioned there were creole, slaves from African parents born in Brazilian soil. It is not
unthinkable that some of these creoles also included some mulattos and mamelucos, that is
children of mixed ethnic couples, generally Portuguese fathers and African and Indian mothers.
As society became more creole and mestiça or crossbred, the initial ethnic identification of
black and mulatto people became increasingly more difficult, and the bond between ethnic
group and religion became less and less firm. As Costa Eduardo reminds us, by the end of the
19th century few black people knew their African origins in São Luis.
A priori, the use of the terms Nagô and Jeje in the denomination of the two "old" cult
houses would indicate a predominance of people of those origins among their participants, and
especially among their founders. However, as already seen, it would seem that both cult
houses accepted members from mixed African ethnic groups from early times. If we take the
worship of specific spiritual entities as indicators of kinship and ethnic affiliation of the first
worshippers, the Casa das Minas may have taken in people from several ethnic groups of the
Adja-Ewe branch (Hula, Hweda, Mahi, Aïzo) with a hierarchical predominance of the Fon.
On the other hand, the Casa de Nagô may have been founded by two Angolan sisters
with the assistance of a Dahomean according to one version, or by a Tapa Nupé woman and a
Cabinda woman according to another version. Both versions suggest the participation of people
of different ethnic origins, not necessarily from the Yoruba area. At the same time different ritual
features and spiritual entities, mainly the spiritual master of the cult house Xangô, clearly
indicate the presence among its participants of some religious experts initiated in the Nagô
tradition. Therefore the concept of Jeje and Nagô refers from its origin mainly to religious
precepts or liturgical orthodoxies rather than to the specific ethnic origin of its participants. This
does not deny the possibility that these two cult houses may have served as meeting point for
Africans speaking the same language and sharing similar cultural backgrounds. As Costa Lima
52The inventário is an official inventory, made upon the death of a person, for the purpose of
validating the inheritance of his holdings. During slavery, it listed slaves as well as other types of
property (Costa Eduardo 1948: 8)
53 The data of São Luis refers to the period between 1800 and 1860, the data from Codó
belongs to the years 1838 and 1847.
44
(1976) suggested in relation to Bahia, the concept of African "nation" in the Tambor de Mina,
also quickly shifts from being an ethnic political corporate value, to become a religious identity
mark. It stops denoting an ethnic African origin, to denote instead adherence to a specific
religious precept.
Now the question is why the Jeje and the Nagô were able to preserve their religious
traditions, and establish a relatively systematic model which was then followed by other
heterogeneous groups, when the Jeje and the Nagô do not seem to have been a majority
among the African population brought to Maranhão. A similar problematic has been explored in
relation to the Nagô-Ketu in Bahia, which will help us to understand the problem. Once more an
ethno-historic perspective combined with an analysis of the religious structures and associated
ideologies will help us to answer the question.
The Jeje and Nagô religious predominance
Due to the limits of this study I cannot but present brief outline about the slave trade in
Maranhão54. In this region the arrival of African slaves started later than in other parts of Brazil.
In 1682, following the promulgation of the law proposed by Pe. Antonio Vieira in 1680 according
to which the captivity of indigenous population was forbidden, the Portuguese metropolis
organised the Companhia de Comércio do Maranhão, which was responsible for the
introduction of the first African slaves in the area (Barretto 1977: 42). These slaves were used
in the rice, cotton and sugar plantations located on the banks of the rivers Itapecurú, Pindaré
and Mearim. Despite this minor initial African presence, it was not until the mid-18th century
that black slaves were massively imported.
Although the Brazilian sugar industry had already known its golden age in the 17th
century, Maranhão as a late comer to the Portuguese colony, began its economic growth only
by the second half of the 18th century, and by the first half of the 19th century it was one of the
most prosperous regions of Brazil. The Companhia Geral de Comércio Grão-Pará e Maranhão,
founded in June 1755 by the Portuguese Marquis of Pombal, was instrumental in most of this
economic growth, as well as for most of the slave trade in the area, especially during the
second half of the 18th century.
It is very difficult to estimate the number of slaves that were brought in Maranhão.
Röhrig Assunção (1995: 267; 1996: 434) in a recent study suggests that around 1820 the slave
percentage was 55%, and that the white population percentage was 15%. He provides the
following figures: "The number of African slaves imported, which had not exceeded 3000 until
1755, rose to about 12.000 between 1755 and 1777, then to 35.000 between 1778 and 1800,
54 References to slave trade in Maranhão and Pará are found in Taunay (1941), Costa Eduardo
(1948), Dias (1970), Salles (1971), Barretto (1977), C. O. Lima (1980), C. Lima (1981), S.
Ferretti (1995), and Röhrig Assunção (1995, 1996).
45
and increased to at least 48.000 between 1801 and 1820" . Between 1750 and 1850, Maranhão
became one of the Brazilian states with the highest percentage of slave population.
The origin of African slaves in Maranhão is also difficult to establish. Costa Eduardo
(1948: 7), with the data of the inventários, identifies three main regions from where slaves were
brought, and within them lists a series of ethnic origins. Barretto (1977: 45-49) provides the
names of other ethnic groups. Combining both sets of data the following list emerges.
Congo-Angola (Bantu): Angolas, Congos, Cabinda, Benguelas, Moxicongo, Mauá (Macua),

Casange and Angico.
Senegal (Guinea Bissau): Mandingas, Cacheu, Bijago, Balanta, Fulas55 (Fulupes), Cabo
Verde, Bambara, Nalu, and Caifa.
Guinea Coast: Minas, Jejes (Dahomean), Nagôs (Yoruba), Tapa, Hausas, Calabar, and Fanti
Ashanti.
To the above mentioned ethnic groups Costa Eduardo adds the presence of
Mozambiques and Camunda, and the generic group of creole. On many occasions slaves are
only referred to by generic terms as Africanos, or by the name of the slave trade centre from
where they were shipped to the New World. Thus there were slaves referred to as Cacheu,
Cabo Verde, and more specially Mina, which are all names of slave trade ports.
The time of arrival of the different ethnic groups is also very difficult to establish. Röhrig
Assunção (1995) suggests two main stages, the first corresponding to the last quarter of the
18th century, and the second to the first quarter of the 19th century. The Congo-Angola groups
seem to have been the most numerous in Maranhão since the beginning56. They were
imported throughout all the slavery period, and even during the contraband period. Beside the
Angola and the Benguela, the Cabinda from Congo, called in Maranhão Cambinda, had a
strong presence in the Itapecurú area, and especially in Codó.
If, as Barretto states (1977), there is no way to determine with precision the ethnic
origin of the African slaves introduced in Maranhão, nor their quantity, and it is thus impossible
to assert whether the religious predominance of the Nagô and Jeje traditions are due to
qualitative or quantitative factors, it is also true that those two groups seem to have arrived in
Maranhão in a greater quantity at the end of the 18th century and specially in the first decades
of the 19th century57, hence later than the Bantu and the Guinea Bissau people. Therefore the
55 Barretto seems to differentiate Fulas from Fulupes. However Fulupas or Fulupes could be
another name to designate the Fulas. In Guinea Bissau the Fulas are known by several names
among others Fulbe from where the term Fulupe may have originated. The Fulas are also
known in Africa as Peul, Fellani, Ful, Foulah or Fellata (Historical Dictionary of Guinea Bissau)
56 The totality of slaves imported between 1757 and 1764 by the Companhia Geral de
Comércio Grão-Pará e Maranhão, came either from Angola (70%), or the ports of Bissau (15%)
and Cacheu (15%) in Guinea Bissau (Dias, 1970).
57 Similarly in Bahia, the Jeje seem to have arrived during what Verger (1987:9-17) calls the
Costa da Mina cycle going from 1700 to 1770, and specially during the Benin Bay cycle from
46
time factor may have contributed in some way to the preservation of those traditions which
came later.
Costa Lima (1977: 19-28) discusses a parallel phenomenon in Bahia. This author
refuses Nina Rodrigues' explanation of the higher preservation of Nagô traditions in terms of
cultural "superiority", and of a major complexity in the cosmogony systems of the so called
"Sudanese" (Jeje-Nagô), as opposed to the Bantu comprising mainly the Congo-Angolan
"nations". He proposes to look for historical and socio-anthropological reasons which may
explain why a systematic model of religious behaviour was imposed on ethnically and culturally
heterogeneous groups. He further suggests the need for a study of social psychology and
cultural contact to clarify the problematic.
Verger (1957, 1987, 1993), following this line of inquiry, suggests that the Yoruba
spiritual predominance in Bahia may be explained as the result of the late and massive arrival
of Nagô slaves, at the beginning of the 19th century, which was caused by the wars between
Danxomè and the Yoruba at that time. He noted the large numbers of religious experts among
these slaves, "la résistence aux influences culturelles de leurs maîtres viendrait de la présence,
parmi eux, de nombreux prisonniers de guerre de la classe sociale élévée et des prêtres
conscients de la valeur de leurs institutions et fermement attachés aux préceptes de leur
religion" (1987:10). Verger in a previous work (1962: 12-3, as quoted in Costa Lima, 1977: 23)
suggests that these religious experts, at the time of their arrival in Bahia, were able to recruit
personnel from other minority ethnic groups from neighbouring villages in Africa.
Costa Lima criticises Verger's predisposition to valorise the Nagô culture, and
especially the Ketu "nation", and reminds us of the existence of many other Nagô groups with
similar religious practices, a fact which does not help to explain why the Ketu "nation" imposed
its tradition, or at least its name, in the Bahia of the early 19th century. Costa Lima states that
there are not historical or anthropological proofs to demonstrate that the Africans arriving from
Ketu were more structured, from the religious point of view, or had as Verger suggests, a
deeper knowledge of their ritual and religion. I agree with Costa Lima that this criticism applies
within the context of the different Nagô "nations", and probably in the wider context of the West
African Jeje-Nagô "nations". However in an even wider context including West African and
Bantu "nations", I believe there are grounds to talk, if not of a major complexity in the
cosmogony Jeje-Nagô systems, as suggested by Nina Rodrigues, at least of two different ritual
worship strategies: one, in the West African case, which results in the need for a collective cult
organisation around fixed shrines, and another, in the Bantu case, where such collective
organisation is not so essential, or at least, is not organised around permanent sites, thus being
more flexible, unstable and non localised. The preservation factor, or the spiritual
1770 to 1850, while the Nagô presence seems to have been specially significant in the last
cycle. In Maranhão Costa Eduardo observes that the data from the inventários suggests a high
percentage of Mina slaves specially in the year 1815, the same year the British law imposing
the abolition slave trade in the Northern hemisphere was approved.
47
predominance of the Nagô, and also the Jeje in Maranhão, could therefore be explained in part
by the intrinsic need of the West African religious traditions to establish permanent sites for
collective cult organisations, while the Bantu magico-religious tradition did not impose such
ritual needs so strongly.
I do not think that the quantitative population factor may be critical in the establishment
of a particular religious tradition as predominant, as suggested by Verger in relation to Bahia. In
Maranhão, the inventários consulted by Costa Eduardo and the data from the Companhia
Geral de Comércio Grão-Para e Maranhão, clearly suggest that the Angola slave contingents
were the most numerous in Maranhão. Despite their apparent numerical superiority, except for
the Cabinda, their religious contribution seems to have been diluted. Religious traditions are not
preserved by the greatest number of people, but rather, as Verger remarked, because among
these people there may exist some religious experts prepared in Africa or by Africans, with the
required esoteric knowledge. For the establishment of a Mina cult house, the presence of
experts capable of performing the ritual burial of the stones, and other esoteric rites of
foundation are essential. It is difficult to imagine, in those early times of the Mina, an amateur
taking care of such activities, as it may occur today. Thus, the quantitative factor does not seem
to be critical for the perpetuation of a religious tradition, unless it is considered as a
circumstance which increases the probability of the presence of more religious experts.
The qualitative factor on the other hand seems to be of some importance. We know
that the Bantu magico-religious traditions from Central Africa, were not organised in the same
way as the Yoruba or Adja-Ewe ones (Rodrigues, 1977; Ramos, 1979). Here a comparative
analysis between the West African and Bantu religious traditions would be pertinent, however
this task exceeds the limits of this thesis, and I will only delineate some important differences 58.
To begin with the magico-religious institutions in Central Africa are very varied and it is difficult
to talk of a generic Bantu tradition. Here I will mainly refer to the coastal and Western Bantu
society of the Kongo area and present Angola, from where most of the Bantu Brazilian slaves
originated. These groups shared fundamental beliefs and language and to a certain extent
similar magico-religious institutions, as for instance the ones labelled as ngoma healing cults by
Janzen (1992) or drums of affliction by Turner. These were religious associations built around a
set of ritual practices and a healing ideology. In some cases, like in the Nkita cults of the Kongo
coast, "a close articulation of emblems of authority, social renewal and healing is common"
(idem: 12). The character of these associations is centred around the dynamics of lineage
conflicts or individual affliction. Generally, the Bantu traditional magico-religious institutions
seems to articulate the healing ideology in the dialectic between diviner-healer versus malign
wild spirits sometimes commanded by a sorcerer. In the Kongo linguistic area the diviner-healer
58 As regards the ethnic groups of Guinea Bissau, it would be necessary to know more about
their religious beliefs and practices to determine whether the complexity or simplicity of their
magico-religious systems did or did not contribute to the possibility of survival in the new
cultural and socio-economic environment. Except for brief reference in Costa Eduardo (1948),
this is an area that, to my knowledge, has not yet been explored by scholarship .
48
is called nganga and the sorcerer ndoki59, while among the Ambundu of Luanda or the
Ovimbundu of southern Angola the diviner-healer is called kimbanda and the sorcerer onganga
(Rodrigues de Areia, 1974; Ribas, 1989).
Thus the Bantu magico-religious universe is mainly based on a healing ideology
symbolically expressed in a fight against sorcery where two opposite spiritual sides are used by
human agents in a mutual dynamic of attack and defence. This dialectic between beneficent
and evil, or social and anti-social, spiritual and human agents is also spread out in West African
culture, however the West African religious organisation is mainly built around the worship of
deified lineage ancestors often associated with different aspects of nature. This worship and
deification of ancestor spirits is articulated by an ideology and a ritual of possession which
serves to reinforce kinship cohesiveness and lineage authority, and where the healing aspects
are only secondary.
In the Kongo-Angola civilisation, the belief in the life of ancestors after death, and their
essential participation in the well being of the living community is also present in many areas,
but the potential cult of ancestors does not presuppose their deification. In the Bantu area the
relationship with ancestors or other spirit fields comprising nature or alien spirits (Janzen 1992)
is not consistently organised in religious brotherhoods associated with kinship collectivities,
where devotees are trained to incarnate periodically such spiritual entities in spirit possession
celebrations. In the Bantu tradition the magico-religious experts who deal with these ancestor
spirits seem to operate most of the time on their own, not necessarily associated with specific
kinship collectivities, although they may have some attendants who will be duly initiated 60. The
complex hierarchical order and division of tasks characteristic of the West African religious
communities seems to be absent in the Bantu context. At the same time, the Bantu diviner-
healer will normally displace himself where he is required, and will diagnose and perform ritual
healing on specific patients sometimes in collaboration with members of the sufferer's family.
These are the basic occasions for performance of dances and drum playing together with
mediumship activity which only occurs either with the healer or the patient (Weeks, 1914).
In ngoma cults the communication with spirit fields can involve different forms of
mediumship. Mediumship experiences are at the base of the recruitment process of new
diviners-healers. Ancestor spirits and other spirit fields are instrumental in the oracular and
healing practices of the socially beneficent diviner-healer, while evil spirits are controlled by the
sorcerer. In southern Angola, among the Kwanyama and Ovimbundu there are reports of
possession occurrences in which the medium acquires a distinct new personality which can
59 Among the Kongo, when a person is obsessed by an evil spirit (nkuiya) after the sorcerer
has "eaten" the soul, he or she becomes bewitched, and is perceived as a witch (ndoki)
(Weeks, 1914). By extension the person who has contact or control over the nkuiya is
considered a sorcerer.
60 In the Nkita cult, for instance, through initiation processes, individuals and their families may
be considered to have married a particular nkisi. The recruitment of initiates always derives
from a healing context, and the sufferer becomes a disciple an attendant of the main healer.
49
involve gender changes accompanied by the corresponding changes of behaviour. These roles
are socially acknowledged. However the idea of possession, at least in the Kongo coast area is
not clearly identified; instead the concept of inspiration as defined by Rouget seems to prevail.
In the Nkita cults of Kongo coast, the relation with the spiritual world is articulated through the
creation of charms endowed with healing power called nkisi61 , which an ancestor's spirit is
supposed to inhabit (Farris Thompson, 1984: 117).
These nkisi and other charms were moveable objects, that did not need to be always
located in the same place, and could be kept hidden at home, or carried wherever their force
was to be used. Lydia Cabrera reports similar practices with the nganga62 or boumbas in Cuba
(1983: 118). The Bantu ngoma healing cults did not seem to require the establishment of
permanent fixed sites or temples with the installation of shrines63 and the characteristic burial of
stones and other elements of West African tradition64. Despite this flexibility regarding the cult
space, which meant that cult practices could take place in moveable sites, the Bantu traditions,
as we have seen, were more oriented towards healing, and witchcraft or sorcery practices,
which could be carried out by single independent religious experts. The Bantu diviner-healer-
sorcerer, or his descendants still known as kimbanda in Maranhão did not require the
organisation of cult groups, or cult temples.
On the other hand the Jeje and Nagô brought well-organised ritual practices which
needed to be reproduced with maximum fidelity to their African models, in order to preserve
their efficacy. And in times of adversity, what Africans and their descendants most needed was
the efficacy of their deities. They needed shrines where they could perform their offerings to the
voduns, they needed devotees who could become the "wives" of the voduns, they needed to
initiate these devotees, they needed to celebrate periodical ceremonies in homage to the
voduns, in short they needed a temple or sacred space of their own, and a complex group
organisation. As opposed to the Bantu people who could have carried out their religious
activities without a complex social infrastructure, the Jeje and Nagô needed to make the effort
to reproduce the necessary conditions, otherwise they had no chance of receiving the help of
their gods.
61 In Brazil, the nkisi as a singular complex of material and spiritual parts, is transformed-
confused-equated with the spiritual agent itself, and becomes enkice, another name for orixá
or vodun, applied to deities of Congo-Angola origin.
62 The name nganga which in Angola designates the religious expert in Cuba becomes the
name of the charm itself.
63 In some cases there may be "collective lineage symbols, such as shrines bearing ancestor's
mortal remains" (Janzen 1992: 13), but such cult of ancestors does not seem to be the central
activity of the diviner-healer.
64 In Cuba, Lydia Cabrera reports that the Congo-Angolan sorcerer could temporarily bury the
nganga, or offer animal blood to it specially when building it, and afterwards as a form of
recompense for its "works", but this was not done with regularity. (Cabrera, 1983: 130)
50
Another necessary condition for the preservation process of specific religious traditions
seems to be the urban context65 as it is difficult to imagine the emergence of religious
communities in the fazenda, or the senzala66. In order to organise a religious community, a
group of individuals must have the necessary freedom to congregate regularly. These
circumstances were only achieved either by fugitive slaves living in the quilombos67, or by freed
slaves living in the city and having access to relative economic independence, joined by
domestic slaves living in the urban residences of their masters. There is no information
regarding the rural or urban distribution of the different ethnic groups, and it is not possible to
evaluate if the religious predominance of the Jeje and Nagô was also favoured by a greater
percentage of these groups in the city.
What is more probable is that the African slaves had more chance of establishing
contact with the Indian population in the rural areas than in the city. It was in the plantations
where the African magico-religious experts, and particularly the Bantu kimbanda in his role of
healer-sorcerer, may have started to adapt, and to assimilate, the existing magical practices of
the caboclo or Indian pajé. Both the pajé and the kimbanda share structural similarities in the
conception of a plurality of ancestor's and nature spirit fields. At the same time, there is a
convergence of beliefs in reincarnation, possibility of perturbation by dead spirits, evil eye,
witchcraft, spirits of the dead incorporated in animals, spirits dwelling in natural sites, or the
possibility of the human soul to travel during dreams. The overall emphasis on the healing and
anti-sorcery aspects of their activities, where the idea of exorcism is central, is probably the
main convergence. This parallelism in the therapeutic principle is reinforced by similitude in
specific techniques like the extraction of the pathogenic agent by suction and the use of smoke
(see chapter 6). These similar ways of operating may have contributed, to a certain extent, to
an easy and quick acceptance of the local Pajelança by the Bantu slaves. The transmission of
knowledge between the Indians and the Africans may have been mediated, both in the
plantations and the quilombos, by the caboclos and mamelucos who already operated as an
intermediary social segment between the Indians and the Portuguese (Vainfas, 1995).
The Bantu, in their African migrations, had the custom of worshipping (to buy, to hire)
the local spirits of the newly occupied territories, considered to be owners of the land 68. It has
65 As Carneiro (1985) pointed out, Afro-Brazilian religion constitutes a typically urban

phenomenon, being practised mainly in the coast capitals, and in some inland cities.
66 The fazenda is a big rural property for land cultivation or live stock. It can also designate the
building where the slave masters lived in the plantations (Casa Grande), as opposed to the
senzala which was the building where the slaves lived.
67 Name given to clandestine rural communities founded by slaves who escaped from their
masters (Syn.: mocambo). For a historic analysis of the quilombos in Maranhão see Röhrig
Assunção (1996).
68 This practice seems to have been re-established for instance during the civil war in
Rhodesia. Displaced populations resorted to spiritual experts to negotiate with the spirits of the
foreign or unknown territories. Once the civil war finished this practice decreased again (Lan,
1985).
51
been suggested by several scholars (Bastide, 1971: 250) that the same principle was applied
on their arrival in Brazil, when they began to worship the Indian local spirits, the caboclos,
Curupiras, mães d'àgua, etc., and their sacred natural places, the encantarias, where they were
supposed to dwell. The Angolan worship of Indian spiritual entities has been the classical
explanation for the appearance of the caboclo as spiritual entity (Ramos, 1988; Carneiro, 1985).
The Bantu tradition has been held responsible for the appearance of the Candomblé de
Caboclo in Bahia, the Macumba in Rio de Janeiro, or the Terecô in Codó, in all of which the
caboclo is a central spiritual figure. These traditions, together with the influence of Kardecist
Spiritism and the so called "low spiritism" forms since the end of the 19th century, were fertile
ground for the emergence of the Umbanda69 in the first decades of this century.
The healing-sorcery activities, and the idea of the kimbanda's command of spiritual
entities (who are conceived to "work" to fulfil human wishes), probably were an important Bantu
input in the Pajelança and Catimbó of North and Northeast Brazil. The Bantu tradition
prescribing the cult of the spirits "owners of the land", and the idea that the more spirit fields the
healer-sorcerer can deal with the stronger his magic is, resulted in an accumulative strategy:
each kimbanda-pajé would try to "work" with, and to control as many spiritual entities as
possible. This individual accumulative strategy, is preserved in contemporary Pajelança and in
some Mina houses, and it may account for the early genesis of a wide diversity of "Brazilian"
spirits which made the stabilisation of a discreet pantheon increasingly difficult.
The fact that the Bantu magico-religious tradition was not organised around fixed
locations, which permitted the regular congregation of a community where practices and values
may have been more easily preserved, may have contributed to the absence of major
recognisable Congo-Angolan organised cults in Brazil. Despite this fact, the Bantu cultural
practices and values, due to the numerical superiority of the Congo-Angola and their
individualistic informal operational mode, have filtered through, and fused with, all sorts of
undocumented healing traditions of "low spiritism" (Catimbó), the Pajelança Cabocla, and the
already mentioned caboclo cults, where some of the Jeje-Nagô models of cult organisation
were assimilated.
69 The Angolan input in the Umbanda is already implicit in the name Umbanda which is a term
from the Kikongo language. Umbanda means medicine, the healing science, the magic practice
of the kimbanda, and by derivation refers to ritual ceremonies leaded by the kimbanda (Ribas,
1989).
52
The Brazilian sources of the "new" cult houses
After this outline of the historical background for the two "old" cult houses of Tambor de
Mina, I shall now provide a brief presentation of the remaining five "new" cult houses of our
domain of study. Special emphasis is given to the religious genealogies of their leaders in
relation to older cult houses. I also present the names of the spiritual "owners" of each cult
house, as they are a first indication of the categories of spiritual entities prevailing in each
terreiro, and therefore a mark of the cult house identity.
The Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia (TDQG) was founded in 1943 by Margarita Mota
Silva. It is located in the Rua Padre Roma 54, in the Lira neighbourhood, behind the Gavião
cemetery, not far away from the Casa das Minas. This terreiro is also known by the name of its
founder, as Terreiro of Margarita Mota. Margarita Mota started her medium's career as a
curadora, but was afterwards initiated in the Mina by Mãe Pia chief of the Terreiro do Egito.
The first ritual of foundation of the cult house (assentamento) involving the installation of
shrines was conducted by Mãe Pia and Margarita Mota. The lines of Averekete and Caboclo
Bandeira were established. Caboclo Bandeira70 being the main spiritual entity of Margarita
Mota was "installed" as owner of the cult house (dono da casa). Dona Teodora71, also initiated
in the Egito, provided the drums, and Margarita Mota the dance hall. Due to internal disputes
related to power struggles the sisterhood (irmandade) was separated, and Margarita Mota
remained as sole responsible of the cult house. After a few years new spiritual entities such as
the lines of Legua Boji, Botos, and Turkish were "installed", and they began to manifest
regularly. These second rituals of assentamento were officiated by Margarita Mota together with
Mãe Anastacia and Mundica Reis from the Terreiro da Turquia. With this second assentamento
the cross between Mata (caboclo from the bush) and Nagô was consolidated, a characteristic
which had already been marked in the first assentamento of the African vodun Averekete and
the gentil Caboclo Bandeira. At a given moment, probably in the late 1960's, the cult house
which was made of taipa (canes and mud) fell down. New obrigações were performed to
reopen the terreiro. These rituals were officiated by Pai Euclides from the Casa Fanti Ashanti
because Mãe Anastacia was already very old.
With Margarita Mota's death on 10 March 1983, the cult house leadership was
assumed by Dona Vicença, its present leader, helped by the two senior mediums Dona Zizi and
Dona Lozina72. Such succession was legitimated by the Turkish caboclo Jaguarema who was
Margarita Mota's spiritual guide, and who was also received by Dona Vicença. Since then
Jaguarema and Tombase, son of Caboclo Bandeira, became the guias (guides) of the cult
70 The spiritual entities of the family of Caboclo Bandeira began to manifest in the Terreiro do
Egito (Oliveira J. I., 1989: 33-34)
71 She received Longuinho from the family of Bandeira (Oliveira J. I., 1989: 33-34)
72 A triad of high ranking mediums assuming the cult house leadership is a common strategy in
several Mina cult house (CM, CN, TDQG, TFD, TRN). In our domain of study male leaders
(CFA, TY) seem to be more individualistic in their exercise of power.
53
house. This first example reveals the importance of the Terreiro do Egito and the Terreiro da
Turquia as the two main sources of orthodoxy of this cult house, which are explicit in the
worship of specific spiritual entities, as well as in other ritual aspects.
The Terreiro Yemanja, Ilé Ashé Iemowá, founded in 1956 by Pai Jorge Itaci de Oliveira
(Kada Doma Manja), devotee of Yemanja and Dom Luis king of France. These two spiritual
entities are the spiritual "owners" of the cult house, which is located, since 1958, in the
Travessa Fé em Deus 45, in the neighbourhood of Monte Castelo.
Pai Itaci was initiated by Mãe Pia in the Egito, but he also had a close relationship with
Mãe Dudu from the Casa de Nagô who was his godmother. The persons who helped him to
establish the cult house included personnel from the terreiro of Vô Severa (derived from the
Casa de Nagô) and the Terreiro da Turquia. Besides the "owners" of the house, the other
"colunas do axé" (pillars of the cult house) are Avrekete, Xangô Badé, Dom João and Lego
Xapana73. Thus the "roots" of this cult house, as in the case of the terreiro of Margarita Mota,
refer directly to the Terreiro do Egito, and indirectly to the Turquia and Casa de Nagô.
In the last years Pai Itaci has travelled on several occasions to São Paulo and Salvador
da Bahia where he apparently maintains a close relationship with the prestigious Iyalorisá Stella
from the Axé Opo Afonjá. Such a connection indicates a possible source for the influences of
the Candomblé that are increasingly significant in the rituals of this cult house.
The Casa Fanti Ashanti74, was originally founded in January 195875 by Pai Euclides
Menezes Ferreira in the Igarapa, by the Bacanga river, and was subsequently relocated in the
Rua Militar 1158, in the neighbourhood of Cruzeiro do Anil in 1967 (Ferreira, 1985). The
spiritual "owners" of the cult house are Oxala, Mãe Maria (Oxum), and the Turkish Tabajara,
again the main spiritual entities of its founder. The spiritual entities received in this cult house
are many, including orixás, voduns, bonsús76, gentis, fidalgos and caboclos77. Although there
73 Pai Itaci calls his cult house as Jeje-Nagô, although as we will see, the prevailing ritual
orthodoxy corresponds rather to what I call the Mina de Caboclo. Among the spiritual entities
worshipped in this cult house, the gentis (Dom João, Dom Manuel, Dom Luis, Dom José
Floriano, Dom Pedro Angaço, Dom Miguel da Gama) are the most important ones. The voduns
Jeje and the orixás Nagô occupy a prestigious position but are less numerous. Other families of
caboclos led by Rei da Bandeira, Rei da Turquia, Legua Boji from Codó, João de Lima and
the Botos (dolphins) and Marinheiros (sailors) are also very popular. The Povo do Rei Gama, a
family of gentis originated in the Terreiro do Egito is very cherished in this cult house (Oliveira J.
I., 1989).
74 The bibliography on this cult house is extensive. Barretto (1982, 1987) has written two books,
one a doctoral dissertation, on the Casa Fanti-Ashanti . Mundicarmo Ferretti's doctoral
dissertation (1993) is also dedicated to this terreiro . Pai Euclides has written three books in
relation to his cult house, in an interesting initiative to give voice to Mina participants within Afro-
Brazilian studies (Ferreira, 1984, 1985, 1987).
75 Mundicarmo Ferretti gives 1954 as the foundation year
76 The same as vodun or orixá in the Ashante language.
77 Mundicarmo Ferretti provides an exhaustive list of them on her doctoral dissertation
dedicated to this terreiro (1993: 453-463)
54
is a valorisation of the African spiritual entities, and the caboclos are considered to be
secondary spiritual entities, those are nonetheless very popular among the mediums of this cult
house.
Pai Euclides is a charismatic leader and, contrary to other mediums who are
exclusively attached to their pais or mães de santo, he learnt from many different sources. His
aunt Dona Isaura, guia of the Terreiro of Mariacinha, had a very big influence on his religious
education. It was in this terreiro where he first received encantado in 1957, yet he was initiated
in the Mina by Mãe Pia from the Terreiro de Egito. It is from her that he claims to have learned
the fundamento of the Fanti-Ashanti "nation" which gives name to his cult house78. Pai Euclides
had informal relationships with other prestigious mineiras like Dona Celestina from the Terreiro
do Engenho, or Dona Clarinda from the terreiro Rei de Nagô in the Cutim from whom he
acquired more esoteric knowledge. He also exchanged visits, either individually or with other
mediums of his house, with other terreiros like the one of Margarita Mota, Osvaldo, and the
Terreiro da Turquia. The guia from the Terreiro da Turquia came to dance at the Casa Fanti
Ashanti too. According to Mundicarmo Ferretti (personal communication 23-8-93) Euclides also
learnt from the Casa das Minas through a ferro (bell) player of this cult house who later on used
to attend ceremonies in the Egito. Thus we can see how the learning process of a priest can
involve many different sources which are not obvious nor systematic, and which may be
assimilated and reinterpreted according to personal idiosyncrasy.
In 1980, Pai Euclides was initiated in the Candomblé Oyo Efan by Manoel "Papai", and
Mãe Maria das Dores in the city of Recife in Pernambuco, and subsequently he changed the
axé of his cult house to the Jeje-Nagô precept. Several of his filhos-de-santo followed the
leader and also transferred to the Candomblé. In that way Pai Euclides became the introducer
of the Candomblé in Maranhão, and has since then been an advocate for the re-Africanization
of the religion. It is this conscious will to restore and to emulate the African traditions which can
explain why this cult house, when performing Mina ceremonies, follows with more fidelity the
pattern of the "old" cult houses than any of the other "new" cult houses. In that sense it can be
said that, to a certain extent, this cult house is traditionalist rather than traditional.
Dona Elzita Vieira Martins Coelho is the high priestess of the Terreiro Fé em Deus,
founded in December 1966, in the Rua Nossa Senhora da Conceição 186, in the
neighbourhood of Sacavem. Dona Elzita was initiated in the Terreiro of Dona Denira, where she
danced as guia for twenty two years. Dona Denira first began to dance with Zacarias, a pai de
santo who used to play the cabaça (rattle) in the Casa de Nagô, but she was initiated in the
Mina by Mãe Pia in the Egito. With the death of Dona Denira, Dona Elzita opened her own cult
house which was assentada (ritually founded) by Dona Anastacia from the Terreiro da Turquia.
78Apparently Mãe Pia used to talk about bonsús, the name by which deities are known in
Ashante.
55
The spiritual entity "owner" of the house is Caboclo Velho, who is also the main spiritual entity
of Dona Elzita. In this cult house although some devotees receive orixás or voduns, the caboclo
da mata and Indian entities are the most popular ones.
Mãe Elzita learnt most of her ritual knowledge from Mãe Denira, and claims little
interferences with this inheritance except for ritual changes introduced by her spiritual guide
Surrupirinha. However Dona Denira's indirect link with the Casa de Nagô through Zacarias, and
her direct link with the Egito, together with the collaboration of Mãe Anastacia from the Turquia
in the foundation of Dona Elzita's terreiro, present again a very similar network of "roots" to the
previous cult houses.
The Tenda Rio Negro da Fé Esperança e Caridade, located in the Estrada São
Raimundo 14, in the neighbourhood of Anjo da Guarda, was founded by Dona Josefa Silva
Soares in 1974. Dona Zefa (Josefa) was initiated when she was twenty nine years old by Mãe
Zuluca in the Casa Sta. Barbara, in Maracaná, a village in the interior of São Luis island. She
remained for eighteen years in this cult house assuming the position of contraguia and guia,
after which time she opened her own terreiro. The gentil Rei Sebastião is the spiritual "owner"
of the house as well as Dona Zefa's main spiritual entity. However it is the caboclo Rio Negro
who more often comes to Dona Zefa, and the encantado who is held responsible for most of
the decisions taken in this cult house.
The Tenda Rio Negro does not claim links with the old Mina cult houses. However
Dona Zefa used to attend and dance in ceremonies in the traditional terreiros of Turquia, Vô
Severa, and she claims that when she was three years old she first became incorporated in the
Casa das Minas when attending a ceremony with her aunt. This symbolic link with the Casa das
Minas probably became more significant when Dona Zefa recruited Dona Socorro as guia of
the cult house. Dona Socorro is the biological daughter of Dona Amelia, chief of the Casa das
Minas until 1997 when she died. In this case, where initiation links are not so clear or so
prestigious, the legitimacy of the cult activities is mainly attributed to the initiative of the spiritual
guide of the cult house, in this case the caboclo Rio Negro.
56
Terreiro do Egito
The affiliation of a cult house to a specific tradition is mainly determined by the initiation
links of the high priest or priestess, but also by the people who collaborate in the rituals of
foundation of the cult house. As we have seen in the brief presentation of the "new" cult
houses, each leader has his or her own interpersonal links with other religious experts from
various cult houses. From these informal relationships the new high priests or priestesses
acquire esoteric knowledge, or learn particular ritual processes which can be subsequently
assimilated to their cult house organisation. An experienced medium becomes part of a social
network which contributes to legitimate his or her activities. It is this social network of religious
experts who ultimately sanction the acceptance or recognition of new pais or mães de santo.
Four of the high priests and priestesses of the five "new" cult houses claim to have
been initiated in the Terreiro do Egito, one of the matrix houses of Tambor de Mina. This
terreiro seems to have operated as a quartel geral79 (general quarters) of the Tambor de Mina,
especially from the 1940's to the 1970's. This is the period in which the "new" cult houses were
founded. Pai Euclides, and Pai Itaci claim to have been prepared by Mãe Pia in the Egito. Dona
Denira and Margarita Mota, spiritual mothers of Dona Elzita and Dona Vicença respectively,
were also initiated by Mãe Pia. These two mães de santo took their spiritual daughters, Dona
Elzita and Dona Vicença, to receive different rites for the head in the Egito too.
T. do Egito (1864-1979)
(Mãe Pia)
TDQG (1943) T. S. Santana (1945) C.S. Barbara (?)

(M. Mota) (Mãe Denira) (Mãe Zuluca)
TY (1956) CFA (1958) TFD (1966) TRN (1974)

(D. Vicença) (Pai Itaci) (Pai Euclides) (Mãe Elzita) (Dona Zefa)
According to oral testimonies the Terreiro do Egito was founded by the African Basilia
Sofia, Massinoko Alapong (Macinocê) originally from Kumassi in Ghana. The year of foundation
is uncertain. Pai Euclides (Ferreira, 1987) claims it was in 1864, and Pai Jorge Itaci (Oliveira J.
I., 1989) says it was in 1880. In 1912, after Massinoko's death in 1911, Maria Pia dos Santos
Lagos, (Iraé-Akou-Vonunko), of Averekete, succeeded in the leadership. In 1978, Pai Euclides
took charge of the Terreiro of the Egito, until 1980, the year of its extinction.
Pai Itaci reports that the Terreiro do Egito originated from a quilombo located behind
the Porto de Itaqui, close to São Joaquim do Bacanga, an ancient site of a Jesuit mission. The
79 Expression used by Pai Itaci as reported by S. Ferretti in personal communication

57
Egito was located on top of a cliff formed by a small peninsula facing the São Marcos bay. The
legend of the appearance of the navio de Dom João (Dom João's ship) with a legion of
encantados during the nights of drum playing is very famous. Apparently there was only a
simple barracão made with taipa, and covered with palm tree leaves. Public ceremonies were
held there, and many vodunsi who attended these feasts used to sleep in the open air, lying on
improvised beds in the bush. The shrines were hidden inside the tree trunks or buried under
earth. Besides the pau da paciência80 there were no obvious signs of a religious cult.
Pai Euclides reports that in 1944 , the Egito held only three public ceremony cycles a
year, in December, August and September. In December they celebrated Santa Luzia, but not
Santa Barbara, although afterwards both feasts became mixed. They also celebrated the
Almôço dos Cachorros and the mesa dos inocentes (see chapter 5). In August they celebrated
the caboclos João Guerreiro81 and João Navalheiro who are said to be twin brothers. In
September, besides the Mina toques, some purification rituals of the cult house, and the ritual
offering of the first nyam sprouts82, a tradition well documented in West Africa, were performed.
Despite the fact that during this period African voduns and orixás were being celebrated, no
animal sacrifices were performed because the nyam offerings were considered as substitutes.
Apparently animal sacrifices were only performed in December during the Santa Luzia feast. In
August there were no sacrifices either because traditionally the caboclos do not receive animal
blood. In any case sacrifices always were performed by senior members of the community a
few days before public ceremonies, and all esoteric activities were carried out with great
discretion.
The Egito was not a permanent site, and most of the year there was no apparent
activity. Only three times a year, during the public ceremonies cycles, mineiros from different
cult houses in the nearby areas, and probably curadores too, met and danced together. People
from very different origins congregated there, the legend of the navio de Dom João contributed
to this popularity. The pantheons and ritual diversity suggest this multi-origin of the Egito's
personnel. Many high priestess took their disciples to be consecrated in the Egito by old Mãe
Pia. The Egito seems to have been a centre to legitimate the African status of many mineiros. A
medium would first receive a spiritual entity in a cult house in São Luis. The mãe the santo
would normally identify such spiritual entity as the caboclo guia of the medium, often a Brazilian
spirit. Afterwards she would be taken by her mãe de santo to the Egito to consecrate or to fix in
her head the main African spiritual entity, a vodun or orixá; in Mina terms, she would receive a
banho de croa for her dono da cabeça (bath on the head for the spiritual owner of the head).
80 A mast with a white flag which signals the location of a terreiro. This symbol is still preserved
in South Benin, from where it probably originates.
81João Guerreiro was a spiritual guia of Maria Pia dos Santos, while Averekete was her
senhor, and Mãe Maria (Oxum) was her senhora.
82 Pai Euclides reports that at the time of Massinoko the nyam was cultivated in the cult house
and that at the time of Pia, she had to get it from other places outside the Egito.
58
The ritual knowledge to diagnose and to confirm the African dono da cabeça was provided in
the Egito. (Pai Euclides interview)
Despite the obvious signs of African tradition, the Egito shows an important presence of
caboclos in the "pantheon", and ritual activities suggest a series of influences of the Pajelança
Cabocla. The vodun Lissa, spiritual "owner" of the terreiro was known as Rei de Mestres for
instance, being mestre a term to designate spiritual entities in the Catimbó. At the ritual level,
the celebration of the Baião ceremonies (see Introduction, note 25) at the beginning of any
cycle of feasts is one of the most clear signs of this interpenetration process. It was probably in
a context similar to the Egito that these popular dances of the 19th century, very often
performed with occasion of the Bumba Boi celebrations, began to become a ritual set up for
experiences of possession in female mediums. With time the Baião became a ritualised spirit
possession ceremony associated with the Pajelança spiritual entities of the linha d'àgua doce.
The use of castanets and guitar, and tambourines as main instruments, suggest a non-West
African tradition behind this process. The performance of the Baião in the Egito strongly
suggests a considerable degree of eclecticism in the activities of this terreiro, which was
subsequently inherited by the "new" cult houses.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, and therefore already in an advanced moment of
the interpenetration process between the Tupi, African and Catholic symbolic ensembles, when
in São Luis the "old" cult house were already established, we have information about the
Quilombo do Turi, invaded in 1877 by Major Caldas (A.P.E.MA). Another important historic
document relates to the quilombo do Limoneiro, in the Maracaçumê area, invaded in 1877 and
1878 (A.P.E.MA, 1992). These are the late quilombos, as classified by Röhrig Assunção
(1996). The data indicates that the fugitive black slave population of the quilombos of the late
19th century were practising a religion already deeply influenced by the local caboclo culture
where elements of popular Catholicism like the feasts of saints, and the oracular-healing
performances of the pajé coexisted, together with the preservation of some African cults. If this
was a "synchretic religion common to all the black and mestiço Brazilian population of the
region" as Röhrig Assunção suggests, we cannot say, but it clearly indicates that after the
abolition of slavery in 1888, the preservation of West African religious traditions in a relatively
"pure" form, as it occurred in the Casa das Minas for instance, was an exceptional fact. This is
the time of the Terreiro do Egito and the foundation of the Terreiro da Turquia.
59
Terreiro da Turquia
A year after the abolition of slavery, the 23 June 1889, the Terreiro Fé em Deus (Nifé
Olorum), known as Terreiro da Turquia was founded by Mãe Anastacia L. dos Santos
(Akiciobenã Obá-Delou). This terreiro is considered to be Nagô-Tapa, "assentado no preceito
da nação Tapa" (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto, 1989: 58-152), or of nação Nagô-Bêta
(Oliveira J. I., 1989). The spiritual owners of the cult house are: Vô Missã (Nana), Pedrinho
(Xangô), and Navé (Oxum). It was originally located in the Travasso, where today is the Estadio
Castelão. After changing locations four times, in 1953 it finally found its present location in the
Oteiro da Cruz, Rua Nossa Senhora da Vitória, n.202.
Mãe Anastacia was born in Codó en 1868. Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto (1989)
provide detailed data about her biography. She lived in Codó, Cururupu and São Luis and she
was probably exposed to the local religious institutions in each city (Terecô, Pajelança, Mina).
Anastacia spent some time in the Casa das Minas, but she became possessed for the first time
(bolou no santo), in the cult house of Manoel Teu Santos, by whom she was prepared in the
Mina. Only after his death, did Dona Anastacia with some 20 years, open her own terreiro
(Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto, 1989: 58). Mãe Anastacia became a very popular figure in
São Luis and her house always was a meeting point for many famous mineiros. As we have
seen, she helped to open many cult houses, among others the terreiro of Margarita Mota, and
the terreiro of Mãe Elzita. She also had many friends in Belém in the neighbouring state of
Pará. Mãe Anastacia died 9 mars 1971, when she was 103 years old. Since the 1980's, after
her death and a period of transition, Pai Euclides, leader of the Casa Fanti Ashanti, assumed
as zelador (cult house responsible) of the Turquia. Nowadays, the Terreiro da Turquia
maintains a very low level of activity. They usually perform only one or two ceremonies a year,
the main bulk of dancers belong to Pai Euclides' terreiro.
The Terreiro da Turquia is the first known Tambor de Mina cult house to have been
mainly devoted to Brazilian spiritual entities. Mãe Anastacia is famous for having popularised in
the Tambor de Mina the famous family of the Turkish encantados, which constitute one of the
distinctive marks of contemporary Tambor de Mina mythology83. The Turkish spiritual entities
probably appeared for the first time as such in the context of Pajelança rituals, and in the
second half of the 19th century already manifested in Mina cult houses like the terreiro of
Manoel Teu Santos. However, oral testimonies claim that Mãe Anastacia was the first medium
to receive the chief of the family, Seu Turquia, and the first to appoint a caboclo, or a non
African spiritual entity as responsible (guia) of the cult house (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto
1989: 59). This tendency to valorise the caboclo in the Tambor de Mina, expressed in the
83 The genesis of a spiritual family of Turkish warriors, and noble Moors who took Indian names
at their arrival in Brazil, and became identified with caboclos, is a very complex historic process
which can not be addressed in detail in this thesis. Mundicarmo Ferretti (1987, 1989, 1993,
1994) provides exhaustive documentation on the subject.
60
naming of a caboclo as spiritual entity responsible for the foundation of a cult house, or as
spiritual responsible (guia) for the government of the religious activities of the house, has been
increasing since it started with the Terreiro da Turquia. In our domain of study, the spiritual
"owners" of the "new" cult houses are mainly caboclos84 or gentis85 rather than African orixás
or voduns. Therefore the Mina de Caboclo orthodoxy of the "new" cult houses seems to find its
sources in the Terreiro do Egito and the Terreiro da Turquia, founded in the latter half of the
19th century, and which already present a high degree of interpenetration with Catholic,
Spiritism and Pajelança traditions. The relation between the "new" cult houses and the
Pajelança and Spiritism as cultural matrices of the Mina de Caboclo are examined in chapter 6.
Now that I have briefly presented the historical background of the cult houses of our domain of
study, I can proceed to compare their liturgical orthodoxies. I shall start in the next chapter to
examine the singing structure during public ceremonies.
84 TDQG: Caboclo Bandeira (owner), Juracema (guide); TFD Caboclo Velho (owner),
Surrupirinha (guide); CFA: Tabajara (guide); TRN: Rio Negro (guide)
85 TY: Dom Luis (owner); TRN: Rei Sebastião (owner)
61
Chapter 2: The singing activity in the drumming-dancing ceremonies
The drumming-dancing ritual segment of public ceremony cycles
Tambor de Mina participants can be broadly divided between clients and devotees.
Clients will resort to the cult house looking for some sort of service to solve material or spiritual
conflicts concerning their lives, or that of their relatives, without requiring further involvement or
religious commitment. On the other hand, devotees will participate to one degree or another in
the religious community life, assuming specific roles within the cult activities. Some devotees
can become mediums, but not all devotees are mediums. Clients may become devotees, and
between the two categories a wide range of intermediate cases can be found.
The Tambor de Mina cult activities are divided by participants themselves into private
and public. For analytical reasons a third category consisting of semi-private activities can be
added. The private part, considered by most priests the most important one, is always secret
and performed by senior members of the religious group. These activities mainly consist of
taking care of the shrines dedicated to spiritual entities, and of conducting initiation rites.
The semi-private part includes those activities dealing with clients. Spiritual and
material counselling, healing treatment, oracular sessions, preparation of remedies and
therapeutic baths (remedios, banhos), and in some cases witchcraft practices, the so called
trabalhos for good or for evil, are all services provided in the Mina cult houses.
Finally, the public part consists in the organisation of drumming-dancing ceremonies,
providing the ritual symbolic space for spiritual entities, incorporated in their mediums, to
manifest among humans. The Tambor de Mina ceremonies involving drum playing, dance, and
spirit possession occurrences, constitute the main public events of the religious community.
They are the external social part of the religion addressed to the wider public, as opposed to the
internal private activities exclusively addressed to members of the community, or the semi
private parts addressed to clients. It is these public drumming-dancing ceremonies that I want
to examine. However these ceremonies are inserted in a wider context of ritual activity, which I
must briefly introduce.
Each cult house has a particular calendar of public festivities. Traditionally public
ceremonies take place throughout the year except for Lent starting after the Carnival in
February and lasting for forty days until early April. The Lent period is usually considered the
time which marks the end and the start of the new ritual year. Otherwise public festivities are
held any other time86.
86 Public festivities can be divided between cyclical ceremonies, those which are performed
each year, and occasional ceremonies, those which are held with irregular periodicity, often
associated with specific stages of a medium's religious development. For the sake of simplicity,
cyclical ceremonies, being the most common and important, are the ones that will be
considered here.
62
Festivities are usually devoted to a main spiritual entity, although during the drumming-
dancing ceremonies several categories or classes of spiritual entities can be celebrated. The
main spiritual entity to whom the festivities are devoted is usually associated with a Catholic
saint. Due to Catholic imperatives operating in Brazilian society, the festivities are held following
the Catholic calendar, the middle day of the festivities coinciding with the feast-day of the
Catholic saint. Furthermore the festivities are usually called by the name of the Catholic saint:
Tambor de Santa Barbara, Tambor de São Sebastião, Tambor de São Lazaro, Tambor de São
João, Tambor de São Pedro and so on.
The term tambor (drum), or festa (feast), is applied to designate both to the group of
festivities which can last for one, three, five, seven or nine days87, and to the individual
drumming dancing sessions which are part of the general festivities. For analytical reasons it is
important to distinguish between the two. Therefore I propose to call the whole group of
festivities a ceremony cycle, while the individual ceremonies, where the encantados manifest
and are presented to the public, will be referred as drumming-dancing sessions, these two
activities being the defining elements of the ritual. Therefore a ceremony cycle is composed of
a series of public drumming-dancing sessions, as well as other private ritual activities. The
mineiros will usually refer to the different segments of ritual activity which compose a ceremony
cycle, as an obrigação (obligation), and I may use this term to refer to specific rituals which do
not necessarily include drumming or dancing activity. However, the drumming dancing sessions
can also be called festas de obrigação.
To refer to the drumming-dancing sessions as festas de obrigação, expresses their
obligatory religious nature, yet sometimes they are also called brinquedo or festa (play or feast),
expressing their entertainment or recreational nature. Despite its religious meaning, a public
ceremony always has a performative dimension, involving actors and spectators. In that sense
it can be considered a spectacle, a sacred spectacle invested with solemnity if you want, yet
always an occasion for public enjoyment and celebration.
At the same time in several cult houses during a ceremony cycle there is an
accumulation not only of sacred activities, but of profane activities as well. During the day there
may be Catholic masses, processions, ladainhas88, communal ritual meals, or secular feast
87 It is to be observed that it is generally an odd number of days. In the past there were
ceremony cycles that lasted for thirteen and fifteen days. The length reduction of such
festivities, especially in the two traditional cult houses, is already a significant fact which
indicates the difficulties in maintaining the ritual order of the past. There are several reasons
which explain such changes, but the old age and reduced number of mediums, economic
limitations, and the dynamics of contemporary Brazilian life which prevent individuals from
abandoning their jobs or families for such long periods of time, may be some of the most
important ones.
88 The ladainha consists of a series of Latin and Portuguese praises honouring the Catholic
saint to whom the ceremony cycle is devoted. It normally precedes the celebration of drumming
dancing sessions, but on some occasions it can be inserted within a drumming session as a
kind of interlude. There are usually specific women, not necessarily belonging to the cult
house, who are in charge of leading the singing. The ladainha is usually accompanied by an
orchestra comprising several instruments such as banjo, trombone, saxophone and caixa. The
63
like the Bumba Boi, Tambor de Crioula, reggae or even political meetings, and during the night
the drums will be played. The social impact and visibility of the cult house in the wider
community is based on the combination of all these activities, and does not rely exclusively on
the religious feasts of Tambor de Mina. This accumulative juxtaposition of different ritual
activities in the Mina houses can be interpreted as a strategy to generate an audience which
may ensure the preservation of the religious community.
As already mentioned, a ceremony cycle can be divided into a number of discrete,
self-contained elements or segments of ritual activity (obrigações), divisions established and
named by participants themselves. However a ceremony cycle constitutes a ritual whole or unit
by itself, with a ritual opening the first day, and a ritual closing the last day. In the traditional cult
houses a ceremony cycle is always started by some private ritual often involving food and
animal offerings in the shrines89. The preparation of certain foods, or the performance of
propitiatory rituals may even begin weeks before the ceremony cycle. Only when the private
opening obrigações are concluded can the public drumming-dancing ceremonies start. In the
same way, other private obrigações are conducted during the ceremony cycle, and also at the
end of the ceremony cycle to close it.
Leaving aside the private parts of a ceremony cycle, the complete set of drumming-
dancing sessions which compose a ceremony cycle are also conceived as a ritual whole, with a
singing sequence performed the first night of the ceremony cycle to open the drums and the
dance hall, and a singing sequence performed the last night to close the drums and the dance
hall. Following the logic of this characteristic opening-closing structure, each single drumming-
dancing session performed any given night of the ceremony cycle constitutes a ritual segment
with its opening and closing singing sequences too.
Therefore a drumming-dancing session can be broken down into different parts
corresponding to different sets of songs. These sets of songs establish ritual sub-segments in a
drumming-dancing session such as the opening and the closing parts already mentioned. The
middle and substantive part of a drumming-dancing session consists of a series of song-dance
performances, which can be grouped in different linhas or correntes as discussed below.
However it is the song-dance unit which constitutes the basic component part of a drumming-
dancing session. The song-dance unit can serve as a focus of scholarly analysis because it is
an easily identified bounded component of ritual performances.
ladainha takes place in front of the Catholic altar which in the "old" cult houses, and the Casa
Fanti Ashanti, is located in a special room (sala grande or varanda). In the majority of Tambor
de Mina houses the Catholic altar is usually located in the dance hall behind the drums. In these
cases the room located just behind the Catholic altar will be devoted to the shrines. The
interpenetration of Catholicism and Tambor de Mina is a wide subject which in this study will
only be referred indirectly. The subject has been treated in depth by Sergio Ferretti (1995) in
relation to the Casa das Minas.
89 The ceremony cycle in the Mina Jeje starts with the zandro, consisting on ritualised food
offering to the drums, and subsequent calling of the voduns by singing, announcing them the
forthcoming animal offerings. There may be manifestations and dances but it is not compulsory.
The zandro, meaning evening in Fon, often takes place the first night of a ceremony cycle.
64
A medium starts singing a song, the instruments progressively begin to play, the rest of
the mediums chorus the main lines of the song and start dancing, repeating the song for
several minutes in a call and response structure, until the singing, playing and dancing stops.
There is a brief pause and the activity resumes again. This kind of song-dance performance is
characteristic of African cultural tradition (Janzen, 1992), and constitutes one of the defining
elements of the Tambor de Mina institution.
Therefore, in order to understand a ceremony cycle it is necessary to understand the
song structure of the different drumming-dancing segments, which will reveal which specific
spiritual entities or linhas are being summoned to manifest in the dance hall. The singing order
provides information about the religious content of the ceremony. The word, the pronunciation
of the word, is endowed with esoteric power; enunciation becomes generative action. The way
in which ceremonies are opened, divided, or closed, establish differences of liturgical
orthodoxy. It is the sort of knowledge that must be learnt, inherited from somewhere else.
Despite increasing flexibility and improvisation, certain singing formulas constitute key elements
in the construction of cult house identity. By examining the singing order, it is possible to infer
the categories of spiritual entities who are summoned, and by analysing their combinatory
structure, identify different religious traditions.
It would be necessary to examine in detail other ritual fields (Grimes, 1992) like the use
of space and time, the use of objects like costumes and complements, and most important the
different dance choreographies, to achieve a full comprehensive picture of a drumming-dancing
session, but at this point I will focus of the singing activity, while the other aspects will only be
commented upon when appropriate.
Instruments and basic "time lines".
Before we go further in analysing the general structure of the song sequence, some
previous comment on the musical orchestration of public ceremonies is necessary. The
Tambor de Mina is characterised by the use of the following musical instruments: a set of
drums, a metal bell called ferro, and a series of rattles called cabaças. The combination of
these instruments in spirit possession ceremonies is characteristic of West African religious
tradition, and constitutes a fundamental distinctive feature of the possession cults segment
within the mediumistic continuum. The sound of the drums is considered essential for the
calling of spiritual entities. The importance of the drum was already mentioned in relation to the
Tambor de Mina denomination. The drum playing distinguishes the Tambor de Mina from other
mediumistic cults such as the Pajelança, or Spiritism. Furthermore, within the African-derived
cults, the kind of drum used in public ceremonies is an essential element to distinguish between
different religious institutions. The Terecô, the Tambor de Mina and the Candomblé use
65
different drums, and what is more important in our study, within the Tambor de Mina, the Mina
Nagô and the Mina Jeje are distinguished by different sets of drums too.
The Mina de Nagô is characterised by the use of two drums called abatás90. The
abatás are cylindrical empty wood trunks covered by leather skin on both sides. They are
supported in a horizontal position on trestles. They are played by hand normally by men called
abatazeiros. There is an abatá grande (big drum), and the abatá pequeno (small drum) which
slightly differ in their size.
V01.- Abatá drums. Casa de Nagô
90 The name abatá probably derives from the Yoruba name bàtá which is a drum of the orixá
Xangô which also has two skins, although the African bàtá is smaller and is hung with a leather
band around the player's neck. The bàtá is still widely used in Cuba (Ortiz, 1993; Argeliers,
1984). In Maranhão the bàtá drum is not known nowadays, but it is said that in the past some
cult houses used to play it. The Terreiro do Justino, founded at the end of the last century
claims to have a bàtá. I could not confirm this fact.
66
V02.- Abatá drums and cabaças. Terreiro Yemanja
Except for the Casa das Minas, the abatá is the characteristic ritual object of the
Tambor de Mina, including both the cult houses following the Mina Nagô tradition and those
following the Mina de Caboclo. This fact is an important indicator of the Nagô's critical role in
the configuration of contemporary Tambor de Mina.
On the other hand, in the Mina Jeje of the Casa das Minas they use three drums
instead of two. They are called according to their decreasing size, hun, humpli, and gumply.
They are played by men, either by hand or with wood sticks called aguidavi. They only have one
leather skin. The hun, or big drum, seems to be an instrument characteristic of the Nesuxwe
cult in Abomey where it is known as zokweté.
V03.- Hun, humpli, and gumply drums. Casa das Minas

67
In some Mina de Caboclo houses like the Terreiro Yemanja and the Tenda Rio Negro,
a third drum called tambor de mata is added to the two abatás. The tambor de mata, also called
tambor de crioula, is very similar to the hun or big drum of the Casa das Minas. Although Pai
Euclides affirms that it comes from Cacheu, it is known that there are drums played in the
Congo-Angolan danças de roda, like the zambê (Câmara Cascudo, 1988), which are very
similar to the tambor de mata, suggesting the probability of a Bantu origin for the instrument.
This drum was originally played in the Terecô ceremonies of Codó when celebrating the
caboclos da mata, the spiritual entities of the bush. According to oral tradition the tambor de
mata was first introduced in the Mina terreiros of São Luis in 1929 by Dona Maximiliana who
was originally from Codó (Pai Euclides interview). The use of the tambor de mata in the Mina
ceremonies is perceived by some priests as an alteration of the Mina orthodoxy, and in some
cult houses like in Dona Elzita's house it is only played in the Pajelança or other ceremonies
which are not strictly Mina (V47, V48).
V04.- Tambor de mata. Terreiro Yemanja
The cabaças are externally strung gourd rattles, covered with a net of seeds or beads
called missangas, and indistinctively played by men or women. In some cult houses there is a
big cabaça, and a series of small ones. In the Casa das Minas they are also called agê, in the
Casa de Nagô xequerê (Ferretti, S. 1985: 182, 1996:289)
The ferro (iron) is a metal bell played with a metal or wood stick. The ferro constitutes
an essential sound for the calling of spiritual entities, and it is usually played by women,
although it can be occasionally played by men. In the musical orchestration, the ferro marks the
68
"time line"91, consisting on a repeated asymmetrical series of taps or strokes that mark of a
rhythmic cycle.
The two main characteristic time-lines of the Tambor de Mina Nagô are the dobrado,
and the corrido. There are other rhythms as well, but these two constitute the most frequent.
The dobrado is a 12/8 "time-line" well known in West and Central Africa. In São Luis,
according to the different cult houses, the dobrado presents two slight variations. The first is a
12-pulse seven stroke pattern, and the second is a 12-pulse eight stroke pattern. Following
standard notation for "time-line" (e.g. Kubik, 1994), where "x" and "." have the same duration,
they transcribe as: x.x.x.xx.x.x
, and x.xxx.xx.x.x92.
V05.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line".

