Candomblé

Candomblé is a Brazilian version of West African religions as they were remembered and reconstructed under the new conditions of a 19th-century Catholic slave colony. It is one of a family of religions now sometimes classified under a global rubric as “Religions of the African Diaspora,” alongside Cuban Santería, Haitian Vodou, and others. Originally a consequence of the transatlantic slave trade to Brazil, in recent years, it has expanded into Uruguay, Argentina, and the United States as well. Thus, it shows the trajectory of how an African indigenous religion became a global religion, from the early modern trauma of forced migration to, in the present day, voluntary affiliations and even web-based communities. Following a brief history, this entry introduces key concepts of the religion: axé, ...