The other day Moises´Aunty took us to see some of the African religion that is present here. It took place in a small house that had seats through the middle facing shelves of the saints, spirits etc, in the open room in front. Jesus (Oxalá) was amongst them along with Iemanjá, godess of the sea (bit of a mix). There were fruit and wine as offerings in front of these. In the open room the ritual of placing spirits into peoples bodies was taking place. The spiritual leader would guide this procedure and once they had entered he would get the host to spin. This was really creepy because they would spin so fast and not fall over. Once complete the spirits inside the hosts ate a lot of fruit and requested alcohol and cigarettes. They were chain smokers, although the hosts themselves did not smoke in their everyday lives. On entering the building, people were offered a number which was later called if you would like to talk to the spirits about your lives, future, warnings ect. The spirits seemed to know everything about the peoples lives and offered advice/guidance. I watched as a woman was instructed to write something on a piece of paper which was then placed inside an apple stuck together with honey. She then placed it in front of one of the statues as an offering. At one point a lady came around with a cup of this alcohol and invited people to give coins for a wish. You placed the coin in the the cup of liquid, made your wish, than drank. In this photo the lady in red, the man in white and the man in orange are the hosts of the spirits giving guidance.
For more information on this religion click on the link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbanda
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