21-01-96. Tambor de São Sebastião. Casa de Nagô
91 "Time line patterns constitute specific category of struck motional patterns, characterised by
an asymmetric inner structure such as 5+7 or 7+9. They are single-note patterns struck on a
musical instrument of penetrating sound quality, such a bell, a high pitched drum, the rim of a
drum..." (Kubick, 1994)
92Also written: 1) xx.x.xx.x.x. 2) xx.x.xx.xxx.
69
V06.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line".

03-08-93. Tambor de Sant'Ana. Terreiro Fé em Deus
In the Casa de Nagô and in the Casa Fanti Ashanti (the two houses following the Mina
Nagô tradition), they usually play the first variation (V05), while in the Terreiro Yemanja,
Terreiro Fé em Deus, and the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia (representing the Mina de Caboclo)
they play the second version (V06). According to the speed in which it is played, in some
houses they distinguish between the dobrado and the dobrado lento (slow dobrado). In the
Tenda Rio Negro they play a slightly simplified 6/8 variation of the dobrado, consisting of a 6-
pulse, four stroke pattern (xxx.x.)
V07.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line"

15-06-96. Tambor de Santo Antonio. Tenda Rio Negro
70
In the Casa das Minas, when singing for the voduns of the Keviosô family, they can
also play the dobrado, but the characteristic "time-line" of the Mina Jeje is an 8-pulse, five
stroke pattern (x.xx.xx.), which in Cuba is known as cinquillo. It is a 4/4 rhythm, well known in
Benin and in the Jeje terreiros of Bahia.
V08.- Ferro playing the Jeje "time-line"

05-12-92. Tambor de Santa Barbara. Casa das Minas
Another common "time-line" in the Tambor de Mina is the so called repinicado. It is a

4/4 rhythm consisting of an 8-pulse pattern with a combinatory of different sets of strokes. The
main base is a three stroke pattern (x.x.x...), however this base can alternate with a series of
four or five variations depending on each cult house. These variations are: 1.- (x.x.x.x.) 2.-
(x.x.x.xx) 3.- (x.xxx.xx) 4.- (x.x.xxx.) 5.- (xx.xx.x.).
71
V09.- Ferro playing the repinicado "time-line"

21-01-96. Tambor de São Sebastião . Casa de Nagô
The corrido is the other main characteristic "time-line" of the Tambor de Mina rhythmic
cycles. It has some similarity with the basic "time-line" of the Samba de Roda of Angolan origin,
and other secular manifestations such a the Bumba Boi. It is quicker than the dobrado and it
consists of an 8-pulse three stroke pattern (x..x..x.).
V10.- Ferro playing the corrido "time-line".

25-07-93. Tambor de Sant'Ana. Terreiro da Turquia
72
The dobrado and repinicado "time-lines" are usually played in "African" songs93, and
are therefore associated with African spiritual entities, while the corrido is usually played in
"Portuguese" songs, and is therefore associated with Brazilian spiritual entities, especially the
caboclos. There are a lot of exceptions to this principle, which should be considered a tendency
rather than a rule. However this tendency suggests that both African and Brazilian entities were
invoked from an early stage with different rhythms. Would this imply a distinct original ritual
context for these two categories of spiritual entities? One would say that in the Mina Nagô there
is a predominance of the dobrado, and in the Mina de Caboclo there is a predominance of the
corrido. Summarising we have seen that drums, musical orchestration, "time-lines" and the
slightly different way in which rhythms are played constitute distinctive marks of each cult
house, which already define differences between the Mina Jeje, Mina Nagô and Mina de
Caboclo. Each terreiro claims to have its own sutaque. Sutaque is a name used in the Bumba
Boi context to refer to the different modalities of orchestration as well as to the different ways in
which the same rhythm is played.
The doutrina
The songs or chants are usually called doutrina, toada, cântico or cantiga. The term
doutrina could have originated in Kardecist Spiritism context, where the idea of doutrinar (to
indoctrinate, to teach) spirits is central. The song or doutrina is said to be tirada94 or puxada95,
to refer to the act of singing.
It has proven quite difficult to collect song lyrics. Usually mediums tend to distort the
pronunciation of their singing to avoid members in the audience learning and appropriating the
songs. At the same time, the singing is usually made unintelligible by the loudness of drum
playing. Therefore, the transcription of song lyrics needs always to be double checked by
religious experts, and many times informants are not prepared to do so, claiming that the
singing can only be performed by the encantados themselves. In this study I do not deal with
the musical aspect of the doutrina but with the singing performance, and to a certain extent with
the information contained in the lyrics..
The repertoire of Mina songs is very extense. There are doutrinas de obrigação which
correspond to the private internal rituals of food offerings, animal sacrifice, initiation or funerary
rituals etc. There are the doutrinas to open and to close public ceremonies, and to mark
transitions in the ceremony sequence. There are doutrinas to salute the spiritual owner of the
house, or the chief of the terreiro. There are doutrinas de encantado, those in which spiritual
entities reveal their names, their origin, their families, their stories. Despite the traditional
"African" doutrinas, the encantados keep improvising and inspiring their mediums with new
93 I name "African" songs those whose language is African, or a derived form of African words,
and "Portuguese" songs those whose language is Portuguese.
94 From the verb tirar (to take out, or to pull out)
95 From the verb puxar (to pull out).
73
"Portuguese" doutrinas, and each one has its own fundamento, its own secret. To know the
fundamento of a doutrina is to know its origin, its motive and hidden esoteric meaning, to know
which encantado sung it for the first time, on which medium, in which cult house and for what
occasion. There are doutrinas which belong to specific cult houses, nevertheless there is a
series of popular doutrinas, both "African" and "Portuguese", that are well known in many cult
houses. They may be sung with slight variations but they refer to a common theme. However
songs that in one cult house are sung in specific situations, and for specific purposes, in other
cult houses can find other functions. Songs that in one cult house are devoted to a specific
spiritual entity, are attributed to a different deity in another cult house.
The drumming-dancing sessions, could also be called drumming-dancing-singing

sessions, since the singing activity articulates both the drumming and the dance. When a
doutrina is sung in the dance hall, a soloist sings first on its own. Then the ferro begins to play,
followed by the drums, and finally by the rattles. Then the chorus, formed by the other
mediums, answers the soloist usually repeating the main lines of the solo part, and the dance
begins. This repeated structure of call and response, or solo-chorus, is characteristic of
musical expression in Africa, and it is for instance the basic ritual activity in "doing ngoma", as
practised in the healing "drums of affliction" examined by Janzen (1992) in Central and South
Africa. Each doutrina lasts for about two or three minutes. There may be two or three doutrinas
sung without stopping the drum playing. This usually happens with some "African" songs, but
most often after each doutrina there will be a pause before the next one starts.
The lead singer role is normally assumed by senior mediums of the cult house, who
participate in the dance activity, and who at one point become incorporated by their
encantados. Therefore the singing is performed sequentially by the mediums in their normal
selves, and afterwards by their encantados. Contrary to what happens in the Bahian
Candomblé Ketu, where the lead singing role is reserved to the hunto96, or senior members of
the community who are not mediums themselves, or who are not performing as such at that
time, in the Tambor de Mina spiritual entities have the ability to sing and to conduct the ritual.
Furthermore in the Mina, the spiritual strength of mediums, and their mediumship, is
measured according to their spiritual entity's skill to sing. It is this expertise which grants them
status. Following Rouget's typology, in the Tambor de Mina the mediums can be
simultaneously "musicians", since they sing, and "musicated", as far as there are other
instrumentalists playing too. On the contrary, in the Candomblé Ketu, the mediums are always
musicated97.
In relation to the incorporation, or entry into trance to use Rouget's terms, one would
say that in the Tambor de Mina there are cases in which the lead singer, after singing a song of
96Fon word to designate the chief of the drum players.

97On the other hand in the Candomblé Jeje, the voduns are known to sing sometimes. In the
public vodun cults in South Benin, the voduns can also sing and speak with the audience.
74
invocation, can become possessed, which contradicts Rouget's rule according to which "The
possessees never figure as musicians or musicants of their own entry into trance" (1985:110).
Furthermore the majority of mediums in their chorusing role, act as musicants, and thus can be
considered to a certain degree as musical agents of their own possession. According to Rouget
(1985:287), such characteristics would lead to classify the Mina possession as conducted or
self-induced, or at least as a semi conducted form, as far as in part "the subject leads himself
through his own action" to possession, hence, still according to Rouget, as a potential form of
shamanism. Like in the Mina, in the Pajelança Cabocla we find a similar situation of semi
conducted trance. The pajé, not so much as singer, but by means of the maracá, will call the
spiritual entities who, once embodied in the pajé, will sing their song of identification as it often
happens in the Mina. In both cases the medium performs as musicant or musician of her or his
possession. It is to be noted that the characteristic African call and response structure of the
singing is reproduced in the Pajelança Cabocla, with the only difference that the chorus is the
audience rather than other mediums as it occurs in the Mina. This fact suggests a possible
influence of the African tradition in the Pajelança Cabocla.
If, as already stated, the senior mediums are the main singers, the singing role gets
more shared and democratic as the ceremony progresses, but the high priestess or her close
attendants will always reorientate the singing in the necessary direction after a series of
individual performances usually comprising, one, two or three doutrinas, have been completed.
There is thus time for expression of the inexperienced and learning mediums, which usually
coincides with the second part of the ceremony when singing for caboclo spiritual entities. The
different alternations and timing in the leading singing role during a drumming-dancing
ceremony says a lot about the internal social dynamics of the religious community .
Analysis of ritual language: African "dialect" and Portuguese.
One possible level of comparative analysis between the different cult house rituals can
be based on the different uses of "African" and "Portuguese" doutrinas. Here, I am not
concerned with which specific African language is being used. This task exceeds my
competence and would require a much more extensive study. Quite often an "African" song
may include words from several African languages, and because of oral transmission they may
have lost any resemblance with the original phonetic forms. This is why sometimes I may use
the generic term of African "dialect", dialeto being a word often used by the mineiros
themselves. In my analysis I consider as "African" those songs which are clearly non
"Portuguese" songs. In some cases I refer to "mixed" songs when there are obvious multi
lingual combinations of African and Portuguese words.
At this point, I will leave aside the Casa das Minas where only voduns are praised, and
where nearly all the songs are in Fon and other African "dialects". In this cult house the
75
language is presented as an important element to legitimate their Jeje identity. This cult house
once more stands as an exception, and in this regard is the only Maranhese cult house which
shows similar degree of African language retention to the traditional terreiros in Bahia.
Otherwise in São Luis, the rest of the cult houses sing both in African "dialect" and in
Portuguese. I will begin by showing the degree of "African" language retention in each cult
house, and in a second stage I will analyse how the "African" singing is distributed in relation to
the whole singing sequence of a ceremony. This analysis allows one to establish two broad
categories to classify the variation: the Mina Nagô singing pattern and the Mina de Caboclo
singing pattern.
Unfortunately, I can not provide reliable data about the Casa de Nagô's percentage of
"African" songs sung in public ceremonies. Instead I propose to take as reference the Casa
Fanti Ashanti, which presents great similarity with the Casa de Nagô singing pattern. Analysing
data from the Tambor de São Jorge (24-4-96), and the Tambor de Oxala (19-7-96), from a
total of 288 songs, 62% (179) were "African", and 37% (109) were "Portuguese". From this data
we can conclude that in the Casa Fanti Ashanti they normally sing a majority of "African" songs,
and only when celebrating Brazilian spiritual entities the number of "Portuguese" songs can
increase. This pattern seems to be similar in the Casa de Nagô, and the high percentage of
"African" songs constitutes a distinctive element of the Mina Nagô.
If, on the other hand, we look at the "new" houses following the Mina de Caboclo
singing pattern, we observe an inversion of the polarity, and a higher percentage of
"Portuguese" songs. The following table shows the analysis' results from the data
corresponding to the Tambor de Aleluia (6, 7, 8-4-96) in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
(TDQG), the Tambor de Sant'Ana (24, 29, 30, 31-7-96 and 1-8-96) in the Terreiro Fé em Deus
(TFD), and the Tambor de Santo Antonio (15, 16, 17-6-96) in the Tenda Rio Negro (TRN).
TDQG Total: 216 African 23% Portuguese 65% Mixed 12%

TFD Total: 353 African 28% Portuguese 61% Mixed 9%
TRN Total: 277 African 21% Portuguese 70% Mixed 8%
These percentages present close relationship with the data presented by Alvarenga
(1948: 6). In 1938, in the cult house of Dona Maximiniana, the Missão de Pesquisas
Folclóricas directed by Mário de Andrade reports that from 103 recorded songs, 74 (71,84%)
were in Portuguese, 29 (28,16%) were in African language, and one was a mixture of
Portuguese and African words. This brief quantitative analysis of the ritual singing in some
Tambor de Mina cult houses indicates two main patterns whereby the Mina Nagô and Mina de
Caboclo, can be distinguished.
76
In the "new" cult houses following the Mina de Caboclo pattern, African language is
often referred as língua enrolada (complicated language), this perception suggesting the
inability to understand it, and hence becoming something to which the normal mineiro can not
immediately relate. The African "dialect" becomes an esoteric code reserved for senior religious
experts, mainly used for the opening sequences, or for the sporadic praise of voduns and
orixás. The increasing lack of fundamento of the new cult houses which is often criticised by
members of the traditional cult houses, is perceived among other things by the loss of African
language. At the same time, this progressive forgetfulness of oral formulas, makes them all the
more tempting for the new priests and priestesses, who by acquiring such knowledge are able
to legitimate their activities.
Singing structure: language distribution
I want to analyse the different song sequences that articulate the public ceremonies as
performed in different cult houses by trying to identify the position occupied by the "African"
songs. As often repeated by the high priest and priestess "cada casa tem o seu regime" (each
house has its own way), and furthermore this particular way will change according to each
specific ceremony. Hence, at first sight, it seems quite impossible to systematise such variety.
However a broad approach to the issue, can reveal once more two main patterns
corresponding to the Mina Nagô and the Mina de Caboclo traditions. Again I will leave aside the
Casa das Minas because it constitutes a particular case which requires a study of its own.
Ferretti S. (1996: 154-6, 186), and Costa Eduardo (1948: 87) provide some information
regarding the singing order in this cult house. The fact that in this cult house all songs are sung
in African "dialect" does not contribute to our comparative analysis either.
On the other hand, if we examine the rest of cult houses, we will see that the singing
structure constitutes an identifying element, and it also provides a means to determine the
degree of interpenetration of African and non-African traditions in each particular case. Before
we go into the analysis of the distribution of African songs within the whole ceremony singing
sequence, it may be useful to give some indications of the main parts constituting the structure
of the ceremony.
In the Tambor de Mina special relevance is given to the opening and closing
sequences of songs of both a ceremony cycle and of any individual ceremony. According to
participants those two moments are of critical importance to determine the success and
effectiveness of the ritual. It is the responsibility of the high priest or priestess, or in their
absence of the guia or contraguia98, to perform such repertoires.
98 In the Mina hierarchy the subchief is usually called guia, and the sub-subchief is called
contraguia.
77
In the Mina Nagô tradition, when a ceremony cycle starts there is a specific song
sequence called Imbarabô. The Imbarabô serves to open the whole ceremony cycle, and more
specifically to open the sacred space, to open the path for the encantados to manifest. The
singing of the Imbarabô is called "abrir o tambor" (to open the drum), the drum referring to the
ceremony itself. When the ceremony cycle ends there is a specific song sequence called
encerramento, the purpose of which is to "fechar o tambor" (to close the drum).
In the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti, which set the basis for what I call the
Nagô singing pattern, each night of a ceremony cycle the drum is opened and then closed. In
the rest of "new" cult houses, which set the basis for the Mina de Caboclo singing pattern, the
drum is opened the first night, and it is closed only the last night. At the end of the first night,
and in subsequent nights before the last one, a specific series of songs is sung to "encostar o
tambor". Encostar is a polysemic term, but in this context it is related to the door imagery.
Encostar would mean to leave the door ajar, to close the door but without locking it with a key.
The door is closed, but at the same time, anybody wanting to enter will find it open. Encostar
would imply the idea of a provisional but not definitive closing.
In the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti, it is said that they open and close the
drum every night because if anything unexpected happened which prevented playing the drum
the last night of a ceremony cycle, the drum would be already closed, avoiding the risk of
leaving the drum opened or encostado. Having the drum encostado means that spiritual entities
have the path open to possess mediums at any moment, also implying that evil spirits could
find their way to perturb the mediums. Pai Euclides explains: "By opening and closing the drum
everyday, you are free from any responsibility when incidents such as sickness or death of a
member of the cult house occur, or when other things may happen"99.
Exception made of the Casa Fanti Ashanti which follows the Nagô pattern, we observe
that the "new" cult houses already present a significant difference with the Nagô orthodoxy.
Although the Imbarabô is sung in all cult houses, and I will discuss this issue below, in the
"new" cult houses it is sung only the first night. Thus another distinction between the Mina Nagô
and the Mina de Caboclo singing patterns is that the former opens and closes the ceremony
every night, while the latter usually encostam the ceremonies.
99"Abrindo e fechando o tambor todo o dia você está libre de toda responsabilidade, ante
qualquer eventualidade de enfermidade ou morte de alguém da casa, além de outras coisas
mais." (Pai Euclides)
78
The Mina Nagô singing pattern
The singing structure of the Nagô precept is in general terms quite clear cut. There is
the opening sequence of invocation, called Imbarabô or more precisely Roda de Alauê as the
main choreography is the circular dance. This opening sequence is followed by praise songs to
the main orixás belonging to the Nagô linha. All this part, which normally constitutes two thirds
of the ceremony, is sung in African language, and the main drum rhythm is the dobrado.
The songs for Averekete mark a change in the ritual sequence, it is the virada do
tambor, which divides the ceremony in two main parts. Averekete100 songs are followed by
Badé101 songs, and from this point on the drum rhythm changes from the dobrado to the
corrido and a new series of spiritual entities are celebrated. In the second part, the song's
language is no longer the African dialect but Portuguese. Songs for the gentis102 and Turkish
encantados usually referred as the Tapa linha, are sung. In this second part, the third and last
day of a ceremony cycle, songs for the Caxia linha are sung, celebrating the caboclos
belonging to the linha da mata (bush linha).
After singing for the caboclos, the Nagô entities Badé, Xangô and Exu Legbara are
praised again in African dialect in order to close the ceremony. Therefore in the Nagô singing
pattern we have very clear opening and closing sequences sung in African dialect and a middle
part clearly divided into two parts, the first and more important in African language, and the
second in Portuguese. This main structure is always followed, independently of the singing
order within each part, which can vary a lot from one ceremony to the other. This pattern is
closely reproduced in the Casa Fanti Ashanti.
100 Child male vodun from the Keviosô family in the Casa das Minas. He is a tokueni, and is
protected by his sister Abé. He is considered a star guide, and worships the black Catholic saint
São Benedito. In the Casa de Nagô, Averekete is considered a young vodun rather than a child,
and in many Mina de Caboclo cult houses, he is considered an old vodun. Averekete usually
opens the way for other voduns to manifest, he comes in the front, and operates as an
intermediary. He is also associated with the caboclo da mata, and is praised in the Terecô from
Codó too. Originates from the feminine young vodun Afrekete (Vlekete, Avlekete) belonging to
the sea family worshipped by the Hula in South Benin.
101 Adult male vodun from the Keviosô family in the Casa das Minas. He is a tokueni. Like
Averekete he is associated with the bush encantados. Originates from the young vodun Gbadé,
belonging to the thunder pantheon in South Benin. Related to the thunder voduns Hevieso,
Sogbo, and the orixá Xangô.
102 The gentis, also called os brancos (the whites), are considered to belong to the Nagô linha,
they are kings, queens, princes, princesses, and they are the most popular spiritual entities in
this cult house. The "white" denomination can be explained both as a racial difference, a fact
which would indicate a non African origin of these spiritual entities, like Rei Sebastião or Dom
João, or as an allusion to their purity.
79
The Mina de Caboclo singing pattern
However if we consider the rest of cult houses (TDQG, TY, TFD, TRN) we observe a
very different organisation of the singing order. The "new" cult houses usually open their
ceremonies praising African spiritual entities with songs in African "dialect". The first day of a
ceremony cycle the Imbarabô sequence is sung in a similar way as in the Casa de Nagô. In
subsequent days of the ceremony cycle, other opening sequences are used, but also with
African or mixed African-Portuguese doutrinas103. These alternative openings are usually
shorter than the Imbarabô, and are generally addressed to specific spiritual entities like the
Jeje-Nagô voduns Averekete, Euá104, Badé, the Cabinda Jan de Areuara or Jan Van Dereji,
and others105.
After the Imbarabô, or alternative opening sequences, the "Portuguese" songs start.
The sea water line (linha d'àgua salgada) is normally called the first day of a ceremony cycle,
and the linha da mata is normally called the last day of a ceremony cycle. Other linhas
corresponding to different classes of encantados are honoured in the intermediate days. While
"Portuguese" songs prevail throughout the major part of the ceremony, until the closing
sequence, "African" songs are inserted in different ways and in different parts of the ceremony.
Sporadically, basic sequences of one, two, or three doutrinas are sung in a row for a specific
African vodun or orixá. In some cult houses these "African" basic sequences are usually sung
at the beginning of the ceremony alternating with similar Portuguese basic sequences. In other
cult houses, like the Tenda Rio Negro, they are grouped as a linha and sung when reaching the
end of the ceremony. The temporal precedence in the first cult houses, could be interpreted as
result of the status of African entities which despite their rarity, and also because of it, still
preserve a place of honour in the singing sequence. In any case, the rear positioning of the
African songs in the Tenda Rio Negro could also be interpreted as a sign of distinction, as
103 In the Terreiro Yemanja they may have Portuguese openings singing doutrinas saluting the
terreiro.
104 Euá is a female vodun. She is associated in Nigeria to the river Yewa, which ends in the city
of Badagri, in the Yoruba Egbado area. Verger identifies Ewa as a quality of Yemanja (Verger
1957: 295). In Maranhão, some identify Euá as a quality or form of Oxum, also a river orixá.
Within the Jeje tradition, both in Bahia and the Casa das Minas she may be identified with
Bessem (Bahia) or the Dambirá family (CM), thus in connection with the Dan family. Ferretti, S.
(1996: 117) suggests that Eowa was assentada in the Casa de Nagô as an Akóssi (Sakpata)
and was subsequently accepted in the Casa das Minas as a visitor. The geographical location
of the river Yewa indicates Euá's probable Nagô-Egbado origin, however it could be that the
orixá's worship was appropriated by other Nagô or Adja-Ewe populations. Yewá is also known
in Cuba as goddess of the dead, or master of the cemetery (Cabrera, 1970: 182)
105 It is to be observed that the positioning of Averekete, Maria Barbara (Sobo), and Euá at the
beginning of ceremonies was also observed by Costa Eduardo in the Santo Antonio community
in Codó (1948: 58). The fact that "new" cult houses in São Luis, like the Terreiro Fé em Deus
for instance, which also open with Averekete and Euá, alternate with opening songs for
Cambinda entities like Jan de Areuara or Jan Van Dereji, which may have their origin in Codó
too, suggest that some of these alternative opening sequences may have some relation with
the Terecô and the linha da mata ceremonies originated in Codó, rather than with the Nagô
tradition.
80
leaving the most important for the end. These general tendencies are often modified by the
nature of the main spiritual entity, or category of spiritual entities, presiding over each specific
ceremony; and this circumstance can easily determine more or less relevance of specific
African or Brazilian spiritual entities.
In the "new" houses the closing sequences of a ceremony cycle usually present a
mixture of African and Portuguese songs. The sequences for encostar are shorter than the
ones of encerramento, sometimes they can be a single African song (TFD), or they can
comprise several songs in Portuguese with a last one in African (TDQG). In any case we see
that the use of "African" songs is mainly reserved for the opening and sometimes closing
sequences, and that the praise of African spiritual entities is inserted among praises for other
Brazilian spiritual entities.
From this analysis two main points should be retained. In our domain of study, leaving
aside the Casa das Minas, there are two cult houses (CN, CFA) which sing a majority of
"African" songs, while the rest of "new" cult houses, sing a majority of "Portuguese" songs. In
the cult houses where the African language prevails we find a clear division of the singing in two
main parts corresponding to the two languages, while in the cult houses where the Portuguese
prevails the singing order is not clearly divided and both languages alternate. These significant
discontinuity between the Mina Nagô singing pattern and the Mina de Caboclo singing pattern,
is shown in the following table.
Mina Nagô Mina de Caboclo

Opening: African Opening: African106
First part: African Middle part: Portuguese/African
Second part: Portuguese Closing: Portuguese/African
Closing: African
If we take into account that the majority of "African" songs are addressed to African
spiritual entities, and the majority of "Portuguese" songs are related to Brazilian spiritual
entities, the different uses of language may serve as an indicator of the degree of preservation
of African deities in each religious tradition. That does not mean that some African spiritual
entities may not have songs in Portuguese. Voduns and orixás like Yemanja, Xangô, Badé,
Euá, or Averekete have doutrinas in both "dialect" and in Portuguese, which is a sign of their
long established popularity. At the same time, this general correspondence does not take into
account the fact that some African spiritual entities may be worshipped under Brazilian names
associated with gentis and even caboclo. Nonetheless, allowing a margin of discrepancy, the
106 Some of the opening songs can be in Portuguese or mix African-Portuguese, although they
are usually addressed to African spiritual entities.
81
correspondence "African" song = African entity, and "Portuguese" song = Brazilian entity is
more often maintained than not.
If we accept such extrapolation we see that in the cult houses which follow the Nagô
pattern, they divide their singing into two main parts: the first exclusively dedicated to voduns or
orixás, the second part exclusively dedicated to the gentis and caboclos. On the contrary in the
cult house which follow the Mina de Caboclo pattern, although they will usually start singing for
African spiritual entities, they will continue alternating the singing for both orixás, voduns gentis
and caboclo in a variable order usually determined by esoteric associations established by the
leader's expertise, often based on symbolic correspondences among the spiritual families and
linhas.
Mina Nagô pattern (juxtaposition)

All nights: Imbarabô - voduns/orixás - Averekete - linhas gentis/caboclo - encerramento
Mina de Caboclo pattern (alternation)

First night: Imbarabô - linhas voduns/gentis/caboclo - encostar
Middle night: Averekete/Euá/other - linhas voduns/gentis/caboclo - encostar
Other nights: Averekete/Euá/other - linhas voduns/gentis/caboclo - encerramento
In some cult houses the singing order is based on a strong division between African
and Brazilian spiritual entities, while in other cult houses there seems to be a weak division so
to speak, which leads to a relatively free alternation between the two. When there is a strong
division this is explained in terms of hierarchical status of the different spiritual entities. The
orixás and voduns are praised first because they are the most important deities, and then
gentis and caboclos come behind because they are less important. This hierarchical order also
suggests an idea of aggregation, addition or juxtaposition of the "Portuguese" singing to a pre-
existing African singing structure. This idea is emphasised by the corresponding change in the
drum rhythm from the dobrado to the corrido during the virada. At the ceremony cycle level, this
aggregation or juxtaposition of the Brazilian part to the African one, is exemplified by the
caboclo da mata singing, which is only sung the last night, and stands as an appendix to the
whole cycle. The ritual analysis suggests the existence of an African ritual tradition which at a
certain moment had to take in new personnel with alien spiritual entities, but who despite the
differences in symbolic referents, shared basic beliefs in spirit possession.
When there is a weak division, this alternation of African and Brazilian spiritual entities
is explained in different terms. Participants talk about different linhas or correntes, opening and
closing of a series of interdependent passages or paths through which spiritual entities of
different nature can manifest. Despite their quantitative inferiority, and also because of it,
African spiritual entities retain a relevant prestige, and they usually command or open different
82
linhas and correntes, usually at the beginning of a ceremony, but their song praises can be
easily mixed with those of other encantados of lower status. In fact the hierarchical division
preserved in the Nagô pattern, is somehow diluted in the Mina de Caboclo pattern, and it is the
lead singer who organises and decides. Apparently it is no longer an inherited knowledge
transmitted from generation to generation, but the leader's charisma which determines the ritual
singing order. This does not mean that all is left to improvisation, on the contrary, each high
priest will have his or her own formulas and procedures to deal with such decisions, but the fact
remains that each priest will have his or her own. The high priestess has to memorise all the
calling sequences, not only of a particular drumming-dancing session, but of the whole
ceremony cycle. She can not repeat the singing, and she has to open specific linhas before she
can open others. The success of the ritual is based on this skill to "divide the linhas" (divisão
das linhas). It is believed that any error in this specific task can have serious consequences for
the religious community. Dona Vicença, for instance, admits that some mediums can help her
in such singing activities but concludes that she has the ultimate responsibility. "Quem
determina sou eu" (It is me who decides).
The concept of calling linhas rather than specific spiritual entities, suggests almost
another spirit possession ideology. If the West African spirit possession ideology is based on
the individual calling or praise of specific orixás or voduns, this generic calling of linhas which
can bring a plurality of encantados at any given moment, recalls of the way the pajé conceives
the dynamics of the encantarias. The importance given to the leader's charisma, expressed in
the personal initiative in deciding the singing order, may be interpreted as an influence of the
Pajelança tradition in the Mina, rather than a simple loss of group control, or a desegregation of
an African tradition. I shall come back to this suggestion in chapter 6.
Besides the opening and closing sequences which, despite their variations, are
maintained in both patterns, it looks as if the Mina de Caboclo pattern had somehow omitted
the first "African" part prevailing in the Nagô pattern, and had expanded the second
"Portuguese" part to the point where it becomes the substantive content of the ceremony.
The placing of Averekete or Badé at the opening of drumming-dancing ceremonies in
the Mina de Caboclo pattern is significant because these voduns are the ones that in the Nagô
pattern mark the division between parts. These voduns are believed to have entered the bush
and have joined the Brazilian spiritual entities living there. In the "new" cult house they are the
main African survival. In the Turquia, for instance, Averekete was praised just after the
Imbarabô. In the Mina de Caboclo houses the Imbarabô is displaced to the first day of a
ceremony cycle, and Averekete takes charge of the subsequent openings.
The increasing pre-eminence of the Brazilian part may be explained in different ways.
But the main point I will try to make in this study is that the Mina de Caboclo pattern is not the
sole result of a historical "disaggregation" or "degeneration" of the Nagô pattern, but rather the
83
result of a historical interpenetration process between the West African tradition and other
cultural traditions, some of which existed before the arrival of African slaves in Maranhão
(Pajelança), and others which were subsequently imported (Kardecist Spiritism). These main
matrices in their progressive cultural contact resulted in a variation of local "syncretic" forms
(Terecô, Cura, Umbanda) which co-existed and developed together with the African practices
preserved in a few Tambor de Mina houses of São Luis.
Strategies to legitimate ritual orthodoxy: The Imbarabô opening

sequence
In order to understand the spirit possession dynamic in the drumming-dancing session

we need to further clarify the nature of the Imbarabô opening sequence. As we will see in
chapter 3, the incorporation of mediums occurs during the Imbarabô songs in the Mina Nagô,
and after the Imbarabô or alternative opening sequences in the Mina de Caboclo.
The Imbarabô consists of a variable number of doutrinas sung in African 'dialect'
addressed to African spiritual entities. The knowledge of the Imbarabô sequence belongs to the
esoteric domain or fundamento. Only senior mediums receive information regarding the
meaning and identity of the spiritual entities addressed in each song. Most of the informants
insisted that the Imbarabô is part of the secret of the religion, "é preceito da casa", and would
not agree to talk about it.
Strictly speaking the term Imbarabô, or more precisely Ibárabô107, is the first word of
the first doutrina sung at the beginning of the drum playing, when the mediums enter the dance
hall. I provide here three different versions of this song corresponding to the Casa de Nagô
(CN), the Casa Fanti Ashanti (CFA), and the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia (TDQG).
CFA108 CN109 TDQG110
Ibá rabô mojubá alaroiê Imbarabô mojubá Imbarabô bojubá euaroero

Ibá rabô mojubá Imbarabô mojubá Imbarabô bojubá euaroero
Amadê kogi kogi Eu madei kogi kogi Ah eu madéi boji boji
abô abô, mojubá, abô abô mojubá agô agô bojiba
Lebará Esú onã
107 In the Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation of African words, the insertion of an m between a
vocal and a b, as in Cambinda from Cabinda, is quite frequent.
108 Written version provided by Pai Euclides.
109Transcription of the version sung the 3-12-94 during the Santa Barbara cycle. For another
version see C. Lima (1981: 25) and still Costa Eduardo (1948: 91-2)
110Transcription of the version sung by Dona Zizi, guia from the terreiro, the 6-5-96.
84
This song is addressed to Barabô111, another name of Legba, Exu Legbara, or Bara,
the entity who is the intermediary between men and orixás, and who opens the way for other
spiritual entities to manifest. Once Exu has been revered, he is dismissed so that he does not
interfere with the ceremony and he is ritually sent away. In the Bahian Candomblé, this
operation of which the first song of the Imbarabô seems to be a reminiscence, is called the
Padé de Exu112. In the Ketu repertoire we find a similar song and Binon Cossard (1967: 160-
79), provides a first version and a French translation:
Esu Bara bo o e mo o zu ba Nous te prions Esu

Leba ko se Que toutes nos prières
Esu a ke sê-ê e mozuba soient entendues
O mo de koi kwo Nous qui sommes tes enfants
Bara bo e mo zu ba Nous te saluons Bara
Elegbara Esu lonê Elegbara Esu du chemin
Altair B. Oliveira (1993: 13) provides a second version with the Yoruba text, its phonetic
transcription, and a Portuguese translation:
A jí kí Barabo A ji qui Barabô Nós acordamos e cumprimentamos Barabô

e mo júbà, é mo jubá A vós eu apresento meus respeitos
àwa kò sé auá cô xê Que vós não nos façais mal.
A jí kí Barabo A ji qui Barabô Nós acordamos e cumprimentamos Barabô
e mo júbà, é mo jubá A vós eu apresento meus respeitos
e omodé ko èkó ki ê omódé có é có qui A criança aprende na escola
Barabo e mo júbà Barabô mo jubá Que a Barabô eu apresento meus respeitos
Elégbára Èsù l'ònòn Élébara Exú lonã Senhor da Força, o Exu dos caminhos
It is not altogether clear that the term Ibarabô in the Maranhese versions derives from
"Esu Bara bo" or "A jí kí Barabo" of the Bahian versions, and it is not clear either that the line
"Amadê kogi kogi abô abô" derives from "e omodé ko èkó ki Barabo", however the lexical and
syntactical similarity of the Candomblé and Mina versions suggests a common source clearly
identified as Yoruba or Nagô.
This example gives us some idea of the phonetic transformation that a song can
endure when the semantic knowledge of the language is lost. We observe that in the Casa
Fanti Ashanti there is a closer similarity with the Bahian versions, specially with the last line
"Lebará Esú onã" which seems to be absent in the other two Maranhese versions. It is to be
remembered that Pai Euclides is a babalorixá initiated in the Candomblé precept, and he may
have used this knowledge. The apparent absence of an explicit reference to Elegbara and Exu
in the case of the Casa de Nagô could be explained by the reluctance to refer in public to this
entity in the traditional circles of mineiros. The occurrence of the "Eu mandei" (I commanded)
111 Barabô seems to be a Nagô denomination, derived from Bara which in Yoruba is a
contraction of oba (king) and ara (body), king of the body (Cacciatore, 1977: 63).
112 For de Padé and the role of Exu in the Candomblé see (Santos J. E., 1986)
85
corresponding to the Yoruba "e omodé" is a clear example of Portuguese influence, and finally
the occurrence of "boji boji" in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia could be explained by the
phonetic similarity with the name of another spiritual entity, Legua Bogi, who incidentally often
plays the role of an Exu or Legba. In any case, comparing the three versions from the Tambor
de Mina, it seems that the one preserved in the Casa de Nagô may be the oldest one, although
already quite modified if we take as reference the Yoruba text provided by Oliveira. The version
of the Casa Fanti Ashanti, which apparently shares more similarity with the Bahian models, may
be a recent modification of the Casa de Nagô version incorporating knowledge acquired in a
later stage through contact with the Candomblé context. The version of the Terreiro Deus é
Quem Guia is noticeably the most distant from the Yoruba text, and shows a higher degree of
phonetic transformation113. This brief linguistic analysis shows that the use of African language
in the Mina de Caboclo is not only quantitatively inferior but also qualitatively more distorted
than in the Mina Nagô. Thus, despite the fact that all the cult houses sing the Imbarabô, it may
be that the linguistic quality may present significant differences among the various cult houses.
But let's go back to the Imbarabô as opening sequence. In the Casa de Nagô the term
Imbarabô is only used to refer either to the first song, or the first three songs sung in a row
without stopping the music, while the whole of the opening sequence is usually referred as the
Roda de Alauê. The Roda de Alauê comprises some 20 songs 114 praising the spiritual entities
belonging to the Nagô pantheon. After Exu or Legbara, a series of other songs are addressed
to the main orixás and voduns: Ogun, Loko, Yemanja, Oxum, Oya, Xapana, Xangô, Badé,
Sogbo, Nana etc.115. Nowadays, the order in which these orixás are called varies from
ceremony to ceremony, and that seems to be due to the old age of the mediums who do not
seem to be able to remember with precision the order in which it was sung in the past.
Approximately two doutrinas are sung for each orixá, but Xangô being the dono da casa (owner
of the house) may have more songs116. The Imbarabô or Roda de Alauê mainly comprises
Nagô songs, in a Yoruba derived form, but there are some songs which indicate the presence
113 In the Tenda Rio Negro I was not able to obtain a transcription of the songs, but some
phonetic distortions were perceived too. The name Elegbara, for instance, was pronounced
xereba, a fact which indicates a poor understanding of the song's meaning. A senior medium of
this cult house who had experience from other terreiros told me that she was aware of these
errors but she had never dare to tell Dona Zefa. Dona Zefa refers to the African language as
"língua embrulhada" (mixed or messy language).
114 Some informants say that there are 40, but my observations do not confirm to this number.
Both number and order of songs can vary from one ceremony to another.
115 Costa Eduardo provides a different order: Ogun, Xangô, Yemanja, Nana Buruko, Shapana,
Osain, Obaila, Misa, Loko, Euá and Verekete.
116 The function of the Imbarabô opening sequence broadly corresponds to the xirê singing
sequence in the Bahian Ketu Candomblé, yet the doutrinas are different. Xirê is a term derived
from the Yoruba siré : to play (musical instrument) to amuse oneself, to celebrate (Cacciatore,
1977: 252)
86
of Jeje voduns117 (Badé, Sogbo, Loko) and Fon words. There are also indications of some
Angolan words, but in any case the Imbarabô sequence or Roda de Alauê is all sung in African
"dialect".
The Casa de Nagô has been reputed to provide the main reference for the Imbarabô
opening sequence. At least the first seven doutrinas, despite possible phonetic and syntactic
variations, are sung consistently in all the cult houses studied118. The rest of the opening
117 Just to give an example I provide a song which is sung in nearly all the cult houses, after
singing for Ogun: "Ajá lé kun belê, Korimã ê korimã" In the Casa das Minas, Nunes Pereira
(1979: 235) transcribes a slightly shorter similar version "Conjêlê coimã e coimã", which seems
to be a Fon derived form. According to this author this song describes a fight between Badé
and Sogbo, the two jumping while handling swords and the other voduns dancing around them.
In the Nagô version there is no evidence of such choreography, but it is probable that the Nagô
Imbarabô borrowed or added to its repertoire Jeje songs from the Casa das Minas. Costa
Eduardo (1948: 92) provides a longer version, collected in the Casa de Nagô, and he states
that the songs belong to Xangô, rather than Badé and Sogbo as suggested by Pereira.
However these discrepancies are quite common between different cult houses. In this particular
case it is to be observed that Xangô, Badé and Sogbo belong somehow to the same thunder
family. In fact the spiritual owner of the Casa de Nagô is sometimes identified as Xangô and
others as Badé.
118 Version sung in the Casa Fanti Ashanti. Written version provided by Pai Euclides. The line
repetition order is based on an audio recording conducted the 6-5-96.
1
Ibá rabô mojubá alaroiê
Ibá rabô mojubá
Amadê kogi kogi abô
Abô mojubá, lebará esú onã
Fa lará jokuê ori onã ma

Alá jokuê lô
Abokuê onã abo kerê
Alá aja um tó,
Koriman idé pá nindé
2
Ogum noxó, Ogun noxó?
asésé Ogum ôôô
Ogum noxó tó baré
asésé Ogum ôôô
Ogum mi tó bi Odé,
Ái Ogum, Ogum yé
asésé Ogum ôôô
asésé Ogum ôôô
Ogum mi tó bi Odé,
Ái Ogum, Ogum yé
3
É do gum nabá, Ogum yê
Alá mara kié
Alá mara kié, do gum,
É do gum nabá, Ogum yê
4
Kekê kekê Ogum, kekê
Ami sé orun bé, kekê
Kekê kekê Ogum, kekê
Ami sé orun bé, kekê
5
87
sequence, both in terms of number and doutrinas, varies a lot from one cult house to the other.
In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, for instance, they sing 33 songs; in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
they only sing the first 7 songs119; in the in the Tenda Rio Negro they sing 24 songs120, and so
on.
Not only does the number and nature of the songs vary in each cult house, but their
leaders will interpret the nature of such sequences in different terms too. According to Pai
Euclides (CFA) these songs are praises to the Exus of the 16 main orixás. The Exus invoked in
the Imbarabô behave as messengers who call the orixás. It is after the Imbarabô that the
praises for the orixás themselves begin. This interpretation is refuted by other priests like Pai
Itaci (TY) according to whom, except for the first song which is for Exu, the rest are for the
orixás themselves. This seems also to be the perception in the Casa de Nagô where the
Imbarabô doutrinas are often referred to by the names of the orixás as roda de Yemanja, or
roda de Xangô. On the other extreme of interpretation, Dona Zizi (TDQG), considers that the
Imbarabô calls not only the orixás and voduns, but all spiritual entities, including gentis and
caboclos. Dona Zefa (TRN) explains that the Imbarabô chants are for Seu Imbarabô (Bara), but
they include songs for Averekete too. Despite the nature of the spiritual entities being invoked,
the main consensus among religious experts is that the Imbarabô opens the dance hall ("abre a
guma"), it opens the way for the spiritual entities to manifest.
At the ritual performance level the singing of the Imbarabô constitutes the opening of a
drumming-dancing session. Normally the mediums enter the dance hall in a line the order of
which indicates their hierarchy. The senior mediums will enter first followed by the younger
ones. The seniority of mediums is established in relation to the time when they were initiated,
and not to their actual age. After the first songs for Exu, the Roda de Alauê will follow, and the
mediums will always dance in a circle turning counter clockwise.
Oia oia mina laça ô, laça dô lolô

Oia mina laça ô, laça dô lolô
Ami sé mina ladoxô
Ami sé ami sé ô bobô
Ami sé ami sé ô Ona
6
Ajá lé kun belê
Korimã ê korimã
7
Pamunda onã mi dê,
mi saió, ê mi saió
119 The considerable reduction on the repertoire of the Imbarabô in the Terreiro Deus é Quem
Guia is explained in terms of time economy. Dona Zizi argues that if they had to sing all the
songs of the Imbarabô they would have no time to sing for other Brazilian spiritual entities.
120 Dona Zefa calls them versos (lines), and in fact they are short sentences rather verses or
stanzas.
88
The circular choreography is probably one of the most ancient forms of dance and
there are evidences of it in the Amerindian, European and African traditions (Câmara Cascudo,
1988). Within the African traditions the circular dance is popular in both the Bantu and West
African traditions, however in the West African context the circular dance seems to be a
characteristic of the Nagô cults and it is very rarely found in the Jeje cults 121. The circular
dance together with the frontal dance in which mediums go forwards and backwards in front of
the drums are the two main dance patterns in the Tambor de Mina122. The following video
sequence illustrates the entrance of the mediums in the guma in the Casa de Nagô, and
several examples of circular dance steps which are characteristic of the Roda de Alauê.
V11.- Entrance of the mediums in the dance hall, and Roda de Alauê dances
03-12-94. Tambor de Santa Barbara. Casa de Nagô.
This pattern is reproduced in the "new" cult houses with little variation. In the Margarita
Mota house, some frontal dancing can alternate with the circular shape, slipping from the strict
circular model prevailing in the Casa de Nagô, but in general the same choreographies are
performed.
121 In the Adja Ewe vodun cults in South Benin, the vodunsi usually dance individually or in
groups around a tree in the middle of the sato, but the specific choreography in which the
dancers form a full circle turning counter clockwise is characteristic of the Nagô or Yoruba cults.
122 Obviously each of these patterns presents a wide variety of forms with different steps,
gestures or choreography. There are also a series of other patterns like a lateral dance in which
mediums displace themselves in an horizontal direction from right to left and vice versa as
opposed to the vertical direction of frontal dances, or others in which there are two parallel rows
of mediums dancing one in front of the other. Despite the richness of the dance in the Tambor
de Mina, this study only concentrates on a few elements relevant for my analysis.
89
V12.- Entrance of the mediums in the dance hall, and Imbarabô dances
06-04-96. Tambor de Aleluia. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
In some cult houses like the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti, the Imbarabô
is interrupted by pauses after each song or after sequences of two or three songs which are
sung in a row. But in the terreiros of Dona Elzita and Dona Zefa the drum playing does not stop
during the whole opening sequence.
Now that we have presented the variety of Imbarabôs, it is time to address the question
regarding why the "new" cult houses which do not have a direct formal link with the Casa de
Nagô, sing the Imbarabô? Except for the Tenda Rio Negro, all of them, as we have seen, are
directly or indirectly linked to the Terreiro do Egito where in fact public ceremonies did not start
with the Imbarabô123. So why did Margarita Mota, Dona Denira, Pai Euclides and Pai Itaci
choose to start their ceremonies with the Imbarabô, when the terreiro where they were initiated
did not? I believe the answer to this question has to be found in the informal relationships
maintained among religious experts which were commented upon in the previous chapter. All
these pais and mães de santo and their disciples attended ceremonies and had close links with
personnel from the Terreiro da Turquia and the Casa de Nagô where the Imbarabô was indeed
sung. This fact indicates that the Terreiro da Turquia together with the Casa de Nagô, through
informal relationships, have provided a prestigious model for many cult houses of Tambor de
Mina, which through this imitation have found a way to legitimate their practices. Despite the
significant differences observed in the different cult houses, in all of them, the Imbarabô is used
to legitimate an ideal of orthodoxy. It becomes a distinctive mark of the Mina Nagô as opposed
123According to Pai Euclides the Tambor de Mina ceremonies in the Egito started singing for
Sasabosan. In Ferreira (1987: 141), Pai Euclides identifies this opening song to the Tambor de
Mina Fanti-Bonsú
90
to other drum-playing spirit possession cults. Despite the loss of semantic understanding of the
songs, it is perceived as an esoteric oral formula to guarantee the effectiveness of the ritual,
and as a mark of "Africaness" by some.
The ritual symmetry: encerramento or closing sequence
Like the Imbarabô, the encerramento or closing sequence is a ritual part to which great
importance is given. By means of the encerramento the encantados are symbolically
summoned to abandon the dance hall and to return to their spiritual world124. Directing the
encerramento is the responsibility of the high priestess who is in charge of leading the singing.
The abatazeiros, and in some cases even the cabaceiros, must be the same ones who opened
the ceremony, and if they are absent they are called back. In some cult houses like the one of
Margarita Mota, the doors and windows of the barracão are closed and nobody is allowed to
leave. In other cult houses, although not formally forbidden, it is not advisable to leave the
dance hall during the encerramento.
Although the encerramento presents some common features in all cult houses, once
more some differences permit to distinguish between the Mina Nagô and the Mina de Caboclo.
These differences relate to the singing as well as to the performance behaviour. The
encerramento can be separated into two parts, divided by the end of the drum playing and the
displacement of the mediums from the dance-hall to adjacent rooms.
The first part of the encerramento consists of a standard sequence of songs. There
may be a space for each medium to sing a farewell song. These individual performances are
called the despedida (farewell). The despedida is followed by another standard sequence of
doutrinas. In the Mina Nagô practised in the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti, the
encerramento sequence usually consists of a series of doutrinas in African "dialect". In the
former cult house they usually sing for Badé, Oxala and Xangô, in the latter they sing for Badé
and Oxala, being Oxala one of the main spiritual entities of this terreiro. In the Mina de Caboclo
cult houses several songs are in Portuguese, but in all cult houses this closing sequence
usually finishes with one doutrina addressed to Elegbara125:
Elegbara vodun, aza, kere kere

