Dia de festa de Yemanjá

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Yesterday was the Dia da Festa de Yemanjá, so I thought it would be appropriate today to descibe that event and introduce you to Candomblé. In reality, I am not myself entirely clear on the matter and if someone thinks I am mistaken about anything please do not hesitate to tell me.

Candomblé is an Afro-Brazilian religion which is extremely present in the North of the country. It was brought by African slaves during the colonisation of Brazil and is based on the belief in Orixás, gods which represent the forces of nature. Naturally, it was soon outlawed by the Portuguese settlers and to a large extent got mixed by Christianity in order to survive. Thus, many of the Orixás are also identified to saints. For instance, Ogum, the Orixá of war, is sometimes represented as Saint George. Oxalá, who created humanity, is compared to Jesus. Yemanjá, Orixá of the sea and waters, can be identified to an extent to the Virgin Mary. But generally I get the impression that none of these things are really codified, and you can probably find many different accounts on the matter. The interesting thing, however, is that many Orixás are not identified sexually in a completely formal way. So certain Orixás can have both a feminine and masculine side. Thus one may find a surprising amount of tolerance in black Brazilian comunities towards homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals in a country which is so fervantly Catholic (again, with often a hint of Candomblé). Wikipedia informs me that about 3 million Brazilians say Candomblé is their religion, but in reality, as it is mixed with Christianity, many many more practice it on an irregular basis, as both beliefs are not mutually exclusive and created a huge amount of religious synchretism.

So, concerning my own experience, I went to the celebration of Yemanjá. As previously mentioned Yemanjá is the Orixa of the sea, and is probably the most celebrated of all those deities. She is considered the mother of most other Orixás, and a lot of the fishing communities on the coast rely on her portection for their survival and good fortune. All Orixás get a day of celebration, but none is as big as that for Yemanjá. I couldn't tell with much precision, but tens of thousands, if not hundreds, gathered in the Rio Vermelho area of Salvador to celebrate Yemanjá on the 2nd of February. Dressed in white (except yours truly who was unaware of that and looked stupid in dark blue), people deposit white flowers and other gifts into baskets which are then taken out to sea by a large fleet of fishing boats to be thrown into the ocean. And before that, at about 5 in the morning, people start gathering by the coast and throw white flowers into the sea (I didn't do that because I was too lazy and had my portuguese class soon after anyway). Whilst this is originally a ceremony for the Afro-Brazilian community, it has really been adopted by most of the population of Bahia who consider Yemanjá as a kind of patron to the region. After the semi-formal ceremony ends, around 7pm, the party begins with 'trio eletricos' animating the streets from the top of trucks. The atmosphere is really great, and you can quickly realise why Brazilians get a reputation as festive. There were concerts in every street in the area, everyone dancing, singing and drinking, and even climbing on top of buses to dance in front of the multitudes. It generally ends the next morning, but I was gone by about 10pm, as I was in a group.

None of the pictures I put up here are mine, as I thought it unwise to take my camera. I think I was right, unfortunately, as some other guy got his pouch stolen. Pity, though, there were some good pictures to be taken.

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