Elegbara vodun, aza, kere kere126
124 It is believed that spiritual entities, although invisible and not manifested, are present in the
dance hall during the drumming-dancing sessions. Once the encerramento is finished the
spiritual entities abandon the mediums, but some of them are believed to remain present in the
sacred space. In the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia, between the end of a ceremony cycle and
the sessão de mesa which follows next day, the spiritual entities of the astral are supposed to
be present. And after the mesa, the Indians are believed to remain as invisible guardians of the
cult house (Interview Dona Lozina).
125 In the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti, occasionally they sing for other spiritual
entities like Loko.
126 In the Casa das Minas, as noticed by Sergio Ferretti (personal communication), they sing "é
para vodun, aza, kéré kéré" as a way to hide the name of Elegbara. Altair Oliveira (1993: 11)
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V13.- Exit from the dance hall, and end of drumming-dancing session
This song establishes a symmetry with the opening sequence or Imbarabô, as does the
presence of the same musicians. During this ending chant it is customary for the audience and
the musicians to stand up. The mediums place themselves in a line following their hierarchical
order. Following the inverse order of the entrance, now the younger mediums leave the dance
hall first, followed by senior mediums127. When crossing the threshold of the door they turn
around walking backwards and facing the drums. This backwards exit posture is also
characteristic of the voduns in South Benin, from where it probably originates. In the Casa de
Nagô, sometimes instead of the Elegbara song, they sing the "rola, rola" doutrina. When this is
the case, several mediums continuously rub their palms in a circular way. In other cult houses
this song can be sung either before the dance hall exit (TRN) or immediately after it (TDQG).
This gesture can also be traced back to the West African context where rubbing the palms is a
sign asking for the deities' mercy.
The Mina de Caboclo encerramento presents other behaviour which differentiates it

from the one practised in the Casa de Nagô. Before the encerramento begins, the Mina de
Caboclo cult houses prescribe that all mediums must cover their heads with the pana. Dona
presents a similar song in Bahian Candomblé, where the word vodun is replaced by Exu:
"Elégbára Èsú ó sá kéré kéré, ekesan Bará Èsú ó sá kéré kéré". He translates "Elégbára ó sá
kéré kéré" as "Elegbara makes deep and small cuts".
127 The Casa das Minas does not follow this pattern with precision. In the Jeje house the
encerramento or arremate constitutes a complex sequence of song-dance units described in
Ferretti, S. (1996).
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Vicença from the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia, calls this the firmeza da cabeça. It is believed
that when the head is tied with a piece of cloth (amarrada), it is protected from evil forces.
Most of the encerramento songs will be danced in a circular choreography in all cult
houses. In the Mina de Caboclo, this dance is accompanied by a ritualised gradual two step
removal of the toalha128. In one song, the mediums untie the toalha from the waist and dance
holding it open with the hands, in another song they place it over their shoulders. With the
toalha worn in this way they will retire from the dance hall. The following video sequence
illustrates this ritual process in the Margarita Mota house.
V14.- Encerramento closing segment

14-02-96. Tambor de São Lazaro. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
With the Elegbara song, or other alternative song, the mediums quit the dance hall. In
some cult houses, there may be a last short drum playing segment to conclude the drum
playing segment. During this short musical epilogue, in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia, one or
two mediums briefly return to the dance hall and dance for a few seconds. In the Tenda Rio
Negro, elaborating on this ritual action and adding a curious appendix to the ceremony, all the
mediums return in a line waving up and down their toalhas over the members of the audience
as if "cleansing" them from evil influences. It also evokes a merry farewell. Once they have
gone around the barracão, they retire again.
128 Ritual piece of white cloth tied around the waist or under the armpits to signal the presence
of spiritual entities in the mediums.
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V15.- Final part of encerramento closing segment

15-06-96. Tambor de Santo Antonio. Tenda Rio Negro
Having concluded the first part of the encerramento in the dance hall, the closing
segment is followed by a second part which happens in the varanda or adjacent rooms. This
part is usually private and no casual members of the audience have access to it. Except for the
Casa de Nagô, the mediums sing a few praises, usually prostrated on the floor. During the
prayers the mediums kneel and touch the floor with their foreheads. They also cover their
heads with the toalha, a gesture which could be seen as a third step in the toalha removal. At
the end of the praising the mediums clap hands as a form of salutation or reverence to the
deities, another typical West African gesture.
V16.- Exit from the dance hall and encerramento praises

24-04-96 Tambor de São Jorge. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
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After that, and before the departure of the spirits, the mediums keep the toalha over
their shoulders. They proceed to ask for blessings among themselves, and drink some water
previously consecrated in the shrines and distributed in half a calabash. Drinking water is
believed to be a way to send away the encantados from the body. After these praises and
ceremonial actions the spirits usually depart gradually or all at the same time. I shall come back
to this specific moment in chapter 3. .
The Casa de Nagô is the exception to this general ritual closing pattern, and when
leaving the dance hall the mediums do not place their toalhas over their shoulders, and they do
not prostrate on the floor in the varanda for the final praising. Instead they sit and receive the
greetings from the audience, they may sing occasional songs, and eventually retire to other
rooms, particularly the shrine's room, for the encantado's departure.
As regards the encostar closing sequence, it is always simpler than the encerramento
one. Again, these encostar closing sequences are standard in the sense that they are
consistently repeated on each occasion, but they vary a lot from one cult house to the other,
and they constitute identity marks of each cult house129. In some cases, the sequence to
encostar consists of a single song. In the Terreiro of Dona Elzita, for instance, they sing an
African song, "Para vodun ilo", which in the Terreiro of Margarita Mota is only sung during the
encerramento. A variant of this song is also sung to close ceremonies in the Casa das Minas.
In several cult houses the sequence to encostar contains several songs in Portuguese (TDQG,
TRN).
The symbolic function of music and words in the encostar sequence is to gather
together the spiritual entities for whom the songs are sung, to retain them in the guma, more
precisely in the central assentamento buried in the middle of the dance hall, where they are
supposed to remain until the next day. "Se bota no centro" (placed in the centre) says Dona
Vicença. This idea is expressed in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia, when at the end of the last
song, the dancers bend to salute, touching with their fingers the central floor tile where the
fundamento is buried. After this action some mediums may make the Catholic sign of the cross
and exchange blessings.
129 In the Terreiro Yemanja, for instance, the encostar sequence or temporal closing of the
drum, calls Exu and the house guardians. Usually they sing for Caboclo Bandeira, when the
drum is encostado by the air, Tabajara when the drum is encostado by the water, and Caboclo
Velho when the drum is encostado by the earth.
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V17.- Encostar closing segment

Following the logic of the encostar , the discourses of some high priestesses stresses
that the first linha to be invoked next day must be the one that was last encostada, otherwise
the rest of the spiritual entities could not come. This recurrent idea did not seem to find
confirmation in actual facts where ceremonies may very often encostar para mata (bush line),
and reopen calling the linha d'àgua salgada (sea water line). This issue remained a question
without answer.
The linhas and the divisions of the spiritual world
The pattern of opening and closing which we have examined in relation to the
ceremony cycle is repeated in an analogous form at different levels of the singing structure of
the drumming-dancing segments. Once open, a drumming-dancing segment consists of the
opening and closing of different main linhas, which in its turn contain several sub-linhas, which
will have to be opened and closed as well130. The ritual invocation or calling of spiritual entities
is conceived and expressed as the opening of different linhas or correntes.
The use of the word linha is identified by several mina priests (Pai Itaci, Pai Euclides)
as a term originated in the Pajelança context, as opposed to the concept of family more
common in the Mina131. The term corrente, appropriated from Spiritism terminology132, is also
130 Dona Zizi says that each linha, has its opening and closing songs, while the number and
order of the intermediary songs of each linha is variable.
131 The concept of family as a category to organise the spiritual world seems to apply specially
to the Casa das Minas. Whereas in the Candomblé the idea of "quality" has been used to
designate the various manifestations of a general orixá, in Maranhão the concept of family
seems to have been rooted since the beginning. Sergio Ferretti (1996) speaks of the concept of
96
used in several Mina cult houses. These three terms seem to overlap, and to be used
indistinctively by many mineiros, a fact which already indicates the main influences which have
affected the Tambor de Mina.
I will pay special attention to the term linha which seems to be frequently used
especially in the Mina de Caboclo cult houses. The use of this term is widespread in all Brazil,
from the Catimbó in the Northeast, to the Bantu derived Candomblé de Caboclo, the term is
used in the Umbanda too. Câmara Cascudo (1988:437) defines linha as follows:
In the Catimbó, linha is the privative song of the spirit who is going to
manifest or is already manifested. Each mestre133 has his own identifying song, and
when hearing it, the devotees know who is manifesting. To call them, the Catimbó
mestre sings, and before the end of the song the mestre comes down and
manifests. In the Catimbó, expressions such as the linha of mestre Carlos, the linha
of Pai Joaquim, the linha of Xaramundi, refer to the songs of each of these mestres.
The linha in the Bantu Candomblés has another meaning (Ramos, 1988: 96-97):
"There are groups of saints who manifest in phalanxes. These belong to different
nations or linhas"134.
Thus the term seems to have two different meanings, it either refers to song or chant in
the Catimbó, or to a group of deities in the Bantu Candomblés. In relation to the Catimbó,
Câmara Cascudo (1978) suggests that the presence of Africans "constituted the most decisive
percentage as counselling mestres and owners of secrets"135. The old black slave was
endowed with a mysterious prestige as healer-sorcerer, and Angola, Benguela, and Cabinda
slaves became the mestres Pai Preto, Negro do Congo, Pai Angola, Negro de Luanda, who
populate the encantado's universe of the Catimbó, and who are sometimes conceived as the
linha africana as opposed to the linha indígena (Bastide 1971: 250). In fact Câmara Cascudo
(1978: 36) suggests that the concept of linha characteristic of the Catimbó was assimilated
extended families in the context of the Casa das Minas. The Dahomean kinship structure
associated with the voduns is preserved in the Brazilian context.
132 In the Spiritism context, corrente (stream, flow) refers to a group of mediums who, holding
hands, give passage to the energy of spirits of the astral.
133 Mestre in old Portuguese signifies also curandeiro or healer. This word is still used in the
Portuguese colony of Macão with this meaning. In the Catimbó it both applies to the healer and
the spiritual guides of the healer.
134 "No catimbó é o canto privativo do espírito que vai acostar ou está acostado. Cada mestre
possui seu canto identificador, e, ao ouvi-lo, os fiéis sabem quem está atuando. Para chamá-
los, o mestre do catimbó canta, e o mestre desce, acabando a cantiga, já acostado. Quando se
diz a linha de mestre Carlos, a linha de Pai Joaquim, a linha de Xaramundi é uma referência ao
canto de cada um desses 'mestres' nos domínios do catimbó. (....) A linha nos candomblés
bantos têm outra significação (Ramos, 1988: 96-97): "Há grupos de santos que surgem em
falanges. Estas pertencem a várias nações ou linhas."
135"(O negro africano) assumiu a percentagem mais decisiva como mestre orientador e dono
de segredos" (Câmara Cascudo, 1978: 35)
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from the Bantu drumming-dancing ceremonies where the linhas were used to differentiate the
different origins of the spiritual entities136. As we have seen the spiritual universe in Central
Africa is very varied including a plurality of ancestors, nature and alien spirits and shades which
are sometimes classified and referred as spirit fields (Janzen, 1992). The concept of spirit fields
prevalent in the Bantu tradition, may be very well at the base of the genesis of the Brazilian
linha concept as a local form of classification to distinguish among different groups of spiritual
entities worshipped by a plurality of mediums belonging to different cultural traditions. What is
interesting is that this concept was rooted from the beginning in the Catimbó-Pajelança
continuum, as well as in the Candomblé de Caboclo and subsequently the Umbanda. Therefore
the presence of the concept of linha in the Tambor de Mina could be interpreted as a Bantu
influence, and not a West African tradition, filtered through the Pajelança Cabocla and may be
the Terecô.
In Maranhão, Costa Eduardo (1948: 83) reports the use of the term both in the Casa de
Nagô and the "Yoruba-derived" cult houses already in 1943. He says that the word was not
used in the Casa das Minas where the concept of family seems to be more important 137.
Nowadays in São Luis the term linha is used in different contexts with apparently different
meanings. I would like to establish three different levels, or semantic fields, to systematise the
polysemy. The first level corresponds to different areas of the mediumship continuum. Some
priestess, like Dona Elzita for instance, differentiate between three main lines: linha de Mina,
linha de Cura and linha do Astral, corresponding to the Tambor de Mina, the Cura and Spiritism
respectively. In this case the linha is a category to distinguish several rituals or orthodoxies, but
indirectly it also relates to categories of spiritual entities. When it is said that somebody belongs
to the Cura line, that means that her mediumship allows her to receive spiritual entities of that
specific spirit domain, which permit her to perform in Cura ceremonies.
In a second level, linha is used to refer to wide categories or groups of spiritual entities,
whose classification is organised in terms of geographical or ecological domains. Thus the
mineiros distinguish between linha d'àgua salgada (sea water line), linha d'àgua doce (river
water line), linha da mata (bush line), and linha do astral (the stars line). This division maintains
certain analogy with the different rituals or orthodoxies. The linha d'àgua salgada (sea water
line) is conventionally considered as the genuine Tambor de Mina line; the linha d'àgua doce
(river water line) is conventionally associated with the Cura; the linha da mata (bush line) is
associated with the Terecô from Codó; and the linha do astral (the stars line) is generally
associated with Kardecist Spiritism. This main geographical division of the spiritual world
136 This hypothesis is corroborated by Costa Eduardo (1948: 83) who suggests that the term
may be Angolan-derived "since it is well known in Rio de Janeiro in the Angolan-derived cult
centers" .
137 However Nunes Pereira (1979: 32) in relation to the Casa das Minas reports "Sem que
ficasse perfeitamente esclarecido este ponto, como muitos outros, ouvi falar na Casa Grande
em linhas de Voduns..." (In the Casa Grande I heard talking about linhas of voduns, although,
as many other issues, its meaning was not perfectly clear...)
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according to environmental elements (water, earth, air) becomes subsequently subdivided

according to different criteria.
The linha d'àgua salgada (sea water line) includes all spiritual entities who came to
Maranhão via the sea, and this includes both the African voduns and orixás, as well as the
gentis form the European nobility, and the Turkish family. They all came from other lands by
sea, and thus they belong to the linha d'àgua salgada .
The African spiritual entities may also be subdivided according to linhas, which mainly
correspond with the concept of "nation" already examined. Thus some mineiros talk about the
linha Nagô, linha Jeje, linha de Caxias (or Cacheu), linha Tapa (or Taipa) an so on. In this
case, the linha concept is applied to distinguish between different ethnic and religious origins of
African spiritual entities, as it happens in the Casa de Nagô.
Still within the second level considering the linha as a group of spiritual entities, linha
can be used to refer to especific families of encantados, its meaning being associated with
kinship corporations138. For example within the linha da mata (bush line), we find the linha de
Legua139, which includes Seu Legua Bogi Buá, the chief of the family, and all his relatives. In
this restricted sense, linha corresponds with the family category prevailing in the Casa das
Minas where the voduns are grouped in various extended families. The family lines can be
named by the place of origin too, and the linha de Legua may be called the linha de Codó
where Seu Legua is supposed to live.
Still associated with groups of spiritual entities, sometimes the concept of linha
becomes closely related to specific sequences of songs which are sung to "open" specific spirit
fields. There are no explicit references to individual encantados, but rather allusions to natural
domains or phenomena, or specific geographical locations where spiritual entities are supposed
to dwell. Thus within the linha d'àgua salgada (sea water line) we find, for instance, the linha da
baía (bay line) or the linha da maré (tide line)140, and within the linha da mata (bush line), the
linha da mata Zombano, or the linha da Jurema.
In some cases, linha can also be applied to a single spiritual entity, for instance the
linha de Averekete, and in such cases the term refers to the series songs which are sung in a
row for a specific encantado. In other cult houses this is called the roda, for instance the roda
138 The kinship structure operating in Brazilian society is reproduced in pretty much the same
way, in the spiritual world. Spirits marry, have sons and daughters, and take foster children. The
wide spread compadrio social institution (godfather-child-father relationships) practised in North
Brazil is reproduced at the mythical level too. The mythology of the caboclos is full of references
of spiritual families who come under the protection of other families, and their children are
brought up by foster parents. In some cases spirits may have some prerogatives which escape
the human model, and it is said for instance that in the Dambira family, the children of Akossi
Sakpata do not have a mother.
139 Other important families within the bush line are the families of Caboclo Velho, Caboclo
Bandeira etc.
140 References to maré, baía, mar, maresia, bancero which are all geographical accidents or
natural phenomena, in many cases hide allusions to specific encantados who take their name
from the natural phenomena: Morro de Areia, Balanço, Maresia and so on.
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de Averekete (Averekete's round). Here the use of linha is identical to the one in the Catimbó,
where linha means song rather than group of spiritual entities.
Finally in a third level, linha can also be applied to the medium. Each medium has her
personal linha, and in this case the term relates to the group or groups of spiritual entities a
medium can receive, which conform and determine her mediumship, the spirit part to which she
belongs. Expressions such as "Ele é da minha linha" (he belongs to my line), referred to a
spiritual entity, indicate this idea of a personal linha. This third level will be developed in chapter
4 when dealing with the articulation of personal spiritual identity.
Although as we have seen the concept of linha is mainly applied to designate specific
groups of spiritual entities, in the ritual singing context, when the mineiros talk about "opening a
line", the term linha is closely associated with a sequence of specific doutrinas, which are often
memorised as a whole rather than as independent songs. This linha-song sequence seems to
be conceived as a kind of esoteric oral formula which becomes a symbolic door or path, by
which the spiritual entities arrive and manifest. If these linhas are not sung, if the word is not
pronounced, the spiritual entities are not able to manifest.
This idea of the linha-song as a path or door through which the encantados manifest in
the dance hall, is stressed when we learn that the mineiros believe that an encantado can
manifest through different linhas. Despite the fact that a spiritual entity is associated with a
specific family, usually associated with a specific natural domain, this encantado can manifest
in the dance hall or in the head of a particular medium, through whatever linha he chooses. It is
said then that the encantado belongs to a linha cruzada or linha traçada (crossed line)141 when
it can manifest through different song sequences. In chapter 3 and 5, I analyse the implications
of such freedom of movement in relation to the encantado's moment of incorporation, the
behaviour in the ritual, and the status of spiritual entities to the medium's head.
For the time being suffice to say that in the Mina de Caboclo, the linha is not
necessarily understood as a defined group of identities, but rather as a spirit domain or spirit
field opened by specific songs which allow the manifestation of any spirit who chooses to come
through that path at that moment. In the Mina de Cabcolo the lack of definition and flexibility
provided by the idea of linha as regards the classification of spiritual entities seems to contrast
and overlap with the "family" categorisation predominant in the Mina Jeje and, to a certain
extent, the Mina Nagô. The linha ideology prevailing in the Mina de Caboclo seems greatly
influenced by the Pajelança Cabocla imaginaire, and particularly by its Bantu-derived
component.
141 The idea of linha cruzada is sometimes associated with natural phenomena like the tides or
river mouths where there is a mixture of river and sea waters.
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Chapter 3: The phenomenology of spirit possession behaviour
Spirit possession observed: behavioural signs and role
Now that we have examined the differences between the various ritual singing
structures, I shall address another ritual aspect, mainly spirit possession behaviour, trying to
see whether the differences in orthodoxies suggested in previous chapters are corroborated in
this new domain of analysis. As mentioned in the Introduction, it is not the aim of this study to
deal with the inner psycho-emotional experience of trance or the implications that such
experience may have on the medium's understanding of the world. My interest will focus on the
phenomenological aspect of spirit possession in the ritual context, and my analysis will be
concerned with the external, observable manifestations associated with it. Although non-ritual
spirit possession is quite common among some Mina devotees, it is in the ritual context where
spirit possession is endowed with a more rich and complex set of associated signs which
configure its expression. The ritual dimension of spirit possession, and its performative
manifestations, will thus be the core of my present examination.
Despite its sacred dimension, a public ceremony works very much like a spectacle.
There are performers and an audience, and the whole ritual process can be envisaged as a
communicative situation where, by means of different signs, information is transmitted from the
performers to the spectators. In order for this communication to be effective, the medium while
possessed by the encantados, will have to conform to certain behavioural patterns, emit the
right signs at the right moment, enact specific roles prescribed by tradition, so that the
audience's expectations are fulfilled. Failing to perform in the appropriate way generates
confusion, misunderstanding, and discontent in the public. Despite the reasonable margin for
improvisation and self-expression allowed to the medium in the Mina, the whole meaning and
purpose of the ritual would collapse if some essential communicative patterns were not
followed.
It is from the point of view of the observer attending a Mina ceremony that I would like
to approach the spirit possession phenomenon. I intend to examine what mediums do, and to
analyse which are the signs that tell the spectator what is happening. How does the observer
know when a medium is possessed or "pure"142? How does he know which spiritual entity is
possessing the medium? This approach, needless to say, is not an easy one. Relevant
information is not always explicit and in many cases it is not even signified in the ritual
performance. It requires continued participation in the community's religious life to become
acquainted with all the intricate meanings of ritual events and observation of public ceremonies
alone is not enough for one to infer what is happening.
142 This term is applied to the medium who is in his or her "normal" state, not being possessed
by a spiritual entity.
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On the other hand, spirit possession in the Mina presents a curious ambivalence that
increases the difficulties of the observer. The encantado must always be differentiated from the
human being, mainly because he is not supposed to be a normal human being, but at the same
time, the accomplished medium, while possessed, ideally behaves with apparent human
verisimilitude, without showing spectacular or abnormal behaviour. This ambiguity and double
imperative of the encantado to be seen as different, while at the same time retaining human
credibility, results in a rich behavioural complex where significant information must be conveyed
through different, and on many occasions, very subtle ways.
The occurrence of spirit possession is expressed through a diversity of signs difficult to

classify. This is, first because their "signifiers" belong to different communicative systems (i.e.
facial expression, gestures, posture, dance, position in space, costumes, language, songs,
etc.). Second, because the domain of the "signified" can also vary. Some signs may denote
the alteration in psychic activity, some the identity of the spiritual entity, and some the different
stages of the event sequence. Even if a provisional classification were established, a new
difficulty arises when one comes to analyse how these signs interrelate. Signs belonging to
different communicative systems can complement each other, requiring their simultaneous
occurrence to become significant, so that some theory of simultaneity would be required for
their semiotic analysis.
Rouget (1985: 20) referring to the manifestations of the trance state differentiates two
categories of signs: symptoms and behaviour. Symptoms would be "the signs that constitute
merely the simple, unelaborated expression of a certain perturbation experienced by the subject
at, let us say, the animal level", (trembling, shuddering, swooning, falling to the ground,
yawning, lethargy, convulsions, protruding eyes, thermal disturbances, insensitivity to pain, tics,
noisy breathing, fixed stare), and they are not necessarily representative or symbolic.
Behavioural signs would be "those signs that no longer constitute reactions, as do symptoms,
but a positive action endowed with symbolic value." Some signs, as amnesia for instance,
could be interpreted both as symptoms and behaviour. The boundary between these signs is
impossible to draw with precision. Rouget (ibid.) adds that behavioural signs are more diverse
"since in their case the predominant factor is no longer nature but culture". Although he
mentions that "these behavioral signs can vary from the very spectacular to the extremely
discreet", when he lists some of these signs he seems to attribute to them " a certain
extraordinary or astonishing aspect" (walking on burning coals, curing diseases, seeing into the
future, entering into contact with the dead, emitting inhuman cries, dancing for days despite
being crippled).
I propose to include under the category of behavioural signs, a much wider range of
events or gestures, not necessarily endowed with an "astonishing aspect", and not exclusively
related to the demonstration of the alteration in psychic activity. In our case, behavioural signs
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may also serve to identify a spiritual entity - the encantado's identity marks or formative
gestures of the role -, or to establish ritual transitions between different phases of the spirit
possession process (ritual transition marks). They can range, for instance, from wearing the
ritual toalha in a specific way, indicating age, gender or category of spiritual entity, to an
elaborated group choreography indicating the substitution or departure of spiritual entities.
None of these behavioural signs or gestures are expression of the alteration of psychic activity,
but symbolic actions related to the spirit possession dynamic.
More interested in the ritual behaviour of the possessed medium, Seth and Ruth
Leacock (1975: 173-175) in their study of spirit possession in the Batuque, define the
appropriate ways in which a medium has to behave as constituting a role:
" i.e., a group of behaviors associated with a particular position in a social system. In
this case the position is that of possessed medium, a person possessed by a
supernatural being. A careful consideration of the behavior that occurs during trance
states suggests that there are actually at least two roles involved, and that these roles
vary in specificity. One role, the general role, consists of those behaviors expected of
anyone who is possessed. There are also a number of subroles, however, that relate to
particular encantados or categories of encantados. This distinction is important,
because some individuals can master the general role but are unable to go further and
perform as specific encantados."
The concept of role as a group of identifying behavioural signs 143 which express the
occurrence of spirit possession may be useful for the present analysis. However when we
come to a close examination of our domain of study, we will see that in the Tambor de Mina the
distinction between a general role (i.e. the need to wear a toalha, to dance vigorously or to sing
a song of introduction after the arrival of the encantado), and a series of "subroles" associated
with specific spiritual entities or categories of spiritual entities, is not fully applicable. In some
instances, a spiritual entity will not only define a "subrole", but a general role on its own terms,
and even a particular ritual set up (see chapter 5). The general role can also vary according to
the different orthodoxies (see below), or even to the different ritual practices held in the same
cult house (see chapter 6). It seems thus quite difficult to define a general role and a series of
"subroles". We should talk either of a general role with a plurality of exceptions or just of a
variety of general roles, which is what I intend to do.
When talking about ritual spirit possession in terms of role playing, one seems inclined
to associate such a concept with a theatrical aspect (Metraux, 1958; Leiris, 1989; Bourguignon,
1976), and by implication to suggest the idea of some sort of simulation . This last assumption
143 Grimes (1982) uses the term "formative gestures" which could apply to what I am calling
here "identifying behavioural signs".
103
should be carefully considered. In so far as a role needs to be learned and performed, the
association with the theatrical aspect is valid. However the association becomes more
problematic when it comes to the issue of whether the medium is unconsciously being guided
by the personality of the spiritual entity, or whether the medium is consciously representing a
role as the actor would do, which is the assumption the concept role playing would suggest a
priori. It raises the common question of whether the medium is faking or not, whether the
possession is authentic or inauthentic. The common assumption that if there is consciousness
there is deliberate faking or role playing, and if there is unconsciousness there is no fake, and
thus no proper role playing, is not relevant in our case. Two things must be made clear from
now on. First, although the convention states that the medium is always unconscious during
spirit possession, most of the informants when asked about this issue, acknowledge the
possibility of conscious and semi-conscious possession. Spirit possession is thus not validated
as much in terms of the modified state of consciousness, as by the appropriate behaviour of the
medium in the ritual context. Grimes (1982) talks about the search for "appropriate ritual
gestures".
Second, the term role will be used here to refer to such appropriate behaviour or set of
ritual gestures, whether it involves a conscious state or an unconscious one. It is already quite
difficult to know what we mean by consciousness and unconsciousness. As mentioned, the
neuro-psychological nature of the trance state is not the main concern of this study, and it does
not seem to be the main concern of the Mina participants either. The term role, although it
implies the idea of enactment or impersonation, should not be immediately associated with the
idea of faking, despite the possible consciousness of the medium. The idea of faking is relative
to the subjective intention of the medium and not to the fact of being aware of what he or she is
doing. A medium can be so convinced about the transcendent nature of his or her
performance, that despite being conscious, it would be inappropriate to talk about faking.
When enacting the role of spiritual entities, self-motivation, belief, faith, suggestibility or
euphoria, may all act as genuine psychological factors, and even if spirit possession is
expressed through social conventions, in many cases the religious conviction of the medium
does not leave room for intentional faking or inauthenticity. That does not mean that the idea of
faking is not present among the Mina participants, but this is another issue.
In order to carry out my analysis I propose to do two things: to establish a series of

distinct stages into which the temporal sequence of spirit possession can be divided, and to
identify the different symptoms and behavioural signs by which the presence of the spirit is
acknowledged and expressed during these stages.
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The stages of ritual spirit possession
One of the essential characteristics of the spirit possession phenomenon is that it is a

transitory state. To use Turner's terminology, one would say that spirit possession has a
"processual" dimension to it, encompassing different phases. Considering the dynamic
temporal development of ritual spirit possession within the Mina, a series of distinct phases or
stages can be established. These stages are acknowledged by local exegesis in the form of
different linguistic expressions. Therefore, I will use the Portuguese words used by Mina
participants to name these stages. It should be acknowledged that some of these terms may be
used in different ways by different persons in different contexts, and that the same stage may
be referred with a variety of expressions. When appropriate I indicate these variations.
1.- Irradiação144 (irradiation). The time when the medium begins to feel the proximity
of the spiritual entity. We have discussed this mediumship modality in the Introduction. In the
ritual context, some physical symptoms such as yawning, sporadic loss of equilibrium, hopping,
tremors or changes of facial expression, may denote this stage. The irradiação however, is
usually an inner mental and physical experience difficult to observe. When referring to this
stage, mediums may report sensation of sleepiness, cold, dizziness, sensation of weight on the
back, or acceleration of the heart beat. The irradiação does not necessarily lead to actual
possession. Mediums can remain just irradiated, or experience intermittent stages of irradiação
before actually getting possessed.
2.- Incorporação (Incorporation or embodiment). The moment when the spiritual entity
takes full control over the medium's body and mind. Some authors (Metraux, 1958) call this
stage "crisis", others (Rouget, 1985) call it "prepossession crisis". In the Mina, as we will see,
the incorporação can be very subtle and, in some cult houses, it does not necessarily involve
any spectacular physical alteration. The incorporação is normally preceded by the irradiação,
but it is difficult to know when one ends and the other starts. Both stages seem to constitute
part of a continuum. However Mina mediums seem to establish a difference between what
they call pegar (get) and sustentar (sustain). Pegar would refer to the moment when the energy
of the spiritual entity takes control over the medium's body causing a variety of physical
alterations, and sustentar when this energy is somehow adjusted in the medium's head and the
body regains some sort of equilibrium. There are some inexperienced mediums who receive
the energy of the spiritual entity but who will not be able to sustain it. This is what the mineiros
call santo bruto (wild saint) and what Bastide (1972: 92) has termed "wild trance", which must
be differentiated from the incorporação . The non initiated medium, whose head has not been
144'Irradiação' is a term borrowed from Kardecist Spiritism terminology.

105
"washed", that is to say, whose encantado has not been fixed in his head by a special
ceremony, behaves wildly (Metraux 1958: 107-8). The santo bruto is then a "possession that
has not yet been socialized" (Rouget 1985: 43). The ability to afirmar (to make firm, or to fix)
the encantado's energy in the head is a sign that distinguishes an accomplished medium.
The transition between pegar and sustentar is usually marked by the wearing of the
toalha, usually a white piece of cloth "bordada em Richelieu"145, tied in different ways
sometimes according to the category, gender and age of the encantado, and sometimes
according to the gender of the medium. In many cult houses there is a woman (ekede or
toalheira) in charge of providing and placing the toalhas on the mediums when the encantados
arrive. The use of the toalha is one of the most genuine characteristics of the Tambor de Mina
if compared to other Afro-Brazilian cults, and it is probably the most obvious behavioural sign
indicating the occurrence of spirit possession. The toalha is thought as a way to afirmar (to fix)
the presence of the spiritual entity in the body, it is also believed that it gives strength to the
medium. In the possible absence of body signs, the semiotics of costumes are used to
communicate the event.
The incorporação can be sudden and quick or it can last for several minutes. Again
the cult house tradition, and the experience and individual idiosyncrasy of the medium, will
determine the temporal length of this stage. Some informants associate the quick incorporação
with a total unconsciousness, while the slow incorporação is seen as a state where the
medium alternates between moments of awareness and unawareness. Pai Euclides explains:
"In many cases it is a quick trance. Pá! I arrive. I stay. The individual shuts
down. He does not see, he does not hear, he does nothing. There are other cases
when the energy arrives but he remains like this, now he knows, now he does not
know. The entity is there, posed on that matter, but he cannot control himself. That
is, that force is stronger than him."146
3.- Manifestação147 (Manifestation, Possession). I shall use this term to refer to the
time when the persona of the medium is supposed to be under the influence of, or supplanted
by, the personality of the spiritual entity. In the drumming-dancing context, this stage normally
lasts for several hours but it can also be shorter and intermittent, the medium being possessed
and in his or her "normal" state repeatedly. This usually occurs with some inexperienced
mediums.
145Towel embroidered in Richelieu.

146 "Muitas das vezes é um transe rápido. Pá! Cheguei. Fiquei. O sujeito fica tapado de vez.
Ele não vê, não ouve, não faz nada. E tem outros que essa energia chega mas ele vai ficar
assim, ora ele sabe, ora ele não sabe, e toda aquela entidade está alí, pousada naquela
matéria, mas ele não pode se controlar. E dizer, aquela força é maior."
147 This term is sometimes used as a synonym of incorporação. I will use it here only to refer to
the possession-trance stage, and not to the entry into trance.
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After the incorporação the dance usually becomes more vigorous, and in some
occasions the most learned mediums sing a song of presentation, changing momentarily their
chorusing role for the leader singing role. It depends on the cult house and/or the ritual
moment in which the possession has occurred. Despite these changes, during the
manifestação the main activities of the medium, or shall we say the encantado, are to dance
and to sing, and occasionally to communicate with the other spiritual entities or the public,
either during the intervals between songs or when the medium retires to have a rest.
The manifestation is embodiment of a character, articulated by the tension between the

prescription of a set of conventional paradigmatic gestures (role), and the idiosyncratic creation
involved in the enactment of such gestures. One is tempted to say that possession is above all
a particular attitude, and that the encantado is the symbol of this "manière d'être", as Leiris
would say. This attitude can be more or less personal or stereotyped. Despite cultural
impositions, the intensity of the medium's psychic modification, his or her temperament, and
physical faculties always play a part in the performance outcome.
In the Mina, the encantado of an experienced medium is expected to behave with
quasi human verisimilitude. The medium keeps his eyes open, speaks and interacts with
members of the community with apparent normality. Besides the toalha, only certain details like
for example the tone of voice, or the use of certain linguistic expressions - i. e. the encantado
referring to the medium as "minha mulher" (my woman, my wife) -, may denote the presence of
the encantado. Perhaps a certain solemnity is perceived in the voduns or old entities, and often
the caboclos will show their vivacious temperament in one way or another, but in general the
social interaction mechanisms of the medium are not essentially altered148.
The differences of the encantado are encoded in other ways. The encantados don't get
tired and can dance for hours despite the old age of the medium, they do not need to eat nor
have other physiological necessities, they do not need to drink, or on the contrary they can drink
a lot leaving the medium sober when they go away. It varies in each cult house, but there are
always elements to differentiate the encantado from the human. In the past, when the
reputation of a new cult house had to be legitimised, the credibility of the mediums had to be
demonstrated with more spectacular actions such as ordeals by fire. These sorts of practices
are more rare nowadays. The difference between the medium while possessed and "pure",
although sometimes is unnoticeable to foreign eyes, always exists, even if it is only in the
medium's mind. This especially applies to non-ritual possession where distinctive signs like the
toalha are absent. Most of the times the manifestation is only expressed in changes of attitude
which only the person who knows the medium well can perceive.
148The capacity of Mina mediums to sing and to speak, keeping the eyes open while
possessed, is one of the main differences with the Bahian Candomblé mediums who while
possessed by the orixás will normally keep their eyes closed, will only dance without singing
and will rarely speak with the audience.
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At the same time, the manifestação is not a uniform stable body state, but the result of
a combination of physical exercise and mental activity with a constant fluctuation between
peaks of excitement and moments of relaxation. The ritual punctuation of pauses between
each song, if anything else, already determines such psycho-physiological fluctuation.
Possession can go from states of euphoria to states of fatigue, from states of apparent
unawareness where the medium seems to be deprived of external perception, to others of
awareness where the medium very actively interacts with his or her surrounding. Extrapolating
we could say not only that each individual manifestação is unique, but that also each
constituting moment of a single manifestação differs from the others in some way. For that
matter, live action is always unique and there are no two performances alike.
4.- Virada (transition). This is the time when there is a change of spiritual entity within
the medium's body. Virada is the substantive of the verb virar translated into English as to turn,
conveying the idea of change or transition. The term is used either in relation to a change in the
ritual calling of the different linhas of spiritual entities as in the virada do tambor, or to a change
as regards the spiritual entity incorporating a medium 149. The latter phenomenon, which is the
one that interests us here, only occurs in the "new" cult houses, and constitutes one of the
distinctive characteristics of the Mina de Caboclo. I will further develop this stage in chapter 4
and 5.
5.- Saída (exit). This is the moment when the spiritual entity leaves the medium's body
and mind, and the medium recovers his or her "normal" self. In the Mina there are few
occasions in which the saída occurs in the dance hall. At the end of the ceremonies, the
encantados usually retire to an adjacent room where they sit and receive the greetings of the
public. At a certain point they retire to private rooms, or to the shrines room, and the mediums
come out after a while already "pure". Because of this circumstance, the saída is the stage of
spirit possession which has proved more difficult to observe in the fieldwork, specially in the
"old" cult houses. For this reason this stage does not permit a comparative approach and is
only briefly commented in relation to the "new" houses at the end of this chapter.
149 On some occasions the term virar can be used to refer to the moment of incorporação. "Ela
já virou" or "Ela já está virada" are expressions to denote the occurrence of possession, rather
than the substitution of spiritual entities in the medium.
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Spirit possession factors of variation
As it has been suggested in the previous section, even when the domain of study of
spirit possession is limited to its performative aspects within the Tambor de Mina public
ceremonies, we are presented with a rich variety of forms or general roles, and an infinity of
specific individual performances which in one way or another are variations of the general roles.
It is this variety that I am especially interested in. Despite the similarities shared by many spirit
possession occurrences, what I would like to examine are precisely the differences. To do so I
shall carry out a comparative analysis, trying to point out sometimes role similarities and more
often role differences, according to a discrete set of factors of variation. The three main factors
of variation which account for the plurality of external expressions of spirit possession, have
already been pointed out when dealing with the different stages of spirit possession. They are:
1.- The cult house orthodoxy.

2.- The spiritual entity or category of spiritual entity.
3.- The experience of the medium.
The cult house orthodoxy is the first factor of variation, and the one that I pay most
attention to. The different religious orthodoxies, stipulated by tradition and the religious training
of the high priest, in combination with his or her personal charisma, determine in each cult
house different rules which shape the behavioural expression of spirit possession. The medium
has to learn a series of behavioural signs specific to the terreiro to which he or she belongs,
which may be significant only in that context. Each cult house dictates specific norms of
"etiquette", which are essential for ritual effectiveness. These norms can range from particular
codes for internal communication among the mediums, to general attitudes prescribed for the
encantados. In one cult house caboclos always appear calm and sober, while in another they
are allowed to drink, or to dance in a more aggressive way. The Mina Jeje, Mina Nagô and
Mina de Caboclo establish specific ritual organisations (see chapter 2), and now we will see
that they also determine specific possession roles.
The second variable, the spiritual entity or the category of spiritual entity involved in the
possession, also determines specific groups of behaviours, and accounts for many of the
differences among spirit possession performances. Spiritual entities are identified by name,
family, age, gender, and such aspects are codified in specific ritual fields such as songs,
dances, gestures, costumes and other behavioural signs, or identity marks. In the Tambor de
Mina, the two main categories of encantados are the vodun (orixá) and the caboclo. The
convention states that the former normally behave in a calm controlled way, while the caboclos
usually present a more violent and dynamic behaviour. This convention is not always
observable in ritual behaviour, and in some cult houses the vodun, gentil or caboclo present
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very similar behaviours, while in other cult houses aspects such as the age of the spiritual entity
may determine more obvious behavioural differences. At the same time, in the "new" cult
houses, spiritual entities belonging to specific categories, such as the Akóssi, tobosas or
Indians, prescribe completely different roles from those prescribed for the vodun or caboclo
categories. These categories of spiritual entities have specific ritual segments, or even
ceremonies, exclusively performed for their manifestation. Chapter 5 will be dedicated to the
analysis of these roles, examining the different behavioural signs and ritual set ups which
articulate these spirit possession roles.
The third factor of variation is the experience of the medium. One's continuous or
discontinuous participation in the cult life, together with a series of specific and structured
initiation rituals constitute a learning process, primarily, a learning process of a behavioural
culture. In the Tambor de Mina the most common way to learn is through social interaction with
participants of the religion, either friends or family members of the medium. This informal and
unsystematic learning based on observation, listening and mimetic repetition, involves the
assimilation of beliefs as well as certain forms of behaviour. This is what Tolman (1951, as
quoted in Michtom, 1975), calls "latent learning", that is the learning that is not demonstrated at
the time it is learned. However mediums, at one point or another of their religious life, will also
be subject to some sort of initiation rituals or training sessions (see chapter 4).
The mediums can be more or less successful in their learning process. The
experienced mediums who benefit from the cult practice eventually gain some sort of control
over their possession experiences. Possession becomes less frequent, less violent or
spectacular, and it will only occur in ritual context. Inexperienced mediums are the ones that
more often show signs of some sort of dissociation state, and their possession performances
may be more disorganised, especially in terms of body control and kinetic features. The general
rule is that experienced mediums normally incorporate in an earlier stage of the ceremony, they
usually experience a quick transition between the pegar and sustentar stages without showing
any spectacular behaviour or body movement disorganisation. Inexperienced mediums usually
take longer to become possessed, experience difficulties to sustentar, and show clear signs of
lack of control over body movement for a longer period of time. The individual idiosyncrasy of
the medium influences a great deal the outcome of this stage. Thus the experience of the
medium is a clear factor of variation in the different manifestations of spirit possession.
The combinations resulting from the matrix of these three variables accounts for the
wide variety of spirit possession performances. Needless to say, each of these variables
affects, and is affected by the rest, in different ways, and they constitute a complex network of
interrelations. This may be one reason why several informants stress the fact that there is no
common pattern applicable to spirit possession. My approach to spirit possession in the
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Tambor de Mina starts by describing how some of these variables affect, and modify, some of
the different stages of the spirit possession.
Incorporation roles according to cult houses.
I will start by examining how the stage of the incorporação differs in the seven cult
houses of our domain of study. I want to demonstrate that, in the same way as the ritual
singing structure could be classified into three main traditions or precepts, spirit possession can
also be classified into three main behavioural patterns, which basically correspond with the
three ritual categories. The three spirit possession roles are defined by three different
incorporation roles. These three incorporation roles are defined at two complementary levels:
first, the ritual moment within the singing sequence in which the incorporation takes place, and
second, the behaviour of the medium.
The first behavioural pattern, which I call the Mina Jeje incorporation role, applies only
to the Casa das Minas. The second behavioural pattern, which I call the Mina Nagô
incorporation role, applies to the Casa de Nagô, the Casa Fanti Ashanti, and to a certain extent
to the Terreiro Yemanja. Finally, the third behavioural pattern, which I call the Mina de Caboclo
incorporation role, applies to the rest of cult houses. While the two first behavioural patterns are
associated with specific African traditions, the last one seems to be a Brazilian creation,
resulting from an acculturative process of multiple sources. Without any doubt, the latter is the
prevailing pattern in most Tambor de Mina cult houses nowadays.
The Mina Jeje incorporation role
In the Casa das Minas the voduns can manifest at any given moment. Nevertheless,
according to Dona Deni, they are very considerate and civilised, and they only come to Earth
the days of obrigação, not disturbing the vodunsi in their daily lives. In case of great need,
however, they may manifest at other times.
The day of a ritual ceremony, the vodunsi may incorporate the vodun at any given
moment, sometimes some hours before the public toque, sometimes when singing the
ladainha, sometimes at the start of the drum playing, sometimes in the middle of it. As Dona
Deni explained, the voduns arrive when they please, and they are not subject to any ritual
prescription. However, it is also said that the cult organisation has a very precise order, and that
there is a particular time for every particular action. Mãe Andresa told Nunes Pereira (1979: 43)
"Duas horas, hora certa de vodun!". (Two in the afternoon is the right time for the vodun).
This fact seems to be one of the distinctive characteristics of the Jeje tradition. Both in
Benin, and in the Jeje terreiros of Cachoeira in Bahia, the voduns usually manifest in the early
111
afternoon some hours before the public ceremonies, and when they enter the sato (public
square) in Benin, or the guma (dance hall) in Brazil, they are already dressed with their ritual
costumes. The appearance of the voduns already incorporated in their mediums at the
beginning of public drumming-dancing ceremonies is rarely seen in the Nagô or Angola
terreiros of Bahia, or the terreiros of Tambor de Mina, where the mediums only become
possessed after the initial dances and songs.
In Benin and Bahia, the early incorporation of the vodunsi before public ceremonies,
often occurs at dawn or during the day when animal offerings rituals are performed in the
shrines. The moment of sacrifice is one of the privileged moments for the occurrence of
possession. Spirit possession is seen as the actual confirmation of the vodun's acceptance of
the offerings. Because these offerings always precede public ceremonies, some voduns usually
remain incorporated in their vodunsi until the public dances begin.
In the Casa das Minas there is great secrecy regarding animal sacrifices 150. They are
not performed in all ceremony cycles, but when they are the manifestation of voduns is
customary. At the same time only the voduns, and not their vodunsi, are allowed to perform
other food offerings and internal obrigações in the shrine's room. That means that some
voduns must always manifest during the day, sometimes at dawn, to carry their ritual duties.
The common assumption that in Afro-Brazilian cults spirit possession always occurs
with dance and drum playing does not apply to the Jeje tradition. If during sacrifice rituals drum
or gan playing may be involved, at least in Benin and Bahia, in the Casa das Minas there are
many instances in which no music is required to provoke the incorporação . On the other hand,
in this cult house, it is customary for the vodun who arrives to go to the comé to sing his or her
praise songs, but always after the incorporação .
As mentioned, the public ceremonies in most Tambor de Mina cult houses start singing
a ladainha. The Casa das Minas is not an exception. However the Casa das Minas is the only
cult house where the voduns, manifested in their mediums, participate in such an event151.
Around nine o'clock in the evening, some vodun appear in the Sala Grande152 where a Catholic
altar is installed. They may be greeted by friends while waiting for the ladainha to start. The
voduns never sing the Latin and Portuguese praises. They stand by, and only when the
ladainha is finished, do they start to sing the African praises associated with the voduns. When
this happens only the voduns are allowed to sing. It is not unusual for some voduns to manifest
during this moment prior to the public drum playing ceremonies.
150 Information about sacrifices in the Casa das Minas is provided in S. Ferretti (1996: 135),
and Nunes Pereira (1979: 154-6)
151 I witnessed in the Casa de Nagô a similar situation during the São Pedro cycle in July 1996
but this was an exceptional case, mainly due to cancellation of the drum-playing segment
because of absence of drum players.
152 The Sala Grande is the name of the room where the Catholic altar is installed in the Casa
das Minas.
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V18.- The vodun's praises in front of the Catholic altar

A statue of Santa Barbara, to whom the ceremony cycle is dedicated, presides on the
Catholic altar. The initial praises (rezas) are differentiated from the songs (cânticos) performed
during the drum playing part of the ceremony. The second praise in the video is a salutation to
members of the Nagô family: Badé, Sogbo, Abé and Averekete. I transcribe a rather free
phonetic version from the video sequence.
Badé lé dé mana sá undé hún dô153

Sogbo lé dé mana sá undé hún do
Abé lé dé mana sá undé hún do
Avrekéte mana sá undé hún do
In the video sequence two voduns are sharing the toalha. This is due to the fact that
Dona Celeste, the second vodunsi from the left, had received her vodun Averekete a few
minutes before. Dona Justina joined by her vodun Abé, Averekete's sister, shares her toalha
with him, in order to allow Averekete to stay singing with the rest of the voduns, while somebody
went to fetch his toalha. This polite behaviour is expected from spiritual brothers like Averekete
and Abé, but is not common practice. The third vodun from the left is Alogue in Dona Maria
Severina, and we can see the inverted initials of his name "AL" embroidered in the toalha. This
feature is observed in mediums of other terreiros too, and constitutes one of the few indications
regarding the identity of the encantados.
When the ladainha and the voduns' praises are finished, the drum playing starts.
There may exist different opening songs sometimes involving praises to Zomadonu the spiritual
153 Variant for "lé dé": "me dé" or "mé né". Variant for "hún dô": "umbô".
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owner of the house. Costa Eduardo (1948: 87) states that the first song is always the
"Adajibe"154 calling the voduns to the guma. After that song the voduns enter singing other
songs of arrival, generally addressed to the tokueni155, spiritual entities who are supposed to
"open the way" for the other vodun.
V19.- Entrance of voduns in the guma

27-09-94. Tambor de São Cosme e Damião. Casa das Minas
In this particular sequence we see the entrance into the guma of the voduns Jotim,
Alogue, Abé, and Lepon, respectively belonging to the Savaluno, Dambirá, Keviosô and
Dambirá families. Costa Eduardo (1948: 87) suggests that in the past the tokueni came first,
but the subsequent order was determined by spiritual families: the members of the Dambirá
family followed by those of the Davice, and then those of the Keviosô. Within each family the
rule of seniority was followed, the youngest coming first, and the eldest last. Nowadays the
order seems to vary according to circumstances. Sometimes the old rule is followed, but in
other ceremonies, like on this particular occasion, the family criteria is not followed, while the
age criteria seems to prevail, Jotim being a tokueni in the front, and Lepon being an old vodun
in the back. Would these changes indicate that the limited number of vodunsi make the family
distinctions less important? In any case, the seniority principle is maintained in relation to the
spiritual entities and not to the mediums, as it occurs in the Casa de Nagô.
All mediums wear the toalha, indicating that they are already joined by their voduns
when the drum playing starts. The video images provide ground for many other comments
154 Costa Eduardo, (1948: 88) transcribes the Adajibe song as follows: "Adajibe Bodo Daeme,
Ahole Bodo Daeme, Emimaho pa pa, be".
155 For more information regarding the tokueni or tokueno see (Ferretti S., 1996; Bastide, 1958;
Costa Eduardo, 1948)
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(orchestration, dance, or ritual outfit), but what is to be noticed is the distinctive feature of the
Jeje ritual orthodoxy which consists in the vodun's manifestation prior to the drum-playing part.
The early arrival of the voduns in the Casa das Minas prevents observation of the
incorporation on many occasions. However in this house, the third and closing day of a
ceremony cycle, the incorporation of all voduns usually takes place during the drumming
segment. I will base my description on two different video sequences corresponding to this
situation which show the incorporation at the beginning, and during the drum playing.
The vodunsi start the ceremony seated on a long bench to the left of the drums where
only women can sit. They play the rattles and sing156. At a certain moment, usually when a
praise song to the family of voduns to which the vodunsi belongs is sung, the vodunsi suddenly
stands up, hands the rattle to a companion, and begins to dance in the centre of the guma.
She will immediately tie around her waist, or under her armpits, the white toalha according to
the gender and age of the vodun.
V20.- The vodun Jogoboruçu joining a medium

In this sequence, Dona Endina is joined by the vodun Jogoboruçu. He is the first to
arrive because he is a tokueni, the category of young voduns which are supposed to come first
to open the way for the rest. Being a young male vodun he ties the toalha around his waist. The
vodun will get rid of watch, rings, keys or any other unsuitable object. When the vodun is a male
the vodunsi will also undo her hair and let it fall free.
156 Costa Eduardo (1948: 87) reports that the mediums used to rub their hands before
becoming incorporated. This habit was not observed in my fieldwork, but this gesture is well
known in other cult houses in relation to the closing part of the ceremony cycle (chapter 2).
115
In the normal course of events possessions are brought on as the songs for each
family of vodun are sung. Costa Eduardo reports (1948: 88), there are three specific chants to
trigger possession in the mediums. The first is the "Adajibe", sung at the beginning of
ceremonies, but we have already seen that nowadays in the Casa das Minas, this song is not
necessarily sung to trigger possession, but only to call the voduns to the guma. Costa Eduardo
(ibid.) transcribes two more songs sung during ceremonies to trigger possession. These songs
would be the equivalent of the adarrun157 drum rhythms that bring on possessions in the
Bahian Candomblé (Ramos, 1988: 163). In my fieldwork I had no opportunity to confirm the
singing of the last two songs quoted by Costa Eduardo.
The second example shows the incorporation of the vodun Averekete in Dona Celeste
in the middle of a ceremony. Averekete is also considered a tokueni, but contrary to the
tradition of always coming first, in the case of Dona Celeste, Averekete is usually one of the last
voduns to manifest. Costa Eduardo's (1948: 88) remarks: "It sometimes happens, however,
that those who worship the tokueni only become possessed after the cult initiates who are
devotees of the older vodun are possessed by their gods" .
V21.- The vodun Averekete joining a medium

27-09-94. Tambor de São Cosme e Damião. Casa das Minas
Averekete incorporates while a song of the tokueni "Quêrê, ozá ozá quêrê" (Pereira,
1979: 338) is sung. Again Abé gives her toalha to her brother Averekete.
From these two examples we can see that possession in the Casa das Minas is very
calm and sober. These two cases of young voduns do not present a lot of difference with the
incorporação of old voduns. The calmness, or absence of "crisis" seems to apply to all voduns
157 This term derives from the Fon word adahun which can be translated as "rhythm of anger".
Hun translates as drum, meaning in this context "music, song, rhythm". Adá means "colère,
emportement, courage, bravoure, vaillance, force" (Segurola, 1963). This term is still used in
the vodun cult of South Benin.
116
regardless of their age, gender or family. This behavioural characteristic can be traced back to
the royal cult of the Nesuxwe in Abomey, from where the cult of the Casa das Minas has
derived. As one Nesuxwe priest from Abomey remarked in relation to the Fon royal voduns:
"La trance se fait dans le calme. Tout se fait avec la manière des princes (ahovi),
l'adepte ne sait quand la trance se produit, personne ne sait quand la trance se produit.
La trance finie comme elle a commencée, dans la douceur". (Abadasi)
This priest established a difference between the Sakpata and the Nesuxwe types of
possession, stressing that in the latter calmness is an essential characteristic. The Sakpata
vodun is taken as a representative of the "public" voduns, worshipped by the anato (non royal)
collectivities. This calmness is thus perceived as a distinctive mark of aristocracy. This is
remembered by a Nesuxwe song which French translation was provided by Mr. Celestin Dako.
Tòvodun Nesuxwe Le vodun de l'eau Nesuxwe

Nò gbo hiwun ã (bis) N'a pas l'habitude de crier fort158
Bèlèwo, kpèsè wè C'est dans la douceur, dans le calme
Vodun ò nò zòn wa Que le vodun a l'habitude de venir159
Asi tòn ta sur la tête de sa femme
Following this tradition, in the Casa das Minas, when the vodun manifests there are no
apparent previous spectacular body symptoms of irradiation such as shuddering, trembling or
shouting. In the absence of any spectacular physical alteration, it is the action of standing up to
dance, and the use of the toalha which signal the arrival of the vodun.
The incorporação in the Casa das Minas is characterised by the absence of previous
dance. It is said that in this cult house only the voduns can dance, but never the vodunsi. This
particularity has also its historical explanation in the cult of the Nesuxwe in Benin. As reported
by the Nesuxwe priest of Abomey, in this particular royal cult, the vodunsi who do not
incorporate during the rituals prior to the public ceremonies are also possessed while sitting in
the sato, and not while dancing.
"Ceux sur qui le vodun doit venir le savent déjà auparavant. Elles sont à la place
publique assises sur un natte et après plusieurs chansons, cadences et ritmes de
tambour on commence un chanson especiale, et à un moment donné de la chanson
celles sur qui le vodun doit venir se levent. Les hwndeva160 qui sont à côté d'elles se
raprochent d'elles et leur enlevent la chemise, si elles sont tressées on défait les
158 Hiwun: with abruptness. Gbo: to shout.

159 Zòn: to fly. Wa: to come.
160 The hwndeva are the initiated members of the cult who do not incorporate the vodun, and
who perform as assistants to the voduns.
117
tresses, et on les drappe jusqu'à la poitrine et elles commencent à dancer." (Interview

Massi Dako)
This standing up gesture to mark the moment of possession seems to be particular to

the Nesuxwe voduns, and to my knowledge, it is not found in any other vodun cult in South
Benin. This fact contributes to confirm the hypothesis according to which the Casa das Minas
was founded by members belonging to this particular African cult. The unlacing of tresses, as
we have seen in V20, is still preserved with the young male voduns in the Casa das Minas.
The use of the toalha can also be traced back to West Africa. In the "public" vodun
cults of South Benin it is customary for the vodunsi to wear an avo (piece of cloth) knotted over
the left shoulder when the vodun manifests for the first time during a ritual cycle. This particular
habit has survived in the Casa das Minas in a modified form, and some voduns from the
Dambira family, or some old voduns, will wear a piece of cloth over their shoulder while wearing
their ritual costumes. This was reported by Dona Deni as a remembrance from the vodun's use
of the pano da Costa, in the past.
As reported by Massi Dako, in the Nesuxwe ceremonies, when women are
incorporated by their voduns the first day of public ceremonies, they remove their shirts and
they are provided with an avo worn under their armpit over their breasts. In subsequent public
appearances when the complete ritual costume is worn, the avo is worn around the waist.
"Les vodunsi femmes (...) portent une chemise, et un pagne qu'on attache à la
ceinture jusqu'au mollet appelé dovò. Elles portent en bas du premier drap un autre
drap tout rouge qui doit sortir un peu en bas. (...) Elle ne s'habillent pas les pagnes
comme les femmes ordinaires. On attache les pagnes avec un 'fichu'161 à la ceinture."
In the Casa das Minas old entities (Lepon) will wear the toalha under the armpit over
the breast, while young entities (Averekete, Abé) will wear it around the waist. Besides the age
distinction, the way in which the toalha is tied varies according to the gender of the vodun. If it is
a female entity it is knotted, if it is a male it is tucked in (Ferretti S., 1996: 192). The toalha is
thus the first identity mark of the spiritual entity.
This comparative analysis between the Nesuxwe and the Casa das Minas suggests
that specific ritual behaviours associated with spirit possession may be more resistant to
change than other aspects of religion. At least in the Casa das Minas, the basic patterns
associated with spirit possession which originated in Benin are still preserved with great fidelity,
and constitute a distinctive code of conduct. This behaviour, specific to the voduns of the royal
family of Abomey who are represented by the Davice family in the Casa das Minas, seems to
161 The fichu is another small nylon or silk piece of cloth used as a belt.
118
have become a dominant model for other vodun guest families of the cult house. Voduns from
the Dambirá and Keviosô families, which include the so called "public" voduns in Benin, behave
in the Casa das Minas in the same way as the Abomey royal tovoduns. If any other general
distinction is observable among the voduns of this cult house it has to do with age of the
voduns, the young voduns usually being more lively in their dance than the old ones.
The manifestation prior to public ceremonies, and the behavioural signs consisting in
standing up and wearing the toalha when the vodun manifests in public ceremonies are the
three main characteristics that distinguish the Jeje behavioural pattern of incorporação.
The Mina Nagô incorporation role
The Nagô behavioural pattern of incorporação is the one prevailing in the Casa de
Nagô and followed in the Casa Fanti Ashanti during the Mina ceremonies. I will concentrate on
the most common form of ritual spirit possession which is the one that occurs in the drumming-
dancing public ceremonies162.
The incorporation in the Mina Nagô, is characterised by taking place during the Roda
de Alauê or Imbarabô sequence. This is a general tendency but it is not a strict rule. As in many
other aspects of the religion there are general norms which are followed by the majority of
mediums, but there are always exceptions. As Pai Euclides suggests, "there is a rule, but there
is not an imperative"163. In any case, this tendency is one of the main distinctive features of the
Nagô tradition not replicated in the Mina de Caboclo houses where, when the Imbarabô is sung,
no incorporations take place164.
The vodunsi, dancing in a circle, usually receive their encantados during this first part of
the ritual when African spiritual entities are praised, and once the first incorporation has
occurred in less than twenty minutes most of the mediums will have incorporated. This pattern
resembles the Bahian Candomblé where the incorporation also occurs during the initial singing
part called xiré. However, in the Mina, the manifestation of a spiritual entity does not necessarily
happen when a song for it is sung, as is customary in the Candomblé. The songs in which the
incorporation occurs may vary according to circumstances. In the Casa de Nagô it is common
162 In the Casa de Nagô, there are ritual moments like the presentation and cutting of the ritual
cake (presentação and partição do bolo) held during the Santa Barbara, São João and São
Pedro feasts, in which there may be incorporation of some mediums without necessity of dance
or drum playing. This fact demonstrates that spirit possession in the Tambor de Mina is not
necessarily caused the physical extenuation of the dance, or by the repetitive paroxysm of the
drum beat, and that particular ritual contexts, moments, and actions (cutting of the cake) are
enough to trigger possession.
163 "Existe uma regra, mas não tem um mandato"
164 An intermediate case was reported in the Terreiro Yemanja where during the Imbarabô,
only some African orixás can eventually manifest, but never the caboclos. Pai Jorge Itaci
argues that no caboclos can manifest at that time because the songs are addressed to African
entities and not to the caboclos or gentis. In that particular cult house we have a selective form
of the Nagô incorporation role.
119
to observe a great number of incorporations when songs for Xangô or Badé are sung, because
these entities are the spiritual owners of the house, but in other cases the incorporations tend to
occur when songs for the spiritual entity who is being celebrated in that particular ceremony are
sung. If, for instance, it is a feast for São Sebastião, associated with the orixá Xapana, when
the songs for this entity are sung, several incorporations will take place. In other cases, some
mediums have the habit, a habit attributed to the spiritual entity rather than to the medium, to
incorporate with specific songs. In any case, it is to be observed that non African spiritual
entities like gentis or caboclos do manifest while singing praise songs for African spiritual
entities.
The following video sequence corresponds to a doutrina which according to Costa
Eduardo (1948: 92), is sung "if possession by the vodun does not come". It summons all the
voduns at once, and he transcribes it as follows: "Kalulu, kalulu, ae Kalulu, o Boni Kalulu, ae
kalulu Kalumbe, kalimbeawo, ae kalimbeawo"165
V22.- The Mina Nagô incorporation role during the Roda de Alauê
One of the characteristics of the Nagô behavioural pattern of incorporação is that the
dancers remain dancing in the circle as they incorporate their spiritual entities. Although the
dance may acquire a more vigorous character, there is no whirling or other choreographic
movements that may modify the general dance. As it happened in the Casa das Minas, the
Nagô behavioural pattern of incorporação is also very subtle and barely noticeable in terms of
body symptoms. A quick, sudden, but always very mild shaking of the head or shoulders,
165 A similar song is sung in the Casa Fanti Ashanti corresponding with the 26 chant of the
Imbarabô: "Ayê, ka lilú, ka lilú, ka lilú, ayê, ka lilú, kalimbeu, ka lilú". Alvarenga (1950: 42)
provides another version in relation to the Babassuê in Belém. Alvarenga suggests that "kalulú"
refers to caruru, a meal prepared with shrimp, okra, dendê oil, and other ingredients.
120
changes of facial expression, or sporadic loss of equilibrium may be observed. However the
tradition again prescribes sobriety and avoidance of any spectacular kinetic behaviour.
Since, when the incorporação occurs, there are no obvious physical alterations in the
medium, and she continues dancing like the rest, the Nagô incorporation role prescribes an
interesting strategy. When the spiritual entity arrives, the medium will slightly raise a fold of the
skirt with her hand. This gesture can be observed in the previous video sequence, but the next
one shows the action in more detail.
V23.- Detail of the hand-skirt gesture

This subtle sign notifies the toalheira of the event, and she immediately provides the
toalha to the medium. While the hand gesture holding the skirt is exclusively addressed to the
toalheira, the wearing of the toalha is the clear sign that indicates the presence of the spiritual
entity to the public. In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, when celebrating Mina sessions, the
incorporação follows the Casa de Nagô pattern, and women ask for the toalha handling the
skirt, but men, who in this cult house are also allowed to dance, usually change the position of
their ritual necklace. From a frontal position they cross the necklace under their left arm.
121
V24.- The Turkish Juracema crossing necklaces after the incorporation

10-05-96. Tambor de Juracema. Casa Fanti Ashanti
The images correspond to the 17th song of the Imbarabô: "Ô idé bá re uara, ô Dadá
kará ô (x4)", and Pai Euclides is joined by Jaguarema, one of his spiritual guides. As it is
customary with some of the members of this family of Turkish encantados, Jaguarema receives
a coloured piece of cloth called lençol 166 instead of a white toalha like the voduns. He will wear
it around his shoulders like a shawl. But in order to get his lençol, as we have seen, he first
changes the position of the ritual necklaces167.
These gestures again constitute an internal communication code for the members of
the community. The actual sign that notifies the change of the medium's state is the wearing of
the toalha, which is worn in different ways168. Thus the Nagô incorporation role is characterised
by occurring during specific singing and specific circular choreography, the Imbarabô or Roda
de Alauê; and it is accompanied by the use of a specific gesture to ask for the toalha. Like in
the Jeje role there is absence of spectacular motor activity, or "crisis".
166 The lençol is usually a satin coloured shawl worn by the caboclos in different ways: around
the neck, tied in the waist, or rolled in an arm.
167 This gesture is reproduced in other "new" cult houses, like the Terreiro Yemanja. It is
usually associated with the Turkish caboclos and can be performed by both male and female
mediums. The medium wearing several necklaces will only cross the one which colours
correspond to the spiritual entity who is manifesting. Therefore the gesture does not only mark
the incorporation moment but the identity of the spiritual entity involved.
168In the Casa Fanti Ashanti the use of the toalha varies according to the gender of the
medium, and it is "tied on the breast or the waist by women, and folded on the shoulder or the
arm by men" (Ferretti, M. 1993: 302). The category of encantado, and its gender, can also
determine more ways to wear the toalha.
122
The Mina de Caboclo incorporation role
As we have seen in chapter 2, while in the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti
the Imbarabô sequence is sung at the beginning of any toque, in the Mina de Caboclo cult
houses the Imbarabô sequence is only sung the first day of a ceremony cycle 169, and on the
other nights alternative opening sequences are used.
As mentioned, contrary to the Mina de Nagô, the Mina de Caboclo orthodoxy always
prescribes the occurrence of the incorporation after the Imbarabô, and never during it170.
When alternative opening sequences are used, the incorporations will start only when the
singing for African spiritual entities like Averekete, Euá or Badé is finished, or at the end of it,
when the guma (dance hall) is considered to be opened. Therefore we can say that the Mina de
Caboclo orthodoxy usually prescribes the beginning of incorporations after the African opening
sequences are concluded.
Although the sequential incorporation of all mediums can sometimes be fairly quick
taking around half an hour, more often it takes a longer period of time than in the Mina Nagô.
One hour, and in some occasions up to nearly two hours, is the usual time required for all the
mediums to be incorporated . That means that the mediums, or shall I say their encantados,
have a wider scope of time to decide when the appropriate moment is to incorporate the
dancers. This wider flexibility regarding the moment of incorporation is also a significant
difference in relation to the Nagô role.
In the Mina de Caboclo cult houses, African voduns and orixás may occasionally
manifest. If they do so, they will often manifest at the beginning of the ceremonies, being the
first entities to arrive. Otherwise, the order in which the mediums incorporate is variable.
Nevertheless, there is a general tendency for senior mediums to incorporate first, and the
younger more inexperienced mediums to incorporate later. Following this tendency it is not
unusual for the high priest or priestess to be the first medium to incorporate.
Once more it is to be remembered that there does not seem to be a strong correlation
between the spiritual entity for whom the song is sung and the actual spiritual entity who
manifests in a medium. However, as discussed in chapter 2, there is a correlation in terms of
the broader concept of linhas. Spiritual entities belonging to a specific linha will often manifest
once this particular linha has been "opened".
As regards the mediums' behaviour in the Caboclo incorporation role, the following
video sequence provides a paradigmatic illustration. Dona Vicença, high priestess of the
Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia, is being joined by her spiritual guide (Jaguarema?).
169 In some cases, like in the Terreiro Yemanja, the Imbarabô is only sung the first day of the
most important ritual cycles, and smaller ritual cycles may be opened with other alternative
opening sequences.
170 The particular case of the Terreiro Yemanja commented in note 23 does not fully follow this
rule.
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V25.- The Mina de Caboclo incorporation role

12-12-94. Tambor de Santa Luzia. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
This example of incorporação follows what can be considered a standard Mina de
Caboclo pattern consisting in a first stage of irradiation with loss of equilibrium and changes of
facial expression, followed with hopping, usually falling backwards, in which case the medium
may be sustained by other dancers who prevent her from falling to the floor. In this first stage,
if the encantado is a caboclo, there may be characteristic sound emission or shouting (brado),
and some mediums get rid of their shoes as happens in this particular case. Some whirling
may be started too. At this point the toalha is given to the medium, and this action normally
helps the medium to sustain the energy, giving place to more vigorous and centred whirling.
If the medium is the high priestess, like Dona Vicença, or if the manifested spiritual
entity is the one for whom the ceremony is being held, when the dancer becomes incorporated,
she is saluted and embraced by other members of the group as a sign of respect. The new
possessed medium sings a first song of presentation, but not all the mediums do so. Only the
most experienced are expected to do so171.
Needless to say this general role may present many variations. Each of the different
behavioural signs involved may take different degrees of intensity, there may be more or less
hopping, shouting or whirling, and the order in which they occur can also vary. However some
important differences emerge in relation to the Jeje and Nagô roles previously analysed. First
the incorporation in the Caboclo role is generally longer than in the Jeje and Nagô roles, and
second, the Caboclo role seems to involve a more spectacular motor behaviour which could be
termed as "possession crisis". Finally the oral sound emission (brado) and the whirling
constitute distinctive elements which characterise the Caboclo incorporation role.
171 In this case (V25), the song is not to audible. It seems to be a caboclo doutrina, probably
from the bush family of Codó.
124
What I call the "possession crisis" seems to involve an alteration of the sense of
equilibrium172, which can take different degrees of intensity in each particular case, and
consists in hopping and a struggle not to fall to the floor. A characteristic gesture associated
with the incorporation is that many mediums, before they experience the first symptoms, tend to
stare at the floor as a way to concentrate. It is believed that some spiritual entities come to the
dance hall "from below", in some cases through the assentamento which is buried in the centre
of the dance hall or in the shrines room. The encantado's energy is sometimes believed to
enter the medium's body from the feet and legs and then slowly mount to gain control over the
medium's head173. This upward dynamics of the incorporação justifies the initial hopping and
disequilibrium, which in inexperienced mediums can cause them to fall to the floor. Dona
Vicença explains that the medium's first firmeza is the firmeza dos pes (feet firmness), and this
is symbolised by the medium's removal of her shoes. Physical foot contact with the floor is
stressed as an important way to sustain the encantado's force174. The second firmeza, is the
firmeza da toalha. As already explained the toalha is believed to help the medium to sustain the
encantado's energy.
Like the collective circular dance, whirling or spinning is another almost universal dance
movement associated with religious cults175. Whirling requires a sophisticated body technique
and because of its implicit difficulty, it can be interpreted as provoked by the intervention of a
transcendent spiritual agent. In the religious performance, the whirling body, in some cases
defying the laws of gravity and nearly becoming a flying body, can be symbolically conceived as
the representation of a vertical axis communicating earth and heaven. The voduns, and orixás
very often whirl in their dances showing in their accelerated revolutions their power or joy. In
many cases their whirling is related to the symbolic representation of specific mythical
passages.
However whirling in the moment of the incorporation, like in the Mina de Caboclo role,
is a behaviour alien to West African spiritual entities. It is one of the main behavioural signs
172 From empirical observation, if anything can be said about the alleged neurophysiological
modification of the brain activity, it is that it may have some effect on the ear labyrinth system
controlling the sense of equilibrium.
173 These sorts of interpretation may vary a lot depending on the informants. Some suggest
that different categories of spiritual entities enter the body through different locations. The
senhor, or main spiritual entity would enter through the head, the mãe d'àgua through the neck
and so on. Others suggest that the linha which is being praised determines the direction from
which the spiritual entities arrive, mainly from above or from below.
174 In both the Casa de Nagô and the Casa Fanti Ashanti some spiritual entities will get rid of
the shoes during the of incorporação, and dance barefoot. Otherwise they use special sandals,
normally a size smaller than required. The contact of the medium's feet with the floor seems to
have been more important in the past. Nowadays the use of sandals is perceived in some
spiritual entities as a sign of higher status as opposed to dance barefoot which is usually
associated with the caboclos.
175 From the Muslim Dervishes to jazz musicians like Thelonious Monk (as portrayed in the film
"Straight no chaser"), whirling has also been closely associated with the expression of ecstatic
experiences.
125
which characterises the Mina de Caboclo, and is often associated with the caboclo spiritual
entities, thus becoming one of their important identity marks. Yet other categories of spiritual
entities like the voduns or gentis may eventually present the same behaviour, but as we said,
rarely during the incorporation.
The Caboclo incorporation role, as opposed to the Nagô role, prescribes or allows the
medium experiencing possession to stand out against the others. For a while, the medium
becomes the main protagonist of the ritual activity, and this is expressed in the use of space,
the more spectacular kinetic behaviour, and the subsequent whirling. It is quite frequent for
dancers who become possessed to take a prominent location in the dance hall, either in front of
the drums (a boca do tambor) as in Dona Vicença's case (V25), or in the centre of the circle of
dancers, if that is the current choreography at the time of the incorporation. These are general
tendencies, rather than ritual imperatives, which differentiate the Caboclo incorporation role
from the Nagô one. The next video sequence shows two mediums being incorporated by their
spiritual guides while dancing a circular choreography. One of them maintains her position in
the circular line while the other uses the centre of the space. Despite the different uses of the
space both of them experience the characteristic whirling.
V26.- Incorporations with whirling during a circle dance

31-07-93. Tambor de Sant'Ana. Terreiro Fé em Deus
This particular circular choreography has a very different feeling from the one in the
Casa de Nagô (V22). To begin with the syncopated rhythm and the dance step are different. At
the same time, the whirling occurring during the incorporation, and the use of the centre of the
space generate a completely different dynamic sense. Despite the impression that the
medium's behaviour is spontaneous and involuntary, perhaps caused by some peculiar
modified state of mind, one has to accept that at least the whirling is rather a learned behaviour,
126
a sophisticated body technique belonging to a specific spirit possession tradition. What has to
be emphasised is that, contrary to what one may believe at first sight, the outcome of
possession behaviour is not so much the result of uncontrolled individual psycho-emotional
impulses, but rather the tension between these impulses and the performance of particular
codes of conduct prescribed by specific traditions.
The cultural behavioural codes are so strong that the same medium incorporating the
same spiritual entity will behave in different ways if she is dancing in two cult houses which
follow different orthodoxies. To demonstrate this: the case of Dona Maria Bandeira and her guia
da frente Pau de Fumo176. This medium began to dance in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia of
Margarita Mota in 1966, and in 1993 she also began to dance in the Casa Fanti Ashanti.
Nowadays she usually dances in both cult houses when both ritual calendars allow her to do so.
V27.- Maria Bandeira's incorporation with whirling

14-2-96. Tambor de São Lazaro. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
176 Pau de Fumo is the nickname of a caboclo belonging to the family of Legua Bogi.
127
V28.- Maria Bandeira's incorporation without whirling

24-04-96. Tambor de São Jorge. Casa Fanti Ashanti
Pau de Fumo is an encantado who usually dances holding her skirt with the hand. In
that sense, this behavioural sign does not relate to the incorporation but to personal
characteristic of this encantado, and this is why it is replicated in both examples. However, it
becomes clear that while in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia her incorporation involves whirling,
in the Casa Fanti Ashanti it does not. This is not a coincidence, but it answers to the medium's
knowledge of each cult house orthodoxy. While in the house of Margarita Mota the Caboclo role
is prevalent, in the Casa Fanti Ashanti she has to follow the Nagô role.
In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, we observe that the medium, before she becomes
incorporated, quickly glances at the other mediums. When she realises that all of them have
been already incorporated, and that the Imbarabô sequence is reaching its end, (in fact the
video sequence corresponds to the last song of the Imbarabô), she then experiences the first
symptoms of the incorporation. One is tempted to think that the incorporation is being
determined by her awareness of the ritual moment, rather than by any other fact. Knowing that
it is customary to incorporate before the end of the Imbarabô, and realising that the last song is
being sung, she then starts her incorporation performance which is also deprived of any
whirling. The medium's knowledge of the cult house ritual codes would seem to be the critical
factors to trigger and to determine the behavioural nature of the incorporation. This example
demonstrates the performative dimension of the whirling, but it also suggests the performative
dimension of the whole incorporation event.
Spectacular motor behaviour involving hopping, disequilibrium, trembling, shouting as

often occurs in the Mina de Caboclo "crisis", is usually associated with expression of
idiosyncratic violence or aggression, and its repeated occurrence in ritual context can be
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interpreted as a relaxation of group control (Bastide, 1971; Costa Eduardo, 1948: 95). However,
when such expression of violence becomes ritualised and established as convention, it could
also be interpreted as a particular body technique learned by experience. Hopping, losing
equilibrium, changing facial expression can become gestures the body remembers. I am not
suggesting that the incorporation "crisis" be seen as a staged set of dramatic gestures. Each
incorporation performance is unique, and there is a great deal of spontaneity and variation in
relation to body gestures. However it would seem as if each medium ended up developing a
particular style of incorporation. This of course only becomes apparent after repeated
observation of the same medium during many ceremonies, but despite the apparent lack of
kinetic control existing in the incorporation "crisis", in experienced mediums, it can become a
relatively controlled stylised behaviour.
If the incorporation "crisis" of the Mina de Caboclo is a ritualised sequence of gesture
, rather than a "relaxation of the group control", we could ask ourselves where and when did
this particular behaviour become ritualised. Its striking contrast with the incorporation role in the
Mina Jeje and the Mina Nagô, suggest that we should look for the answer outside the West
African traditions.
The whirling or spinning in the moment of the incorporação is already reported by

Costa Eduardo in the Terecô of Codó. "In the initial moments of possession, the person dances
at a very quick tempo, part of the time in front of the drums, part of the time around the central
pole, whirling and sometimes falling on the floor or over the spectators" (1948: 63). Therefore
the whirling was already associated with the caboclo role in the Terecô ritual set up in the
interior of Maranhão, where as we know the Bantu presence was predominant.
The whirling, as choreographic element, is a frequent dance movement in a particular
type of dances, generically known as danças de roda (circle dances), derived from Congo
Angola traditions. The main choreographic pattern of the dança de roda consists of a circle of
participants, one of them taking the centre of the space and performing a solo, very often
involving whirling, until he or she chooses another participant among the circle who is invited to
take the centre and continue in the same way. For such invitations there are different modalities
of gestures, such as particular steps177, or the most characteristic umbigada178, consisting of a
"pancada com o umbigo" (a stroke with the navel179) performed with a shake of the hips
177 The caxeiras during the Festa do Divino Espírito Santo when they dance individually with
their drums in front of the impérios, the mastro or the altar, they will make a characteristic
genuflection, as a sort of salutation, which is also used to invite the next caxeira to continue.
Could this gesture or step, which has the same inviting functionality as the umbingada, be also
of Angolan origin? The implicit suggestion behind the question is that the caxeiras participation
in the Divino, may have involved Angolan slaves.
178 This gesture is also known as punga or pungada. Punga is a Bantu verbal root meaning "to
select, to choose, to prefer" (Esterman, 1976, II: 49)
179 The danças de roda would be at the origin of the samba de roda, where samba would
derive from the Kimbundo term semba, meaning navel.
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sometimes with explicit sexual connotations. This characteristic dance gesture has been traced
back to Luanda in Angola in dances called semba, and it is reproduced in the Coco dances in
Northeast Brazil, the Carimbô in Belém, and more particularly the Tambor de Crioula, the Lelê
and the Cacuria in Maranhão. (Câmara Cascudo, 1988: 807)
The origins of the Tambor de Crioula are confused but there are suggestions of an
initial link with the Angolan Capoeira. In the Tambor de Crioula of the interior there were cases
reported where the umbigada invitations could turn into real provocation bordering on a kind of
fight where one dancer would try to make the other fall to the floor (Ferretti S., et altri, 1995).
This connection between the danças de roda and the Capoeira reinforces the Bantu origin of
such secular dances. The use of the birimbau instrument in the Capoeira, and the references to
the marimba in the Terecô songs, suggests a Bantu web of influences linking danças de roda,
Capoeira, Tambor de Crioula and Terecô.
In some danças de roda the percussive instruments are predominant. The Coco de
Zambê is a particular modality of the Coco dances where the Zambê is the characteristic
musical instrument. The Zambê is an Angola-derived term to refer to the main drum, a meter or
more in length, cylindrical, with a leather skin in one of the extremities, played by hand by the
drum player who mounts the instrument which hangs from the waist with leather strips.
(Câmara Cascudo, 1988: 807) This Angolan drum resembles very much the main drum of the
Tambor de Crioula, and the tambor de mata used in some Mina cult houses (V04).
The possible influence of the Bantu danças de roda in the Tambor de Mina is not
limited to the whirling. In the Mina there is a standard choreography very similar to the one
executed in the Tambor de Crioula. Although in the Tambor de Mina the umbingada or
pungada is not present, the main choreography is reproduced.
V29.- Circular choreography with whirling dances in the centre

130
The whirling occurs during the solos of dancers in many of the danças de roda like the
Tambor de Crioula and Cacuria and others which despite having European origins, like the
Lelê, were appropriated by the Bantu descendants. My suggestion is that the whirling which is
found in the Mina de Caboclo appeared as a formative gesture (Grimes, 1982) in the Bantu
traditions existing in Maranhão such as the danças de roda, Tambor de Crioula and other
secular and recreational dances, and that the same performers who participated in them began
to replicate the dance gesture within spirit possession ritual contexts like the Terecô and
Pajelança.
In the Baião ceremony performed in the Casa Fanti Ashanti, which is supposed to
reproduce the Baião of the Terreiro do Egito, there is a permanent circular movement of all the
mediums, and as they become possessed they begin to whirl in the centre of the circle, as in
the Mina de Caboclo. In the Brinquedo de Cura as performed in the Mina cult houses, the pajé
also whirls depending on the doutrina, but the whirling does not seem to be associated with the
incorporation (see chapter 6).
To conclude with the analysis of the Mina de Caboclo incorporation role I would like to
make a brief reference to a related phenomena: the induction of possession in inexperienced
mediums by an experienced medium already possessed. This behaviour constitutes a
distinctive mark of the Mina de Caboclo orthodoxy only found in the "new" cult houses.
Interpersonal induction can be more or less obvious. It can be a simple approach while
dancing, not involving physical contact, or it can take more expressive forms involving
prolonged body contact. In these situations, at the psychological level, different degrees of
suggestion and motivation are involved both in the inductor and the induced. The higher the
hierarchical status of the inductor, the more likely the induction is to succeed, although the
attempts may fail sometimes.
The least explicit form of induction has to do with dance. Sometimes the dynamics of a
whirling medium in the middle of her incorporação interfering with the trajectory of another
medium can become a stimulus for the latter to incorporate instantaneously. In this case the
induction does not seem to involve a conscious will of the inductor to succeed. We could label
this form of contagion as involuntary induction. However most of the times induction of
possession involves obvious signs of intentionality in the part of the inductor. An encantado by
means of the dance and body proximity can trigger possession in a medium. In some cult
houses there can exist specific dance choreographies which are specifically performed to
trigger possession. In the Terreiro Yemanja, for instance, there is a dance which consists in a
couple of mediums rotating around a common central axis, one of the dancers, the induced,
walking backwards and the other, the inductor, walking forwards. The oral sound emission
contributes to increase the suggestibility of the induced medium.
131
V30.- Interpersonal induction of the incorporation with dance

10-08-93. Tambor de São Lorenzo. Terreiro Yemanja
However, Pai Itaci and others, usually induce possession by physical contact too. Pai
Itaci normally exerts pressure with his hand on the neck of the medium. In other cult houses
hand pressure can be exerted on different parts of the head. These actions subsequently
provoke the first signs of the incorporação in the induced medium. The neck vertebrae are one
of the most important body pontos de firmeza (firmness points) through where the spiritual
energy is supposed to "enter" the body.
V31.- Interpersonal induction of the incorporation with physical contact

07-12-92. Tambor de Yemanja. Terreiro Yemanja
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This evidence suggests that the cult houses which follow the Caboclo pattern of
incorporação allow different forms of interpersonal induction, sometimes involving dance and
others involving physical contact. Induction by physical contact is also reproduced in the
Pajelança healing techniques (V50) suggesting a possible source of this behaviour.
Summarising the analysis of the incorporation stage presented above, we can

conclude that the incorporation stage in the Tambor de Mina presents three main patterns. This
variation demonstrates that spirit possession behaviour is culturally stylised, and furthermore
that it is patterned according to specific historic cultural traditions. The following table
summarises the main differential characteristics of the three behavioural patterns of
incorporação.
Mina Jeje Mina Nagô Mina Caboclo

Moment of incorporação: Prior to ritual During the Imbarabô After the Imbarabô
Associated gestures: No crisis No crisis Crisis
Standing up Holding skirt Whirling
Silence Silence Sound emission
Interpersonal induction: No No Yes
The incorporation can be quick and unnoticeable involving no "crisis", like in the Jeje
and Nagô roles (CM, CN and CFA), or it can be slower and present more obvious body
alterations or "crisis", like in the Mina de Caboclo role where the individual idiosyncrasy can be
more freely expressed (TDQG, TFD, TY, TRN). However this does not mean that the latter
allow any kind of individual initiative, but on the contrary, despite the spectacle and
individualism, this tradition prescribes very precise behavioural signs which require complex
body techniques such as the whirling. Needless to say, this polarity of behaviours, includes all
sorts of intermediate forms, but suggests that each cult house provides a role pattern which
bears the clear imprint of cultural patterning.
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The polarity between calmness and violence
In describing the nature of possession, most informants establish a distinction between

calm and violent possession. Violence is identified by the mineiros when the medium falls to the
floor, or when the medium interferes and stumbles on other dancers, or when she falls over
members of the audience. Such behaviour is attributed to a violent spirit, or to mediums who
have not been properly prepared.
As we have seen, in the Jeje tradition, the absence of aggression, or any form of violent
kinetic activity, can be traced back to a particular historical tradition originating in the Nesuxwe
cult of Abomey. In the African context, the calmness of the royal voduns served to reinforce at
the religious level certain ideals of aristocracy. Such behavioural patterns have prevailed in the
Casa das Minas through the years, and with time seem to have become a model for the Casa
de Nagô too. In fact, in the two "old" cult houses, the absence of "aggression" in the
encantado's behaviour seems to serve the same purposes as in Benin. In the discourse of the
participants of the two "old" cult houses, the calmness and dignified behaviour of the
encantados is used to legitimate a certain religious aristocracy, a certain sense of belonging to
an elite, which opposes the "new" cult houses where "violent" behaviour occurs. And this
calmness is intimately associated with the nature and social status of the spiritual entities.
Mediums from the Casa de Nagô argue that in this cult house only kings and queens manifest.
The nobility of the spiritual guests is perceived as a great motive of pride, and provides the
symbolic justification for the peaceful and serene attitude of the mediums while incorporated.
The absence of aggression or violence in the oldest cult houses can also have been
favoured by the old age of the mediums, who will be less inclined to behave in a violent way
than a young medium. In the Casa das Minas there is evidence that in the past the calmness
imperative prevailed in the ritual context. However, outside the ceremonies the vodun could
acquire a more aggressive temperament. Nunes Pereira referring to the possession or trance
states of his aunt Dona Ida Alves Barradas, vodunsi of Toi Avrekete, remembers "Violence,
collapses, screams, curses, together with rude words, insults and indiscretions, which when not
possessed by the vodun, she was always unable to utter"180. If such aggressive and violent
behaviour can remind us of Legba or Exu, to whom Averekete is sometimes indirectly
associated, the same author, still referring to her aunt Dona Ida Alves, indicates that during the
vodun's ritual dances, "her presence was impressive and domineering, having nothing to do
with that of the trickster Legba"181. The apparent contrast between the outcome of possession
in non-ritual context and ritual context, further suggests the power of social conditioning in
controlling individual impulses during ritual performance.
180 "Violência, quedas, pranto, imprecações, lado a lado de expressões aleivosas, insultos,
indiscrições que, livre do domínio do vodun, ela sempre era incapaz de emetir" (Pereira, 1979:
80)
181"A sua figura era imponente, dominadora, nada tendo do trapaceiro Legba." (idem.)
134
The Casa Fanti Ashanti provides an interesting example which can help us to relate
what we have been trying to examine in the previous section, mainly the cultural nature of
certain traditions prescribing specific incorporation codes of conduct, with the polarity
calmness-violence. We have seen, in the case of Maria Bandeira, that the incorporation
behaviour was determined by the orthodoxy of each cult house, now we will see that the
orthodoxy of a single cult house can shift from one pattern to the other depending on the ritual
moment in which the incorporation takes place. We know that the Casa Fanti Ashanti follows
very closely the Mina Nagô pattern in the singing structure, and in the incorporation behaviour,
but at the same time it presents certain ambiguity in relation to the virada, which is nothing else
than a second incorporation. The virada in the Casa Fanti Ashanti presents an interesting
contrast with the incorporação. While the incorporation during the Roda de Alauê, is strictly
codified and sober, the virada can present characteristics similar to the Mina de Caboclo
incorporation role, with repeated loss of equilibrium, sound emission, whirling and even fainting.
Normally the viradas will happen after singing for Averekete, and when singing for the caboclos.
On many occasions the virada occurs outside the dance hall, when the mediums are relaxing in
the varanda, and there is no "violent" crisis. However on some occasions it can occur in the
dance hall, often presenting more spectacular motor behaviour. Let's take a look at two
sequences presenting the same medium, Dona Isabel Costa, sub chief of the Casa Fanti
Ashanti, in two different ritual moments. The first sequence corresponds to the first
incorporation during the Imbarabô sequence, and the second to the virada once the ceremony
had warmed up.
V32.- Incorporation of a medium during the Imbarabô sequence

135
V33.- Virada of a medium during the caboclo singing part

In the first sequence Dona Isabel receives her spiritual guide known as Batata, a
nickname which hides his real identity. The incorporation is quick and unnoticeable only marked
by the skirt gesture. In the second sequence Dona Isabel recives, in the virada, the Turkish
encantado Tabajara who joins Juracema and Cabocla Bartira, two of his Turkish relatives, in a
trio dance182. Later, Tabajara is provided with a riding whip marking his noble rank 183, and
confirming the replacement of spiritual entity in the medium. Finally, after a few songs Dona
Isabel experiences a fainting indicating the departure of the encantado.
On many occasions the difference between the incorporation and the virada
corresponds to the logic of the spiritual entities' behaviour. The incorporation during the
Imbarabô which is always calm will coincide with the arrival of the vodun, and the subsequent
virada, when singing for the caboclos, which is often more violent, will coincide with the arrival
of the caboclo, being thus consistent with the behaviours prescribed by the ritual moments and
the stereotyped behaviour of both voduns and caboclos. However this is not always the case,
and the same spiritual entity can incorporate the same medium in very different ways,
182 Tabajara is an encantado of great prestige. He is the chief caboclo, or spiritual guide, of the
Casa Fanti Ashanti, and he usually incorporates the high priest Euclides, but sometimes, like on
this occasion, he incorporates the subchief Dona Isabel Costa. Being Juracema's anniversary
(52 years in Pai Euclides' head), Tabajara and his wife Cabocla Bartira, incorporated in a third
medium, come to the dance hall to honour and to congratulate him.
183 Some encantados, often from the Turkish family, use riding whips which can have some
pieces of coloured cloth hanging from the handle (V33). These encantados are considered
cavaleiros (knights), and the use of the riding whip is a mark of their noble condition. The
caboclo Rio Negro in Dona Zefa (TRN) uses also a riding whip which is ritually prepared to
induce possession in other mediums. These ritual objects constitute identity marks of specific
encantados or of broad categories of encantados.
136
according to the moment in which the manifestation occurs. A caboclo who manifests during
the Imbarabô will behave like a vodun, and if he comes after the Imbarabô as a result of a
virada he can provoke a more violent incorporação. Pai Euclides argues that the caboclos
when incorporating during the Imbarabô behave in a calm way because they are intimidated by
the presence of the more prestigious voduns. However I have witnessed several occasions,
and the video sequence shows one, in which no voduns did manifest during the Imbarabô, and
nonetheless all the caboclos who arrived did so in a calm way. Therefore, in this particular
case, it is the ritual moment and not the category of spiritual entity which determines the
behaviour.
It seems that in this cult house the social enforcement of specific constraining codes of
conduct during the Imbarabô, is compensated by a greater margin for individual expression
during the virada. If the Mina Nagô incorporation role applies for the manifestation of the first
spiritual entity received by a medium, the Mina de Caboclo incorporation role applies when
dealing with the second and subsequent incorporations. This strategy of compromise between
the calmness prescribed by the group control and the violence generated by the individual
expression, in this particular case is separated into two different ritual parts. This contrasted
variation experienced by the same mediums in the same ceremony, once more confirms that
spirit possession roles, "violent" behaviour included, are codified by specific orthodoxies and
particular ritual moments.
"Violence" can obviously be the result of pathological disorders such as hysteria, but
such cases are rare. More often violent behaviour is the result of the medium's inexperience, in
which case we have a "wild possession" or santo bruto. Another circumstance which may result
in "violent" behaviour is when the medium is supposed to be punished by the spiritual entity.
The medium can inflict upon herself painful beatings, and this attitude will be interpreted as the
vodun's punishment for some transgression made by the medium.
More often "violence" responds to mythological or symbolic imperatives. As Bastide
reminds us in relation to the Bahian Candomblé, a manifestation by Ogun can be violent, "mais
ici la violence de la crise est calquée sur un modèle mythique. Car Ogun est un dieu violent."
(1958: 173-202). "Violence" is then a ritual imperative, like eroticism with Oxum. In the Tambor
de Mina, the voduns and orixás are usually considered to be the calmest and more sober
spiritual entities. The mythological imperative of aggression or violence would apply to other
categories of spiritual entities.
Bastide (ibid.), in relation to Bahia, also mentions the Exus as a category of spiritual
entities who impose a violent behaviour, but in the traditional Mina incorporation by the Exus is
rare. Nonetheless it has to be noted that the proliferation of manifestations of Exus, and their
female counterparts the Pombagiras, seems to be an increasing phenomenon in São Luis
137
which may have to do with the increasing popularity of the Umbanda184. In the traditional Mina,
the spiritual entity who plays the role of trickster, libertine or joker, is the farrista, always a
caboclo who stays the longest in the medium's head after the drumming-dancing session has
finished, and who enjoys drinking and partying. Such a figure because of the nature of his
activities which usually take place outside the dance hall can present sometimes obscene,
disorderly or violent behaviour. In the situations where drinking is involved that becomes more
likely to happen.
Other families of encantados, like the Surrupiras or the caboclos from the family of
Legua Bogi, are also considered to be violent. However we confirm once more that there is no
total consensus regarding the behaviour of spiritual entities, and the degree of violence
expressed in ritual performance will significantly vary from one cult house to the other according
to their particular notion of the spiritual entity. The next two video sequences provide evidence
of this phenomenon.
V34.- Manifestation of Legua in the Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia

184In relation to the problematic of "violence" in the Pernambucan Xangô see the interesting
work of J. J. Carvalho (1994).
138
V35.- Manifestation of the line of Legua in the Tenda Rio Negro

In the first sequence from the Margarita Mota cult house we observe one of the senior
mediums, Dona Lozina, before and after being incorporated by her guia Seu Legua Bogi Bua.
The incorporation is marked by the crossing of one of her necklaces under her armpit. However
the dance is quite uniform and very elegant in its tempo; sobriety and a certain lack of
enthusiasm are the general features of his attitude.
In the second sequence recorded in the Tenda Riu Negro, we see the manifestation of
a line of Leguas and Surrupiras which in this cult house are praised together. Despite being a
similar category of spiritual entities, the contrast with the first example is considerable. In this
cult house the family of Legua is considered to be rough and furious. They dance with closed
fists and open arms, they shout, and repeatedly try to hit their heads against the drums, and
other mediums have to stand in front of the instruments to prevent any harm. Although this may
be a ritualised behaviour , sometimes the mediums can really inflict serious beatings on
themselves. The medium repeatedly beating her chest is an indication. "Violence" is expressed,
not so much as aggression towards the others, but as a demonstration of resistance to pain.
From this illustration we see that "violent" behaviour responds to notions of

temperament associated with specific categories of spiritual entities, varying between cult
houses. To explain this diversity, of which mediums are not unaware, local exegesis resorts in
some instances to the concept of linha. The same spiritual entity can manifest in the dance hall
through different linhas, and according to the linha he comes through, he will have specific
characteristics.
For example, according to Dona Lozina, the vodun Seu Legua Bogi Bua will come in
the Casa das Minas through a linha Jeje. There he sings in African language, dances with a
139
specific rhythm, smokes a pipe, and does not drink alcohol185. Yet in the Casa Margarita Mota,
he comes through the linha Nagô or mata, he sings in Portuguese, dances with another rhythm,
and can drink alcohol, although never in the dance hall. Dona Lozina concludes: "They can
come through various lines, they change from one line to the other (...) however they are the
same"186. The encantado can also change and transform his appearance and behaviour
according to the medium's personal linha. For example, Caboclinho who in the Mina
traditionally manifests as an old spiritual entity, manifests as a child in Dona Delfina, a medium
from the Margarita Mota house. To a certain extent, each medium's head determines particular
behaviour of the spiritual entities. This fluidity and transformative nature of the spirits contrasts
with other notions of the vodun as an immutable entity presenting always the same character
regardless of the medium. The former notion seems predominant in the "new" cult houses,
while the latter seems predominant in the "old" cult houses.
The idea that the same encantado manifests through different linhas is a device which
allows for all sorts of permutations, and different expressions at the behavioural ritual level. This
reaches a degree of high complexity in the case of Dona Elzita and her spiritual guide
Surrupirinha (belonging to the Surrupira family). In Dona Elzita, Surrupirinha can manifest in the
corrente da mina, in the corrente do boi187, or in the corrente de Fulupa. The same spiritual
entity manifests in the same medium in different ways according to the singing linha or ritual
context in which he is invoked. The song content is the main distinctive element in the different
Surrupirinha roles, but other signs are encoded in the costumes. For example Surrupirinha, as
a caboclo in the Mina, dances with toalha and usually wears sandals, yet as an Indian he does
not wear toalha and dances barefoot. This intricate dynamic between Surrupirinha and Dona
Elzita proved difficult to explore in depth due to the secrecy which surrounds these issues in
this cult house.
But to return to the mythological imperative of "violent" behaviour we can not conclude
this section without mentioning the Indian spirits which are usually considered the most brave
and aggressive entities. In this regard there seems to be consensus among all cult houses. I
comment on the Indian spirits in more detail in chapter 5. Meanwhile this sequence documents
the virada pra indio (the transition to the Indian ritual segment) in the Terreiro Fé em Deus. Two
Indian Fulupas188 manifest when the singing of their linha is performed.
185 Dona Deni, from the Casa das Minas, denies that Seu Legua is Jeje. According to her, this
encantado is Cabinda, and he does not dance in the Casa das Minas, although he used to
come as a friend manifested in mediums from Codó who paid visits to the house during the Sao
Sebastião feasts. Seu Legua Boji Bua is sometimes confused with the Jeje vodun Poli Bogi,
and this may be Dona Lozina's case, but Poli Boji is a vodun belonging to the Dambirá family
who has no relation with Seu Legua.
186 "Eles podem vir por várias linhas, mudam de linhas (...) mas é o mesmo."
187 When Surrupirinha manifests through the corrente do boi (the bull's line) he is in charge or
organising the Bumba boi celebrations. In this line he is called the vaqueiro do gado.
188 For detailed description of the Fulupas see M. Ferretti (1996).
140
V36.- Manifestation of Indian spirits during the virada do tambor

The Indians, conceived as "savages" (uncivilised) and dangerous warriors, present

behaviour expressing such conceptual stereotype. Contrary to the Mina caboclo, the Fulupa
Indians do not use toalha, and in sometimes they remove their ritual necklaces. Their dance is
agitated (pulada), they undo their hair which hides the medium's face conveying a fearful
aspect, they shout and yell unintelligible sounds, and they can even perform fakirism actions
such as lying on a bed of thorny palm tree leaves 189. This behaviour is explained at the
symbolic level as the tucun thorny leaves (espinheiro) are considered to be the residence of the
Fulupas.
Another category of "violent" spiritual entities is the Akóssi. Conceived as sick spirits,
they are dangerous for the medium who incorporates them, this danger is expressed in the
dramatic ritual gestures of their manifestation which are considered a form of aggression to the
medium's body. This particular possession role is analysed in chapter 5.
We have seen that violence in possession, often perceived as absence of group control
and expression of individual aggressive instincts, is mainly determined by the three factors of
variation mentioned above: the cult house ritual orthodoxy, the experience of the medium, and
the category of spiritual entity involved in possession. This suggests that the "violence" often
associated with the Mina de Caboclo, as opposed to the calmness attributed to the Mina Nagô
or Jeje, is to a great extent ritualised behaviour.
189 In the course of the drumming-dancing session, the Fulupas will discreetly retire to an
adjacent room, and lie on top of a bunch of thorny tucun leaves for a few seconds. At this
moment they are covered by a white toalha, and after some minutes they return to the dance
hall. In the Tambor the Canjerê ceremonies celebrated in the Casa Fanti-Ashanti, also involving
manifestation of Indian spiritual entities (see chapter 5), some mediums used to endure fire
ordeals, such as placing their hands into boiling oil.
141
Outside the dance hall: post drumming behaviour
The drumming-dancing ritual segments of public ceremonies are considered to be part

of the encantado's "work" (trabalho) or duty. In this context, they have to behave according to
established patterns which normally tend to hide or to minimise the real character or
temperament of a spiritual entity. During the drumming-dancing ritual segment, the encantados
are expected to behave in a uniform stereotyped way. However, after the encerramento or
encostar closing segments analysed in chapter 2, once the drumming-dancing ritual segment
finishes, the encantados still remain for a while incorporated in their mediums. To establish an
analogy, one could say that the post-drumming situation corresponds to the off-stage situation
in which the actors, once the play has finished, come out to the theatre hall to be greeted by
friends in the audience, the only difference being that, in the Mina, the actors continue to
assume their fictional roles after the end of the play.
The behaviour presented by encantados during the post drumming segment is quite
similar to that when they retire to relax in the middle of a drumming-dancing session. However,
it is after the drumming part when the encantados present a more relaxed attitude, when they
can speak and express themselves in a less constricted way, and when their psychological
characters can be more easily identified. As we have seen, contrary to the Nagô orixás from
the Bahian Candomblé, the voduns and caboclos in the Tambor de Mina sing and have all the
normal speech faculties. The encantados may use a particular tone of voice to communicate
the new identity of the medium, and the caboclos in particular seem to have developed a
vocabulary of their own. To eat is called "encher o buxo" or "quebrar o buxo", water is called
"bonanza" or "abundância", and food may be called "vômito". There are also specific ways in
which the spiritual entity refers to the medium such as "minha mulher" (my wife), "meu cavalo"
(my horse), and in more self-conscious encantados mounting female mediums even "minha
egua" (my mare)190. Such linguistic formalities as regards the use of the persons of the verb
(the encantado talking in first person, and referring to the medium in third person) are critical to
mark and express the spirit possession occurrence. The encantado's interlocutors are
expected to respond accordingly, and these linguistic conventions undoubtedly contribute to the
role creation.
The drumming-dancing segment and the post-drumming segment constitute two
different domains of behaviour, and one would venture to say that they constitute two different
modalities of the spirit possession role, or even two different roles. The toalha is worn over the
shoulders and relaxed talking, joking, drinking or smoking activities are dominant. The two
following sequences correspond to two post drumming situations in the Casa Fanti Ashanti.
190The matrimonial and horse imagery to refer to the relationship between medium and deity is
common in West African and Afro-American cults (Lewis, 1986), and besides possible sexual
connotations, it expresses a power relationship of dominion of the deity over the human.
142
V37.- Singing, smoking and saída during the post-drumming segment

V38.- Saída and festive dances during the post-drumming segment

The first sequence corresponds to the Tambor São Jorge held the 24-04-96, which has
illustrated the praising segment of the encerramento in chapter 2. These short images show the
mediums relaxing after the obrigação. It is two o'clock in the morning and the mediums are
tired. Some converse, some sing and others smoke. On other occasions, like in the Tambor de
Juracema (V38), the encantados, in a more festive mood, can resume their singing and
dancing, but already free of the ritual constraints of the drumming-dancing segment. When they
143
sing or dance they do so always outside the dance hall and never with the drums. In the
Tambor de Juracema the drum had continued until dawn and some caboclos remained
incorporated until midday in an animated party.
The use of alcohol during the manifestation is a controversial issue. The most orthodox
cult houses censure the use of spirits by mediums. D. Deni says that the voduns are not like
humans, if they did the same things humans do, like drinking or eating they would lose their
credibility191. Together with a moral censure against alcoholic intoxication lies the notion that
significant differences must be made explicit among voduns and humans. In Dona Elzita and
Dona Zefa's houses the encantados are only allowed to drink herbal tea, coffee, lemonade and
even an occasional glass of sweet wine. D. Elzita says that when the medium drinks she does
not know anymore whether she is affected by the spirit or the alcohol. At the same time, if the
use of alcohol were to be allowed, the public would doubt, and say that there was no
transcendent force acting upon the medium. This doubt would bring discredit to the religion.
In other cult houses the caboclos are known to like drinking and they are allowed to do
so. However in our domain of study, the encantados under no circumstance are allowed to
drink in the dance hall. They may drink on the varanda and then return to the dance hall, but
this is not too common.
The consumption of tobacco by the encantados is usually associated with the
Amerindian healing practices and the Santidades ceremonies (Vainfas, 1995), but smoking is a
common practice in African religious traditions too. From the Angolan people who seem to have
been responsible for the introduction of dyamba192 (Cannabis sativa) in Brazil (Röhrig
Assunção, 1995: 278), to the Jeje voduns, smoking is a widespread habit among both male and
female spiritual entities. The caboclos smoke charuto (cigar) or cachimbo (pipe), and some
voduns in the Casa das Minas smoke cachimbo. In the Casa das Minas the tobacco of the
voduns, sometimes kept in the shrines room, is a substance regarded as having special power,
and can be burnt to purify a person or a physical space.
191 In the Casa das Minas the voduns do not eat or drink while they are incorporated. The
vodunsis will avoid eating immediately before the ritual. However they may have some food
after the ceremonies.
192 As reported by Dona Deni, dyamba seems to have been used on some occasions for the
preparation of remedies in the interior of Maranhão. It is one of the substances which may
have been used in initiation processes to provoke modified states of mind in the mediums.
However nowadays, in the cult houses considered in this study the use of this herb was denied
by all informants, and I never saw its use.
144
V39.- Vodun smoking a pipe

To continue the examination of the post-drumming segment let's view the following
video sequence corresponding to the end of the fifth night of the ceremony cycle of Sant'Ana in
Dona Elzita's house. She is incorporated by her spiritual guide Surrupirinha, and as suggested
above the peculiar tone of voice, rougher and more drawling than the one of Mãe Elzita, is
noticeable.
V40.- Surrupirinha's behaviour during the post-drumming segment, and saídas

145
The post drumming segment provides an ideal social interaction space for the high
priestess, incorporated by her spiritual guide, to teach the mediums different aspects of the
religion. The post-drumming situation becomes a learning environment. In this sequence Dona
Elzita asks for some material help required to organise a ritual next day, and then she proceeds
with some liturgical orientations.
"You are not too many to make this ritual (Furá) . I won't make it on Sunday because
Sunday is the entry into the Borá (an Indian linha), and I cannot mix one thing with the
other. I make the Furá Saturday, and I do the drum change (Borá) on Sunday.
Otherwise I would do the drum change (on Saturday), I would make the Furá on
Sunday and close the ceremonies on Monday. But you cannot close the ceremonies
just after a ritual (Furá). Therefore I make the Furá on Saturday, and I do the drum
change and close the ceremonies on Sunday, and everybody can go home and rest,
every caboclo can go to his bush, hide in the waters..."193.
The learning environment does not inhibit a relaxed atmosphere where humour and
jokes easily find their way. The post drumming segment allows also for the encantados to leave
their messages for their mediums. This communication strategy uses a third party to transmit
the words of the encantado to the medium once she recovers her normal state. In this case
Surrupirinha, addresses a message to Dona Elzita, the medium herself. He complains about a
fan that had been recently installed in the dance hall over the drums. He argues that it is
dangerous for the dancers. I translate the discourse
"Listen I tell you something, I am telling it now and tomorrow. Tell Dona Elzita that I
don't want this (the fan) turning over me. This is going to harm somebody. If she has to
install this here, why doesn't she place it in the middle? If it were in the middle it would
turn all over. But she puts it here, if you dance there (...?) the wind comes here (...) I
like the wind, but not here blowing over me. I like the wind in the bush, in the forest, but
this wind here I don't like it. The wind in the bush does not harm anybody"194.
193 "E a vocês todos que são pouquinhos para fazer a obrigação (Furá). Eu não vou fazer
domingo porque domingo é a entrada no Borá, então não posso misturar uma coisa com a
outra. Eu tiro o Furá sábado, e viro tambor domingo, que se não fosse isso eu virava o tambor,
eu tirava o domingo o Furá, e fechava segunda. Porque não se pode fechar o tambor em cima
de uma obrigação. Então eu tiro sabado, viro domingo, fecho domingo, e todo o mundo pode ir
pra as suas casas dormir a vontade, cada caboclo pra as suas matas, ficar escondido nas
àguas".
194 "Olha eu digo uma coisa pra vocês, eu tou dizendo agora e amanhã. Diz para Dona Elzita
que eu não quero isso rolando em cima de mim, isso vai fazer o mal, se ela tem que botar isso
bem aqui, porque não bota no meio?, que se estiver no meio ele gira tudo. Mas bota bem aqui,
se dança para lá...(geração do vento aqui ?)...Eu gosto do vento, não é aqui me rolando, eu
gosto do vento é lá na mata, na floresta, mas esse vento aí eu não gosto, o vento da mata não
faz mal pra ninguém".
146
Finally the post drumming segment is a propitious environment for counselling, and on
some occasions members of the religious community or clients approach the caboclos to
receive a blessing, a passe or to get a diagnosis and prescription for a variety of health related
problems (see chapter 4). In this case, Surrupirinha is indicating to a medium how to apply a
remedy to the hand. On other occasions he may prescribe a list of ingredients to prepare a
bath or other suitable medicine. The caboclo in the dance hall are supposed to be working,
fulfilling an obligation for the good of human kind, but the real work of the caboclo generally
occurs outside the dance hall with counselling and healing activities.
The saída role
Gradually the mediums regain their normal state at their discretion. In some of the
"new" cult houses like in the terreiros of Dona Elzita, Margarita Mota, and Dona Zefa there
seems to be an important difference between the encostar and the encerramento situations.
After the encostar many mediums remain incorporated for a while and their saídas occur at
intervals. On the other hand, the last night of a ceremony cycle all the saídas occur
simultaneously following that of the high priestess shortly after the encerramento praises
described above.
As shown in the two examples of the Casa Fanti Ashanti video sequences, the
behaviour at the saída is usually quite unnoticeable. It suffices to cover the head with the toalha
to experience the departure of the encantado. If the toalha was the element which fixed the
encantado in the medium's body during the incorporation, the gradual opening of the toalha in
the encerramento symbolises the inverse operation, the encantado liberates the medium's body
from its influence. When the drums stop playing the toalha remains on the medium's shoulders
until it finally reaches the head, and becomes a mask to hide the departure. In South Benin, the
vodunsi usually cover their head with the avo (piece of cloth) at the moment of the vodun's
arrival, and although I have no evidence of the fact, it would not be strange that with the
departure of the vodun a symmetric gesture was reproduced. The whole complex of the toalha
in relation to the spirit possession process as we have seen has clear West African origins.
After the saída the mediums seem to wake up from sleep, they may look confused,
dazed, bewildered, or just a bit slow in movement. Ritual necklaces are removed and the
mediums retire to change into their everyday clothes.
On some occasions, during the saída the toalha element is not even necessary and the
medium just experiences a sudden shock, a brief convulsion as if shaken by an electrical
discharge, and recovers her senses. Other times an assistant may apply some hand pressure
147
to the forehead or neck, or blow in the medium's ears to wake her up 195. The saída can
sometimes be experienced by a group of mediums whose encantados decide to leave together.
The saída, in any case, seems to normally happen from a sitting position, as opposed to the
incorporation which usually happens in a standing up position.
In many occasions the encantados accompany their departure with singing as we have
seen with Surrupirinha in Dona Elzita196 (V40). In this case the saída involves singing activity
accompanied by torso and head rotation. She does not cover the head with the toalha but
covers her face with the lençol. She removes the necklaces and continues with the progressive
slow down of the singing until it ends up in a loud scream or yell (brado) followed by brief
fainting which marks the precise moment of the saída. This brado is symmetric to the one
usually accompanying the incorporation of the caboclo. The brado or oral sound emission could
also be conceived as the exit or exhalation of the spirit through the breath of the medium. The
attendants which follow the process attentively shake the toalha over Dona Elzita to wake her
up from her faint. The wind provoked by the cloth can be seen as a means to make the medium
recover more quickly but it also has a symbolic efficacy. The encantado, conceived as ethereal
substance, invisible wind, breath or vapour, is sent away by the toalha's shaking gesture. The
wind goes with the wind, the wind of the bush of which Surrupirinha spoke above. It is to be
noted that the saída of the high priestess involves more ceremonial than the ones of other
mediums who take less time in recovering from the brief fainting.
195 In the Candomblé oral formulas whispered in the ears, accompanied by hand pressure on
the body are used to wake up the medium.
196 The song corresponding to the video sequence (V40) mentions the lagoa do Juncal (the
reeds lagoon) where the caboclos are enchanted in reeds. This encantaria is associated with
the gentil Dom Antonio de Austria, also known as Rei do Juncal (the reeds king), chief of the
Bastos branch of the Turkish family.
148
149
Chapter 4: The medium's articulation of personal spiritual identity
Two case studies
In this chapter I want to shift the focus of our attention from the ritual domain to a larger
temporal span encompassing the medium's entire career. Based on two case studies I first
analyse the process by which a medium approaches the cult and is recruited as a dancer, and
the concurrent articulation of a new personal identity informed by the symbolic and ritual
association with a discrete number of spiritual entities, expressed in the form of names and
particular spirit possession behavioural roles, which I propose to call the personal spiritual
identity197. The medium sense of self is open and dynamic. The persona's identity is
formulated through a growing accumulative process of new personalities (Goldman, 1987;
Augras, 1988). I argue that this articulation of a new personal identity based on a structured
accumulation of names and roles, can be analysed and classified, in the first instance, in
relation to the number of spiritual entities associated with each medium. We will see that in the
"old" cult houses mediums receive from one to three spiritual entities, while in the "new" cult
houses mediums receive a larger number of spiritual entities. This difference has its
implications at the ritual level and explains the phenomenon of the virada which constitutes a
distinctive feature of the Mina de Caboclo. This polarity between a small and a large number of
spiritual entities associated with a medium, which is determined by cult house orthodoxies, can
be historically traced back on the one hand to the West African tradition where a medium is
possessed by a single vodun or orixá, and on the other, to the Bantu and Amerindian healing
traditions where a medium can be possessed by a plurality of spiritual entities. Therefore, I
further suggest that the multiple or plural articulation of personal identity expressed in the
variation of spirit possession roles, which characterises the Mina de Caboclo, is closer to the
Cura ideology than to the Mina Nagô or Mina Jeje ideology. This aspect is developed further in
chapter 6 where I analyse the Brinquedo de Cura ritual as performed in some Tambor de Mina
cult houses, trying to identify the main ritual characteristics and their historical antecedents.
Kardecist Spiritism is considered as another conceptual ensemble which has contributed to the
predominance of the plural personal spiritual identity.
Our two case studies also illustrate different diagnosis and treatment processes
involved during the initial recruitment stage when the healing function of the cult is
predominant. These different techniques and interpretative strategies once more suggest a
197 The Mina devotees, and most especially the mediums who periodically experience
occurrences of spirit possession, integrate into their dynamic articulation of self and personal
identity (Berger, 1972: 120; Berger & Luckmann, 1976: 228) a series of new variables
corresponding to the identities of the spirits they incorporate. These spiritual entities with whom
the medium is associated, become an exclusive feature of the person, and therefore a
component of personal identity. As the nature of this component is conceived as being some
sort of spiritual agency, I propose to call this particular domain of personal identity, the personal
spiritual identity.
150
difference between the "old" cult houses, especially the Casa das Minas, and the Mina de
Caboclo. The use of spirit possession in relation to the healer's role also presents relevant
differences which will further help to distinguish between different traditions coexisting in the
Tambor de Mina.
The first case history is Dona Rita Prates who danced with the vodun Bedigá in the
Casa das Minas between 1941 and 1989, when she died. The second case relates the story of
Antonia, a young medium from the terreiro of Mãe Elzita. In Dona Rita's case the cause of the
initial conflict is attributed to the vodun himself, in Antonia's the cause is attributed to the spirit
of a dead man who must be exorcised and substituted by new spiritual entities. These are two
different symbolic interpretations of the initial conflict, two different diagnoses and treatments
which to a certain extent may indicate the existence of two different magico-religious traditions
within the Tambor de Mina. In both cases the desired ultimate end of the process is the healing,
to re-establish equilibrium to the original conflict, although this sometimes may not be achieved.
The healing in both cases is operated through the construction of a new relationship of the
individual with the world of spirits, which is mediated through the nomination of specific spiritual
entities identified as the personalities operating and expressing themselves in spirit possession
behaviour. The case of Dona Rita is an example of a medium whose personal spiritual identity
is constructed around a single vodun, while the case of Antonia is an example of a medium
whose personal spiritual identity is constructed around a plurality of spiritual entities. By
associating names with the experience of particular behaviour, the medium gradually articulates
a sense of identity which encompasses a plural notion of person, where the names of his or her
personal encantados constitute complementary parts of a pluralistic and dynamic identity. Thus
the naming of deities in the initiation therapy process constitutes an orienting device which
influences future conceptual associative activity in the medium's mind, because names are
referents of spiritual identities with gender, age, family, origin, character, and of course, ritual
behaviour. In the ritual context, this naming results to a certain extent in culturally patterned
behaviour. To identify and name the spiritual entities belonging to a medium, the cult chief or
the healer has different alternatives which are selected according to circumstances. These
different strategies however seem to answer to different cultural sources or traditions.
Dona Rita case history
Dona Rita was born in Rosário, in the interior of Maranhão. She was the mother of
Dona Deni, my main informant in the Casa das Minas. When Dona Rita was 36 years old, her
husband ran away with another woman taking all her money, and she was left alone with four
small children. It was during this stressful period that she began to experience the first
symptoms. The first "crisis" started with Dona Rita having visual hallucinations. She was in a
field with her sister, and she alone began to see a crowd of people approaching. When they
came back home, Dona Rita experienced her first episode of unconsciousness. As reported by
151
Dona Deni, "That was it, when she got home she vanished. We had to resort to a young spiritist
to wake her up"198. From that moment she had recurrent "crises". She would disappear from
the house for days, wandering in the bush and not remembering where she had been. When
experiencing such episodes, she would start talking a language nobody understood and behave
in peculiar ways. She would call herself Sonfon, a name nobody had heard before. Dona Deni
explicitly mentioned the behaviour, the language and the name, emphasising the last item, as
the essential changes which configured the new personality of her mother. Everybody thought
she had gone mad, and the family even considered the possibility of taking her to a psychiatric
hospital. Instead she was taken to a curador, who said that her case was not a mental disease.
Dona Deni reports the words the curador told Dona Rita's sister, who had accompanied her to
the healing ceremony.
"Your sister is not mad, she has nothing of madness, she has no brain sickness. I won't
cure her from anything because she has nothing. What she has belongs to the Mina
spirits. I don't know how to work with those spirits, I can't do anything for her. The only
way is to take her to the city. There in the city, there are people, there are places where
they have Mina spirits. Those people know how to deal with these things, I don't"199
According to Dona Deni, at that time nobody in the family knew what the Mina was.
Nonetheless, Dona Rita's grandmother was African, and it is said that she had a box with ritual
objects which she ordered to be destroyed before she died (Ferretti, 1996). Dona Rita's mother
was herself a bit of a curadora in Rosario. The family had also some friends like Dona Porfira,
a curadora who danced Mina in a terreiro of Vô Severa in São Luis. It was Dona Porfira who
apparently indicated Vô Severa as a person who could help Dona Rita. These facts suggest
that although Dona Rita or Dona Deni may not have known what the Mina was at the time,
close members of their social network did.
Dona Rita's mother did not want her daughter to go to the city, but around 1935, Dona
Rita and Dona Deni moved to São Luis. Dona Rita began to work as a cook in a casa de
branco, (house of whites). She attended a Spiritism session where she was given a passe200.
Next day she woke up with her neck very inflamed. A friend of hers from work, took her to
198 "Aí pronto, quando ela chegou em casa não soube mais dela. Pra ela acordar foi
justamente esse moço, que ele era espírita, foi que acordou ela".
199 "Sua irmã não é louca, ela não tem nadinha de loucura, ela não tem doença nenhuma no
cêrebro, eu não vou curar ela de nada porque ela não tem nada. Isso dela aí, isso é povo de
Mina. Eu não sei lidar com esse povo, eu não posso fazer nada pra ela. Só se vocês levar ela
lá pra cidade. Lá na cidade tem gente, tem lugar onde tem povo de Mina. Esse povo é que
sabe lidar com essas coisas, eu não sei'.
200 Healing and preventive ritual technique widely used by curadores and mineiros. The hands
of the healer (possessed or not) move with different gestures close to the patient's body
effecting a vibration or transference of beneficial fluids by which the negative or evil forces,
responsible for physical or spiritual conflicts, are dismissed. It is used to solve problems of
feitiço, encosto, olho grande and others.
152
another spiritist, Seu Napoleão. When this well known healer saw Dona Rita, he did not allow
her to come close to him. From a distance, he diagnosed once more that the problem had to be
dealt in a Mina cult house, yet before she left he cured her neck inflammation, which according
to him, had been provoked by the wrong-doing of the previous spiritist healer. Seu Napoleão
performed a new passe, and the inflammation disappeared. It was only after these frustrated
attempts that, in 1936, Dona Rita was sent to the Casa das Minas recommended by a
washerwoman friend.
When Dona Rita arrived for the first time in the Casa das Minas, there was a vodunsi in
the back of the corridor, sitting in the kitchen, who when she saw Dona Rita exclaimed: "See, I
told you that before I died another would come. She has come"201. This was Norberta, a
vodunsi who received the vodun Bedigá. It was this vodun that Dona Rita received, once
Norberta died. This announcement of Norberta could be seen as a first premonition which may
have affected subsequent decisions regarding the identification of Dona Rita's vodun.
She had an interview with Mãe Andresa and Norberta, who listened to her story but did
not recognise the name by which the vodun identified himself. So they sent her to the terreiro
do Cutim of Noemi Fragoso which was from a different "nation", the Cabinda202. Noemi gave a
herbal bath contained in a crystal bottle to Dona Rita and asked her to come back in a few
days. But when Dona Rita went out of the terreiro, while waiting for the tramway, she
experienced a new episode and she smashed the bottle on the railways. When she realised
what she had done she became very ashamed and would not dare to return to Dona Noemi.
Next day, following the advice of her washerwoman friend, she went back to the Casa das
Minas. She explained the situation to Mãe Andresa. At this point, Mãe Andresa went to fetch a
small crystal bottle and said to Dona Rita to mix its content in water and to have a bath. She
also advised Dona Rita not to go to other cult houses and to come back to report the progress
in a few days.
Dona Rita did as she was told and that week she did not experience any episode.
When she returned to the Casa das Minas she was given a new dose of herbal bath, and It
was then that she was invited to attend the public ceremonies. Since then she stopped having
her episodes. "It was all for the better. She became calm. She attended all public ceremonies,
because she was very happy for her improvement. It disappeared. Never again did she
experience a new episode"203
201 "Olha, eu disse que antes de eu morrer chegava uma. Chegou!"

202 It is to be noted that in the past the Mina houses would not accept any medium in their cult,
and if they thought that the vodun or orixá of the medium belonged to a particular "nation", they
would generally send her to the appropriate cult house. In the "new" cult houses, this practice is
now lost and the selectivity, if there is any, is less strict.
203 "Foi uma melhora pra a gente. Aí foi que ela se calmou. Toda festa vinha, porque ela foi
muito alegre porque não teve nunca mais, desapareceu, nunca mais ela teve nada."
153
At the beginning Dona Rita approached the Casa das Minas looking for a healing
treatment. She did not dance, nor did she participate in the religious activities. She only
attended public ceremonies as a spectator. It was not until she moved to live in the Casa das
Minas that she began to learn all the complexities of the ceremony cycle, all the preparations
and internal rites which were involved. It was her participation in the daily activities of the cult
house which brought her progressive learning. Dona Rita had incorporations but she did not
know the identity of the spiritual entity causing the manifestations, because the experienced
vodunsi did not say anything. She only began to dance when her original conflict was solved.
Antonia case history
Mãe Elzita told me the case story of one of her filhas de santo, whom we will call
Antonia. When Antonia was treated by Elzita for the first time, "she came with a serious
perturbation from a spirit. (...) She got a spiritual irradiation from a person who had just died
close to aunt Filomena's house. The girl gave a party, the neighbour had died, and she, having
her body open, got the influence"204. Antonia was brought to Dona Elzita's terreiro. "The girl
smelt so bad that you would have said she had something, a wound or something (...) her eye
was all white, her foot could only walk with the heel "205. Antonia was in very bad condition and
people thought she was going to die. She took a bath prepared by Dona Elzita, and then "the
influence of the spirit incorporated the girl"206. Dona Elzita at that time was still quite
inexperienced as cult house chief, and had a lot of trouble dealing with this case. Antonia spent
some weeks in the terreiro being fed and treated not only by Dona Elzita, but most especially by
Dona Elzita's spiritual guide Surrupirinha who was in charge of preparing different treatments or
remedios (herbal baths, ointments, infusions..) which were regularly applied to the patient.
"Finally that thing came out of her. But because Surrupirinha found a spiritual line
belonging to Ondina207, what did he do?. He removed from her the spirit's part, and brought to
her the Ondina part, to stop the spirit having that force over her"208. Nonetheless the healing is
a gradual process. After the evil spirit was expelled and the new spiritual entities were called to
replace it, Antonia was already walking and eating but she did not speak at all. Among the
community there were doubts regarding her total recuperation. Before the start of the Tambor
204 "Ela vem por meio de uma perturbação muito grande de espírito (...) Ela primeiro pegou
uma irradiação espiritual de uma pessoa que tinha falecido perto da casa de titia Filomena.
Uma festa que a menina fez, e o vizinho tinha falecido, e ela com o corpo aberto pegou essa
influência."
205 "Essa menina botava um mal cheiro que você dezia que ela estava com alguma coisa, uma
ferida ou cualquer coisa... o olho dela ficava branquinho, o pé dela so andava no calcanhar"
206 "A influência do espírito encarnou nessa menina"
207 Ondina is a line of caboclos, not spirits of the dead, who usually manifest in the context of
Spiritism table sessions.
208 "Aí foi saindo aquilo dela. Mas como Surrupirinha achou uma corrente que pertencia a
Ondina, o que ele fez? Foi afastando a parte espírita, e foi puxando a parte Ondina para ela,
para que o espírito não tivesse mais aquela força de tomar conta dela".
154
de Conceição, the day of Santa Luzia in December, Surrupirinha joined Elzita at dawn, "I don't
know what he did, he asked for a glass, a spoon, I don't know, and called her. He took her to
the peji and gave her a remedy, and let it happen"209. When Surrupirinha left Dona Elzita, late
in the evening, Antonia was already speaking210. After this new healing session she began to
develop her mediumship.
Mãe Elzita summarises the therapy process: "First he (Surrupirinha) expelled, right?,
then he kept waiting for the incorporation, and she began to speak. She was well again. He
began to make the calling (puxada), and she began to receive the Cura part, and the Mina part.
She had a line of Cura, and she had Mina, then came her patron Seu João de Uma. She began
to receive him, and that's it, she began to dance in the ceremonies. The illness was over"211.
Recruitment of mediums: The dialect of conflict and healing.
There is a saying in the Mina that states "Quem está dentro não quera sair, e quem
está fora não quera entrar" (Who is inside should not leave, who is outside should not come in).
As this saying suggests, Afro Brazilian religions in general and the Tambor de Mina in
particular, do not practice overt proselytism. Nonetheless as we have seen there exist effective
implicit processes for the recruitment of new devotees.
Another saying of the mineiros states "quem chega numa casa, chega por amor ou
chega por a dor". (He or she who arrives in a cult house, comes either through love or through
pain) Those who come through love are the sympathisers who were born in the religious
environment, who feel a religious devotion for specific spiritual entities, or who become involved
in the cult by some sort of family pressure. The hereditary transmission of religious
responsibility by which a child is considered to be born under the auspices of his ancestors or
the encantados, and therefore predestined to the religious service, although characteristic of
Western Africa tradition, is not so common in the Mina context today. However there are cases
in which an encantado can choose an individual before his or her birth when the mother is still
pregnant, and the individual can be consecrated to the vodun before birth by parents. An
encantado can ask for a person after his or her birth212. At one point or another of their lives,
these persons will endure some unusual experience; there may be a sign, a dream, a vision, an
209 "Não sei o que foi que ele fez, mandou pedir um copo, uma colher, sei la, e chamou ela, e
botou lá dentro do peji e deu um remedio para ela, e deixou o resto para lá".
210 The comments regarding what really happened in the peji are not clear. Elzita mentions a
glass and a spoon. The glass is often used as a suction instrument by the pajés to symbolically
remove an illness in the form of an object from the body of a patient, but there is no
confirmation that this is what really happened.
211 "E dizer que ele primeiro afastou né? e aí ele ficou esperando a incorporação, aí ela
començou a falar. Ficou boa já, aí já foi fazendo a puxada e aí ela já foi atuando com a parte
da cura, da mina. Ela tinha uma linha de cura, ela tinha mina, aí foi já o patrão dela. Era Seu
João de Una. Aí ela foi atuando, e pronto, ela ficou dançando o tambor. Acabou a doença."
212 This was the case of Nunes Pereira, who became Badé's devotee when the vodun
incorporated in a vodunsi of the Casa das Minas asked for him from his mother. (Pereira, 1979)
155
object found, or an unsolved conflict which is interpreted by religious experts as the calling of
the deities demanding the medium's religious commitment. This "calling" consists sometimes
on a first spontaneous incorporation of the spirits either outside the ritual context or within the
drumming-dancing sessions213.
Nonetheless, as illustrated by our two case studies, the big majority of people approach
the cult through pain, that is through the experience of some personal conflict they can not
solve. This second group, which in some cases overlaps with the first, does not approach the
cult from free will, or out of simple curiosity; there is always an alleged necessity. Social reality
in some neighbourhoods of São Luis encompasses low levels in education and health
infrastructure, high levels of unemployment, alcoholism, broken families, armed gang violence,
and lack of any hope that things may change. This adverse social reality becomes a propitious
arena for what Janzen (1992) calls "time of difficult experience", uncertainty or affliction. The
kind of conflicts which lead a person to approach the cult are very varied. Health related issues
are the most common ones214, but conflicts with interpersonal relationships, sentimental affairs,
or economic-professional matters are also frequent. In the case of Dona Rita the broken
marriage and the concurrent emotional stress coincide with the appearance of the first
symptoms (visions and altered behaviour); in the case of Antonia we are not given details about
her situation, and we only know that she experienced a spontaneous sudden sickness. In both
cases the recruitment is operated through "pain".
As we have seen in Dona Rita's case, the search for relief from misfortune can involve
the attendance to a series of different institutions ranging from conventional Kardecist Spiritist
seances, Pajelança rituals, or Mina cult houses. This kind of continuous erratic search for
health treatment, found in many other cultures, is what Augé (1985) calls the "therapeutic
itinerary" and Janzen "the quest for therapy". In a country where the national health system is
not altogether too efficient, and private medicine is not affordable for the majority of people, the
resource to magico-religious institutions for solutions is not only common, but in many cases it
is the only alternative. In Maranhão, it would seem that the approach to the Umbanda or the
Tambor de Mina institutions is only made when all the other alternatives, mainly Kardecist
213 People who belong to a social network where there are mediums or Mina participants, may
attend public ceremonies carried by initial curiosity. The implicit acceptance of the possibility of
the spirit possession occurrence, added to some possible emotional stress or conflict, and the
mysterious and fearful - to the eyes of the neophyte - atmosphere of a drumming-dancing
session , in some cases can lead to situations of high suggestibility resulting in sudden seizures
or physical fits accompanied by episodes of amnesia. The nature of such "crisis" remains a
mystery but when they occur, the person is immediately removed from the dance hall and
provided with some assistance in the interior rooms. At this point, if that was a first
incorporation, he or she may be encouraged to return another day to continue the "spiritual
development". In some cases the new medium will be invited to dance and participate in the
ritual, but this is rare when the medium has no experience.
214 Augras (1983: 287) corroborates this fact in the Candomblé Ketu in Rio de Janeiro.
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Spiritism and the Pajelança, have failed. The Mina cult house therefore seems to be for many
clients their last chance, and this fact may increase their willingness and predisposition to
comply with any requirement suggested by the house chief.
Diagnosis: encosto versus calling of the gods
Alienation, behavioural and physiological troubles215 can be diagnosed and treated in

different ways, which seem to respond to different "spiritual" ideologies. The high priest, as an
expert in the relationship with the world of spirits, sanctions and legitimates certain
interpretations of misfortune which usually find the cause of the problem in a dysfunctional
relationship of the patient-sufferer with the "other world", the invisible world of spirits. In most
cases the conflict is then diagnosed as a problem of mediumship which requires treatment. The
person who approaches a Mina cult house already accepts the "overall hypothesis of spirit
causation" (Janzen 1992: 92), so that a priori there is no problem in accepting the healer's
diagnosis216.
Conflicts affecting a person can be interpreted as having a human cause, resulting
from witchcraft or sorcery activity. In mediums having attended different healing institutions,
some conflicts may be interpreted as being the result of a bad treatment given by the previous
healer. Conflicts can be diagnosed as encosto217, that is perturbations or obsessions provoked
by spirits of the dead. Conflicts can be interpreted as debts acquired in previous reincarnations
(more frequent in Spiritism context). Conflicts can also be interpreted as the calling of the
voduns or encantados, as a sign of religious vocation. All these different interpretations are
based on the "hypothesis of spirit causation", and the cult chief will identify one or the other
according to the case specific circumstances, and the cult house orientation.
Leaving aside interpretations dealing with sorcery and witchcraft, a subject quite
significant in the mediumship continuum but which exceeds the frame of this study218, the two
215There is a distinction made by the healer between spiritual and material illnesses but they do
not necessarily correspond with a mental disorder and an organic disease. Both mental
disorder and an organic disease can have either a material or a spiritual cause. If it is a material
cause the client will be sent to a hospital; if it is a spiritual cause the cult house will take care of
the problem.
216 It must be noted that the power relationship between house chief or healer and client is
similar to the relationship between doctor and patient in Western medicine. The client, because
of his problem, feels powerless and assumes an unconscious subordinated position towards
her or his counsellor. He is usually in a high state of suggestibility willing to follow any
instructions that may help to get rid of the conflict.
217 From the verb encostar which in this context means to get in close proximity.
218 The belief in sorcery and witchcraft (feitiçaria) plays an important role in the belief system
and daily life of many mediums. This implicit acceptance of the possibility of being "attacked" by
works of magic, constitutes a recurrent interpretative paradigm to explain the relationship
between man and misfortune. Individuals are believed to have enemies, even when they are
unaware of the fact. Envy, jealousy, power struggles, and other interpersonal conflicts, are the
main causes for "enemies" to wish somebody evil or misfortune. This evil wishing is expressed
in different ways. Evil-eye (olho grande) may be one of the most common forms. Other more
157
most common interpretations of the initial conflict in the Tambor de Mina are the encosto
theory and the calling of religious vocation. These two interpretations are illustrated in the two
case studies; in the case of Antonia we have an encosto problem, in the case of Dona Rita a
calling of the vodun.
In the case of Dona Rita, mental and physical disturbance is interpreted by the
experienced vodunsi from the Casa das Minas as a sign of the vodun's will to take the medium
as one of his vodunsi, and therefore the healing is articulated in the spiritual alliance between
the two. The main concern of Mãe Andresa is to know whether the vodun really belongs to the
Jeje side, and first she sends Dona Rita to a cult house of another "nation". When the vodun
refuses to take the herbal bath by breaking the crystal bottle, Mãe Andresa is reassured. The
treatment is provided once the spiritual entity is identified, first as a vodun belonging to the
Casa das Minas, and later with a specific name. Dona Deni stressed the fact that the vodun did
speak a language of his own. This became another sign indicating his belonging to the Jeje
"nation". Once the identification was effected and the appropriate herbal bath was taken, the
vodun stopped harming his medium and since then only manifested in ritual context.
In Antonia's case we have a different interpretative process. At a first stage, to describe

Antonia's problem, Dona Elzita uses the terms "perturbação" (perturbation), "irradiação
espiritual" (spiritual irradiation), "influência" (influence), all terms suggesting the external action
of a spiritual agency on the human body219. The "perturbação" term is only applied to a
disturbance thought to be caused by the spirit of a human dead, never confused with a vodun
or encantado220. The perturbation caused by dead spirits is believed to be stronger, and more
likely to occur immediately after the body's death, because the spirit is still around. Antonia's
perturbation is further explained by the fact that her body was "open", thus vulnerable. All these
ideas about the dynamics of the encosto (approximation and eventual possession by a
pathogenic spiritual agent), can be found in all the mediumship continuum with special
serious "enemies" will prepare a charm (feitiço) often involving an expert in such activities. The
intervention of spiritual forces for the efficacy of such magical activity is usually implicit. Both the
Mina cult houses and the curadores will deal with that sort of conflict. When an aggression of
this kind is identified the treatment will be conceived as a defence strategy to counterbalance
the effects of the attack. The spell or feitiço will have to be undone (desmachado) to solve the
problem. Especially in the Cura domain, this attack-defence dynamic is interpreted as a fight
between the healer and the spirits commanded by the sorcerer. The Tambor de Mina cult
houses declare themselves to "work" only for good causes, however they recognise that they
know how to defend themselves from alien black magic. There is always a complementary
relationship between black and white magic. (Evans Pritchard 1978: 227, 228)
219 According to Dona Elzita, at one point the spirit of the dead incarnated in Antonia's body.
This was considered to be an exceptional and dangerous fact because spirits of the dead do
not usually incorporate their victims, they just "irradiate" them.
220 A difference is established between a perturbation caused by evil spirits (encosto) or a
perturbation caused by human sorcery (coisa feita, feitiço). The treatment of encosto or feitiço
are different, although sometimes an encosto can be seen as the result of a feitiço.
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relevance in the Spiritism and Umbanda segments. The notion of opening or closing the body
and associated rituals like the "fechamento do corpo" (the closing of the body) are
characteristic of the Cura context (Ferretti, M. 1993: 86 n. 19), and also practised in the
Catimbó (see chapter 6). Physical and behavioural body symptoms, and especially bad smell,
are important signs to identify a perturbation.
Treatment: exorcism and mediumship development
Conflicts diagnosed as spiritual or supernatural aggression can receive different

treatments according to the different religious institutions. In the Candomblé the client will
normally be asked to offer a ritual meal (ebó) to the orixás. In Kardecist Spiritism context, the
cure is often effected through passes. In the Pajelança, the therapy will be performed in public
ceremonies using different healing techniques (see chapter 6). In the Tambor de Mina we find a
combination of resources which include some of the above mentioned techniques. At the very
simple level, therapy can consist of lighting candles 221, receiving blessings (benções) or
passes. Treatment can be accompanied by praying, and certain strong praises (orações fortes)
can work as defence against evil forces. Leaves, roots and other elements are used for the
production of remedies (remedios), therapeutical herbal baths and ointments are applied to the
body, and herbal teas are drunk. As we have seen in Dona Rita's case, the herbal bath is
probably one of the most important treatments, and there is a great variety of them for very
different purposes. The so called banho de descarrego (cleansing bath), is prepared to clean
the body from bad influences. The elaboration of such remedies combines empirical and
symbolic knowledge.
In the case of Antonia the treatment is more long and complex. For descriptive and
analytical purposes it can be divided in two main parts: exorcism and mediumship
development. To effect the exorcism, the removal of the undesired pathogenic agent, a
common technique is to make the spirit state his or her name. After self identification the healer
knows which sort of spirit he or she is dealing with, and through verbal suggestion, praises and
specific techniques like the passes, and treatment often involving herbal baths, the evil spirit is
summoned to leave the medium.
In Antonia's case the exorcism treatment revealed mediumship faculties in the sufferer
patient. The encosto was already a sign of this faculty. This new diagnosis established by
Surrupirinha, Dona Elzita's spiritual guide, unchains the second part of the treatment which for
221 "Encender uma luz". The lighting of candles is one of the routines of a mineiro. It is believed
that the flame lightens the way of the spirits in the other world. By lighting a candle for a specific
encantado, one is willing to pay or to gain its favours. The lighting of candles has strong links
with Catholic liturgy, and the devotion to the Saints, but the idea of such a light being a guide for
the spirits living in the darkness of the invisible world, is also found in Africa, most especially in
funerary rituals.
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some time runs in parallel and complements the exorcism process. This second part
corresponds to the development of mediumship, consisting of the education of this faculty by
means of invocation of a beneficent corrente or group of spiritual entities inducing and
provoking possession in the medium. The Ondina caboclos become the new name to identify
the spiritual agents causing Antonia's mediumship experiences. There is a symbolic
substitution process, one thing is removed and another is brought in order to avoid the former
to regain its original place. Now the new spiritual entities will be brought in a controlled way.
Another important fact in Antonia's case is that the healing treatment is mainly
performed by Surrupirinha and not Dona Elzita. The working and healing agent is the spiritual
entity. This fact together with the encosto interpretation, and the exorcism treatment, constitute
distinctive elements which strongly contrast with the strategy followed in the Casa das Minas. In
the Jeje house the initial conflict is interpreted as the calling of the vodun and the encosto
interpretation is not present and therefore the exorcism treatment is absent. In the Jeje house
the priestess does not use spirit possession as a treatment resource, although it can be used
during the diagnosis. In the Casa das Mina possession is not used to cure, like it occurs in the
Pajelança context, but sometimes the voduns indicate the nature of the illness, prescribe the
treatment, or help the vodunsi to select the appropriate leaves and to prepare the necessary
remedies. Heusch (1971: 270) catalogues this mediumship as a mild form of shamanism
because it does not deal with the cure itself. He calls it "médiumnisme médical"222. "Le médium
se met lui-même en transe pour diagnostiquer l'origine des maladies; mais cette transe n'a pas
de valeur thérapeutique pour le consultant. Le médium n'est pas un chirugien de l'âme. L'esprit
se contente de révéler les remèdes, d'imposer les interdits."(ibid). This "mediumnisme médical"
practised in the Casa das Minas contrasts with the active participation of Surrupirinha in the
healing treatment of Antonia. The following table summarises this set of polarities operating
within the Tambor de Mina and illustrated by our two case studies:
Casa das Minas Terreiro Fé em Deus

(Dona Rita's case) (Antonia's case)
Diagnosis: calling of the voduns perturbation by spirit (encosto)

Treatment: mediumship development exorcism & mediumship develop.
Healer's possession: only in diagnosis in diagnosis and treatment
This set of polarities is not always so clear cut, and in each cult house the different
alternatives can combine depending on circumstances. However they indicate two main
tendencies which would broadly correspond with the polarity between West African tradition and
222 He identifies this "médiumnisme médical" among the Sukuma and the Kuba and Luba in the
African Bantu area.
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Bantu-Amerindian tradition. One would say that the "new" cult houses practising the Mina de
Caboclo show a tendency to follow the Terreiro Fé em Deus pattern where the strategies of the
West African tradition are not absent, but they are added and juxtaposed to others.
The dialectic operating in Antonia's case between possessions of inverse sign,
"maléfique" in the sufferer, and "bénéfique" in the healer, is characteristic of the Angola spirit
possession tradition (Heusch, 1971; Rodrigues de Areia, 1974: 196), and in the Maranhão
context, it strongly recalls the Pajelança rituals where the pajé assisted by his spiritual guides
performs healing rituals, and if the patient is a medium, he or she will also be incorporated (see
chapter 6).
The healer's attempts to reveal the identity of the pathogenic agent asking the spirit to
give his name is also a characteristic of the Ngoma rituals of central and southern Africa
(Janzen, 1992), where the sufferer is expected through the therapeutic initiation to learn a
series of songs revealing the name and history of the spirit. In Maranhão, these strategies
involved in exorcism can also be found in other cultural sources like Kardecist Spiritism or even
Christian exorcism, however in the Tambor de Mina, these strategies once more seem to
reproduce the Cura methods.
It is to be noted that, in Antonia's case, the full development of mediumship does not
occur until Antonia is fully recovered, and she can talk again. And only when her mediumship is
fully developed will she begin to dance in public ceremonies. Her healing is equated to her
ability to perform in a socially accepted way. This is also the case with Dona Rita. Only when
the first health conflict is solved is she invited first to participate as spectator and later on as a
performer in public drumming dancing sessions. And that leads us to another important point
which, although diverting us from our main analysis of mediumship development, is worth a
brief digression.
The high percentage of cases in which the healing factor is central to the recruitment
process in the Tambor de Mina, would allow one a priori to classify this religious institution
under the category of "drums of affliction", an expression used by Turner (1968) and Janzen
(1992) in relation to the healing drum therapies practised in central and southern Africa .
However it would be erroneous to reduce the Mina cult to its healing dimension. The ritual
function of public ceremonies is not explicitly to heal, although the activity may have
therapeutical benefits for some mediums. The mediums who participate in the drumming
dancing sessions are subject to a continuous learning process which has a healing dimension
only if we consider healing in its largest sense. Otherwise mediums are expected to be healthy
persons, and when new conflicts or sickness appear they are normally solved outside the public
ceremony context. Therefore the Tambor de Mina celebrations cannot be labelled as "drums of
affliction", despite the fact that the healing function constitutes the common source of
recruitment of new devotees.
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A successful medium is expected to solve the initial conflict and to participate in the
religious life without further complications. However many mediums refuse and resist the
religious commitment, until they reach a critical conflict which is often expressed in terms of life
or death. "Ou dá ou desce" (Either you give - you accept - or you go down - you die). In most
case histories there are references to a critical point in the medium's career in which he or she
had to make a definite and final decision as regards his or her religious commitment. It is often
referred to by the reflexive verb se entregar (to give oneself up) with the implicit meaning of
surrendering personal will to an external major imperative. Some female mediums say that they
do not want their children to participate in the religion, and that they have accepted the religious
commitment to free their children from the otherwise hereditary responsibility.
Tambor de Mina is envisaged as a difficult and hard duty. In the discourse of the
mineiros the use of words conveying an idea of enforcement in relation to the religious
commitment such as "dever", "obrigação", "servício" "missão" (duty, obligation, service,
mission) are quite common. Some authors (Mitchom, 1975) talk about the "notion of contract"
between medium and spirits by which the two parts acquire mutual obligations to the other. The
life of a medium is subsequently patterned with a series of activities she has to do (obrigações),
and a series of activities she can not do (quizilas). Transgressions in the order imposed by the
spiritual compromise, like refusing to dance in public ceremonies, eating forbidden food,
breaking sexual restrictions, or in more extreme cases willing to destroy personal ritual objects
(costumes, necklaces, personal shrines), are believed to cause the anger of spiritual entities
which result in great danger for the medium, leading to sickness, paralysis, blindness, madness
or even death.
Therefore during the medium's career, health problems or any other conflict in life are
interpreted as a result of not having performed the necessary obligations, or having
transgressed some prohibition in their relation to the "invisible world". Health and personal
success are always subject, or relative to a delicate equilibrium of mutual obligations
established between the medium and her spirits. The dialectic dynamics of conflict and healing,
of transgression and reparation, in one degree or another, is continuous through the medium's
life. Participating in ritual activity in some cases serves to counterbalance a conflict, and when
there is not a conflict, ritual participation is a way to prevent any future potential conflict, it
becomes preventive action. A successful medium is expected to solve the initial conflict and to
be healthy, but the well being will last as far as the ritual duties imposed by the encantados, via
the priest-healer, are not forgotten.
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The hierarchy of the head: dono da cabeça and personal linha
One of the main aspects of mediumship development (desenvolvimento da

mediunidade) is the identification of the spiritual entities to whom the medium belongs and who
are responsible for the medium's spirit possession experiences. In general it is a responsibility
of the pai or mãe de santo to determine, or in any case to legitimise, the identity of the spiritual
entities who a medium receives. This function can be considered as a part of the diagnosis
process. In this regard we observe once more that each cult house seems to follow particular
strategies and ritual techniques.
The Mina Jeje, the Mina Nagô and the Mina de Caboclo prescribe different
configurations as regards the number of spiritual entities that a medium is entitled to receive or
incorporate. These differences result from different articulations of the "notion of person" which
are encoded in different cultural traditions.
As we have seen with Dona Rita's case, in the Casa das Minas, following the West
African tradition, the vodunsi are devoted to a single vodun223, the dono da cabeça (owner or
223 In South Benin a person is usually consecrated to a single vodun. His ye, or individual soul,
may be associated with a joto or ancestor spirit, similar to the guardian angel of Catholic
tradition. At the same time, there exist individualised forms of Fa and Legba associated with
each person (Adoukonou, 1980; Maupoil, 1988). Despite this multiple articulation of the notion
of person, the initiated vodunsi is consecrated to a single vodun, belonging, in most cases, to
the family or hennu lineage, and this is the only spiritual entity the medium is entitled to
incorporate in religious ritual.
Claude Lépine (1981) provides a similar version of the Nagô notion of person in the Bahian
Candomblé context, which reproduces closely the Yoruba ideas. According to the Nagô
conception a human person consists of the reunion of several elements: the body, the life
principle or èmí, the breath which animates the matter and establishes the difference between a
dead body and a live body; èmí corresponds to the ye of the Adja-Ewe, and it has been
translated as soul. The third element is the orí, or head, responsible for consciousness,
perception and intelligence. The orí is made of a part of a primordial matter or substance which
changes from individual to individual. These substances are symbolised by natural elements;
water, earth, air, mud...and personified by groups of òrìsà, such as Nàná, Yémánjá, Òsun in the
"water" case. The orí which Òsàlá attributes to each new born is a fraction of the ancestor
spirits. The fourth element is an individual manifestation of the dynamic generative principle of
any form of life personified by Èsú. The fifth element of a person, without which the person is
not complete, is the individual òrìsà, or owner of the head or olori. The individual òrìsà is a
singular manifestation of one of the "qualities" of the "generic" orixás which conform the Nagô
pantheon. The individual òrìsà is determined by the primordial substance of the orí. The
individual òrìsà has the general features and characteristics of the "generic" orixá, but has its
own symbols, specific functions and personal psychological features. The owner of the head is
linked to the person by means of initiation rituals. This òrìsà corresponds to a mythical
ancestor; the eleda, the joto of the Adja-Ewe, the creator of the person, from which the person
inherits the temperament. Finally the individual has also his personal odu or destiny (kpoli for
the Adja-Ewe) prescribed by the Ifa oracle which involves all orixás, and determines the
existential path the individual will follow during his or her life. The notion of person is therefore
quite complex, but the owner of the head, the individual òrìsà is the central element. The
Yoruba notion of person is further discussed by Santos & Santos (1973: 52), and for the wider
African context, the subject is addressed in La notion de personnne en Afrique noire (Colloques
Internationaux du CNRS, 1971), Paris, L'Harmatan, 1973.
In Bahia in the traditional terreiros Jeje and Ketu, following the West African model, a medium
only incorporates his or her òrìsà owner of the head although he or she may have, several
secondary entities fixed in the shrines (assentadas). However there is an ongoing tendency,
163
master of the head), also called senhor or senhora. In the past some of the vodunsi would be
initiated to receive a second spiritual entity, the tobosi, a child feminine princess224. After this
full initiation the vodunsi were called vodunsi gonjaí 225, achieving the highest rank in the Jeje
hierarchy (Ferretti S., 1996). The Casa das Minas is the only cult house which has preserved
with strict fidelity the West African model according to which a vodunsi only incorporates a
single vodun. Otherwise the convention usually considers that a medium belonging to the Mina
has a main triad of associated spiritual entities: the senhor, senhora or/and tobosa, and guia.
a) The senhor (master), dono da cabeça or patrão, is normally a vodun, orixá or a

gentil. In some of the "new" cult houses where the spiritual owner of the terreiro is a caboclo,
some mediums may have a senhor who is a caboclo, often belonging to the family of the house
spiritual guide. The dono da cabeça occupies the highest hierarchical position in the head of the
medium.
b) The senhora (mistress) is the female counterpart of the senhor. The senhora is
usually an adult vodun or orixá, but she can also be a tobosa226, a female child entity of noble
origin. In some cult houses the senhora and the tobosa are clearly distinguished, and a medium
can receive one of each kind, therefore adding a fourth element to the triad. In other cases the
term moça or tobosa which generally refers to child or young female spirits, can refer to adult
senhoras too. In the Casa de Nagô and others, the tobosa can be received by mediums with
different degrees of initiation, and in that sense they differ from the tobosi from the Casa das
Minas.
c) The guia da frente (the forehead guide), guia-chefe (chief guide), or just guia, is
usually the first caboclo to be incorporated by a medium in her career. The guia acts as a
representative or substitute of the dono da cabeça. It is the spiritual entity who regularly
incorporates the medium in public ceremonies, and who gives advice, warns of dangers, and
like in Maranhão, for mediums to incorporate more than one spiritual entity, even in the most
traditional cult houses. It is known that most mediums receive in special occasions a caboclo,
and that in the Angola terreiros a medium receives not only his or her owner of the head, but
the secondary entities too.
224 As other aspects of the Casa das Minas, the presence of the tobosi can be traced back to
the Nesuxwe cult in Abomey. In the Nesuxwe cult, only the senior vodunsi (maxisi) who have
endured the initiation called Yivodo can receive the tobosi. In Benin the tobosi is a stage, or a
role, rather than a distinct category of spiritual entity as it happens in Brazil. At the end of public
ceremonies, when the vodun finally departs, the vodunsi become tobosi for a few days before
regaining their normal state. The tobosi role includes child behaviour, but very distinguished,
calm and sober, a fact which differentiates this stage from the eré state of the Nagô (for a
summary on the literature about the eré state see Rouget, 1985:48). The tobosi have personal
names and speak a particular language of their own. The characteristic tobosi activity is to go
to the market and ask for food and money as mendicants (nùbiódútó) clapping hands.
225 From the Fon vodunsi hun ja yi : the vodunsi who the vodun (hun) has thrown (ja) to the
floor-earth (yi). The expression alludes to the ritual symbolic death experienced by a novice at
the beginning of the initiation in the vodun religion.
226 Also called princesas (princesses), boças, meninas (little girl) or moças (young woman).
The term is a phonetic corruption of the Fon word tobosi. In this study tobosi will only be used in
the context of the Casa das Minas, while tobosa will apply to the rest of houses.
164
performs the spiritual "works" for the medium. Often the guia plays the role of the trickster, the
jester, and is then called the farrista (he who enjoys the party). The caboclo guia may drink, use
rude language and behave without moderation, but this is not always the case.
This classic triad seems to apply to the Casa de Nagô, where mediums usually receive
the orixá pai (orixá father), the orixá mãe (orixá mother), and in some cases a third orixá,
and/or a caboclo. As suggested, some mediums receive a child princess as their female orixá.
Dancers like Dona Lucia, the present high priestess, receives only two spiritual entities, the
vodun Lego Xapana and the gentil Dom João. Other mediums, like Dona Silva, the sub chief of
the house, receives three, two gentis, and a caboclo. The caboclos in the Casa de Nagô have a
secondary position. Several mediums receive these spiritual entities but this is not recognised
overtly. The caboclos behave always with great moderation, and they tend to dance in the back
of the dance hall, never assuming a great prominence. They do not shout, stagger or drink as
they may do in other cult houses. In the last decades, following a general tendency in the
Tambor de Mina, mediums of this cult house seem to be receiving more caboclos than orixás.
Despite the triad convention referred to in the mineiro's discourse, close analysis of
case histories and ritual observation reveals that an accomplished medium receives in
possession a plurality of other spiritual entities227. Sometimes the spirits who are only
occasionally incorporated are called the passengers (os passageiros). When mediumship has
been developed, and the body is "open", the medium is prone to receive all sorts of
encantados, and even negative forces like the spirits of the dead. We are once more in the
domain of the Mina de Caboclo, where the personal spiritual identity is plural and dynamic.
Spiritual entities associated with a medium belong to different linhas, and at the same time
conform what some informants call "a linha da pessoa", the personal line. We confirm once
more a significant shift from the West African tradition.
Antonia's case is illustrative of how the spiritual personal linha is articulated. The
mediumship development (o desenvolvimento) becomes an accumulation of different spiritual
"parts", or "lines", from the Ondina caboclos associated with the "astral", to the Cura, and finally
the Mina, where the "patron", the chief of the head, is identified. In Antonia's case, it is João de
Uma, a gentil. The progression from the lower to the higher spiritual entities is here a significant
aspect.
In some cases it is believed that the first spiritual entity to manifest in a person is the
dono da cabeça. In other cases the guia, or a substitute, is believed to come first to open the
way of the dono da cabeça who incorporates at a later stage. The medium is considered to be
227 In some cases it is said that a medium only incorporates the conventional triad in the Mina
ritual and many other spirits in other rituals.
165
a child of the "saint" (filho de santo) or "owner of the head", but in fact he or she may be
dominated by another spiritual entity, who actually takes control or rules (regir) the person. In
the Tambor de Mina the guia or caboclo becomes the familiar entity who regularly manifests
taking care of daily problems and "works" to be executed. The senhor or dono da cabeça,
usually an old entity who has no more strength to dance, only manifests on special occasions
becoming a more distant and unfamiliar spiritual entity. The idea of an owner of the head who is
replaced by a substitute who is the one who actually governs is expressed through a couple of
recurrent metaphors one political and the other botanical. The owner of the head is compared
with the state's president, and the guia with the prime minister. The owner of the head is the
ultimate authority but the guia is the executive power, the one who really works. The owner of
the head is also compared to the roots and trunk of a tree, while the guia and other
"passengers" are compared with the branches. You cut the branches and the tree still lives, you
cut the roots and the tree dies.
As an example of the hierarchical articulation of personal spiritual identity I shall
present a list of spiritual entities received by Dona D., a medium in the Margarita Mota cult
house. Her senhor or owner of the head is Toi Averekete, her senhor's substitute is Itapoan.
Her senhora is an Oxum, and her senhora's substitute is Maria Samambaia. Her guia da frente
or farrista is the Turkish encantado Caboclinho. Her female guia da frente is Cabocla Turca,
sister of Caboclinho. This medium also incorporates the Akóssi (see chapter 5), and can
incorporate or give passage to encantados from the linha de Bandeira (like Rondador, son of
Caboclo Bandeira), the linha de Legua (bush caboclos from Codó), the linha de indio (Indian
spirits), the linha de cigano (the gypsy line, manifested only in the Cura and table session
rituals), and she has developed only half of her linha de Cura. She has not developed her linha
do astral (Spirits of the dead manifested in Spiritism sessions).
In this example we see that the medium has a substitute for each of the main elements
of the basic triad. The senhor and senhora are voduns or African entities while the rest are
caboclos. She also has a couple of male and female guias da frente which replicates the couple
senhor and senhora. This is not too common in other mediums. We observe that some spiritual
entities are linked by mythical kinship, and the guias Caboclinho and Cabocla Turca are
brothers. The other linhas she can occasionally give passage to are the most important linhas
celebrated in the Margarita Mota cult house. The linha of Bandeira, and the linha de Legua are
lines from the mata (bush) which nearly all mediums of this house often incorporate as they
constitute the house identifying spirit fields. Some entities like the Akóssi, or linhas like the
gypsy, only manifest in particular ritual ceremonies. Therefore both the cult house tradition and
the mythological kinship relationships among encantados seem to impose some criteria in the
configuration of the personal linha, and the different ritual set ups determine which entities
manifest in each occasion.
166
The configuration of personal linhas can present many variations, but by now it should
be clear that there is a polarity between the "old" cult houses closer to the West African tradition
where the medium receives a small number of spiritual entities, and the "new" cult houses
where the medium can embody a plurality of them. Once more the Pajelança ideology with its
conception of mediumship allowing multiple incorporations seems to prevail in the Mina de
Caboclo.
Techniques in the identification and naming of the encantados
Now that we have seen which are the different ideologies as regards the number of
spiritual entities the medium is entitled to receive, we shall go back to the problem of the
desenvolvimento analysing how all these spiritual entities are identified and named. How the
personal linha is ritually constructed.
A distinction must be made between two different naming situations. The first, and the
one that we will analyse, is the naming of the encantados. It involves the previous identification
of the spiritual entities associated with a medium, and subsequent communication of the names
or nicknames, to the medium himself and to other members of the religious community. The
second is the naming of the medium, consisting in the giving of a nome privado (private name)
which marks the medium's new status after the initiation process228. Following the West African
tradition, the vodunsi from the Casa das Minas and other cult houses receive a private name
after their initiation. However this practice does not seem to be so popular in the cult houses
with a predominance of caboclo spiritual entities where the initiation rites are more rare, and
many mediums do not receive a private name. Therefore I will examine the naming of the
encantados, and not the naming of the mediums.
In the Tambor de Mina the divination or oracular techniques are not so prominent as
they can be in other Afro-Brazilian religions like the Bahian Candomblé. Ifa divination, or the
jogo de búzios which are the traditional techniques practised in West Africa and Bahia to
identify the spiritual entities of a person, seem to have been lost in Maranhão. Only recently,
since the early 1980's, with the increasing influence of the Bahian Candomblé, has the jogo de
búzios become popularised among some cult houses. In our domain of study only the Casa
Fanti Ashanti and the Terreiro Yemanja, from Pai Euclides and Pai Itaci respectively, use the
cawries (shells) divination system to identify the medium's "owner of the head" and other
personal spiritual entities.
228 In the Candomblé, during the public ceremonies which follow the seclusion period of the
initiation process, there is a ritual segment in which the orixá of the new medium gives or
shouts its name in public. This is called orunko. It normally occurs in the third and final
presentation of the iyawo in the dance hall. In Benin, as I could witness in Ouidah, it is the
hungan (the high priest or vodunon's close attendant) who pronounces the name of new
vodunsi, and not the vodun.
167
In the Tambor de Mina the convention states that the encantados identify themselves,
giving their name while incorporated in the mediums. This idea according to which the name is
proclaimed by the spiritual entity often by means of appropriate songs, is widespread both in the
"old" and "new" cult houses. However one has the impression that this apparently spontaneous
knowledge must have been previously acquired by the medium, and that the self-nomination
phenomenon hides a complex and subtle learning process which is never explicit in the
discourse of the mineiros. This learning process may be a latent learning process by which the
medium learns through interaction with the religious context without being consciously aware of
it, or it can involve more oriented process by which the religious experts teach and suggest the
necessary information in informal situations or in more formal and ritually structured situations.
In the nomination process many factors intervene, and some of them can be very
subtle details. We have seen in Dona Rita's case how when she arrived for the first time at the
Casa das Minas, an experienced medium suggested that Dona Rita would replace her as
Bedigá's vodunsi once she had passed away. This sort of circumstance may help in making
subsequent decisions229. In the "old" cult houses the high priestess and senior mediums,
usually incorporated by their voduns and orixás, are ultimately responsible for legitimating the
identity of the medium's spiritual entities. In the Casa de Nagô the new medium is taken to the
shrines' room, and in the presence of several senior mediums the encantado has to give his or
her name. If the council of senior mediums incorporated by their encantados agrees and
recognises the name as one of their own family, the new medium remains in the house, if the
council disagrees the medium is sent away. The singing, and the singing in African "dialect" in
the Casa das Minas at least, was a pre-requisite for the confirmation of the vodun in the
medium's head. This knowledge of African songs, either came directly from the voduns as local
exegesis claims, or they must be learned through contact with the religious community.
The nomination problem becomes more complicated when the high priestess or her
spiritual guide have to identify and name a long series of spiritual entities as it happens in the
"new" cult houses. To do this, when the divination systems are not used, other techniques are
employed. In the case of Antonia we have seen that Surrupirinha used what Dona Elzita calls
the puxada. I have not witnessed this kind of ritual activity in this cult house, but according to
my understanding, the progressive accumulation of "parts", or names associated with a
medium, is operated through singing activity. The puxada refers to the action of puxar
229 In the Casa das Minas, if the medium incorporates for the first time during a drumming-
dancing session, the high priestess will pay attention to the song being sung at that moment,
which may indicate the family to which the vodun belongs. The space location of the medium
when incorporated is another possible indication. If the medium is closer or looking towards one
of the four different sets of rooms dedicated to the four families of voduns of this cult house, the
high priestess will interpret this circumstance as a sign of the medium's affiliation to that specific
family of voduns. Although it is not explicitly acknowledged, some sort of observation of the
medium's behaviour and physical characteristics, must also play an important role in this
identification process. Dreams and visions are other strategies used in the identification of the
voduns.
168
doutrinas, the pulling out or singing of songs. Surrupirinha, the spiritual guide and not Dona
Elzita, invokes the different spiritual families through singing, and the medium answers and
therefore incorporates some spiritual entities from each of the linhas which are opened or
sung. This technique seems to be an effective way for the medium to learn the songs too.
During these sessions special herbal baths are sometimes applied to the head of the medium.
In the Margarita Mota house and the Tenda Rio Negro, the periodic organisation of
sessões the mesa (table sessions) of Spiritism tradition constitute the ritual set up to conduct
the puxada. Beside the name identification operated through the singing, the spirits also
proclaim their position in the medium's head, whether they are the senhor, guia da frente etc. In
this ritual set up, the medium has some sort of free margin to respond to the mãe the santo's
invocations according to her knowledge of the songs, sympathy and other affinities with the
spiritual entities. However the mãe de santo has the expertise to organise this constellation of
personal spiritual entities, determining their hierarchical order, and, according to her criteria,
she will push backwards an encantado who comes in the front, who manifests very often, and
will call forwards an encantado who resists manifesting. The identification process and the
sequential incorporations of all the characters of the personal linha occurs in a progressive way,
and the mãe the santo only gradually tells the medium who are her spiritual entities (see below).
A medium can take years to incorporate all her spiritual entities, and some of them, although
identified, may never incorporate the medium.
These sessões de mesa with the mediums sitting around a table have clear
reminiscences of the Kardecist Spiritism ritual set up. However the successive incorporations of
spiritual entities provoked by the singing or puxada have clear similitude with the Cura-
Pajelança dynamics. In the Margarita Mota house, this connection is further confirmed by the
high priestess' use of the maracá (see chapter 6). Such interpenetration of cultural traditions
(Spiritism and Pajelança) within the Tambor de Mina mediumship development seems to be
characteristic of the Mina de Caboclo, and once more suggests a high degree of eclecticism.
In the eventual absence of other initiation rituals, these puxadas or mediumship

development sessions (sessões de desenvolvimento mediúnico) constitute one of the main
learning experiences of the medium. In some cult houses, like in the Tenda Rio Negro, the
initiation of a medium is structured in nine consecutive weekly sessions of this nature. However
the learning process is always complemented by participation in the religious community life,
and particularly through imitation of the senior mediums. It is through this co-existence that the
new medium learns not only her role as a devotee (her obligations and prohibitions), but also
the spirit possession roles, that is the ritual behaviour of the encantados. Participation in public
ceremonies is in itself an important part of the learning process. During public ceremonies the
high priestess spiritual guides may occasionally teach ritual behaviour to the mediums, and
once the ceremonies are finished they can advice and prescribe different remedies or banhos
169
related to the mediumship development of a new dancer. It is to be noted that during this
teaching process the high priestess resorts to her spiritual guides through possession in the
same way that Dona Elzita resorted to Surrupirinha in Antonia's healing treatment. Therefore
the intervention of spiritual entities occurs both in the healing and initiation-teaching processes.
From all this we have to conclude that the medium's learning process is not confined to
especific initiation periods, but that it occurs throughout all the time the medium is involved with
the religious community230.
Usually, it is only when the medium has acquired certain familiarity with the
performance routines, and her possession experiences become more controlled, that the main
spiritual entities of the medium's personal linha (senhor and guia da frente) may proclaim their
names. According to Mãe Elzita, the high priestess has the power and spiritual insight to
recognise the identity of a spiritual entity from the first manifestation, but she has to observe
very carefully the medium's ritual behaviour to make sure. "I know, I know who he is, but I wait
to avoid making errors"231. She will not tell the medium who she thinks the spiritual entity is, but
will wait for the encantado to identify himself. Mãe Elzita is against the practice of telling the
medium the name of her spiritual entities soon after her first manifestations 232. In Dona Elzita's
case, this procedure could be interpreted as a pedagogic control strategy used by the high
priestess. Concealing the name, she creates certain suspense denying the medium immediate
identification, yet gives the neophyte time to learn and build her own spiritual character by
affinity rather than imposition. Despite this flexibility, the high priestess has always the last
word. If the encantado self-identification coincides with the mãe de santo's diagnosis the
encantado is confirmed. "He comes and sings, he comes and says who he is. The cult house
chief justifies or confirms whether he is or he is not. If he is, he is" 233. This process of self
nomination confirmed by the high priestess usually happens during a ceremony cycle, in the
interior rooms, not necessarily during the drum playing, but in a way that the religious
community becomes informed. "Then everybody knows. He is such and such, his encantaria is
such and such, because he has already sung, he has already spoken"234.
The importance given to the ability to sing as a sign of achievement in the mediumship
development was already remarked in chapter 2. The concurrent capacity to pronounce the
230The initiation-learning process transformation is explained sometimes with metaphors such

as the wild horse which becomes a tamed horse, or the brute precious stone which is cut into a
diamond. "Ao pai de santo, ao orixá, ao vodun, a mãe do santo, ao orixá e dado o emcargo de
produzir, de transformar aquela massa bruta em uma joia lapidária." (Pai Itaci)
231 "Eu conheço, sei quem é ele, mas eu fico aguardando para não errar." (Dona Elzita's
interview. 13-3-96)
232 Pai Euclides danced for the first time with Rei de Mestres (Liça-Oxala) in the Terreiro do
Egito at the age of seven but was not informed of the name of his entity until the age of thirteen
(Ferretti, M.1993: 247,249). This was also a practice in old terreiros of Bahia. The iyawos were
not given the name of their orixá until late in their medium's careers.
233 "Ele vem e doutrina, ele vem e diz quem ele é. Aí o dono da casa vai e vai justificar se é ou
não é, confirmar. Aí se é ele, é." (idem.)
234 "Aí todo o mundo já sabe. Ele é fulano de tal, a encantaria dele é fulano de tal, porque ele
já doutrinou, já falou" (idem.)
170
name of the encantado, which often happens through singing, recalls the Bantu healing
tradition where the medium has to speak-sing his or her case as demonstration and
confirmation of his or her therapeutical recovery (Janzen, 1992), rather than the Nagô orunko
ritual, or the Jeje imposition of private names to the "graduated" novice. Usually, it is only when
the high priestess confirmation of the name has been granted that some initiation rites can be
performed, like the lavagem da cabeça (washing of the head) or the feitoria235 (full initiation) by
which the mystic bond between the medium and her spiritual entities is consecrated.
During my fieldwork I was not able to witness any of such rituals (lavagem da cabeça or
feitoria). Despite their rarity, they are part of the secret practices and non initiated members are
forbidden to participate. Furthermore, it is believed that if the secrets were revealed that would
bring serious problems to the person who did so. Therefore mediums are very reluctant to
provide any information. The bibliography236 on the subject provides only partial or very general
information which does not allow for a systematic comparison. However from this bibliography,
and the data I was able to collect, it becomes evident that there is no consistent pattern
followed by a majority of cult houses. Although it seems certain that most of them have specific
rites to prepare the mediums, their nature and complexity varies a lot depending on the cult
house. Because of all this reasons and because the focus of our study is the public
ceremonies, these private activities will only be briefly mentioned.
The feitoria which in the past was one of the most important and complex issues of the
cult, is nowadays less practised and much more simple than it used to be. In the "old" cult
houses, there is more than thirty years that the last feitoria was performed and many of the
initiation knowledge is already lost. The simplification of the traditional rites in the "new" cult
houses is criticised by some priests or accepted with resignation by others. What it is clear is
that the feitoria or the lavagem de cabeça, both rituals involving the seclusion of the medium for
some days, is not the context where the mediumship is educated or where the medium learns a
behavioural code, language, songs and dances as it happens, or used to happen, in the Bahian
Candomblé or in West Africa religious institutions. In the Tambor de Mina a medium can
remain her entire religious career without submitting to any seclusion period. For many
mediums the lavagem the cabeça is the only initiation ritual they endure, and only a few senior
mediums are usually fully initiated. They are normally the most involved in the religious activities
of the house, and the ones that may guarantee the continuity of the cult, in case of death of the
higher ranks of the hierarchy. In the Tambor de Mina, the seclusion periods dedicated to the
initiation of mediums characteristic of West African traditions seem to be slowly replaced by
235 From feitura : act, effect or mode of the verb fazer (to do, to make). Feitoria, seems to be a
short version of the expression "feitura do santo", "fazer o santo" (the doing of the saint) or
"feitura da cabeça", "fazer a cabeça" (the doing of the head).
236 Costa Eduardo (1948), Ferretti, S. (1996), Ferretti, M. (1993), Barretto (1977), Carvalho
Santos & Santos Neto (1989), Ferreira Menezes (1984, 1987).
171
other more flexible, learning processes, namely the mediumship development sessions
(puxadas, giras, sessões de mesa).
Viradas and ritual articulation of multiple spiritual identity
To conclude this chapter and to bridge to the next, I would like to examine whether the
different articulations of personal spiritual identity found in our domain of study correlate to
differences at the ritual level which may further confirm the classification of orthodoxies
proposed by this study.
In the casa das Minas the medium in all ritual occasions incorporates the same vodun.
The incorporation of the tobosi when it occurred in the past, was never in the context of a
drumming-dancing ritual set up. In the Casa de Nagô a dancer may receive more than one
encantado per ceremony cycle but always only one spiritual entity per drumming-dancing
session. As we know, the Mina Nagô, like the Mina Jeje, does not present any kind of virada.
On the contrary in the Mina de Caboclo, the plural spiritual identity of mediums seems
to force at the ritual level the articulation of some structure for the expression of this plurality.
The virada characteristic of the Pajelança and Spiritism becomes a logic possibility. In the Mina
de Caboclo it is accepted that a medium can "give passage" to various spiritual entities during a
single drumming-dancing session. The virada is not an imperative and many mediums remain
with the same spiritual entity during the whole ceremony. There is no need for other entities to
come. However it is also a common pattern for the medium to receive at the beginning of the
ceremony his or her senhor and later on incorporate one, two or several caboclo guides. The
virada often resembles the incorporação, and it is usually acknowledged by similar signs:
hopping, loss of equilibrium, whirling, change of facial expression, which may be accompanied
by removal of necklaces, replacement of toalha or other costume accessories. In some cult
houses there are also collective viradas which normally involve elaborated ritual choreographies
where several mediums receive new spiritual entities simultaneously. These collective viradas
are always associated with the departure of specific categories of spiritual entities such as the
Tobosas, Akossi or Indians. These types of viradas mark important ritual transitions, indicating
a high level of group control over the possession behaviour, and are examined in the next
chapter.
What has to be retained now is that in our domain of study we find in one extreme the
"old" cult houses where no viradas occur and in the other extreme the Tenda Rio Negro, where
a medium can receive in some instances more than ten or fifteen spiritual entities per
ceremony. It could be said that a greater number of viradas per ceremony indicates a greater
influence of the Cura or Spiritism precepts in the cult house tradition, and in that sense, the
Mina de Caboclo constitutes an intermediate stage of interpenetration between the single spirit
172
possession strategy of West African tradition and the multiple articulation of spirit possession
in the Pajelança, reinforced by similar strategy in Spiritism.
173
Chapter 5: Ritual expression of the medium's multiple spiritual identity
Some identity marks of spiritual entities: the toalha and necklaces
The plural naming examined in the previous chapter results in the medium's necessity
to learn a set of roles whose external characterisation or distinctive expression is effected by
means of different behaviours and ritual set ups. In this chapter I examine how the identity of
the different spiritual entities is articulated at the performance level.
An initial comparison with the Bahian Candomblé is useful for defining by contrast
some main characteristics of the Tambor de Mina. Broadly speaking the Mina precept is not
characterised by a rich set of codes to identify spiritual entities as occurs in the Candomblé.
The Tambor de Mina prescribes a certain ritual uniformity of behaviour making it difficult to
distinguish between different spiritual entities.
In the Bahian Candomblé, during the second part of drumming-dancing public
ceremonies, each orixá is usually celebrated on its own. When playing and singing for Ogun,
for instance, the other orixás wait on the sides of the dance hall for their performance turn to
come. Ogun, or a few mediums incorporating various "qualities" of Ogun, or various orixás
mythologically linked to Ogun, dance on their own at the sound of characteristic drum rhythms
and songs which allows the regular spectator to identify the orixá. Besides the music and
dances, the rich costumes and varied complements used by mediums in the Candomblé
provide the necessary clues to identify the orixá, too. If on the one hand the costumes in their
pomposity work as a masquerade or mask which hides the medium's identity, on the other
hand, they work as explicit signs of the orixá's identity. In the Candomblé there is space for the
orixá's individual expression, and for a regular spectator it is not difficult to identify him or
her237.
237 As remarked by Kadia Tall (personal communication, 1996) there may be cases of mis-
identification of the orixás in the Candomblé too. Even regular spectators may find it difficult to
distinguish different "qualities" of the deities, but even if they fail, the attempt to name them is
already significant. In the Tambor de Mina the identity of the encantados is something rarely
commented upon in public.
174
V41.- A dance of Ogun in the Candomblé

23-04-96. Candomblé for Ogun. Casa Fanti Ashanti.
On the contrary, in a regular Tambor de Mina ceremony the space for the encantado's
individual expression is less well defined. In the Tambor de Mina the norm is the uniformity and
anonymity of spiritual entities. There are specific songs and dances associated with specific
spiritual entities, but usually all the mediums participate in such dances, and all the encantados
dance the same steps. In the same way the costumes are similar for all mediums, and although
each night the colour of the skirt may vary, all the dancers wear the same colour skirt. In the
Tambor de Mina, except in the Casa das Minas, it is not customary for the medium to change
clothes after the arrival of the spiritual entities as in the Candomblé. This relative simplicity
results in a more "democratic" ritual set up where individual ostentation is not so strongly
encouraged. In the absence of a sophisticated costume masquerade, when a medium takes a
prominent role in the ritual, such individual protagonism is more prone to be interpreted as a
manifestation of the medium's charisma than the expression of the encantado's singularity.
The differences between Candomblé and Tambor de Mina could be explained as the
result of differences in the socio-economic circumstances of each region which determined the
evolution of both cults, like for instance an inferior level of economic resources in the Maranhão
subaltern classes which may have discouraged investment in expensive costumes or ritual
paraphernalia. Yet they could also be explained as a result of differences in the cultural
matrices from which such religious precepts evolved. The fact that the Tambor de Mina has a
much more populated pantheon than the Candomblé, and that such spiritual figures are less
defined at the mythological level than the Bahian orixás, may also explain in part this tendency
toward a certain ritual uniformity and anonymity.
175
Anyway, despite the fact that the identity of spiritual entities (name, family affiliation,
origin, age and gender) in the Tambor de Mina is not always explicit in the ritual performance,
and that on many occasions there are even strategies to hide it, especially regarding the
name238, that does not mean that such identity does not exist, or that it is not expressed in less
explicit ways. Detailed observation of the Mina ceremonies reveals a rich plurality of ritual
strategies to distinguish, if not individualities as it occurs in the Candomblé, at least different
categories of spiritual entities and some elements of their identity.
Within a conventional Mina ritual, the identity of the encantados may be conveyed by
behavioural signs of different orders. The most important ones are the songs, already
discussed in chapter 2, and costume complements. Other behaviours like gestures, postures or
dance steps may be significant in some cases too, but are relatively less important. Despite the
costume uniformity prevailing in the Tambor de Mina, costume complements are one of the
most important communicative systems to identify the encantados. The toalha and the
necklaces are probably the most privileged objects for encoding information regarding the
encantado's identity239.
I have mentioned the importance of the toalha as an identity sign. Firstly we see that
the significance conveyed by the toalha varies according to the different cult houses. In the
Casa das Minas the way in which the toalha is tied indicates age and gender of the voduns; in
the Casa de Nagô it indicates the hierarchical status of the spiritual entity in relation to the
medium. In the Casa Fanti Ashanti the use of the toalha varies according to the gender of the
medium, and it indicates not only age and gender of the spiritual entity, but also the category of
spiritual entity. In the other "new" cult houses the toalha encodes less information, but
distinguishes between different categories of spiritual entities, mainly between vodun, caboclo,
and senhora. As we go from matrices cult houses (CM, CN), to "root" cult houses (CFA, TY,
TDQG, TFD), to the Tenda Rio Negro, there seems to be a decreasing level of information
238 The identity of an encantado is usually known only to the close members of the religious
community, and it is up to the medium, or to the encantado itself, to provide some signs of its
identity. In some cases, when the encantados sing a song of presentation they may either avoid
mentioning the name or use nicknames (apelidos) to hide their real identity. This reluctance to
publicise the names is expressed in one doutrina sung in the Casa Fanti Ashanti.
Vim da mina, eu vim, I came from the mina, I came

da mina de doloro (bis) from the mina of doloro
Se eu não disser meu nome, If I don't say my name
ninguém sabe quem eu sou (bis) nobody knows who I am.
This wish to preserve anonymity, usually attributed to the encantado, does not
particularly relate to motives of secrecy as there are mediums who have no problems in
revealing the names of their spirits. In many cases this reserve is the result of mistrust among
the mineiros. A medium fears that if her encantados' names are known, another medium can
practice witchcraft on her by using the names, which may result in her losing mediumship
strength or other dangers.
239 Other uses of costume, like the use or removal of shoes while dancing, or the use of a
piece of cloth to tie on the head have been commented upon above. The use of the manta de
contas necklace in relation to female spiritual entities will be discussed below.
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conveyed through the toalha. In the Casa Fanti Ashanti there may be some 12 ways to wear the
toalha, in the Tenda Rio Negro, which is the other extreme, the toalha is tied around the waist
on all occasions.
The toalha seems to be an African element appropriated by the caboclo spiritual
entities, maybe as a way to gain some prestige by imitating the African traditions. Several
informants reported that in the past (1940's) the caboclos did not wear the white toalha, and still
today many caboclos from the bush line refuse to wear a toalha. This fact clearly suggests that
the caboclo appeared in a different context than the West African-derived cult houses. In
addition to the toalha , or instead of it, the caboclos use a coloured silk foulard called lençol.
This piece of cloth is also called espada (sword) or pana. The curadores in some cases use the
pana which is a similar coloured piece of cloth. Therefore, once more at the level of costume
accessories we distinguish a new duality between the West African traditions of the orixás and
voduns (toalha), and the Bantu-Amerindian traditions of the caboclo (lençol or espada).
The ritual necklace or collar, called guia or rosario, is another important element
codifying information about the medium's affiliation with specific entities, families of entities
(nação), or affiliation to the cult house, in which case it is called "guia marcação da casa". This
information is codified through the combination of different colours 240 and numbers of beads of
different shapes and sizes (missangas and cabos). Usually, as a medium gains status her
necklace increases the number of strings of beads (patas). Each cult house follows different
rules in the manufacturing of these necklaces, and there is great erudition and esoteric
knowledge in this art. I will only mention a few aspects relevant to my study. There are special
rites (lavagem de contas) to wash and to consecrate the necklaces to particular encantados241.
These are some of the first rites followed by a new medium when starting her career (see
chapter 4). The rosario is always one of the most cherished ritual objects of any medium. It is
supposed to provide protection, and to "close" the body from evil influences. As each
encantado of a medium can have a corresponding necklace, a medium usually wears various
necklaces together.
During the manifestation of the encantados the necklace can be used as an identity
mark of specific spiritual entities. We have seen how mediums will normally cross one of the
necklaces when they are joined by the Turkish encantados. The bead's colour combination of
the selected necklace usually indicates which spiritual entity is manifested. In the Margarita
Mota house, a variation of this gesture is practised. When the medium incorporates her
caboclo, she removes the appropriate necklace, and ties it around the right or left arm (V25).
Pai Euclides reports that this behavioural sign was characteristic of some Turkish encantados
240The Turkish for instance will use the green-yellow-red colour combination.
241A similar ceremony is noted in Janzen (1992) in relation to the Ngoma cults in Central and
Southern Africa, although the consecration of ritual necklaces is also a common practice in
West Africa.
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like Jaguarema and Rosarinho in the Terreiro da Turquia. This habit was perpetuated by
Margarita Mota who received Jaguarema when she opened her own terreiro. Other mediums
from the cult house, not necessarily incorporated by the Turkish encantados, began to imitate
the high priestess thus popularising this particular practice. This example illustrates how
different variables, namely the cult house tradition and the category of spiritual entities, may be
interdependent in the genesis and perpetuation of a ritual gesture. We also observe how
charismatic leaders become agents of religious changes too.
The ritual construction of spirit possession roles
To complement the phenomenological approach to spirit possession, I would like to

present four video sequences documenting the performance of Dona Isabel, a medium from
the Terreiro Fé em Deus. Dona Isabel, born in 1943, began to dance for the first time in this cult
house 25 years ago, and is therefore a senior medium. She was prepared in the Mina by Dona
Elzita whom she calls her mãe de santo, and by Dona Elzita's spiritual guide Surrupirinha whom
she calls her pai de santo. She also belongs to the Cura line (see V49), but here I will only
examine her performance while incorporating five different spiritual entities in the Mina context:
the vodun Badé (her dono da cabeça) , the tobosa or moça, an Akóssi spirit, and a Borá Indian.
The manifestation of the caboclo Joãozinho (her guia da frente), is also documented in the
second and third video sequences, after the departure of the tobosa and the Akóssi. As the
caboclo role has already been treated in chapter 3, here it will only be addressed indirectly.
These examples complement the discussion of different aspects of the identification of spiritual
entities, the construction of different spirit possession roles, as well as some aspects of the
different ritual set ups in which these roles are articulated. This examination will permit us to
demonstrate that in the Mina de Caboclo the medium's ritual behavioural repertoire is
pluralistic, and includes different spirit possession roles. The video will also permit us to
illustrate and analyse different kinds of viradas, and how the various roles juxtapose and
alternate within the different ritual contexts.
My first objective is to identify the formative gestures which characterise the

behavioural role of each spirit category. To begin with I will only consider the manifestations
which occur within a standard Mina drumming-dancing session: the African vodun and the
tobosa. Then I will examine cases in which variation in the ritual set up constitutes identifying
information of particular categories of spiritual entities, like the Akóssi or the Indian Borá. The
video sequences corresponding to the last two ceremonies do not focus specifically on the
performance of Dona Isabel, but illustrate the general ritual set up.
The tobosa, Akóssi and Borá Indian are celebrated on particular dates of the religious
calendar. The Akóssi and the Borá Indians are celebrated only once a year, and the tobosas, in
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this cult house, some three or four times a year 242. Therefore one characteristic of these
ceremonies is that they constitute special obrigações, and the spirit possession roles
determined by them are not performed with the same frequency as the caboclo role. The dono
da cabeça does not manifest with regularity either, and he may come once a year or even with
less frequency. Despite the relative rarity of such spirit possession roles, they constitute, as we
have seen in the previous chapter, important referents in the articulation of the medium's
personal identity, and an accomplished medium is expected to perform all of them.
The old African vodun
One of the main distinctions established in the representation of spiritual entities relates
to their age. Old age is usually attributed to prestigious entities like Vô Missã (Nana), Mãe Maria
(Oxum), or Badé, and is consistent with the importance given to the principle of seniority in the
religion. The age attributed to spiritual entities can vary according to the cult house. For
example, Averekete is considered a child vodun in the Casa das Minas, a young vodun in the
Casa de Nagô, and an old vodun in most of the "new" cult houses. The same happens with
Badé, who in the Casa das Minas is considered a young vodun (tokueni) and in other "new" cult
houses he is considered an old vodun. It would appear as if in the "new" houses young African
voduns become old entities in order to reinforce the prestige attributed to African deities. In any
case, independently of the particular spiritual entity, the age of the encantado in the ritual
performance is expressed with stereotyped behaviour. In the case of old encantados the
medium bends the torso forward, trembles and experiences difficulty in moving, like an old
person. In the following sequence we see Dona Isabel incorporating her "owner of the head",
the vodun Badé, who in the Terreiro Fé em Deus is considered an old vodun. Dona Isabel
usually receives Badé once every ceremony cycle. Although not visible in the video her
necklace combines sequences of red and white beads, the colours of the thunder orixá Xangô,
and of the encantados associated with him, like Badé.
242 Of these four occasions, only three are drumming-dancing sessions: the 1st of January, in
early December during the Tambor da Conceição, and in late July during the Tambor de
Sant'Ana. During the Sant'Ana ceremony their manifestation is not obligatory, and only a few
mediums may incorporate them. The 1st of January they come to announce their presence in
the Bancada celebrated on Ash Wednesday in February. The Bancada is not a drumming-
dancing session but a food distribution ritual. In the past, the moças used to manifest for three
days during the carnival period, but this ceremony was suspended.
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V42.- Manifestation of Badé

A possible clue to identify spiritual entities is the moment in which possession takes
place. In some cases there may be a correspondence between the encantado which is being
praised in a doutrina, and the encantado who manifests in a medium when this doutrina is
sung. This is the present case, and Badé manifests when singing for him "Ô timi, timi, timi, timi
ô orixá". This correspondence seems to work with the old prestigious encantados, like the
African voduns, but it is less frequent with other categories of encantados. As mentioned, an
encantado can manifest at any moment, independently of the singing.
In the Mina, the moments which allow for the expression of singularity are rare and less
ritually structured than in the Candomblé. However, the manifestation of prestigious
encantados in a ceremony is often acknowledged by some sort of relevance of the medium in
relation to the other dancers. The use of ritual space is an important device for this purpose.
The medium may dance for a while in the centre of the circle, or in front of the drums. Being a
prestigious vodun, Badé is also greeted by other mediums after his manifestation. For
comparative purposes I shall present another short video sequence documenting in the Terreiro
da Turquia the manifestation of Vô Missã, another African old female vodun of great prestige.
180
V43.- Manifestation of Vô Missã (Nana Buluku)

Together with the bent posture and the characteristic trembling, some costume
accesories like a cane243 or a cloth covering the head are given to the medium. It is to be noted
that this characterisation of old encantados is replicated in the Preto Velhos244 of the
Umbanda. In the Mina, most of the time old entities do not sing or dance. They often remain
seated, alleging old age. After a variable period of time, normally not exceeding an hour, old
voduns retire from the dance hall, and the virada to the caboclo guia occurs. Therefore we see
that the prestigious old voduns communicate their identity by posture, gesture, use of space,
and some ritual objects like canes.
The young female tobosa
Contrasting with the old encantados, the child or young spiritual entities constitute a
very rich and complex universe within the symbolic imaginaire of the Mina. The role of the
tokueni and tobosi in the Casa das Minas, and their relation to other child deities like the Yoruba
Ibejis and Dahomean Hoho, and especially the state of eré in the Candomblé are discussed by
Pereira, (1979), Costa Eduardo (1948), Bastide (1958), and S. Ferretti (1996) and it is not
243 The use of canes can also be observed in old voduns in the Casa das Minas like Lepon
(V19). In this cult house, the cane is a sign of seniority and high status, but it is not used to
support the stooped body but as an emblem of rank. This ritual object is characteristic of the
Nesuxwe voduns in the Abomey cults.
244 Preto Velho translates as "old Negro" and designates the spirits of old slaves who manifest
in the Umbanda.
181
necessary to expand on the subject here245. While in the Casa das Minas the tobosi designate
distinguished child female spiritual entities, in the "new" cult houses, the tobosas, a phonetic
corruption of tobosi, designate also female noble spiritual entities who can be princesses or
queens (princesas or rainhas), but they can be either young (moças) or adult (senhoras).
The young tobosas or moças constitute a sub-category within the extensive group of
child entities. They should be distinguished from the caboclo child entities (male or female) who
can often be the medium's guia da frente. The caboclo child entities, with their spontaneity and
joyful temperament, are considered to be light (leves) in terms of mediumship. The medium's
body does not suffer too much, they are not heavy (pesados) like other spiritual entities.
Caboclo child entities reproduce infantile stereotypes, playing with other encantados, or
interacting with the audience. They may make jokes, play with puppets, eat sweets, have
capricious attitudes or dispute among themselves; the actions are varied. On the other hand,
the tobosas manifest on particular occasions, and behave with a certain solemnity and even
shyness alien to the caboclos.
Following a tradition started in the Terreiro da Turquia, in the "new" cult houses the
tobosas manifest in a particular ritual called Bancada das Meninas (or Arrambã in the Casa das
Minas), which does not involve drumming-dancing activity246. Besides this ritual, in Dona
Elzita's house the princesses are celebrated as a particular linha, and inserted within a standard
Tambor de Mina drumming-dancing ceremony. The ritual context in which the princesses
manifest is the same as for the caboclos and voduns, and the instruments, rhythms, costumes
and general set up is the same. As illustrated by the performance of Dona Isabel in the
following video sequence, the tobosa follows the Mina de Caboclo incorporation role, being the
rodada or whirling, a recurrent dance gesture. However the tobosa role is different from the
caboclo role. This difference is expressed mainly through the song's content, a particular dance
245 The childlike state of eré, following or preceding possession during the initiation periods of
the Candomblé novices, has been discussed by these authors, but also, among others, by
Herskovits (1966: 21-22), Binon-Cossard (1970), and Rouget (1985: 48).
246 The Arrambã, Bancada das Meninas, Carga or Quitanda, is the closing ceremony of the
ritual annual calendar held on Ash Wednesday, before Lent. A lot of fruits, cakes and other
foods, prepared in advance and maintained for a few days in the comé (shrine's room), are
distributed by the encantados to the audience. It represents a solicitude of abundance and
blessings over the food (Ferretti S., 1996). M. Ferretti (1994: 111-113) points out that while in
the "old" houses this ritual is officiated by senior mediums incorporated by voduns, orixás,
gentis, caboclos and some princesses, in the "new" cult houses, the ritual is officiated only by
the tobosas. From this evidence, this author suggests the existence in the Mina of more than
two "models" for the Bancada. The linha das princesas (line of the princesses) is characteristic
of the Pajelança Cabocla too, and the Baião, for instance, is a ritual exclusively dedicated to
them. This presence of noble female spiritual entities in the Cura context, is difficult to explain
only in relation to the African tobosi of the Casa das Minas. It is probable that the appearance of
the princesas as spiritual entities, with their Portuguese names, was reinforced by other
traditions of the popular imaginaire like the European romances disseminated by the literatura
de cordel. In these tales the presence of enchanted princesses is a paradigmatic element.
Therefore the genesis of the tobosas may have been the result of a convergence between the
princesas of the Cura-Baião and the tobosi of the Jeje. This interpenetration may have started
in the 19th century in some Mina cult houses, like the Terreiro da Turquia.
182
step, and the way in which the toalha is worn. To these three characteristic features, a fourth
component, mainly the attitude, should be added. The tobosa are supposed to be childlike,
delicate creatures, and this conception which combines ideas of childhood, femininity and
nobility results in a characteristic attitude in certain mediums. Dona Isabel's delicacy holding her
handkerchief, which she uses to fan herself before singing, could be a sign of this attitude.
V44.- Manifestation of the Tobosas and their collective virada to caboclo

08-12-94. Tambor da Conceição. Terreiro Fé em Deus
In several cult houses the princesses do not usually sing, and this is given as a reason
for their lack of participation in the drumming-dancing sessions. However, in Dona Elzita's
house, the tobosa have characteristic songs in which they give their names, and mention the
places where they come from (kingdoms, palaces), or in which they have been enchanted (the
stars, the sea, a rose etc.). The songs are usually expressions of individual identity, as opposed
to other gestures which denote belonging to the group or category of spiritual entities. The
song's lyrics, the script content so to speak, and the act of singing constitute central elements in
the role construction. In the case of Dona Isabel, the tobosa identifies herself as a young girl, a
child, and a princess.
Sou uma moça I am a young girl

Sou uma menina I am a child
Sou a princesa (rainha?) I am the princess (queen?)
In this cult house, the tobosas have also a characteristic dance step performed during
a frontal choreography when playing the dobrado rhythm. This hopping dance step enhances
their lightness and agility. The forward and backward hopping is followed by a whirling part.
Once more the whirling appears as an important behavioural sign expressing the tobosas'
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swiftness. Finally, the tobosas normally position the toalha under their armpits, but they do not
knot it, and keep it open, holding it with one or two hands. The moças wear shoes, and when
they relax in the varanda they only drink soft drinks or herbal teas. Therefore, in this cult house,
variation in song content, dance, costumes and attitude articulate the behavioural expression of
the tobosas.
After the tobosas have announced their wish to depart, the mãe de santo sings a
farewell song and the mediums congregate in the centre of the dance hall. Surrounded by a
circle of women, the mediums place the toalha over their shoulders, and in the moment of the
actual virada, they place it on top of their heads, therefore mimicking the gestures of the
encerramento and saida or exit (see chapter 3). The characteristic brados are heard, and
immediately after, the circular shape breaks and the newly arrived caboclos begin to dance
wearing their toalhas in their customary way. At this point some mediums may also change
their ritual necklaces, and a new linha is called by means of a particular song. In the video
sequence (V44), after the virada, Dona Isabel is incorporated by her caboclo Joãozinho, and
her dance becomes more vigorous. This collective choreography in which the virada is
articulated demonstrates, once more, the existence of a high degree of group control in the
dynamics of spirit possession.
To complement this presentation of the tobosas, and as counterpoint to the previous

example, let us briefly examine the behaviour of a tobosa in the Terreiro Yemanja.
V45.- Tobosa with manta de contas necklace and doll

15-10-94. Tambor de Santa Teresa. Terreiro Yemanja
In this cult house the tobosa does not sing or perform the dance step observed in Dona
Elzita's house, and she ties the toalha around the waist. This demonstrates that, in many cases,
184
the formative gestures in the characterisation of possession roles are particular to each cult
house. However the tobosa presents again a sober and distinguished attitude. The main
identity signs are in this case the use of special ritual objects like a doll or the necklace called
manta de contas (manta de missangas). The dolls, which are usually blond, are conceived
more as a symbol of femininity than a toy, and sometimes it is believed they represent the
spiritual entities (Ferretti M., 1994). Despite the fact that no traces of the manta de contas were
reported in Benin in relation to the tobosi, the use of this necklace, in its origin, seems to have
been particular to the tobosi of the Casa das Minas. However, nowadays the use of this ritual
object, although it is always associated with female spirits often of a noble origin, crosses
boundaries of particular cult houses or specific ritual orthodoxies, and it can be used in Cura
rituals (TFD) or in the Baião (CFA). The characteristic rhomboid patterns of the manta de
contas made with the canutilhos and missangas beads was also observed as a decorative motif
in the costumes of some traditional Bumba Boi groups from São Luis.
The corrente dos Akóssi
The term Akóssi derives from the name of a vodun of the Casa das Minas, which has
expanded its semantic field to designate a whole category of spiritual entities in the "new" cult
houses. In the Casa das Minas, Akóssi Sapata, Akossapata or Odan, is an old vodun
commanding the Dambirá family, the pantheon associated with the earth element. The Dambirá
family includes 11 male voduns, 2 female vodun, and 4 tobosi (Ferretti S., 1996: 116). These
voduns are "the poor who are powerful", the ones who fight the plague and sickness. Akóssi
Sapata is a healer, a doctor who knows all the remedies for all diseases. He is the patron of
scientists. He is believed to have been sick himself as a result of treating his patients. He has
no legs nor fingers, and his physical deformity scares those who see him (Ferretti S., 1996:
115). This monstrosity is generally attributed to leprosy. In Benin the association between
Sakpata and leprosy is not unknown. As a priestess of Sakpata reported to Adoukonou (1980,
vol.2: 66): "Sakpata lui même était un lépreux sans pieds ni mains". Therefore in Akóssi Sapata
we find the figure of the sufferer and the healer combined, reproducing a widespread belief
across cultures according to which only the one who experiences the sickness in his or her own
flesh possesses the knowledge to cure it. In Benin, Sakpata is also considered to be the
potential cause of epidemics and sickness. The dangerous side of the African Sakpata seems
to have been minimised in the Brazilian context of the Casa das Minas. Akóssi Sapata does not
manifest in mediums in the Casa das Minas anymore. In the past it was received by old African
vodunsi, and when manifested he used to lie on mats. To receive him the vodunsi had to follow
special rites, like to pass dendê oil over their bodies before the incorporation. However these
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manifestations were interrupted by means of special rites a long time ago, "they sent him away,
for him not to come anymore"247 (Ferretti S., 1996: 115).
The Akóssi were also worshipped in the Terreiro do Egito, and apparently they were
always celebrated with special rites in the open air, in the bush. Mediums from the Margarita
Mota house claim that this high priestess was the first one to celebrate and to invoke the Akóssi
within the barracão or dance hall248. Therefore if the Akóssi tradition was interrupted in the
Casa das Minas, the Terreiro do Egito may have been responsible for its preservations and
subsequent perpetuation in the "new" cult houses. However the assimilation of the Jeje tradition
in the Mina de Caboclo seems to have operated with significant changes at the symbolic level.
In Margarita Mota's house the chief of the Akóssi is identified with the Nagô orixás
Omolu and Obaluaye, although they also talk about the "velho Akóssi" (the old Akóssi). At the
same time Omolu is considered the chief of the cemetery, "o cementério pertence a ele" (the
cemetery belongs to him). Therefore Omolu is considered the chief of the spirits of the dead,
the linha do astral. This association of Omolu with the cemetery, which is characteristic of the
Umbanda, may explain the new identification of the Akóssi as spirits of the dead, rather than
voduns or encantados. The Akóssi, however still preserve their sick condition, they are
suffering spirits (espíritos sofredores, or espíritos doentes), physically deformed, or victims of
prolonged sickness. All mediums agree in saying that they are very dangerous (muito pesados),
that they can harm the mediums in their manifestations. At the same time, the "new" Akóssi
seem to have lost the healing faculties of their Jeje predecessor, and emphasised only his
suffering dimension. Contrary to what happens in the Casa das Minas, although the term family
may be used to refer to them, there is not a very clear idea regarding the number and names of
these spirits249. My impression is that in the Mina de Caboclo, the Akóssi are conceived more
as a corrente, in the Spiritism sense, or a linha of spirits than as a family with precise kinship
bonds.
Summarising, in the Mina de Caboclo the Akóssi transform from vodun to spirits of the
dead (although still commanded by Akóssi Sapata or Omolu, who is considered to be the
father), from healers to sufferers, sometimes agents of sickness too, and from a family
organisation they are now classified as a corrente or linha.
247 "O despacharam, cortaram para ele não vir mais".

248 According to Dona Delfina, one of the mediums of this cult house, only Margarita Mota
could "work" with the Akóssi. Other mineiras can have the Akóssi established in the shrines,
they can invoke them, sing for them, incorporate them, send them away, but only Dona
Margarita could "work" with them, using their power for her own purposes. Although this
information may be biased, it shows how the mineiros distinguish between the cult of spiritual
entities, and the "work" with spiritual entities.
249 According to a medium of the Margarita Mota house, the Akóssi family would have 25
brothers and sisters, but she could not give any names, arguing that the Akóssi do not speak or
when they do is very difficult to understand them. She only mentioned the names of the Nagô
orixás Omolu and Obaluaye.
186
The Akóssi are traditionally celebrated in connection with two main food rituals (comida
de obrigação), the Almôço dos Cachorros (meal of the dogs) and the Furá 250. The oldest
precedent of this connection is to be found once more in the Jeje house, where both obrigações
are performed during the São Sebastião cycle, the main feast of Akóssi Sapata and the voduns
of the Dambirá family. In the "new" cult houses the corrente dos Akóssi can manifest in the
Furá ritual (TDQG), the Almôço dos Cachorros (TFD), or even within a drumming-dancing
session inserted as a linha (TRN, TY). This variation shows the high degree of freedom that
each cult house has to articulate the ritual set up contextualising the expression of a particular
possession role.
In this presentation I examine the Almôço dos Cachorros, since in Dona Elzita's house
the Akóssi manifest during this celebration. The Almôço dos Cachorros or Mesa de São Lazaro
(table of Saint Lazarus) is celebrated in homage to Saint Lazarus, as a means for a devotee to
repay a vow or promise to the saint. The bibliography on this ceremony is sparse251, but we
know that it had its origin in popular Catholicism and it is practised in all North Brazil, not
necessarily associated with Afro-Brazilian cults. In Maranhão, according to Costa Eduardo, in
1940, the Casa das Minas was the only cult house to celebrate this ceremony, however
nowadays it is held in many Mina cult houses and in private homes. .
The Almôço dos Cachorros is traditionally celebrated 17th December, the feast day of
Saint Lazarus, 16th August or 11th February, the feast day of Saint Roque, or 20th January, the
feast day of Saint Sebastian. Câmara Cascudo reminds us of the different stories of Saint
Lazarus and Saint Roque which are often confused. Both saints are associated with the cure of
wounds, infectious diseases such as leprosy (Saint Lazarus) or the bubonic plague (Saint
Roque), and skin diseases in general. Both saints are also represented in Catholic imagery in
the company of a dog whose saliva according to tradition had healing properties. In Catholic
theology Saint Lazarus is the protector of dogs. The dog becomes in this context a sacred
animal.
The nature of these Catholic saints and their domains of action, explains why a Catholic
practice like the Almôço dos Cachorros was associated with the celebration of Akóssi Sapata,
250 Furá is used as a generic term to designate a particular food ritual. Different dishes,
including the furá (drink made of a fermented paste prepared with water and rice or corn flour
diluted with coconut milk or maracuja juice, and sugar), are prepared and consecrated with the
axé of the voduns in front of the shrines. After this sacralisation, the food is distributed and
consumed by all members of the religious community in a kind of ritual communion. S. Ferretti
(1996: 150-158) provides a detailed description of the Furá ritual in the Casa das Minas.
251 S. Ferretti (1995: 145) mentions Ypiranga Monteiro (1983: 253-275) who reported the feast
in homage to Saint Lazarus in Manaus already in 1900. In Belém, Edson Diniz (1975: 7-17),
attended one of these ceremonies in a terreiro of Maranhão origin in 1960. Câmara Cascudo
(1988) makes references to this ceremony in the items of "São Lazaro", "São Roque" and
"Promessa". According to Cascudo the meal for the dogs in honour to Saint Lazarus is a well
known tradition in Ceará, Piauí and Maranhão. Costa Eduardo (1948: 98) and Sergio Ferretti
(1996: 152-3; 1995: 145-151) mention this ceremony in relation to the Casa das Minas, and
Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto (1979: 75-78) provide some general overview of the ceremony
in the cult house of Mãe Elzita.
187
himself a healer suffering from leprosy like Saint Lazarus 252. The Tambor de Mina assimilation
of the Almôço dos Cachorros within the Akóssi rituals is the result of a connection first
established at the conceptual level between Catholic saints and African voduns. The symbolic
association occurs not by establishing a full correspondence between all elements of two
separated systems, but only by discovering similarity or analogy of some of their parts. Saint
Sebastian wounds for instance are interpreted as skin blisters and consequently associated
with the smallpox vodun Sakpata. The associative patterns stress these partial similarities and
ignore the differences. The conceptual association between saints and voduns, whether
syncretic or not, provides the rationale for the subsequent reunion or juxtaposition of two ritual
activities previously dissociated.
In Dona Elzita's house the Almôço dos Cachorros is celebrated during the day. To start
with, the time change distinguishes this ceremony from the drumming dancing sessions
celebrated at night. At midday the mediums begin to prepare the table in the centre of the
dance hall with several mats covered by a white cloth. Incense is burnt. The image of Saint
Lazarus to whom the Almôço dos Cachorros is dedicated, is brought from the altar to the table.
Saint Lazarus has a green string of cloth tied to his foot. A candle is lit. Seven dogs from the
neighbourhood are brought by their owners, and some are washed in the garden. Other women
bring to the table several elements: a dish with a paste made of raw okra and angu de farinha,
a dish with dendê oil, and half a calabash with water from the shrines. They also place seven
dishes with a meal consisting of rice, pasta, chicken, caruru and shrimp cake (torta de
camarão). They fill seven glasses with sweet wine. Everything is ready.
Seven mediums and seven attendants (also mediums of the house who do not receive
the Akóssi) sit around the table facing the drums. A dog is given to each of the seven couples.
Dona Isabel is one of the seven mediums who receives the Akóssi. In the video sequence she
is not recognisable because, once incorporated, the toalha covers her face, however, in the
reference picture provided below, she is the medium who slightly leans to the right and has her
hands over the lap. The following video sequence, instead of focusing on a particular medium,
tries to follow the action of the whole ritual process, using a fade to black to signal important
temporal discontinuities. What matters in this case is the particular chain of ritualised actions
which, in a similar way for all mediums, articulate the Akóssi role .
252 In Afro-Brazilian religion, this saint, together with Saint Roque and Saint Sebastian, also
represented in Catholic imagery with wounds, have been associated with different orixás and
voduns related to the earth element, who are considered responsible for the propagation and
cure of skin and epidemic diseases such as the smallpox. These African spiritual entities are
among others: the Jeje vodun Akóssi Sakpata and his family (Azonsu, Azili, etc.), and the Nagô
orixás Xapana, Omolu and Obaluaye.
188
V46.- Manifestation of the Akóssi in the Almôço dos Cachorros

13-12-94. Almôço dos Cachorros. Terreiro Fé em Deus
Dona Elzita, the high priestess, opens the ritual singing a first song and the seven
mediums incorporate the Akóssi. It is a collective incorporation, meaning that all mediums
incorporate during the singing of a particular song253. At the same time the dogs begin to eat
from the dishes in front of them. The first part of the ritual is dedicated to the dogs while the
Akóssi remain covered by the toalhas. After some five minutes, a new attendant, walking
barefoot on the table, begins to clean the mouths of the dogs with water, and to dry them with a
cloth. She repeats the operation with each dog following a counter clock wise direction. Then
253 In the Terreiro Yemanja, there are some ceremonies dedicated to the Yabas or feminine
orixás in which the incorporação takes place in several mediums simultaneously too. To
achieve this collective incorporação several mediums will dance in a circle holding hands and
facing the centre of the space. At a given moment the energy of the orixás will reach the
mediums and they will shake their bodies as if electricity was transmitted through their hands
from one to the other. Shouting will be heard, and after a minute or so the circle will be broken
and toalhas will be provided to the mediums. This form of incorporação could be seen as the
result of Kardecist Spiritism influence, where this sort of collective irradiation called corrente is
sometimes practised. It is said that the energy of strong spiritual entities requires several
mediums to sustain it.
The dance 'à deux' encircled by the roda of mediums, which I have described in
relation to interpersonal induction of possession (chapter 3, V30) is also used in this cult house
in a more ritualised form when celebrating specific families of spiritual entities such as the
family of Rei de Nagô (Badé, Xangô), or the family of Rei do Juncal (Dom Antonio de Austria),
a Turkish encantado chief of the Bastos family. In such cases Pai Itaci incorporating the
appropriate spiritual entities will induce possession in all mediums, despite their hierarchical
status, one after the other. When celebrating the family of Rei do Juncal, for instance, Pai Jorge
Itaci will incorporate Dom Antonio, chief of the family, "quem vem chamar os outros pra
passear" (who comes to call the others to go for a walk). In all those cases, it is the category of
spiritual entity being celebrated which determines specific group oriented forms of
incorporação. This may be seen as the result of the charismatic leader initiative, because this
specific form of sequential collective incorporation, although it uses a dance known elsewhere,
is only found in this particular cult house.
189
she gives them some wine in a glass in the same sequence. This completes the part of the
ritual dedicated to the dogs and begins the second part dedicated to the attendants and the
Akóssi. The division into the two ritual segments is marked by a pause in the drum playing, the
withdrawal of the dogs from the table, the start of a new song, and by Dona Elzita taking the
lead role at the table. One by one she gives dendê to the Akóssi. Dona Elzita wets her finger in
the dish and places it on the mediums lips. She repeats the gesture three times per medium.
Once this is done, she gives some okra to each of the attendants, and after that, she gives
them some food from the main meal (rice, chicken, pasta etc.). She places the food with her
hand in the mouth of the attendants. We observe that each group of participants receives a
particular food: the dogs receive the main meal and wine, the attendants, okra and the main
meal254, and the Akóssi dendê. After that there is another singing break, and Dona Elzita
begins to sing "Dendê, dendê de umá, dendê de umá". During this song she applies dendê to
the feet and the back of the knees of the Akóssi. It is only after this short massage that the
Akóssi are invited to stand up. Sustained by two or more attendants, and still covered by the
toalha they slowly abandon the dance hall to sit again in the adjacent room. This displacement
of space marks another important division in the ritual process, in fact it marks the start of the
collective virada.
After repeated massages of feet and hands with dendê, and some drinking of water
from the shrines, when all the meal paraphernalia in the dance hall has been dismantled, Dona
Elzita starts singing a new song saluting Santa Luzia, the saint to whom the ceremony cycle is
dedicated, and then the actual virada occurs. Dona Elzita and attendants begin to shake the
toalha over the medium's head to provoke the Akóssi's departure. Once more, in this shaking of
the toalha, we observe, in the virada, the mimicking of another gesture of the conventional
saida (see the tobosa section above). The mediums stand up, tie the toalha around their waist,
and re-enter the dance hall to dance with the caboclo for a few songs before the conclusion of
the ceremony. Dona Isabel, with stains of dendê on her dress, dances again with Joãozinho
her guia da frente.
Instead of the dance, in the Almôço dos Cachorros, food distribution, and the dendê
operations applied to the Akóssi are the defining activities of the ritual. The drumming and
singing are important features which indicate that this ceremony belongs to the Mina context.
However the singing is not conducted by the incorporated mediums, but by the mãe de santo
who, being in charge of surveying the whole ritual activity, does not incorporate. This is an
important difference with her role in a Tambor de Mina where she will normally lead the singing
incorporated by her spiritual guide.
254Once the drum playing finished the rest of members of the religious community, musicians,
and other attendants had to eat the okra and main meal as comida de obrigação.
190
Having described in some detail the ritual set up, we can now focus on the behavioural
signs which define the spiritual entity role. This definition can be made in negative terms, by
saying what the Akóssi do not do: the Akóssi do not sing or dance, and this is already a
distinctive mark if compared to other spirit possession roles. But the definition can also be
made in positive terms by saying what the Akóssi do, and the Akóssi indeed present
characteristic gestures. The obvious one is the body posture: the medium spends most of the
time lying on the floor attended by an assistant255. This posture is combined with compulsive
trembling of the body, facial expression distortion, and general muscular tension. The fingers
and toes are usually curved like animal claws in what is yet another distinctive gesture. As for
the costumes, we observe that the mediums do not wear the customary white blouse and
coloured skirt, but instead wear white dresses, and have their heads covered by a white
handkerchief. The mediums do not wear the necklaces either. Once incorporated, the use of
the toalha covering the whole body of the medium, including her face, is another distinctive
mark. The dendê oil is drunk in small quantities, and applied as a massage to legs, feet and
hands of the Akóssi. Although these are external actions executed by the attendants, they
constitute characteristic features associated with the Akóssi-role.
The lying on the floor ritual posture is explained by the fact that such spirits are
considered to be legless, like the Jeje vodun. "Não tem perna. Como é que pode dançar em
pé?" (if they don't have legs how can they dance?). The severe trembling and convulsions are
the symptoms of their sick condition. The hands in the form of claws are interpreted as
expression of absence of fingers256. The alleged cause of this physical abnormality is once
again leprosy. Margarita Mota incorporated the only member of the Akóssi family who was not
legless, but who had her torso twisted to one side. In one of her songs, leprosy is referred as
the cause of their suffering :
Com a idade de dez anos When I was ten years old

a lepra apareceu. leprosy appeared
Dos filhos do meu pai, From the children of my father
a mais desinfeliz sou eu. I am the most unfortunate
Senhor meu pai, Sir, my father
255 In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, and the Terreiro Yemanja where the Akóssi may manifest
through different linhas, they can dance standing up, or they can follow the Akóssi role as
described here.
256 In the Casa das Minas, Akóssi Sakpata used to lie on mats and the claw-hand gesture is
still reproduced in some dances by some voduns belonging to his family. In Benin there are
several voduns, including certain "qualities" of Sakpata, who perform dances on the floor
reproducing the claw hand gesture. However this behavioural sign is normally the mimetic
expression of the panther hunting activity. Has the leprosy interpretation of the claw hand
gesture been a Brazilian creation? This gesture can also be associated with the Exu
manifestations in the Umbanda.
191
oh Akóssi, está na porta. Oh, Akóssi, he is at the door.

A promessa do devoto The vow from his devotee
ele vem receber. He has come to receive.
Therefore the main gestures that define the Akóssi spirit possession role are explained
at the conceptual level. Gestures are not arbitrary expressions but encoded information about
the history and charcteristics attributed to the spirits. Leprosy has been an endemic problem in
Maranhão until recent years, and this sociological reality may have contributed to the
perpetuation of a ritual practice which seems designed to prevent or to placate the anger of
dangerous spirits who are perceived as a potential cause of epidemics. In the Casa das Minas
for instance, during the Festa do Divino, the vodunsi used to go to the leprosy house in São
Luis to do some charity. The daily presence of real cases of leprosy may have contributed to
activating the imagination and the belief in the Akóssi.
Having examined at some length the Akóssi role, it has been shown that from a matrix
or source complex provided by the Mina Jeje (Casa das Minas), the "new" cult houses make a
reinterpretation in which similar but distinct ritual set ups are used to stage a particular spirit
possession role. In Dona Elzita's house (TFD), as we have seen, the Almôço is the context
which frames the manifestation of the Akóssi. In the Margarita Mota house they manifest during
the Furá ritual. In Dona Zefa's house, the manifestation is inserted as opening linha within a
conventional drumming-dancing structure, performed at night. This inconsistency indicates the
relative creative freedom that exists in the Tambor de Mina to negotiate the ritual set up of any
obrigação. What remains consistent however is the Akóssi behavioural role. Contrary to what
happened with the tobosas, despite minor variation the formative gestures of the Akóssi are
maintained despite the ritual context or the cult house.
The Jeje tradition (the vodun Sakpata and his associated food rituals), Catholicism
(Almôço dos Cachorros, saints association), Kardecist Spiritism (the Akóssi conceived as a
corrente of spirits of the dead), Umbanda (syncretism Akóssi-Omolu), and social reality (leprosy
in Maranhão), in their convergence seem to have articulated this multifaceted collective
representation of the Akóssi.
The Borá Indian in the Tambor de São Miguel
As already remarked, in the Tambor de Mina the term caboclo does not correspond to
an ethnic category and does not necessarily refer to the Amerindian indigenous population
(Ferretti M., 1993, 1996). At the same time, the Tambor de Indio, Tambor de Borá or Canjerê
are terms which refer to particular ceremonies where the spirits of indigenous Amerindian
population are specifically celebrated. Mundicarmo Ferretti (1996) has been the first scholar to
pay attention to the Tambor de Indio within the Mina cult houses, providing relevant historic
background of these rituals.
192
The Tambor de Indio as practised today in the "new" cult houses seems to have
appeared around 1945, therefore being a quite recent addition to the Mina context. It is not
clear whether it was an initiative of Dona Denira, mãe de santo of Dona Elzita, or whether it
began to be celebrated earlier on in the Terreiro do Egito as an initiative of Zacarias, pai de
santo of Dona Denira. In any case the Tambor de Indio seems to have appeared in the context
of the Mina de Pajé, resulting from the interpenetration of the Tambor de Mata or Terecô
tradition and the healing practises of the pajés or curadores de pena e maracá (healers of
feather and rattle). The worship or possession by indigenous Indian spirits seems to be an old
tradition in North Brazil. The linhas of Caboclo Velho257, Jurema Branca258, or Surrupira, or the
so called linha indígena (indigenous line) seem to have been celebrated since early times in
the Cura/Pajelança and the Tambor de Mata contexts.
The Tambor de São Miguel as practised in Dona Elzita's house is similar to the Tambor
de Canjerê practised in the Casa Fanti Ashanti since 1950. Pai Euclides explains that the aim
of this ritual, which he classifies as an Amerindian toque, is to stage a battle between the Indian
bush spirits against the Exus and Kiúbas lower spirits (Ferreira, 1984: 87). As in the house of
Dona Elzita, these bush spirits are associated with São Miguel, the Catholic Saint who weights
human souls in the final judgement and fights against the devil with a sword.
The allusion to fights between good and evil spirits is analogous to the battles
established between the curador (healer) and feiticeiro (sorcerer) and their corresponding
spirits in the Pajelança Cabocla. This symbolic dialectic between opposite spiritual domains
governed by confronting human agents is very similar to the dialectic existing between the
kimbanda and the nganga, the diviner-healer and the sorcerer, in the Bantu magico-religious
traditions (Rodrigues de Areia, 1974). This convergence of magico-religious ideologies may
account for the earlier interpenetration of practices of the indigenous pajé and the Bantu
kimbanda already in the 18th century. This first interpenetration may account for the
subsequent emergence of the Pajelança Cabocla and the Tambor de Mata in the 19th century.
The final interpenetration of these traditions with the Tambor de Mina Jeje Nagô in the 20th
century accounts for the emergence of the Mina de Pajé. It is such interpenetration of traditions
which may be at the base of the Tambor de Indio as a ritual of feitiçaria (witchcraft) in the
Tambor de Mina context.
In the cult house of Dona Elzita, there are two different ceremonies to celebrate two
different categories of Indian spiritual entities, the Tambor de São Miguel and the Tambor de
257 Also known as Indio Velho Brasileiro (Old Brazilian Indian), Indio Sapequara or king of the
caboclos. In Belém and Manaus, he is known as Japetequara. Caboclo Velho may have first
manifested in the Cura-Pajelança, but his presence in the Mina dates at least from the
beginning of this century. He can be associated with the Turkish family or the Surrupiras
according to other informants. See also Ferretti, M. (1993: 182-188). According to Pai Euclides
Caboclo Velho worships São Miguel.
258 The Jurema is a tree from which the jurema drink is extracted. This drink is characteristic of
the Catimbó (see chapter 6).
193
Fulupa259. While the Tambor de São Miguel was a tradition probably started by Dona Denira in
the 1940's, the Tambor de Fulupa, was first organised in the Terreiro Fé em Deus in the early
1960's, as an initiative of Surrupirinha, Dona Elzita's spiritual guide. The Fulupas and the Borá,
despite being both Indian entities and sharing similarities of ritual attitude, are inserted in
completely different ritual set ups. "Because during the Tambor de São Miguel, we dance more
and sing less, while in the Tambor de Fulupa we dance and sing like in a common
ceremony"260. Dona Elzita acknowledges the ritual differences emphasising the dance oriented
nature of the Borá, and the similarity of the Fulupa with a common Mina drumming-dancing
session.
The Tambor de São Miguel is held to celebrate the Borá Indians. Carvalho Santos &
Santos Neto (1989: 71) provide some detailed description of this ceremony in Dona Elzita's
house. It normally lasts three days (28, 29, 30 September) which can be preceded and followed
by a night of conventional Tambor de Mina to open and to close the Borá segment. On the
middle day of the ceremony cycle there is a procession honouring São Miguel, and when the
mediums return to the terreiro, several of them incorporate at the same time in front of the
house's door before the drum session begins. This ceremony, although inserted in the Mina
ceremony cycle presents distinct ritual differences with the Mina. To begin with, the Tambor de
Borá uses a wider range of instruments; besides the abatas, bell and rattle, it includes the
tambor de mata, as well as other small drums, tambourines, triangle, cuíca261, and garrafas262.
The variation does not only apply to the orchestration, but to the music itself, as the Borá has
its on characteristic rhythm or sutaque. The song-dance activity is also structurally different
from the Tambor de Mina. In the Tambor de São Miguel the musicians play without stopping for
more than three hours, then stop for an hour, and resume again for another two hours without
pause. Therefore the song segmentation of the dance activity typical of the Mina is absent in
the Borá. This musical specificity places the Borá on its own terms. At the same time, the
Tambor de Borá is preceded by a period of confinement of the mediums in the so called
acampamento or settlement in the bush. For a few days the mediums only eat ritually prepared
259 The term Fulupa could be a linguistic reminiscence of the Fulas from Guinea Bissau. Dona
Alice Maria da Cruz, Nha Alice, founder of the Terreiro Viva Rei Nagô in the late 19th century, is
reputed to have been the first mineira to praise and celebrate the Fulupas. Rainha Madalena is
the spiritual entity who in the case of Nha Alice seems to command the Fulupas. In the case of
Dona Elzita, the Fulupa's chief is Surrupirinha. The Fulupas are considered Surrupiras who
manifest through an Indian linha. More information about the rituals of the Borá and Fulupa in
the Terreiro Fé em Deus is provided by Amorim (1996: 53-71).
260 "Porque o Tambor de São Miguel, a gente menos canta e mais dança. E o Tambor de
Fulupa não, a gente dança e canta como no tambor comun" (Dona Elzita)
261 Musical instrument made with a small barrel or drum, with a very tense leather skin on one
side, and a thin bar hanging from its centre. The player by hand friction of the bar makes the
skin resonate. According to Câmara Cascudo (1978: 92) it would be an oriental instrument
brought to Brazil by the slaves, and to the Iberian peninsula by the Arabs. It was played in the
Zambê drumming-dancing ceremonies in Natal in the XIX century.
262 A series of bottles played with sticks.
194
food (comida de obrigação), and are subject to other prohibitions like sexual abstinence
(Ferretti M., 1996; Ferreira, 1987: 140).
This particular ritual set up, together with the Borá Indian role characteristics described
below, constitute a ritual process which differs greatly from a conventional Mina drumming
dancing session. Contrary to the princesses and other categories of Indian spirits like the
Fulupa which are inserted as a linha in the Mina singing structure, here we have a different
orchestration, different costumes, different dances, a different ceremony altogether. The
following video sequence, like the one of the Akóssi, intends to describe some characteristic
elements of the whole ceremony. Dona Isabel is one of the dancers and appears in a few
occasions as illustrated by the picture below. However once more the purpose of the video is to
photograph elements of the overall ritual set up, and the visual description of the Borá role is
based on the group behaviour of the mediums rather than in a particular individual.
V47.- Manifestation of the Borá Indians

29-09-94. Tambor de São Miguel. Terreiro Fé em Deus
The Borá Indian-role is characterised by the relative absence of singing which is often
replaced by repeated shouting. This contrasts with the Portuguese singing of the Fulupas led
by Surrupirinha.. The Indian Bora language is monosyllabic and unintelligible and is supposed
to be Tupi-Guarani.
The Borá Indian dance performance presents various characteristic gestures and
includes group choreographies. The entities perform in couples joining their panas in a cross
shape, or throw them across the air to each other representing symbolic fights; there are
dances where several mediums dance hand in hand forming a circle and another enters the
centre of the circle for a while. The sitting on the floor posture is also characteristic of the
Indians, probably evoking the Indian settlements. These elaborated choreographies where
195
entities interrelate is quite unusual in the Mina where entities normally dance on their own
avoiding physical contact. In the middle of their symbolic battles against evil spirits, the Borá
Indians seem to experience a series of repeated viradas or perturbations by enemy spirits. As
illustrated by the performance of Dona Isabel, when a medium loses equilibrium, the other
dancers surround her waving and shaking their panas over her head, as if trying to send away
the alien spiritual agent. After the transition stage, which usually involves changes of facial
expression followed by a brief fainting, the medium usually begins to whirl and resumes the
dance. Mundicarmo Ferretti (1993: 335) reports that "the loss of body equilibrium is interpreted
as the enemy attack, and the other incorporated mediums come to circle the attacked
companion to counterattack". In Dona Elzita's house, the same external behavioural sign,
mainly to surround a medium, and to wave the panas in a circling way over her head, is
replicated in ceremonies like in the individual viradas of the tobosas. In the "new" cult houses
this gesture seems to induce the incorporation or the virada, therefore being associated with
changes in the identity of spiritual entities in the medium's head (V33). The same stylised
behaviour is found in the Casa das Minas, but there it is not associated with the virada although
the medium who occupies the central position usually closes her eyes and seems to faint.
But to return to the Borá, the use of particular ritual objects such as a sword or a horn
are also characteristic elements. The use of the sword can be related to São Miguel to whom
the feast is dedicated. The rich costumes also constitute a distinctive mark. The mediums wear
colourful, bright dresses made of satin. The mediums also use many complements like
bracelets, strings of coloured cloth, and a star fish on the chest. However the Indian Borá
entities do not use toalha, nor ritual necklaces, which again suggests their peripheral location in
relation to the Mina orthodoxy. The attitude once more is another important characteristic. As
discussed in chapter 3, the supposed savagery and warrior nature of the Indians results in the
manifestation of a certain degree of violence or aggression absent in relation to other spiritual
entities. This is often expressed in the shouting, dance gestures, and in facial expression
rictus, some mediums can fix their stare, or show the whites of their eyes. Therefore the Indian
Borá ceremony, despite being a drumming dancing session, presents important differences in
the spirit-role construction, if compared with the old vodun or the tobosa's ceremonies.
In other "new" cult houses the ritual presentation of the Indian spirits is generally
associated with stereotyped "violent" and "uncivilised" attitudes expressed in language gestures
and dance. The music usually presents a characteristic rhythm or sutaque different from the
Mina and sometimes the mediums can wear costumes with feathers or use bow and arrows as
it happens in the Candomblé de Caboclo. However there are many ritual elements which
distinguish the different expression of the Indian particular to each house which here can only
be noted but not examined.
196
Conclusion
The concrete example of Dona Isabel has proved and demonstrated that a medium
with some experience is capable of performing different ritual roles associated with different
categories of spiritual entities. These spirit possession roles are characterised by means of
different behavioural signs (formative gestures) belonging to different communicative systems
or ritual fields (songs, dance, action, posture, gesture, costumes, objects). These formative
gestures tend to shape general attitudes. At the same time spirit possession roles are
components of particular ritual processes which involve many other aspects. The time and
space where the event takes place, musical orchestration, distribution of roles among
participants, and the nature of the action which is performed by non-medium participants, are
not strictly elements of the spirit possession role, however they are contextual defining
elements of such roles. As suggested by the video sequences, not only the spirit possession
role, but the ritual set up too, can vary a lot depending on the particular category of spiritual
entity being celebrated. Therefore the ritual context contributes to define the expression of
certain spirit categories.
There are a series of patterns in the way the spiritual entities manifest and depart which
cross boundaries of particular categories of spiritual entities. There are some "standard"
procedures which can be totally or partially reproduced in different ritual set ups expressing or
communicating the same event, regardless of the particular spirit involved. These stylised
gestures, like surrounding and waving the panas over the medium's head to induce the virada,
or the toalha's changes of position before the virada, can be repeated in different ritual set ups.
Therefore, despite the variation in ritual set up, it is the shared spirit possession dynamic which
defines and articulates similar behaviour for different categories of spiritual entities.
We have also noted that the expression of a particular spirit possession role can vary
from one cult house to the other (tobosas), but it can remain quite consistent with other
categories of spiritual entities (Akóssi, Indians). In the latter cases the variation occurs in the
ritual set up rather than in the spirit possession role. Therefore the cult house orthodoxy,
strongly determined by the cult leader's charisma, seems to be the main factor of variation in
the ritual expression of particular spiritual entities.
All this variation in spirit possession roles and ritual set ups has also its historical
sources and its symbolic rationale. It is in part this variation in roles and ritual set ups which
defines representations of particular spirits. The ritual "mise en scène" projects an image and
articulates the collective representation of spirits. Of course, these collective or social
representations of the spirit world, to use Durkheim's terms, are not the result of ritual
expression only. There is the conceptual level which may operate independently of the ritual
activity, or more often interact with it. However whether the conceptual determines the ritual
197
activity or vice versa, the collective representation of spirits both at the conceptual and ritual
level always integrates and absorbs elements from various cultural sources. I have provided
some historical background to trace some of the possible sources operating behind the
collective representation of tobosas, Indians and Akóssi, both at the conceptual and the ritual-
behavioural level. The analysis has shown that behind the ritual expression of these categories
of spirits, not only the African traditions are active, but elements of other traditions like
Catholicism, Spiritism or the Pajelança are also operative.
198
Chapter 6: The Cura and Spiritism rituals in the Mina cult houses
The presence of curadores in the "new" cult houses
Throughout the thesis many references have been made to the relationships between
Tambor de Mina, Pajelança and Kardecist Spiritism. This examination of spirit possession in
the Tambor de Mina could not be concluded without some commentary on these two rituals
which, although not considered as part of the Tambor de Mina, are practised by the mineiros in
Tambor de Mina cult houses. To do so I will comment on the Brinquedo de Cura and the
sessões de mesa (table sessions). Of course there are several other rituals practised in the
Tambor de Mina cult houses, but these two are especially significant in relation to the spirit
possession phenomenon. The purpose of this final examination is to demonstrate that the Cura
and Spiritism are two important formative traditions behind the Mina de Caboclo orthodoxy. This
is especially significant in the articulation of a multiple personal spiritual identity of the mediums
which also accounts for the generative dynamic of new spiritual entities within the Mina de
Caboclo.
Four of the cult leaders of the five "new" houses we are concerned with started their
religious careers as curadores. Even in the "old" cult houses, some of the mediums either have
strong links with curadores, or they belong to the linha de Cura themselves. In the Casa de
Nagô for instance, Dona Vituca, one of the oldest mediums has a personal line of Cura,
although it was "suspended" because it was not accepted by her cult house orthodoxy. In the
Casa das Minas it is well known that Dona Roxinha, one of its vodunsi, has regular contacts
with curadores like Betinho from Cururupu263. In the Margarita Mota house, the main leaders of
the centre Dona Vicença, Dona Lozina, Dona Zizi, as well as Margarita Mota herself, are or
were curadoras. Pai Euclides started his religious activities as a curador and the first ritual he
organised, namely the Tambor de Canjerê, is considered by him an Amerindian ritual. Dona
Elzita received her first encantados in a Cura ritual. She was prepared in the Cura by Seu Biná
who was the husband of Dona Denira, her mãe de santo in the Mina. In Dona Denira cult house
the Mina and Cura rituals alternated as they did in the cult house of Margarita Mota. In the latter
case a Cura ritual always preceded the Mina celebrations. Dona Zefa also was prepared in the
Cura and later started to dance in Mina rituals. Her mãe de santo was also a curadora. We
could continue with many more examples, but those should suffice to indicate the importance of
such healing tradition in the Mina context. Only Pai Itaci does not declare himself to be a
curador. This striking presence of curadores in most of the Mina cult houses must have
263 Dona Deni reports that in the past, the 22nd of January, during the São Sebastião
ceremony cycle, some caboclos "curadores" came to the Casa das Minas, and they used to
give prescriptions and to prepare remedies. She did not give many details, but one guesses
that these caboclos were manifested in mediums from outside the Casa das Minas.
199
significantly affected the Mina tradition as I have tried to show in relation to the Mina de
Caboclo.
When the pajés became mineiros
Before I proceed with the description of the Cura ritual I would like to provide some
historic contextualisation and comment on the process that led so many curadores to assimilate
the Mina ritual. From 1940 to 1950 Maranhão experienced a significant increase of urban
population, and the population of São Luis reached its highest level in relation to the total
population of the state264. This urban population increase may have started in the late 1930's
and continued through the decade of the 1940's. With this immigration one can assume that
many magico-religious experts with different skills (pajés, kimbandas, rezaderas, parteiras,
benzedeiras)265 living in the rural communities may have reached the urban periphery of São
Luis.
As we have seen in chapter 1, according to Costa Eduardo, in 1943 there were only
eighteen Mina cult houses beside the two "orthodox" cult houses. Nine of these eighteen cult
houses were located in outlying urban regions, and nine in the rural hinterland. From the nine
cult houses located close to the urban perimeter, Costa Eduardo says six of them were founded
between 1938 and 1943, five years before his research, and the other three were founded
between 1910 and 1920. This would suggest that in the late 1930's and early 1940's, and
coinciding with an increase of rural immigration, an additional six cult houses were founded.
From the nine cult houses located in the rural hinterland, he says, five were houses
where healing was the main ritual practice. "These centers had been established by
practitioners of curative magic so that their healing ceremonies, which are forbidden by law,
may be carried on. In such cases, cult dances serve primarily to disguise healing rites" (Costa
Eduardo, 1948: 48). Therefore a quarter of the Mina cult houses in the early 1940's are already
identified as centres where Mina rituals alternated with Cura practices. This data is relevant for
my argument according to which the Mina de Caboclo has the Cura tradition as one of its
formative sources.
Costa Eduardo insists that this co-existence of Mina and Cura was a recent
phenomenon; that until a few years ago the mineiros and curadores did not mix, and that there
was even a certain competition among them. "Participation in the pagelança by those who
264 Year Maranhão population São Luis population % Total State

9/1920 874.337 52.929 6.05
9/1940 1.235.169 85.583 6.93
7/1950 1.583.248 119.785 7.57
9/1960 2.492.139 159.628 6.41
Source: Anuario Estadístico do Maranhão 1968 SUDEMA Departamento Estadual de
Estadistica. Figures relate to 'população recenseada'
265 (Healers, sorcerers, prayer-sayers, midwifes, those who give blessings)
200
belong to the cult groups was not tolerated until a few years ago. Recently, a change has taken
place and many cult initiates now attend these dances, and even seek out the pagés to ask for
their help" (Costa Eduardo, 1948: 49). Dona Deni reports that around 1935, before she moved
to São Luis, her mother was friend to a curadora named Porfira, who danced in the Mina cult
house of Vô Severa. This data suggests that in the mid 1930's there were already individuals
who participated in both Mina and Cura rituals.
Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto (1989: 118) argue that for many years the Mina
terreiros evolved in São Luis side by side with numerous Cura houses dedicated to the
Pajelança. Despite the increasing police prosecution, the curadores with their penachos and
maracás, and the rhythm of the pandeiros (tambourines), continued to perform their healing
rituals in hidden locations in the bush. These authors suggest that the Cura was coexisting with
the Tambor de Mina as two distinct, separate cultures until the beginning of the century when
they started to experience a process of "amalgamation". They further suggest that this
interpenetration created a cultural reality which allowed for an easy dissemination of the
Umbanda in the 1950's. These authors explain the cause for such "amalgamation" process as
resulting from the police repression the pajés were suffering266.
"In a land already used to sleep with the sound of the drums, the Cura houses (looking
for some freedom and peace) decided to mask themselves as Tambor de Mina, to
avoid the forces of repression. As a result, the process of fusion of Tambor de Mina
and Pajelança was accelerated. From then on famous curadores or pajés began to
behave as if they were mineiros."267 (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto, 1989: 119).
What seems to be accepted is that the curadores were the ones to appropriate ritual
strategies from the Tambor de Mina, rather than the contrary. This process, which may have
started in the second quarter of the century but which became significant in the 1950's, meant
that two rituals which until then had been practised by different individuals, began now to be
practised alternatively by the same individuals. This fact does not deny an earlier cultural
interpenetration of elements from the Pajelança Cabocla in the Mina, especially in relation to
the world of spiritual entities. However, when different practices are performed by the same
person, the possibilities of duplication or juxtaposition of ritual elements of one domain into the
other, and the possibilities of symbiosis of values, increase. It would seem that as a result of
such "amalgamation" the Tambor de Mina experienced a significant growth. Without denying
266 The 1930's and early 1940's, was the period when the "implacable" police chief Flavio
Bezerra exerted his power in São Luis (Carvalho Santos & Santos Neto, 1989: 119).
267 "Numa terra que já se acostumara a 'dormir ao som dos tambores', as casas de cura
(ansiosas por um pouco de paz e liberdade) resolveram mascarar-se de tambor de mina, para
ludibriar as forças de repressão. Com efeito, acelerou-se o processo de fusão do tambor de
mina com a pajelança. E notórios curadores ou pajés, a partir daí, passaram a comportar-se
como se mineiros fossem."
201
the importance of the police repression as a factor for the Mina and Cura interpenetration, I
believe the reasons why the curador decided to open a Mina cult house and to become leader
of a religious community are far more complex. To a certain extent the approximation has to do
with internal and structural homologies between the two spirit possession ideologies, which
allow the pajé to assimilate spiritual entities belonging to an alien tradition and to add them as a
new linha. In the Cura context the Mina spiritual entities are supposed to be stronger and more
efficient in the anti-sorcery activities of the pajé than the encantados from the Cura (Laveleye,
1996). Furthermore in the Cura context the more spiritual entities a pajé deals with the more
power the pajé is supposed to achieve. Therefore the dynamic of spirit possession in the Cura
with its accumulative strategy was bound to appropriate the Mina encantados, and if we add to
this the magical efficacy attributed to African spiritual entities as regards the trabalhos (works)
we have two powerful reasons why the pajé would be tempted to use the Mina spiritual entities
and also to adapt their associated ritual elements like the drums.
However the most significant change occurs when the pajé becomes the leader of a
religious community. The cult organisation of the Tambor de Mina requires the pre-existence of
a complex social network of human agents. If somebody intends to open a cult house he or she
needs the support of a group of persons prepared to fulfil the necessary roles, mainly mediums,
musicians and assistants. In each terreiro, there must always be a leader group of experts to
legitimate the efficacy of religious activities. Besides the human factor, there must exist material
conditions to build a barracão, to make the drums and to get all the necessary ritual
paraphernalia. The collective organisation of the Tambor de Mina society, together with a ritual
calendar to be followed, seems to be a much more complex process than the organisation of
sporadic Cura sessions where the curador behaves as the only or main performer. That does
not mean that the individual curador does not also require a social network of attendants,
clients and audience, but the staging of such rituals seems to be much more flexible than in the
Tambor de Mina. The curador for instance does not necessarily require a barracão, and it is
known that in the past, mostly due to police repression, the Cura sessions were performed in
the bush. The curador also organises the healing sessions when there is a demand, but there is
not a precise calendar of ceremonies.
All these difficulties the pajé has to surmount may necessarily bring some advantage
otherwise is difficult to imagine why the pajé involves in such efforts. One would think that the
collective organisation of the Mina cult is perceived as a strategy to acquire social status and
economic power, as the pajé has a community to support him or her. It is to be noted that it is
from the 1950's when the Mina religious experts become "professionalised", demanding
economic contributions from clients and mediums to maintain the costs of their activities. Social
visibility and prestige, as well as the associated desired or real economic rewards are probably
strong reasons for the pajé to open a cult house and recruit mediums to perform regular rituals.
However, the decision to open a cult house is always explained and justified as a mission or
202
duty imposed by the spirits upon the medium. It is their will and not the pajé's which is being
executed.
The Brinquedo de Cura in Dona Elzita's house
As already indicated, the Pajelança rituals as practised in the Tambor de Mina houses
of São Luis are called Cura de obrigação, Brinquedo de Cura or Maracá268. In this study I have
used the term Cura (cure) to designate the Pajelança of Maranhão, to differentiate it from other
forms of Pajelança Cabocla celebrated in North Brazil, mainly in the Amazon area. Except for
the Casa das Minas and de Casa de Nagô where only Mina rituals are celebrated, all the other
cult houses practice at least once a year a Brinquedo de Cura269. However the Pajelança and
the Tambor de Mina, although practised by the same mediums, still remain separate ritual
activities. Mina and Cura are considered two different fundamentos with different esoteric
principles. The two rituals are held on different days, and in some cases, like in the Tenda Rio
Negro, even in different locations within the same terreiro: the sala or salão for the Cura, and
the barracão for the Mina.
The Cura, as its name indicates, is a curative practice (Costa Eduardo, 1948). It is a
therapeutic technique rather than a proper cult, although spiritual entities of all sorts are
involved as the pajé's guides. The pajé has divination or oracular powers which are used for
diagnosis270 and counselling purposes. The pajé is also a witchcraft expert who can either
prepare the magic, or fight against the magic prepared by another pajé. As a result, the
essential activity of the pajé is the healing treatment. The Cura can be organised when there is
a client who requires a service and is ready to pay for the costs. Otherwise the Cura can be
held as an initiative of the curador, as an obrigação he or she has to perform as a religious
duty, and it may, or it may not, involve healing activity.
The healing function and therapeutic ritual activity which characterises the Pajelança
Cabocla seems to have taken a second place in the Tambor de Mina houses. In the terreiro of
Pai Euclides, the pajé does not always perform therapeutic treatment of clients during public
rituals; in the house of Dona Elzita or Margarita Mota, the healing rites are only occasional and
a minor part in the whole ceremony, at least on the three occasions I witnessed these rituals.
268 Bibliography on the Cura in Maranhão is rare. Costa Eduardo (1948: 101-3) mentions the
healing practices of the curadores but does not develop the subject. Mundicarmo Ferretti
examines the Cura in relation to the Casa Fanti Ashanti (1993: 343-359). Carvalho Santos &
Santos Neto (1989: 69-70) provide some historic information, and describe a ritual in the
Terreiro Fé em Deus. Didier de Laveleye (1996) writes on the Mina-Cura "syncretism", and is
currently writing his thesis on the Cura in Maranhão with attention to the Maracaçumé river area
and Cururupu. Patricia Sandler is also currently writing on the musical aspects of the Cura.
Their future contributions will provide new light on some of the issues presented here.
269 The Terreiro Yemanja of Pai Itaci celebrates Cura ceremonies with less regularity.
270 Strong evil eye, perturbation by a malignant spiritual entity often referred with the generic
term bicho (beast), fevers, and witchcraft (feitiçaria) are the most common diagnosis of the pajé
for which treatment will be provided.
203
The Cura ritual in the Tambor de Mina houses becomes a brinquedo (a play, a game) where
singing and dancing of the spirits which are incorporated in the medium are the main ritual
actions. The spectacle and celebrational dimension is predominant. The healing function of the
Mina cult houses is not lost as we saw in chapter 4, but it is practised in semi-private situations,
not anymore as a public ceremony.
Rather than to analyse the symbolic referents of the Cura ceremony or the spiritual
entities involved, I am interested in the ritual performance aspects, and the variation in ritual as
compared with the Mina. Illustration of a Brinquedo de Cura held in Dona Elzita's house the 25
and 26-5-1996, is provided in three video sequences. Let's examine the first one.
V48.- Brinquedo de Cura

The Brinquedo de Cura in Dona Elzita's house is preceded by a private obrigação

performed at dawn on the beach. There are offerings to the sea271 and mediums belonging to
the Cura line take appropriate baths. In the evening, around nine o'clock, the public session
starts when the pajé enters the dance hall already joined by her spiritual guide. The
incorporation outside the dance hall is characteristic272, and it is to be noted that the pajé uses
the back door of the dance hall, a different entrance than the one used during the Mina
271 The spiritual entities of the Cura rituals are said to belong to the linha d'àgua doce, the line
of river waters, but these opening private parts at the sea side, and the singing allusions to the
sea, seem to contradict this assumption in the Mina context.
272 In the Amazon Pajelança, the pajé can start the invocation of the companheiros do fundo
(the encantados from the bottom of the rivers) in the igarapé river bank (Maués, 1995). Other
pajés can incorporate while lying in a hammock, others like Pai Euclides start the ritual in front
of a shrine dedicated to the caboclos located in the garden. The first invocation is effected by
singing and shaking the maracá.
204
drumming-dancing sessions. The pajé is normally accompanied by an assistant called servente

de Cura, but in this case Dona Elzita has several assistants. To open the ritual, the pajé wears
a white dress which differs from the Mina costume, and will change it one or two times each
day using different colours273. The pajé also wears four cloth strings called glanchamas274, two
green and two white corresponding to the colours of her main spiritual guide in the Cura, Dona
Doralice. Two are tied on the arms, and two hang from the shoulder and are knotted below the
opposite armpit, forming a cross on the chest and the back. The pajé hands a maracá (rattle)
and the penacho de arará (turf of arará feathers). These objects are paradigmatic emblems of
the pajé and are described below. The pajé starts the public part of the ceremony kneeling in
front of the altar "abrindo a mesa" (opening the table) by means of songs addressed to the linha
da maré (line of the tide).
From then on the ceremony consists in singing-dancing activity performed by the pajé
on her own, a fact which strongly contrasts with the collective participation of mediums in the
Mina. The pajé gives passage (dá passagem) to a series of spiritual entities belonging to
different linhas. Each encantado usually sings one or two songs, at the end of which the pajé
retires to the side of the dance hall where her attendants stand, and shakes the maracá whose
characteristic sound is supposed to call the new encantado. One leaves and the other takes the
place. A brief fainting, contraction of the arms, and trembling signal the virada. The new
encantado starts to sing to identify himself, and then the instruments and the chorus join as the
pajé starts to dance again. It is to be observed, that the main structure of the singing activity
based on call and response operating in the Mina, is reproduced in the Cura, although now
each song corresponds to the manifestation of a new spiritual entity.
Apart from the songs, the entities have few elements to identify themselves, some
smoke, some drink, some wear special necklaces or attributes, the pajé assumes different
attitudes, changing the tone of voice, facial expression, and behaviour, however the singing
remains the critical identifying feature. As Bastide puts it, "in this way we are presented with a
magnificent parade of characters, of continuous metamorphosis of personalities, the
supernatural world appears as a vast bestiary of temperaments and characters"275. It is the
multiple spirit possession articulation of the ritual which accounts for the symbolic division of the
spiritual universe into linhas. It is said that the mixture or bad division of linhas ("mistura ou ma
273 In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, the pajé handles for each linha, a handkerchief of a specific
colour called pana.
274 In the Pajelança Cabocla of Pará, Maués (1995: 284) quoting Gabriel (1980) and Salles
(n.d. 5) mentions the use of espadas by the pajé. Espada would be the name given to
ceremonial bands in the Umbanda. Salles, referring to the urban Pajelança, distinguishes
between cintas de força (strings of power) used as personal defence, and espadas as symbol
of the power conferred to the pajés by the encantados. The glanchamas of the curador of
Maranhão would be a combination of both categories. Pai Euclides says they are a defence,
and at the same time they confer spiritual strength.
275 "Assiste-se assim a um magnífico desfile de personagens, de metamorfoses incessantes
de personalidades; o mundo sobrenatural aparece como um imenso vestiário de
temperamentos e de caráteres" (Bastide, 1971: 247)
205
divisão das linhas") can bring serious problems to the pajé (Ferretti M., 1993: 350). Therefore,
despite the apparent lack of order in which the spiritual entities manifest they usually follow a
broad scheme established by the pajé. In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, for instance, the Cura starts
with songs for Nossa Senhora da Conceição which introduces the "linha das princesas",
followed by others like the "linha de fidalgos", "linha de velhos", "linha de meninas caboclas",
"linha de animais", "linha de Currupira", "linha de Mãe d'àgua", "linha de caboclo Caipira", "linha
de vaqueiros" and so on. Within each linha there is some hierarchical order, and the mestre,
the chief of each linha, comes always first, followed by the contramestre, and the vassalo de
linha, although the arrival of the other entities is somehow variable. As we have seen, this
singing structure of the Cura seems to be replicated to a certain extent in the Mina de Caboclo.
Although the song contents may be different, on many occasions the same spiritual entities are
celebrated in both rituals, and correspondingly the same concept of division of linhas is shared.
However, the orchestration of the Cura is different from that of the Mina. The abatás
are absent, and in Dona Elzita's house they are replaced by the tambor de mata. The
characteristic rhythms of the Cura are 2/4 and 3/4, and the main dance types are the bailado
and valsado which seem to combine African and European traditions (Ferretti M., 1987). Other
instruments used in Dona Elzita's house are the cabaça, tambourines (pandeiros), and small
squared drums. Many members of the audience clap hands, or play the matracas, two pieces
of wood beaten one against the other, an instrument borrowed from the Bumba Boi
celebrations. The use of the tambor de mata is not characteristic of the Pajelança Cabocla of
the Amazon either, and in the Casa Fanti Ashanti, for instance, it is not used276. The use of
drums in the rituals of the curadores seems to be a phenomenon characteristic of the Pajelança
practised in the Baixada Occidental, Cururupu, and Codó. M. Ferretti (1994: 113) talks of
Tambor de Curador to designate this particular form of ritual, and Laveleye (1996) of Negro-
Pajelança.
At this point what is to be noticed is that the single performance of the pajé is
complemented by an important participation of members in the audience both as
instrumentalists and singers. The numerous public stands up, and is actively involved in the
performance of the pajé. This fact also strongly contrasts with the Mina ritual set up where only
the mediums sing and the audience remains in a more passive attitude. This circumstance may
explain the great popularity enjoyed by the Cura rituals as compared to the Mina ones.
276In the Casa Fanti Ashanti, beside the maracá, the instruments are only tambourines and a
cabaça.
206
V49.- Collective dance of pajés in the Brinquedo de Cura

As illustrated in the second video sequence, at one point of the ceremony, other
mediums of the cult house belonging to the Cura line, properly dressed for the occasion, enter
the dance hall and standing amid the audience become gradually incorporated by their
encantados. They receive their penacho and maracá and replace the main pajé in the dancing
and singing activity. The pajé nonetheless is always responsible to close the session. This
participation of other mediums in the pajés performance establishes a difference between the
Cura and the practices of the old pajés who in the past did dance on their own during the whole
ritual not allowing such "democratisation". This participation of other mediums was also
observed in the Casa Fanti Ashanti and the Margarita Mota house, and suggests that this
aperture of a space for other pajés to participate is favoured by the collective nature of the Mina
activities in which all these pajés usually participate too.
The whirling occurring in the initial incorporations of the mediums, and which closely
reproduces the Mina de Caboclo incorporation role, should be noted. As illustrated by the video
(V49), the whirling is also a recurrent dance movement in many songs, but it does not seem to
be associated with the sequential viradas. To my knowledge the presence of the whirling in the
pajés' incorporations is not present in the Pajelança Cabocla of the Amazon area, or either in
the indigenous Tupi Pajelança. As explained in chapter 3 the whirling might have been a Bantu
derived gesture associated with the caboclos which may have been appropriated by the Cura
pajés.
We have briefly examined the ritual set up of the Cura and the main differences with
the Mina. We have seen how the individual performance of the pajé who "gives passage" to a
plurality of spiritual entities opposes to the Mina pattern in which a group of mediums
207
incorporate a relatively small number of spiritual entities. These two poles, as we have seen in
previous chapters, frame and somehow explain the Mina de Caboclo ritual orthodoxy.
To further develop our examination of the Cura we must comment on the healing
activity. In the Pajelança the main function of the pajé has traditionally been to deal with
misfortune and health problems, related to witchcraft or other problems such as quebranto (evil
eye), encosto (perturbation by evil human spirits) or assombrado de bicho (perturbation by
nature spirits). In the Brinquedo de Cura, the encantados or mestres are said to come to "work"
(fazer um trabalho). A part of the ritual can be dedicated to actual healing rites. The third video
sequence shows a few examples.
V50.- Healing activity of the pajé in the Brinquedo de Cura

Dona Elzita, assisted by a non-identified spiritual guide, deals with four clients with four
different procedures. It is not the purpose of this chapter to analyse the therapeutic problematic
of each case, but rather to discuss the different ritual healing techniques used by the pajé. In
the first case she performs a series of blessings (benças) with the penacho and maracá on the
front, back, and on top of the head of the client. The sign of the cross is the main gesture. She
also exerts hand pressure on the shoulders of the client. In the second case she places her
back against the back of the client and with open arms holds the arms of the client turning a
few times. In the third case the treatment consists in the use of smoke. Placing the lit end of the
tauarí cigar277 in the mouth she blows the smoke on the chest and the back of the client 278.
277 As reported by Costa Eduardo (1948: 102), in the Cura of Maranhão the pajé can use
regular cigars or cigarettes but they are still called tauarí cigars. The tauarí cigars use the fibers
of the stem of the tauarí plant (curataria tauary) to roll tobacco, sometimes mixed with dust of
pauicá (mimosa acacioides) (Câmara Cascudo, 1978). Maués (1995: 284) reports references
of the tauarí cigar already in the 18th century.
208
This operation is followed by singing and physical contact. The pajé holding the open arms of
the client with the hands makes them turn in circles, then she places her head on the chest of
the client still holding the arms of the client wide open.
In the fourth case the client is also a medium, and we are presented with a more
complex set of events. First the pajé looks in the palms of the client as if she was establishing
the diagnosis. Then she hands the penacho and maracá to the client and invites her to shake
them. The pajé places the hands on the client's shoulders exerting a certain pressure and
proceeds to sing. By this means, and the repeated shaking of the maracá, possession is
induced in the client who standing on her heels begins to lose equilibrium, falling backwards
and being sustained by some attendants. To give firmness to the medium the pajé applies
liquid (holy water, alcohol?) to the back of the medium's knees. After a brief pause the pajé
resumes the singing and applies an ointment to different body points: the back of the knees
again, the chest, the front of the elbows, and the back of the neck. Finally the pajé invites the
medium to sing, and with certain difficulty at the beginning and helped by Dona Elzita, she
does. The client danced for a while singing various songs and then retired returning the
penacho and maracá to the main pajé. In this case the possession-singing-dancing activity
becomes an integral part of the treatment.
These examples provide illustration of the repertoire of techniques that the pajé can
use for therapeutic treatment. In other situations the pajés are also known to proceed with
specific techniques to symbolically remove the pathogenic agent from the client's body sucking
with the mouth the patients skin there where the wound is, or where the malignant cause is
supposed to hide. Afterwards, in what may be a sleight of hand, the pajé shows to the audience
a black coleopteran, or any other insect, a thorn or a small object which is identified as the
pathogenic agent causing the client's suffering. Such juggling techniques, sometimes may
involve the use of suction operations applied to the body by means of a glass279.
278 The typical way in which the pajé smokes is also common among Zaire women and is
reproduced by the Bantu descendants in several Brazilian states (Lopes, 1988: 193, as quoted
in Teles dos Santos, 1995: 89).
279 Several authors (Hambly, 1934; Turner, 1968; Janzen, 1978; Rodrigues de Areia, 1974:
197) have reported in different parts of Congo and Angola the use of cupping horn therapeutic
technique. The use of this technique in the Bantu tradition, and the mouth technique in the
Pajelança, are both based on the principle of suction, to remove a symbolic object which
represents the pathogenic agent from the sufferer's body. There is a parallelism in both the
techniques, and in the symbolic functionality of the technique within the exorcism process. As a
result of this convergence, still today in the Pajelança, some pajés can use the cupping glass
technique instead of the mouth suction.
209
Between the Pajelança Cabocla and the Catimbó
The main ritual structure and objects of the Cura (penacho and maracá), and all the
healing techniques described here, involving praying, blessings, massages, passes, alcohol
friction, dances back to back 280, blowing of smoke, and mouth suction are also reported in the
contemporary Pajelança Cabocla of the Amazons281. This fact clearly suggests a common
cultural denominator. Galvão (1976) traces the sources of the above mentioned elements and
healing techniques to the Brazilian Indian's traditions, especially the Tupinambá, and in
Maranhão also the Teneteara (Guajajara) from the Pindaré area. He identifies the spirit
possession experiences of the pajé, the use of the tauarí cigar smoke, the use the maracá and
the penacho (arará feathers turf), the application of massages, and the mouth suction
techniques to expel the disease of the patient as characteristic features of the Tupi-Guarani
shamanism (Galvão 1976: 97)282.
The same author mentions as innovations of the Pajelança Cabocla as compared with
the Tupi Pajelança, the use of the table as an altar, the consuming of alcohol, the friction of the
body with cachaça (sugar cane spirit), the use of the maracá to give blessings, the lighting of
candles, the use of crucifixes, and the use of Catholic praises as magic formulas with explicit
devotion to Our Lady the Virgin Mary and Catholic saints. All these transformations of the
original Tupi rites are the result of the emergence of the caboclo magico religious culture with
its Catholic and European component.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits from Brazil in 1759, a relaxation of the control exerted
by the orthodox segments of the church contributed to the institutionalisation in the rural areas
of Catholic brotherhoods as one of the main structures of social integration and cohesion, as
well as of religious organisation. These brotherhoods were organised around the devotion of
specific Catholic figures like Nossa Senhora do Rosário or São Benedito. Saints were identified
as community patrons or as personal protectors. Until today the organisation of Festas de
Santo (saint's feasts) is a common practice in all North Brazil (Maués, 1995), and many of its
elements can be found integrated in the Tambor de Mina-Cura context in Maranhão.
Catholic brotherhoods and the Festas de Santo may be seen as the context which
popularised, within the Pajelança Cabocla, the use of Catholic iconography, Catholic praises,
280 Maués (1995: 278) calls this technique pressure on the cruzes (crosses), being the cruzes
the space in the back between the shoulder blades. He also reports cases in which the pajé in
this position bends forward and lifting the client dances in this posture.
281 Bibliography on the Pajelança in the Amazon area is varied. Galvão (1976) analyses the
Pajelança in Ita, in the lower Amazon area. Maués (1995) provides a detailed study of the
Pajelança Cabocla in the Salgado region in Pará.
282 He bases this affirmation on the work of Metraux (1928) on the Tupinambás of the 16th
century, and on Wagley (1943) and Wagley & Galvão (1949) on modern Tupinambás. Already
in the 16th and 17th century Anchieta mentions the massages, suction techniques and use of
smoke (esfregas, chupar, defumar), and Jean Lery in 1557, and Frei Ive d'Evreux in 1613,
mention the use of petum (tobacco) among the Tupinambás. The sopro (blow), called peiuuá in
Tupi, as essence and materialisation of the pajés spiritual power, is also mentioned as an
Indian technique (Câmara Cascudo 1978: 37).
210
"orações fortes", blessings, or the use of incense. The worship of saints was complemented by
the healing spirit possession ceremonies of the pajés. It was in this period that the duality of two
religions, that of the christianised Indian and that of the Portuguese coloniser, ceased to exist.
Popular Catholicism and Pajelança became two complementary aspects of a single whole,
namely the caboclo religious culture. Galvão (1976: 107) concludes that the Amazon caboclo
does not conceive Catholicism and Pajelança as opposing cults or religions. He further
suggests that the Pajelança is not conceived as a cult. The Pajelança applies to phenomena or
situations of the local environment such as the assombrado de bicho or sorcery, which the
Catholic saints cannot solve. The Pajelança, like the feasts of saints with the celebration of
periodic masses and processions, the singing of novenas and ladainhas, and the dynamic of
promises and vows made to saints and encantados, constitute integral parts of the religion of
the Amazon caboclo. A very similar process may have occurred in Maranhão, although in this
state the African presence was stronger than in the Amazon area, and this fact may have
contributed to develop local particularities.
The Cura in Maranhão is a ritual which stands in a cultural and geographical middle
ground between the Pajelança Cabocla of the Amazon area in North Brazil, and the Catimbó 283
of Northeast Brazil. Bastide (1971) pointed out Maranhão's strategic location as a cultural
"frontier" between the Amazon rain forest and the arid sertão. The Cura of Maranhão presents
great similitude with the Pajelança Cabocla of Pará, but there are also clear influences of the
Catimbó, in fact both the Catimbó and the Pajelança, overlap their domains of action (healing
and anti-sorcery activity), and use very similar ritual techniques. Câmara Cascudo mentions the
cachimbo, the pipe used by the catimbozeiro284, and the drinking of the jurema285 as the two
distinctive ritual elements of the Catimbó286. Although the use of smoke is a defining element of
the Pajelança too, the use of the pipe as opposed to the tauarí cigar could be a distinctive
283 Câmara Cascudo (1978), Bastide (1971), Alvarenga (1949), and J. J. Carvalho (1994) give
detailed accounts of the main characteristics of the Catimbó and the rituals of the jurema.
Câmara Cascudo defines the Catimbó as a form of low spiritism (baixo espiritismo) where the
mestres of the Pajelança use ritual processes and beliefs inspired by Kardek's teachings, but
already modified, particularly in its ethical and moral dimension. He sees the Catimbó as
feitiçaria branca (European witchcraft) combining the cachimbo negro (the African pipe) with
the fumo indígena (the Amerindian use of smoke). He admits that the Catimbó can be identified
both with Pajelança Cabocla or the African Candomblé or Macumba. "Catimbó is witchcraft, the
process to prepare it. Its area is the whole Brazil" (Câmara Cascudo, 1978). However the
geographical region where the term is used corresponds especially to the states of Rio Grande
do Norte, Pernambuco and Paraíba in Northeast Brazil.
284 Corresponds to the pajé in the Pajelança, the diviner-healer-sorcerer who leads the
Catimbó ceremonies.
285 There is the jurema branca (Acacia Jurema Mart) and the jurema preta (Mimosa Nigra
Hub.). The roots are crushed and mixed in water. The liquid can be taken as herbal baths, but
most often is drunk, and can be mixed with cachaça. (Câmara Cascudo, 1978: 30) The
consuming of jurema is often accompanied by smoking of tobacco.
286 Catimbó is a modern term which derives from cachimbo (pipe), and in the 19th century
these practices were referred with the Portuguese word feitiço, or as "beber jurema" (to drink
jurema) or "adjunto da jurema" (member of the jurema) (Câmara Cascudo, 1978: 27, 31)
211
element between Catimbó and Pajelança287. Despite these differences, there has existed a
continuous flux of exchange between both traditions, operated by different migrations of the
Northeast to the North, and the regular travelling of the pajés from one state to the other.
Câmara Cascudo comments that the catimbozeiros would bring to the Amazon area the
jurema, and the pajés from the Amazon would bring the tauarí cigar to the Northeast.
The influence of the Catimbó in the Cura of Maranhão seems to be specially significant
in relation to the European witchcraft traditions. Ritual symbolic techniques like the closing of
the body (fechamento do corpo) would have an European origin. Usually a virgin steel key
(chave de aço virgem)288 is used to close the chest of the client, closing the entrances and
weak points of the sufferer. These points usually coincide with limb articulations, the back of the
knees and the front of the elbows, points which we have seen (V50) are still used in the Cura
healing techniques of São Luis. Other esoteric ritual objects like a ruler , which also recall
Masonic elements, are also reported to be used by the curadores in Maranhão (Laveleye,
1996).
Another possible influence relates to the sementes (seeds). In the Catimbó it is said
that "não há mestre sem semente" (there is no mestre without seeds). A prestigious pajé is
supposed to have visible cysts or nodules, similar in size to seeds, under the skin, which are
considered to be signs of a supernatural gift. In the Cura of Maranhão, the initiation of the new
pajé, called encruzo, includes a part in which the main pajé inserts with pressure of the hands a
series of beads in the limb's articulations, chest, forehead and other points of the disciple's
body. These beads are supposed to remain under the skin as a proof of the new status of the
curador. The belief that a medium is marked by her encantados with the appearance in the
body of these beads is also current in the Tambor de Mina context.
The last influence of the Catimbó on the Pajelança which I would like to mention is the
use of the mesa (table). Still today, in most Cura rituals the mesa is an essential ritual object
which works as an altar. Normally covered by a white table cloth, it serves to place different
elements used by the pajé such as a cross, saint images, white candles, a glass of water,
knives, cigars, incense, a spittoon, bottles of cachaça, soft drinks and remedios or medicines. It
is believed that spiritual entities come to the dance hall through this specific altar-table.
Reference to the opening and closing of the mesa are characteristic in the opening and closing
songs in the Catimbó. Here are some songs of aperture of a Catimbó of Paraíba (Alvarenga
1949: 46).
Eu vou abrir minha mêsa. Em Juremá I am going to open my table. In Juremá

Vou chamar todos meus mestres de Vaucá I will call all my mestres of Vaucá
287 The main differences between the Catimbó and the Cura in Maranhão is that in the latter
the ritual of the jurema is absent, and that the pajé dances, while in the Catimbó, in many
cases, there is no dance, and the pajé sits in front of a table, or stands around the table with his
attendants (Carlini, 1993).
288 According to the Livro de São Cipriano, this key symbolises the key of the Catholic sagrario
(altar) where the host or consecrated wafer is kept locked. (Câmara Cascudo, 1978)
212
Eu vou abrir minha mêsa I am going to open my table

com meu Mestre de Arruda with my mestre of Arruda
Nas horas de Deus amem In the hour of God, amen
Todos mestres me ajuda All mestres, help me
Abri-te, mesa Celeste, Open yourself, celestial table

Abri-te, portão real Open yourself, royal door
Abri-te, cortina nobre Open yourself, noble curtain
Cidade de Juremao City of Juremao
In the opening songs of the Cura from the Casa Fanti Ashanti we hear similar songs
with similar references to the opening of the mesa:
Com minha chave de ouro With my golden key

eu abro a minha mesa I open my table
eu abro minha mesa real I open my royal table
e abro na linha do maracá I open in the maracá line
It is to be noted the reference to the key which, in a similar way as it was used in the
closing of the body ritual, here serves to open the table. I have said the mesa may refer to the
actual table that is located in front of the pajé, but at the same time, it symbolically represents
the passage way through where spiritual entities find their way to manifest in the mediums 289.
Therefore to open the mesa is the same as to open the linhas, when those are conceived as
doors or passages as discussed in chapter 2. By extension, to open the mesa is to open the
ritual, to close the mesa is to close the ritual. This association of mesa to linha, and to the ritual
itself, is still present in some of the "new" Mina cult houses like the terreiro of Margarita Mota.
There, the term mesa is sometimes used to refer to the Tambor de Mina ceremonies. Dona
Vicença says "eu abro a mesa" (I open the table) or " eu suspendo a mesa" (I raise the table) to
refer to the opening and closing segments of a Mina drumming dancing session. Such linguistic
borrowings indicate the influence of the Catimbó-Pajelança ideology within the Tambor de
Mina. Furthermore, as already suggested, the linha division singing structure prevailing in the
Mina de caboclo examined in chapter 2, may find one of its formative matrices in this Catimbó-
Pajelança continuum in which the Cura of Maranhão is inserted.
In the Mina context, another possible connection that the use of the word mesa
suggests is a link or allusion to the Mesas de Caboclo, where the influence of Kardecist
Spiritism may be perceived. The possibility of a first syncretism between Catimbó or/and Cura,
with Spiritism giving origin to the Mesas de Caboclo should not be disregarded. Galvão (1976:
106) also notes the influence of Spiritism in the urban Pajelança of Belém, which has
subsequently influenced rural Pajelança. He mentions as common elements between
Pajelança and Spiritism the use of herbal baths, the use of smoke for curative or purification
289 In the Catimbó, the mestre places on the table the princesa (princess), a ceramic or white
porcelain flat recipient where the jurema is mixed, and through where the spirits are supposed
to manifest (Bastide 1971: 246). This object was imported from European witchcraft practices
(Câmara Cascudo, 1978). J. J. Carvalho (1994: 93) also refers to the príncipes (princes) to
designate chalices or cups, through where the spirits manifest.
213
purposes, the passes, the healing function of rituals, and the exercise of mediumship. He talks
of amalgamation tendency, and points out to terminology borrowings from Spiritism such as the
use of the corrente term.
The sessões de mesa in Margarita Mota's house
The use of the table leads us to the second ritual set up we shall examine in this
chapter: the table sessions (sessões de mesa), or white tables (mesa branca) of Kardecist
inspiration. The introduction of Kardecist Spiritism 290 in Brazil began in 1853 with the mesas
girantes (turning tables), but only with the formation of Spiritism groups in Salvador in 1865, and
the organisation of the Sociedade de Estudos Espíritas do Grupo Confúcio in Rio in 1873, did
the movement become significant (R. Ortiz, 1991: 40). In Maranhão by 1919 there existed
already several Spiritism centres, and in local newspapers there are references to such a
movement as early as 1879291. Spiritism was successful because it was flexible, non-radical,
non-denominational and quasi-scientific (Mitchom, 1975). Renato Ortiz calls attention to the fact
that in Brazil Spiritism quickly acquired a therapeutic dimension which was not critical in its
European French foundation.
However in Maranhão it was not until 1950 when it became more popular and
organised. In the early 1950's, the spiritist Waldemiro E. dos Reis, wrote a brief booklet called
Espiritismo e mediunidade no Maranahão (n. d.). In this document many Spiritism healing
sessions are reported, especially in relation to the social upper classes who were the main
audience at such events. By this time, there were strong links between the mineiros and the
Kardecist Spiritism centres. Waldemiro Reis, who was the most important representative of this
movement in São Luis, made different sessions attended by different pais and mães-de-santo
as well as curadores. Some of them began to assimilate the Spiritism cosmology and the
ethical content of its doctrine in order to legitimate their activities. We have already mentioned
the importance of linguistic borrowings of Spiritism by the mineiros.
290 Kardecist Spiritism, appeared in France under the leadership of Alan Kardec who wrote its
main doctrinal basis. Through a re-interpretation of the Bible, under quasi-scientific premises,
he postulated the possibility of establishing contact with the invisible realm of the spirits of the
dead. According to the Kardecist doctrine, in the world of spirits, as in our own, there are higher
and lower classes of society, and the spirits are organised in a hierarchical structure: pure
spirits, good spirits, imperfect spirits and so on. The former, using the mind and body of trained
mediums, can communicate their knowledge or apply their healing powers to humans. The
latter, less developed, who are seen as the cause of human perturbations or obsessions, can
be morally educated by the same mediums. Catholicism emphasises sin and guilt. Spiritism
gives a more emotionally satisfying explanation of sin, placing the blame for sinning on evil
spirits not on human beings. Exorcism is a common practice. On the other hand, the Christian
value of charity is specially emphasised by Kardecist Spiritism. The dichotomy of body and soul
becomes prominent: the body is dissolved at death, but the soul is immortal. Spiritists believe in
reincarnation, and in the possibility of moral improvement of the soul through the different lives.
291 Personal communication by Mundicarmo Ferretti, 1994.
214
In the Tambor de Mina there is a special concern with the spirits of the dead which are
considered as potential causes of obsessions and disturbances in the mediums; therefore
special care is taken to afastar (send away) spirits of the astral from the rituals. However spirits
of the dead are the spiritual domain of Kardecist Spiritism. In the "old" cult houses they do not
hold table sessions but it is known that several mediums attend Spiritism sessions in Spiritism
centres. In some "new" cult houses like those of Mãe Elzita or Pai Euclides, there are no table
sessions either, but if a medium belongs to the astral line she is encouraged to attend table
sessions in specialised centres. In such cases the table sessions are perceived as practices
alien to the Tambor de Mina, because they deal with different categories of spiritual entities. On
the other hand, we mentioned in chapter 4 the importance of such sessions in the initiation and
learning process of mediums in several other cult houses. At the same time, in these "new" cult
houses table sessions are organised on a regular basis in order to provide counselling and
healing services to clients. The following video sequence documents one of such sessions in
the Margarita Mota house.
V51.- Sessão de mesa (Spiritism table session)

04-03-96. Terreiro Deus é Quem Guia
In the Margarita Mota cult house the sessões are organised every Monday. Not all the
mediums attend, and only those who have developed their linha do astral292(astral line)
participate. The table sessions are held in the evening after six o'clock. They take place in a
room beside the Mina dance hall, thus maintaining a division of space for one ritual and the
other. The mediums wear white dresses and no necklaces. The table is covered by white table
292 When working with spirits of the dead, mediums talk about "concentração do astral, os
trabalhos com os astros" (concentration in the stars, the work with the stars). The spirits of the
astral, os espíritos de luz (the spirits of light) are supposed to come from heaven or from the
stars.
215
cloth. A candle and a cup of water are placed under the table. Ritual necklaces of the main
spiritual guides of the cult house mediums are placed on the table forming a star shape, and in
its centre a candle is lit. The use of these important Mina ritual objects in the context of a table
session is a sign of the fluidity between both rituals. When the session starts the lights are
switched off and all the doors and windows are closed. Once the session begins, nobody is
allowed to leave the room.
During the first Catholic praises to open the session, the mediums stand up holding
hands. However, after this the mediums remain seated around the table most of the time. The
leader of the session, Dona Vicença invokes the spirits by means of "concentration" and a
series of gestures with the arms as if she was bringing the spiritual entities to the centre of the
table, which she hits with the hand, or upon the heads of the mediums, who at this point remain
concentrated with their hands on their forehead and eyes closed.
Some mediums begin to be irradiated by the spirits. With the arrival of the spirits, the
medium moans, and experiences convulsions or shaking of the torso, head and arms. Some hit
the table with their hands. Some spirits greet the audience, or give their names in a brief
sentence and quickly depart, others remain for a longer time in which they deal with possible
clients. The medium, like in the Cura, "gives passage" to a plurality of spirits. As discussed in
the Introduction, it is said that in the table sessions there is not proper possession (atuação) but
just irradiation. According to Dona Vicença the mediums work with the vidência, a form of
"conscious irradiation", where the spirit remains by the side of the medium. "O espírito está do
lado" (the spirit is by the side) and gives strength to the medium. It is the idea of co-existence
and inspiration rather than possession.
It is to be noted that the maracá characteristic of the Cura is also used to invoke the
spirits in the table session. It is after the shaking of the maracá that the irradiations become
more strong. In this cult house, the maracá is also used to invoke spiritual entities during the
mediumship development sessions during the initiation of the mediums (chapter 4). The use of
the maracá by Margarita Mota is not surprising as she was herself a curadora, but it
demonstrates how a ritual object fulfilling the precise function of calling the spirits is translated
to an alien ritual set up where the same function is required. The use of the maracá in a table
session is also a sign of the degree of interpenetration between the Cura and Spiritism.
In the times of Margarita Mota, they used to held sessions for the linha do astral , the
so called mesa branca (white table), but they also held sessões de caboclo where the caboclos,
as opposed to the spirits of the dead, were invoked. The differentiation is significant because it
indicates the existence of a tradition of sessões de mesa exclusively dedicated to the caboclo
which co-existed with the classic mesas brancas. This variant of caboclo table session is still
very popular in São Luis, and it was for instance the main ritual activity of the curadora Dona
Zuca with whom Dona Zefa initiated her medium's career. It suggests a tradition of the caboclo
cult, yet undocumented in Maranhão, probably similar to the Catimbó of the Northeast, or the
216
Umbanda in the Southern cities293. These are the sessões de baixo espiritismo, or "low
spiritism sessions" which may date from the end of the 19th century294 but which may have
become especially significant in the 1920's. These sessions do not involve dance or drum
playing, but the concept of irradiation (or possession according to some interpretations) by
caboclo spirits is essential. The healing-witchcraft activities constitute the main finality of the
ritual, and they are a possible context where many curadores can participate. Nowadays in the
Margarita Mota house they have fused the mesas brancas with the caboclo table sessions. In
this case, time economy reasons and the parallelism of ritual set up allow an easy fusion of
both spiritual domains The first part of the session is dedicated for the spirits of the dead and a
second part for the caboclos. This juxtaposition of two categories of spiritual entities (astral and
caboclo), together with the inclusion of ritual objects from the Cura (maracá) illustrates the
result of interactions between the Cura and Spiritism in the context of the Tambor de Mina.
At the behavioural level, despite the differences in interpretation as regards the nature
of the mediumship experience (irradiation or inspiration versus possession), the medium's role
is significantly different from the Mina. To start with the mediums remain most of the time
seated, there is no dance, and in the first part dedicated to the astral spirits there is not even
singing. Once more differences in the ritual set up correspond to differences in the symbolic
level of the spiritual entities involved. There are spiritual entities who only manifest in the Mina
and others who only manifest in the table sessions. Still others which can transit from one ritual
set up to the other. However the different ritual set ups establish differences in terms of the
nature of the action performed by the spirits, and its function. The table sessions are conceived
as the space where the spirits or the caboclos come to work. As explained by Dona Vicença,
"the Mina is not only to dance, to dress, it is not only the beads. One has to know how to work
with one's line to do some charity"295. The ethical concerns and the idea of work are central
both in the Spiritism and in the Cura, and this notion of trabalho (work) seems to be a leitmotiv
293 According to Reginaldo Prandi (1991: 49) it is probable that in the Rio of the 1920's,
Candomblé and Spiritism where practised together by certain groups of devotees. The
Umbanda would have born as a dissidence of practitioners of Kardecist Spiritism willing to
stress the value of national elements such as the caboclo and the preto velho -spirits of Indians
and slaves- rejected as inferior entities by the most orthodox spiritists. The Umbanda is seen by
Prandi, who follows Weber (1963) on this point, as a movement of re-arrangement between two
alternatives: on one hand the Kardecism as an ethical religion of salvation, rich in doctrinaire
contents, and on the other, the Candomblé, a magic-ritualistic religion, where through initiation,
priests acquire supernatural power to manipulate destiny. The Umbanda rejects the most
compromising elements of the Candomblé and assumes new ideas of the Kardecist philosophy
more suitable for the modern, urban, republican society of that time.
294 In 1888 a journal in Natal reports a song which mentions this participation of catimbozeiros
in the Spiritism (Câmara Cascudo, 1978: 29).
Fui aluno do Remigio I was a disciple of Remigio
Muita Jurema bebi I drank a lot of jurema
Meti-me no Espiritismo I joined Spiritism
Do Feitiço me esqueci and forgot about witchcraft
295 "Na Mina não só é dançar, não só é vestir, não só são as contas. Tem que saber trabalhar
com a sua linha para fazer caridade"
217
in the Mina de Caboclo too. Different ritual settings are used, and the table session is only one.
However in some cult houses (TDQG, TRN) it is the privileged one.
In the middle of the session the spirits or caboclos deal with several clients, in this case
there were two young girls from the neighbourhood, two old women and a man. The trabalhos
involve counselling, advice or warning as it happens with one of the young girls. Talking through
the medium, the spirit is arguing that the girl has forgotten her religious duties, and that she
must perform them or otherwise she will die "ou tu dá, ou tu baixa" (either you give, or you die).
The anger and violence of the encantado is considerable and one guesses that the girl must
have been frightened. Other trabalhos consist of prayers or passes similar to the ones
administered in the Cura. Hand contact between the client and the medium is important to
channel the appropriate spiritual fluids. In one instance Dona Vicença incorporated by a
caboclo cuts the air with a scissors around the head of one of the girls. This gesture is
supposed to cut negative fluids from the person. Afterwards she cut a lock of the girl's hair that
she kept in the shrines room. Other mediums can diagnose or give the prescription of a
remedy. In this context spirits can come to legitimate decisions or discuss problems related to
the cult house organisation, and the spirits may warn the house mediums who do not attend
regularly the rituals or who go to dance at other cult houses. The table sessions work as a form
of community forum, where the spirits talk and indoctrinate.
The second part of the session involves a brief series of caboclo songs leaded by Dona
Vicença incorporated by her caboclos and answered by the other mediums. The use of the
maracá is repeated in this singing part. Finally the leader of the session closes the table with
similar gestures as those of the opening and standing up for the final Catholic prayers. It is to
be noted the symmetry with the starting ritual segment. Mediums make the sign of the cross
and exchange blessings. The lights are open and the session ends.
The Tambor de Mina ceremonies constitute a form of spectacle which ensures the
social visibility of its participants, nonetheless the public remains passive spectator. In the table
sessions, on the contrary there are interpersonal exchanges, and the client establishes direct
verbal communication with the spirits in order to solve conflictual situations. The table sessions
provide a codified context for a form of social service which strongly bounds the religious group
to the community where it is inserted. While the Mina ceremonies are addressed to the wide
public, the table sessions are addressed to the clients. The clients, beside their eventual
material contribution to the maintenance of the terreiro's activities, are also an important human
resource for the recruitment of new mediums. Thus the sessões de mesa provide different
advantages for the maintenance, expansion and social visibility of the terreiro. The table
sessions also provide an effective strategy to maintain the social cohesiveness of the religious
group, without the costs and efforts of a drum-playing ceremony.
218
219
Conclusion
Summary of substantive conclusions
From the analysis provided in this study we can conclude that at the ritual singing level,
at the spirit possession behaviour level, and at the articulation of personal spiritual identity level,
there are some significant differences between the "old" cult houses and the majority of "new"
cult houses, the Casa Fanti Ashanti being an exception in closely following the Nagô tradition,
at least at the singing and possession behaviour levels.
The analysis of the ritual singing and the articulation of a personal spiritual identity have
been related to the central problematic of the thesis, namely the spirit possession phenomenon.
Spirit possession has been examined in the context of public ritual performance from the
perspective of the observer, trying to identify the different communicative systems operating in
the behavioural expression of the phenomenon. The examination of the learning and
performative dimension of the different spirit possession roles has prevailed over
considerations regarding the individual psychological dimension of the religious experience.
Therefore this study is only a selective perspective which neither addresses the phenomenon in
its totality nor exhausts other interpretations. Taking as a premise the culturally stylised nature
of ritual spirit possession performance, this phenomenological study has hopefully confirmed
the premise and demonstrated the existence in the Tambor de Mina of three main patterns of
behaviour which allow to speak of different ritual orthodoxies. Throughout this study I have
tried to argue that differences in religious orthodoxies, expressed in particular ritual codes,
respond, in part, to differences in historical cultural sources and traditions. This has been
demonstrated in relation to the two "old" cult houses, and was specially clear in relation to the
Casa das Minas, whose African source is clearly identified.
The second aim of this thesis has been to indicate the possible cultural traditions
involved in the formative process of the Mina de Caboclo. In order to explain the orthodoxies of
the "new" cult houses I have resorted to the comparison of different public rituals held in the
Mina houses. Beside the two "old" cult houses, I identified two main religious "roots" of the
"new" cult houses in the Terreiro do Egito and the Terreiro da Turquia. The traditions preserved
in these matrices cult house indicated already a confluence of the West African Jeje-Nagô
traditions and a complex of Bantu-Amerindian-European derived traditions. It may be argued
that these broad categories run the risk of being too generic and therefore reductionist, or
anachronistic in contemporary Tambor de Mina, but they have proved helpful analytical
concepts to distinguish main polarities operating within different rituals held in contemporary
Mina houses.
To understand or to explain the differences between the Mina de Caboclo and the Mina
Jeje or Nagô, one could resort to sociological interpretations as the one proposed by Bastide
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(1971). Changes in social structure such as the passage from slavery to free labour, or the
industrialisation process of the Southern urban centres later on, would result in the loss of
group control and traditional knowledge favouring a disaggregation process where personal
idiosyncrasy would eventually replace the collective nature of African cults. According to
Bastide's interpretation the cult houses appeared after the abolition of slavery, like the Terreiro
da Turquia, and what he calls the "Yoruba degenerated" centres should be considered
"imitation sects" (1971: 519). It is through the emergence of the less "structured" religious
communities that Bastide sees the possibility for socially displaced individuals to seek for some
sort of social compensation in religious practices. According to him, "mystic trance" loses its
archaic feature of imitation of the gods' gestures and becomes a phenomenon of imaginary
compensation for frustrations, inferiority complexes and resentments. He then proposes a
general rule according to which the compensation mechanism increases in relation to the
degree of disaggregation of the social structures. "Wherever the control becomes less firm,
mysticism transforms from the expression of collective models, to the individual expression of
the experiences which men make of the metamorphosis of social structures" 296 (1971: 521-
522).
Without denying the effects of some of the changes of the wider social order in the
expression of religious experience, this study has assumed an alternative complementary
analysis to the sociological interpretation and has questioned some of the assumptions of
Bastide's interpretation, mainly the concept of disaggregation in relation to African traditions.
Following the ideas of Goldman (1987) according to which an understanding of spirit
possession requires an initial analysis of the ritual context where it is articulated, this thesis
proposes a phenomenology of ritual expression, complemented in a second stage by an ethno-
historic perspective. This thesis tries to explain some of the changes which occurred in the
Tambor de Mina in terms of the internal dynamics of the institution and its relationship with
particular magico-religious traditions co-existing in the region. The changes perceived in the
"new" cult houses are not so much the result of a degenerative evolution of a unique African
source which has lost its "purity", but rather the interwoven convergence, aggregation rather
than disaggregation, of a series of cultural traditions (ideas, values, rituals) resulting from the
interaction of a plurality of conceptual and ritual ensembles, all operated of course, through
human agents.
Although it has been suggested that one must abandon the notion of "Africanism" to
understand contemporary Tambor de Mina, it has been impossible not to consider in depth the
African component of this religious institution, as the integration of its main identifying elements,
the drums, the singing, the dance, and spirit possession, are a genuine African ritual format.
296 "Onde quer que o contrôle se afrouxe, o misticismo passa da expressão de modelos
coletivos para a expressão individual das experiências que os homens fazem das
metamorfoses das estruturas sociais".
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However when we compare contemporary Tambor de Mina with the traditional Bahian
Candomblé, one has to acknowledge less clear indices of African retention in the former. In the
Tambor de Mina, African spiritual entities, although they have a high prestige, are less
numerous than the more popular Brazilian caboclos. The African language of ritual songs is
only maintained in few cult houses, Portuguese being the most usual language. The process of
initiation is apparently simpler and shorter than in Bahia, and only a few mediums in each cult
house follow it. The internal private rites, like food offerings and animal sacrifices, seem also to
be less frequent than in the Bahian Candomblé. In the Casa das Minas, animal offerings are
each day more rare; in the Casa de Nagô, in the last years, the performance of these activities
has considerably decreased too. At the same time, the Tambor de Mina seems to have
suffered a bigger influence from Catholic ideology, and many practices from popular
Catholicism such as the Festa do Divino and other elements of the feasts of saints have been
appropriated by the Mina cults. A high degree of eclecticism seems to have developed in the
Mina.
The Amerindian-derived traditions, like the Pajelança Cabocla, were influenced by the
Bantu magico religious traditions imported in the 18th century by slaves. The convergence of
beliefs and of the healing and witchcraft functions of the pajé and kimbanda contributed to the
Bantu input in the Pajelança Cabocla, probably effected when creole and mestiço individuals
began to perform as pajés. The singing structure of call and response, and the division of the
spiritual world in different linhas or spirit fields, suggest an African component in the Pajelança
Cabocla. This study suggests that these Bantu traditions reproduced in the Pajelança Cabocla
and in other regional forms of drumming-dancing rituals like the Tambor de Mata or Terecô,
where later on amalgamated to the West African-derived traditions of the Jeje and Nagô,
preserved in São Luis in a few communities. The Bantu input in Afro-Brazilian religion has
been widely remarked upon in the literature, but not so much in the context of Maranhão, where
the Jeje and Nagô denominations still prevail as the main identifying traditions of the institution.
The Bantu input in the generative process of the Mina de Caboclo and its possession ideology,
has therefore occurred through a series of intermediate stages of cultural interpenetration
resulting in various local forms of mediumship ritual expression.
For analytical purposes this interpenetration process could be divided into two main
historic stages. The first corresponds to the end of the 19th century, after the abolition of
slavery, giving birth to the first terreiros where the caboclo was the main spiritual entity and
where Portuguese was the main ritual language. The Terreiro da Turquia would be the
paradigm of this stage. A second stage started in the late 1930's, and acquired special
relevance in the 1950's when many pajés began to organise Mina cult houses, and where the
presence of Kardecist Spiritism and the Umbanda from the southern cities reinforced the
eclecticism. The influence of the Candomblé in the Tambor de Mina has not been addressed in
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this study since it is a phenomenon started only in the 1980's and which seems to have affected
only a few cult houses (CFA, TY) and it is less significant in the Mina de Caboclo as a whole.
The possession ideology shaped in the non-West African traditions reinforces the idea
of a plural personal spiritual identity of the medium, allowing multiple possessions during the
same ceremony. This fact may account for the proliferation of Brazilian families of encantados,
since the occurrence of possession and the subsequent naming are enough to generate new
spiritual entities. This procedure contrasts with the West African tradition where, in terms of
ritual possession, initiation and divination shape a single alliance between the vodun and the
medium. This alliance is determined by a relatively defined "pantheon" and a mythological
corpus which in other traditions seems to be less firm. Basically, the West African tradition and
Bantu-Amerindian derived forms seem to present two different notions of person, at least with
reference to the expression of mediumship and its inclusive form of possession. The non-West
African traditions, in some cases (Pajelança, Spiritism), seem also to introduce the notion of
inspiration as opposed to possession, where the co-existence of the spirit and the medium in
the former is opposed to the idea of actual habitation of the spirit within the medium's body and
the replacement of personality in the latter. The influence of Kardecist Spiritism is specially
relevant in the terminology used by the mineiros when referring to the relationship between
human and spirits, and in certain ideas of reincarnation, and indoctrination of spiritual entities
with the subsequent moral additives like the concept of charity. Spiritism is socially more
accepted than the Mina practices and that may explain why some cult houses appropriated
Spiritism practices and ideology to legitimate their activities. The performance of table session
both in their modality of mesa branca, or the mesa de caboclo more influenced by the Catimbó,
constitute important ritual activity in some "new" houses. This coexistence of different ritual
practices within the same cult house is only possible when there is a common conceptual
rationale which accounts for certain unity of purpose. In Maranhão it seems to be the discourse
of mediumship. The strong conceptual influence of Kardecist Spiritism may have favoured the
recent proliferation of the Umbanda practices too. Altogether, the Tambor de Mina has evolved
into a particular regional form of religion, which despite its African original component, has
slowly transformed into a genuine Brazilian creation.
Despite the influences from the Pajelança, Terecô, Kardecist Spiritism, Umbanda,
Candomblé, and other religions of African origin, in São Luis, the Tambor de Mina preserves a
characteristic ritual orthodoxy, and continues to be practised as a differentiated form of
mediumistic cult, not only in the Casa das Minas and the Casa de Nagô (where only Mina
rituals are performed), but also in a great number of newer terreiros where rituals of different
natures are also practised. Despite the denominational and ritual singularity of the religious
institution, we have seen that the Tambor de Mina presents a great diversity of interrelated
expressions which are difficult to systematise. The attempt to search for commonalties and
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main patterns has probably blurred or minimised the complexity of the phenomenon, but
hopefully I may have evoked certain of these intricacies. Beside the textual discourse, the video
images at least, should provide partial evidence of the reality I have tried to examine.
Methodological conclusions: The use of video as an ethnographic

research tool
Documentary and ethnographic film
The use of audio-visual formats in the social sciences has been a subject of continued
debate. There has been a traditional reluctance to accept images and sounds as part of the
academic discourse although, first with photography (Guran, 1996) and then with film (Lozios,
1983), these media have slowly begun to be accepted in some research areas. Visual
anthropology, for instance, has emerged as a discipline articulated around the production of
ethnographic films, and lately ethnographic videos. Ethnographic films or videos are usually
considered a subset of documentaries, however it is difficult to establish a clear boundary
between documentaries "about people" in general, and ethnographic documentaries in
particular.
"Le film ethnographique est du documentaire, car il est soumis aux mêmes contraintes
quant aux formes de communication (pour faire bref: le langage cinématographique) et
aux mêmes exigences quant au propos (rendre compte d'un réel inconnu ou
méconnu). Le sujet, le texte, l'auteur ou la technique ne tracent a priori aucune barrière
entre eux". (Olivier de Sardan, 1994: 52)
Already at certain levels the distinction between a fiction film and a documentary film is
difficult to trace with precision. The documentary genre resorts to all sorts of artifices proper to
the fiction realm and vice versa. The documentary, with its fabrication and manipulation of
images, does not escape "cette loi du nécessaire mensonge cinématographique" (Olivier de
Sardan, 1994: 53). We know about the inevitable degree of distortion, and construction implicit
in any image, the impossibility to represent the whole event as it actually happened, and the
unavoidable subjectivism involved even in the most "objective" documentation. However
documentaries in general, and ethnographic documentaries in particular, are usually intended
to show the social world as it is, to achieve fidelity to lives as lived; they aspire to a certain
degree of truthfulness as regards the reality they try to present or represent. All these
characteristics could be classified under the label of "realism" (Lozios, 1993). This idea of
realism is followed by Olivier de Sardan who considers that "le film ethnographique ne
correspond à rien d'autre qu'à une forme particulière de pacte réaliste, qu'on pourrait appeler
pacte ethnographique" (1994: 54). If there are no objective criteria or discriminative criteria (in
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relation to subject, text, author, or technique) to distinguish between documentaries in general

and ethnographic documentaries, nonetheless some indices of the "ethnographic pact" may be
postulated. "L'exotisme savant d'un sujet par example, qui cumule l'étrangeté d'une coutume
lointaine, la pédanterie d'un commentaire et la figure virtuelle d'un chercheur, cumule trois
indices qui signent ou renforcent le pacte ethnographique comme figure particulière du pacte
réaliste" (Olivier de Sardan, 1994: 54). Despite these indices, which may not be relevant to all
ethnographic films, I would suggest that in the end the "ethnographicity" of a documentary
depends on whether this value is attributed to it by the author or, most importantly, by the
audience. The context in which the film is shown (i.e. a classroom, an ethnographic film
festival) can also determine this judgement. "Ethnographicity" is therefore a convention, a pact
or agreement, assumed on most of the cases by the academic community who constitutes its
audience. Other authors like Jay Ruby, (Lozios, 1993) try to establish more precise boundaries:
"ethnographic documentaries should satisfy four criteria: they should be films about
whole cultures, or definable portions of culture; informed by explicit or implicit theories
of culture; explicit about the research and filming methods they had employed; and
using a distinctively anthropological lexicon".
Whether one agrees or not with these criteria, the general assumption is that
ethnographic documentaries imply a significant input of anthropological research, with a
theoretical and analytical emphasis. The most common tendency is to consider ethnographic
documentaries those which are conceived, justified and constructed to document
anthropological research.
An alternative to documentaries: visual documents and text
Despite these denominational discussions, what seems to be clear is that the use of
audio-visual technologies in ethnographic research has been limited to the production of
documentaries. As remarked by Nichols (1991: 201) "documentary trades heavily on its own
evidentiary status, representative abilities, and argumentative strategies". In the context of
research, besides the obvious illustrative and descriptive dimension of documentaries what has
been valorised is the "argumentative strategies" which are usually articulated within the visual
conventions of cinematic narrative. Ethnographic documentaries are constructed to tell a story,
to generate the illusion of a linearity parallel to verbal scientific reasoning.
In my opinion, the use of images and sound in academic research should not be limited
to the production of documentaries. This is not to deny the advantages of the documentary type
of narrative presentation, but to propose alternative ways of using audio-visual records which
may take full advantages of the "evidentiary status" and "representative abilities" of images, but
which may free them, to a certain extent, from the conventions of cinematic narrative. In that
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sense I prefer to think in terms of documents or records, rather than documentaries. I prefer to
think in terms of information contained in images rather than in story telling by means of
images. The "argumentative strategies" of images can be then articulated in relation to textual
discourse.
This is what has been attempted in this thesis, where the video recordings have been
presented as a series of independent short sequences inserted as audio-visual paragraphs so
to speak within the textual narrative. As regards the nature of the visual documents, I have
avoided any voice over, and I have relied on the self explanatory nature of images, as well as
on the accompanying text for contextualisation or comment. Nonetheless, for identifying
purposes each sequence is headed by a title screen providing a short reference regarding the
content, the date, the name of the ceremony, and the cult house where it was recorded.
Whenever possible, real-time non-edited sequences have been used, but in some cases
editing has been required when trying to present information about a particular ritual set up
(V44, V46-51). In these cases the conventions of cinematic language have been unavoidable
although I have always maintained unity of time, space, and action, and I have normally used a
fade to black to signal important temporal discontinuities.
I think the non-edited real-time sequences although longer, and possibly more boring,
are sometimes more useful for research purposes, because they preserve a sense of time flow
which in an edited version is lost. This photography option, already traditional in ethnographic
documentaries, has proved technically complex in my research, particularly when from a fixed
point of view one has to follow with the camera for a relatively long period of time a medium
dancing among other mediums. In many cases the shot is ruined because of camera errors, or
because the subject is hidden by other participants. Therefore the sequences presented in the
video tape are always a compromise between the technical quality of the image and what they
intend to show.
Undoubtedly, despite the fact of presenting the images as independent units, there has
been a selection and an order imposed on them. Since it was impossible to edit and to present
all the available material, the selection has prioritised the "images syntheses" or paradigmatic
images, those whose level of exemplariness seemed to be higher, or which depicted a
particular phenomenon with more clarity or efficacy. The order in which they have been
organised in the video tape was mainly determined by the textual narrative. However despite
their sequential organisation they are independent scenes which are not linked by any narrative
purpose internal to the video. Therefore, as already said, they are not a documentary but visual
documents.
In any ethnographic research the first question to be asked is whether the use of video
may be significant or appropriate. There may be subjects which can be better discussed and
communicated with other media such as text, audio recording or still images. The point is that
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the use of video may not be suitable for all kinds of ethnographic research. However, the use of
audio-visual recordings for the documentation of ritual performance constitutes a powerful basis
for analysis. Audio-visual technologies provide an unparalleled medium for the study of ritual
performance. Any event involving time and movement, dance, drum playing, singing, are
better described with video, allowing for the close study of dynamic processes which are
otherwise very difficult to analyse in detail. Dealing with the phenomenology of spirit
possession, where body performance is the main form of expression, the visual language is a
much more adequate and rich media to convey preliminary data than verbal language can ever
be. If only for this reason the use of images would be already justified in this study. Audio-visual
documentation allowed me to identify, for example, the signs and formative gestures which
communicate the deity's identity to the audience, to analyse the "processual" quality of both the
ritual itself and the variations of role-playing within it (ritual identities). At the same time, it can
be argued that the use of audio-visual technologies tends to orientate the analysis to those
issues where the use of moving images is more effective, and those are generally of a formal
nature. In that sense the use of video in my research has inevitably shaped a way of looking at
things. My initial interest in the phenomenology of performative ritual aspects, to understand
how things happen rather than why things happen, was consistent with and strongly reinforced
by the use of video.
Roland Barthes (1981, as quoted in Guran 1996) comments that "la photographie met
en valeur ces petits détails qui sont la matière première de l'ethnologie". This comment could
also apply to video images, and stresses the information density of visual records. An image is
worth a thousand words, but that does not mean that the spectator has always the ability or the
conceptual background to read and to interpret such visual information. An image which is not
properly understood becomes a speechless text. I believe these visual reading difficulties have
been one of the main problems in accepting the image in social science discourse. More than
photography, image in movement demands a great deal of concentration to be assimilated. Our
conscious mind is not able to register all the information contained in 24 images per second.
Thus one of the main problems of cinematic language in research, lies on the lack of control
that the reader-spectator has over the temporal flow of the images. This is especially significant
in the documentary type of presentation where the narrative imposes a rhythm which makes it
difficult to interrupt. On the other hand, the document type of presentation, provided that the
spectator uses a video player, allows for an easier possibility of viewing and reviewing. The
other problem is that visual reading demands a degree of observational attention to which the
majority of us is not accustomed. We are used to the passive attitude of watching television or
films, but it is more difficult to look at moving images as if we were looking at a painting, to pay
attention to the detail, to concentrate on specific parts of the picture, and to be able to analyse
all the information contained in it. It is not only a problem of lack of visual reading skills, but also
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a lack of conceptual background to interpret and to analyse this information, and here is where
textual discourse comes into play. Although the image, by its own nature, does not share the
analytical potential of scientific verbal reasoning, it is the combination of both which becomes a
powerful methodological strategy in research.
Without surrendering any of the advantages of verbal reasoning, the complementary
use of sound and moving images can add a sense of immediacy and realism which may help
the reader to understand what the text means. Video can never replace reality. Video cannot
capture the temperature, the smell, the sense of space of any given situation. Despite these
limitations, video can evoke the atmosphere of a specific event and provide a sense of
tangibility of the captured reality, a sense of verisimilitude that other languages such as text or
photography on many occasions lack. Video provides a sense of immediacy that makes you
believe in what you see.
The descriptive dimension and evocative potential of images and sounds, if nothing
else, are reasons enough to justify their use as an integral part in the presentation of research
findings, but it is the mutual dialectic from the text to the images and from the images to the text
which constitutes the interesting challenge in the domain of research. Images can serve to
illustrate the text, but the text can also serve to illustrate the images. In this thesis, on several
occasions the video has been the point of departure upon which the textual discourse is based.
In some cases comparison between images has served for argumentative purposes providing
evidence of antagonistic ritual behaviours and therefore contributing to the demonstration of
particular arguments, or to the presentation of their conclusions.
The use of audio-visual documents also allows for a new level of intricacy in
ethnographic analysis, presenting aspects of reality which emphasise particularities and impose
restrictions on quick generalisations, thus refining the accuracy of scientific empiricism. Visual
documentation constitutes a constant referent which does not allow the researcher to lie. It
allows for a continuous examination of empirical evidence which constrains the possibility of
inaccurate generalisations.
The presentation of a thesis accompanied by a video tape is an attempt to explore the
possibilities of this visual and textual juxtaposition although because of the disparity of the
media both elements cannot be physically implemented. As a compromise, and for identifying
purposes, a black and white image of one of the frames of each video sequence has been
printed in the appropriate text location. This is a problem that the multimedia computer based
technologies can already solve. I think the potential of this technology will have a serious impact
on future research. Nowadays it is possible to digitise video sequences and to integrate them
within a multimedia application, where text and other languages such as graphics, photography
or audio recording can be linked to generate a multimedia discourse. From this perspective,
video can be thought, not anymore as a medium by itself, but as an integrated element within a
textual narrative. This technology offers the possibility to present a series of independent
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relatively short audio-visual sequences, together with conventional textual linear discourse. The
reader is presented with moving images that can be viewed and reviewed as many times as
necessary, preceded and followed by text. This is a possible use of video in the research
domain which I believe has a great deal of advantages. In that sense, the juxtaposition of text
and audio-visual goes beyond the limitations and conventions of linear cinematic narrative, and
thus beyond the problematic of ethnographic film documentaries. This thesis is only a first step
in that direction.
The video as a sophisticated notebook
Beside the use of video in the final presentation of research findings, I think video offers
the researcher yet another possibility. With the availability of semi-professional relatively cheap
video equipment, now a single researcher with little training is able to make a "rough-and-ready"
audio-visual record of an event lasting several hours for only a small cost. The use of video
does not have to be guided by the needs of the eventual final presentation in which it may be
constructed. Video recording does not necessarily have to be conceived as a means to tell
stories or to construct an argument. Video can simply be used as a kind of sophisticated
notebook, a memory tool by which the researcher keeps a record of the events, and to which
he or she can go back at any point to retrieve information.
One of the greatest advantages of video as a research medium is the possibility of
repeated observation. In that sense, in my research the audio-visual documentation provided a
constant empirical reference long after I had left Brazil; repeated screenings permitted me to
"read", a posteriori, new information which was not perceived when recording the actual event.
In addition, many aspects of ritual performance behaviour which were not readily discussed by
participants were identified and traced from the visual record, leading to a better understanding
of the internal dynamics of the Tambor de Mina and its historical evolution. Let me explain this
with an example related to my research.
During the three first years of my research I was faced with an intriguing question
concerning the incorporation in the Mina de Nagô (CN, CFA). How did the assistant called
toalheira know when a dancer had incorporated in order to give her the toalha, when in many
cases there were no obvious changes of behaviour?. I would explain it to myself, attributing to
the toalheira an exceptional personal knowledge of all the mediums of the cult house, and that
she could always perceive the slightest changes in their behaviour. However this was not a
satisfactory answer. I asked different priests and priestesses about this issue and they would
say that the difference was perceived by the changes in the facial expression or the change in
the dance. I could understand this for some cases, but not for all of them. So what was going
on that I did not know, or I did not see?.
Here is when video became a very useful tool. One day when watching in detail a video
sequence, I noticed that before a medium was given the toalha she slightly held up her skirt
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with the hand. This gesture is quite common in other dances, and this was one of the reasons
why I had not paid attention to it. I reviewed several tapes from the same cult house and
effectively I confirmed my hypothesis. As we have seen in chapter 3, this gesture is the sign to
notify the toalheira the occurrence of the incorporation. Reviewing other tapes, from other cult
houses I realised that men changed the position of the ritual necklace to communicate the
event. It was a small detail, but for me it was an exciting discovery.
Neither the priests nor local researchers had ever told me about this. It was the
possibility of repeated observation through video which enabled me to discover this important
detail. There are many other things that I discovered through reviewing the videos. If one is
involved in lengthy research, as one gathers more knowledge on the subject, reviewing old
tapes with new information can reveal new aspects one had not noticed before. The video, in
this case, is not useful in terms of the final presentation of research findings, it is useful within
the research process itself, as a means of acquiring new information. And this information can
be concealed within images which did not focus specifically on that particular area of interest, or
in images which are not "good" images in terms of their visual quality.
When talking about the use of video as a research medium, we could make a
distinction between considerations related to the actual video recording of events in the field,
and those which arise from the subsequent use of this material, either within the research
process itself, or in its final presentation. I have commented on the latter, and now I would like
to focus on the first group, those which arise during fieldwork. I am aware that in other
ethnographic areas, the problems I address here would be irrelevant or at least of a different
nature, but these are the ones I confronted in my own fieldwork.
The use of video in the field
The religious context, due to associated precepts of secrecy, is probably one the most
sensitive areas to the presence of foreign eyes, let alone to the presence of a camera. In Afro-
Brazilian religion participants usually show initial reluctance to any foreign approach, and
although many priests and priestess are already used to the presence of researchers, they
always disclose only bits and pieces of their knowledge, and even that only if the researcher is
patient enough. Given this situation, I would say that to start a relationship with a priest or
priestess exposing one's wish to video record, whether it is a ritual or an interview, may be the
worst possible introduction of all. My belief is that one needs to gain the trust of members of
the religious community, before mentioning the possibility of video recording. This prudence
may seem excessive, and not too effective for the researcher who has a limited amount of time
and needs quick results, but if the researcher has the privilege of spending a relative long
period of time with the community he or she wants to approach, then I would say that video has
230
always to wait. However, at one point or the other, one has to suggest the idea and get the
permission to video record.
This problem varies a lot from one place to the other. I have confronted the situation in
three different contexts: Benin, Bahia and Maranhão. Nowadays in Benin and Brazil video is
already an available technology which is not perceived anymore as a novelty. Since recent
years, at least in Benin, it is quite common for families or members involved in the cults to hire
videomen to record important public ceremonies in order to keep the tape as a souvenir. The
financial possibility to video record the events is also perceived as a sign of social status.
Nonetheless, the researcher in his or her condition of foreigner or alien, must always be ready
to negotiate if he or she wants to video record anything.
In Brazil we are presented with two different situations. In Bahia for instance, in the
traditional terreiros of Candomblé one is not allowed to video record public ceremonies, and in
the dance hall there are written notes preventing anybody from taking photographs or video
recording. This is due to the persistent disclosure of many aspects of the religion which are
considered to be secret, made by researchers since the 1950's, and lately to the massive
presence of tourism in the Candomblé. On the other hand there are less traditional terreiros,
specially those from Angolan nation or the so called Candomblé de Caboclo, where to video
record does not pose any problem provided one knows the leader priest and ask for
permission.
In São Luis, circumstances are quite different. Probably because of the absence of a
systematic presence of researchers, the cult leaders are more eager to accept the possibility of
video recording public ceremonies. Members of the "old" cult houses will however show some
reluctance, and on several occasions I had to ask permission to video record from the voduns
themselves before or during the ceremonies, because the mediums in their normal state would
not dare to take such a decision. In other cult houses the leader priest will be keener on the
idea, and I remember one particular priest who would always remind me to bring my camera
when attending the ceremonies. As in Benin the presence of a videoman in the audience can
bring some prestige to the leader priest in front of the community. In any case in São Luis you
are never asked for money or any present in exchange, as happens in Benin.
231
Video screening sessions
From the moment I had recorded my first Tambor de Mina ceremonies in São Luis in
92, I resolved I should give a copy of the videos to the people I had been recording. I felt some
sort of moral obligation, and it seemed only natural to thank their hospitality in that way. At the
same time, some people had expressed their wish to see the videos after I had recorded the
ceremonies. Thus began an interesting process, because I was not interested in just sending a
video tape by mail, but I was willing to organise the actual video screenings in the terreiros. I
was interested in observing the reactions and possible comments generated by this situation.
This use of audio-visual records in the field is nothing new, and other anthropologists or
film-makers such as Robert Flaherty and Jean Rouch had already tried the experiment.
Timothy Asch, Patsy Asch and the anthropologist Linda Connor had also done the same in a
series of three films on a Balinese healer. The first film was called "A Balinese Trance Seance".
It was filmed in 1978 and it is a fairly straightforward example of documentation filming. The
second film "Jero on Jero" was shot two years later in 1980 and consisted of the actual
shooting of the Balinese healer looking at the first film where she was performing. According to
the authors "this was done to explore the value of showing people film of themselves in order to
generate new data" (Lozios, 1993).
In my case I tried this too, but with some slight differences. I did not want to make a
video recording of such a situation, although I usually took some images of the event. On the
other hand I did not only show the videos I had recorded in situ, but I also tried to generate
some sort of exchange between different religious communities showing videos that I had
recorded in other places. That is, in Benin, besides the tapes recorded there, I would also show
tapes from Brazil, and vice versa. In Bahia I would show video tapes, and also audio tapes,
from Maranhão and Benin, and in Maranhão I would show tapes from Africa and other local
neighbouring communities.
The first thing I realised from this experiment was that the proposition to show a video
was a very effective starting point to establish a relationship with my informants. It usually
generated a great deal of interest, and as a result I was not immediately perceived as
somebody who was there to "steal" information, but as somebody who was offering something
they were genuinely interested in. I believe that if the researcher has the means to establish
some sort of exchange with the subjects of his or her research, and video can be one of these
means, that always sets the basis for a more receptive attitude where dialogue has a better
chance to occur.
When possible I always tried to organise these screening sessions in the terreiros so
that people could feel more at ease and less intimidated. However, sometimes these sessions
resulted in important social events where lots of people would congregate. In these situations it
was difficult to gather information. People would talk among themselves, would stand up and
232
leave for a while and return later on, and so on. When the screening sessions were less
crowded there was a better chance to collect some data. However it always depended on the
personality of the informants. Some of them would be more accessible than others. In fact I
was never able to use the video screening session for a systematic analysis of ceremonies.
First because the screenings were informal sessions not organised for this purpose, second
because to organise a second screening to allow this possibility most of the times was not so
easy for logistic reasons, and third because religious experts are usually quite smart and the
video does not make them forget about the imperatives of secrecy. However I always got some
feedback, some explanation or comment, but usually the viewers were more interested in
looking at the images than in giving explanations about them.
Some differences were noticeable depending on the kind of video I was showing. If it
was a video recorded in situ, the identification of the members of the community was the most
normal and immediate reaction, and I occasionally learnt the name of some spiritual entities,
however there was a relative lack of comments. In some cases, like in the Casa das Minas,
silence prevailed during most of the session. Although in Brazil it is said that a medium should
never look at herself while possessed, either through photographs or video, that did not seem
to be a major concern in São Luis.
When I showed tapes of Benin in Brazil or vice versa, I usually had to answer questions
related to the images rather than ask questions myself. More information can be collected when
the video shows images which are from a neighbouring religious community. Talking about the
neighbour seems to be easier than to talk about oneself. However talking about the other
always leads to talk about oneself. Talking about how things are similar or different, the
conversation can generate some interesting data. I always found it very helpful to organise
these screening sessions with some other person. While I would normally have to give some
explanation about the video, the other person could listen to the comments in the audience or
ask specific questions.
The criteria for editing that kind of document was determined by the audience. More
than editing, it was a cleaning of the raw material by selecting the better images, the ones that
were not moved or out of focus, and trying to follow some editing rhythm. I would tend to make
these tapes between half an hour and one hour long, always editing the events in the temporal
order in which they were recorded. I did not need to use either voice over or subtitles because I
knew that the audience would already know what was going on, or eventually I would be there
to provide any important information. Sometimes I would use a title screen for locating and
dating the event. Technical perfection was also secondary, I did not edit the audio for instance,
and every shot had its original sound. The final tape would be a third generation VHS video,
then transferred to NTSC or SECAM. This low quality image did not seem to really matter to the
audience. I consider these tapes provisional documents. Despite the inevitable subjectivism,
their aim is to evoke specific ritual ceremonies, and to preserve the memory of certain events.
233
Degree of intrusiveness and manipulation of the event.
To make a documentary for a wide audience usually imposes certain strategies and
conventions both at the production and post-production stages. At the production level the
documentary usually implies certain attitudes during the actual shooting, such as previous
setting of lighting equipment, hiding of microphones, positioning of the camera according to the
performers points of view, double recording of specific events and so on. These strategies may
be very effective to achieve technical quality and "good" images, and this is why researchers
may use them too.
In my opinion the danger in this kind of situation is the obvious one of becoming too
intrusive and manipulative, to the point of not knowing, when you look at some of these
documentaries, whether you are watching an actual happening, or just a performance staged
for the camera. Maybe for some people it does not make much difference as long as the main
events are properly communicated, but for some other people, ethnographic recordings should
aim for minimum intrusion into both the events and the people being recorded. These are the
principles of what Young (1975) calls "observational cinema" .
The problem of intrusiveness, which very closely relates to the relationship between
researcher and subject, is endemic to audio-visual ethnographic studies, and I don't pretend to
have an answer for it. The ethical considerations regarding the right to intervene in an alien
culture for research purposes has been repeatedly questioned. The use of audio-visual
technologies is only a particular aspect of this problem which seems to stress the idea of
"cultural colonialism". It raises questions regarding the damage that the publication of these
representations can cause to the community being portrayed, first because they can be mis-
representations, and second because they can be misunderstood by the general public. In the
religious domain this becomes even more acute. In front of this problem, and in relation to the
use of audio-visual technology, I can only say that nowadays the use of such technologies is not
the exclusive privilege of the researcher, and that some local people have also access to video
equipment, and they use it for their own advantage. At the same time I believe the systematic
work of the researcher is somehow less "dangerous" than the intervention of network television
which has to address a wide audience and usually relies on the spectacular nature of certain
practices greatly distorting the reality in the quest for sensationalism. The point is that if the
portrayal of religious practices of minority groups is somehow inevitable, the controlled and self-
conscious way in which academic research proceeds is less damaging and can counterbalance
in some way the more irresponsible attitudes of other forms of intervention. Of course, the ideal
situation would be that the religious communities had the means to produce their own self
representations297.
297 In the last decade Afro-Brazilian cults have been severely attacked and damaged by the
electronic Evangelical churches which heavily rely on the use of network television for their
234
To illustrate the problem of intrusiveness in the context of ritual performance, I would

like just to address a particular aspect which relates to the use of space. In principle, the
researcher is always an alien presence in a ritual ceremony, and even more so if one carries a
camera. No matter what degree of friendship one may have established with certain individuals
of the community, the researcher is always perceived as a stranger. However the different
degrees of intrusiveness of the researcher basically depend on how capable one is of
respecting the behavioural rules of the community, how well one knows the protocol and the
"etiquette" of any given situation. Regarding the use of space, it can be quite surprising to see
the arrogance of some cameramen, and most specially journalists, in some of these religious
ceremonies, as I have witnessed both in Benin and Brazil, where they would place themselves
in the centre of the ritual space in close proximity to the main performers. My question in front
of such evidence is whether the mere fact of carrying a camera should allow anybody to use the
ritual space of a religious ceremony in a different way than any other spectator? My personal
principle which I have tried to apply in my fieldwork is that the cameraman has to respect the
space rules of the event. Maybe some people will not think this is absolutely necessary, and I
must admit that to my surprise, in certain cult houses, both in Benin and Brazil, the priest, and
other members of the community, did not care too much about having the cameraman in the
centre of the dancing space, especially when the video service was hired by local people.
Nonetheless my personal option was always to be as non-intrusive as possible, and in my
videos the camera always assumes the role of a member of the audience. This choice had
important consequences in my video results (see below). Maybe the spectator's point of view is
not spectacular enough; it does not provide the most dramatic image, but on the other hand,
this exterior observational positioning, may better evoke the way a regular spectator sees and
perceives the events.
When recording the Tambor de Mina ceremonies, I was mostly conditioned by the
space distribution of the different cult houses. The terreiros are closed spaces which can
sometimes be very crowded. If I chose to stand outside the dance hall, looking through
windows, that allowed me more freedom of movement, I was able to change positions and
angles, if I sat on a bench inside the dance hall, then I would move less, I would maintain a
particular point of view most of the performance, as any other member of the audience. The
problem with the terreiros in Brazil is that when one is inside the dance hall one is always very
close to the dancers, there is not much distance and one ends up with a lot of mid shots that do
religious propaganda. The idea to counterbalance this social pressure with the same
technological means, namely the production of audio-visual self-representations for the mass
media, seems remote for obvious economic reasons, and does not seem to catch the
imagination of the Candomblé people either. In the southern cities, the print matter, with the
publication of journals for instance, is the only media used by Afro-Brazilian cults to publicise
themselves.
235
not explain too much. To alleviate this problem I would try to sit in a corner, where there is more
distance and perspective. A wide angle lens for the camera also helped a little bit in these
situations. I always relied on whatever illumination was available and never used any extra
lighting. This technical limitation, which could be considered part of my compromise of minimal
intervention in the action of ritual events, resulted sometimes in serious deficiencies in the
image quality. This is obvious in some of the video sequences which accompany the thesis, but
of course they are presented as documents and have been included because of their
testimonial evidence.
Using video as an audio-visual notebook allows the researcher to operate on his or her
own without further assistance, thus generating less interference in the ritual context than if one
is with a recording crew. This especially applies to the researcher who spends a relatively long
period of time in the field. Then the role of researcher and the role of cameraman can alternate.
In such a case, the researcher may not need to record each time the whole sequence of events
involved in a ceremony. He may do so once or twice just for the record, but then, in subsequent
ceremonies, he may become more selective only recording specific aspects which appear to be
new, or which for one reason or another are of some interest. In that way, the researcher has
more time to observe with his or her own eyes, usually a much more rewarding activity, in terms
of learning, than to spend the whole time looking through the camera view finder. However if
video has to serve other purposes such as documenting a whole ritual performance, from my
experience I would say that the researcher has to give place to the cameraman, and at least a
second person for sound recording is necessary.
In the moment of recording a public ceremony, or for that matter any other event, one is
already making the first inevitable "cut" or "editing" of the reality to be captured. There is a
temporal editing, in the sense that one records only fragments of time of the temporal process,
and there is a space editing, determined by the frame, the location of the camera, the angle,
and the particular focal length one chooses. These are the "micro-choices" which relate to the
particular shot, as opposed to the "macro-choices" which relate to the articulation of the
different shots within the whole film (Olivier de Sardan, 1994: 57). A video image is always a
fragment of a bigger whole that one can never see. There is always more outside the frame, but
the same happens with the human eye. Subjectivity is a condition of human perception, and the
camera being a technological extension of human sight cannot escape from this condition.
Accepting the limitations of the video image and admitting its impossibility to reconstruct the
whole event, one possible alternative is to forget altogether about such ambition, and to focus
the only eye one has on specific moments and specific places in order to get fragments of
focused attention.
236
The particular selection of these moments is primarily determined by the priorities in the
research, but it also relates to certain intuition of the cameraman. Supposing one knows where
to focus the attention, and supposing one is already in the right place, it is always a matter of
whether one is ready for the moment or not, and in many instances one may not be. Often
these moments are unpredictable, like the incorporation of a medium for instance. When the
important moment arrives, one may not be paying attention, one may have the camera turned
off, one may run out of tape, many things can happen, and the moment is gone. The
cameraman must be in co-ordination, somehow mentally connected, with what is going on, and
this subtle co-ordination can be very easily interrupted. But even if one is prepared for the
moment, one may still have to face a new difficulty, what I call the hidden image. While
recording Tambor de Mina ceremonies it is very common to find, unexpectedly, someone
standing between the lenses and the subject, and again the moment is gone.
Here it is not a problem of what is left outside the frame, but rather of what is concealed
within the frame. Within the video image there is always a hidden image which refuses to
reveal itself. And this may be an appropriate metaphor for a religious tradition like the Tambor
de Mina which is based on secrecy, and where knowledge is only acquired by degrees.
Whatever we see at one point is only an image of a another hidden image. Hopefully this thesis
has provided a conceptual and analytical framework to reveal some aspects of the images and
sounds contained in the video tape, which are nothing else but a collection of captured
moments. Explaining the detail in them, or highlighting specific elements not readily visible, has
turned the videographic records into a second metaphoric or virtual reality which ultimately
becomes the text of analysis. I have tried to reflect upon what I have seen, and heard, and to a
certain extent lived. I have also reflected upon, and from, the images which I have recorded.
This double articulation of the ethnographic analysis on the reality of the other, and on the
images portrayed of this other, may open the way for the development of more sophisticated
research techniques. Probably the methodological imperatives of an academic study do not
allow one to convey the full richness of a religious expression such as the Tambor de Mina. The
more we focus on the detail, the more the close up (if I may use a cinematographic metaphor)
reveals an increasing dynamism in the variation of the phenomena. The more we aim for
comprehensive generalisation, the more the wide shot becomes rigid and static. Both extremes
run the risk of misrepresenting and distorting the reality. I acknowledge all these limitations and
others, but hopefully this effort may have contributed in some way to a more elaborated
comprehension of a cultural phenomenon, namely spirit possession, which in our Western
culture is usually misunderstood and misrepresented.
237
238
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THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT POSSESSION

IN THE TAMBOR DE MINA

(An ethnographic and audio-visual study)

Luis NICOLAU PARÉS

Supervisor: Prof. Louis BRENNER

London. July 1997

Chapter 1: Comparative framework: classification and historic outline of

Chapter 2: The singing activity in the drumming-dancing ceremonies ............... 61

Chapter 3: The phenomenology of spirit possession behaviour ......................... 100

Chapter 4: The medium's articulation of personal spiritual identity .................... 149

Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 219

Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 238

Page Tape time

Page Tape time

In Maranhão, I thank the anthropologists Sergio and Mundicarmo Ferretti who

Tambor de Mina constitutes one of the regional developments of Afro-Brazilian

"C'est en fait toute insertion des phénomènes de possession dans un

16 The interpenetration concept (interpénétration) was used by Bastide (1971) as an alternative

mulatto individuals began to organise in Catholic brotherhoods or to behave as pajés. In this

The mediumship continuum, and spirit possession as focus of study

It is quite normal for a medium belonging to the Tambor de Mina to participate

Spirit possession and inspiration (Incorporação and irradiação)

"the socialized behavior of an individual, consisting, given certain circumstances, in

significance and communicative purposes, expressing a certain type of relationship between

Irradiação, aproximação or vibração (irradiation, approximation or vibration) are

"Possession is characterised by the fact that during trance, the subject is

He then defines inspiration in the following terms:

To further distinguish possession from inspiration the author attributes to possession

observe the existence of a common language, a lingua franca of mediumship so to speak,

Evan. Spirit. Pajela. Terecô Mina Cand. Umb.

Chapter 1: Comparative framework: classification and historic outline of

The problem of representativeness

Religious criteria: "nations" and liturgical orthodoxies

41 First presented as a communication in the encounter "Negritude et Amerique Latine" held in

CM CN TDQG CFA TY TFD TRN

The African sources of the "old" cult houses

The Jeje and Nagô religious predominance

Congo-Angola (Bantu): Angolas, Congos, Cabinda, Benguelas, Moxicongo, Mauá (Macua),

65 As Carneiro (1985) pointed out, Afro-Brazilian religion constitutes a typically urban

The Brazilian sources of the "new" cult houses

TDQG (1943) T. S. Santana (1945) C.S. Barbara (?)

TY (1956) CFA (1958) TFD (1966) TRN (1974)

79 Expression used by Pai Itaci as reported by S. Ferretti in personal communication

Chapter 2: The singing activity in the drumming-dancing ceremonies

The drumming-dancing ritual segment of public ceremony cycles

Instruments and basic "time lines".

V01.- Abatá drums. Casa de Nagô

V02.- Abatá drums and cabaças. Terreiro Yemanja

V03.- Hun, humpli, and gumply drums. Casa das Minas

V04.- Tambor de mata. Terreiro Yemanja

V05.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line".

V06.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line".

V07.- Ferro playing the dobrado "time-line"

V08.- Ferro playing the Jeje "time-line"

Another common "time-line" in the Tambor de Mina is the so called repinicado. It is a

V09.- Ferro playing the repinicado "time-line"

V10.- Ferro playing the corrido "time-line".

The drumming-dancing sessions, could also be called drumming-dancing-singing

96Fon word to designate the chief of the drum players.

Analysis of ritual language: African "dialect" and Portuguese.

TDQG Total: 216 African 23% Portuguese 65% Mixed 12%

Singing structure: language distribution

The Mina Nagô singing pattern