Star that comes from the North: the Baianos of the Umbanda sect in São Paulo

Abstract

The Baianos of the Umbanda comprise a category of spirits associated with characters typical from the Brazilian Northeast. This study characterizes the spiritual category Baiano in the practice of Umbanda in the Southeast and uncovers how the pantheon incorporates human experiences and social types. Literature was consulted and data were collected through participative observation and interviews with medians in trances. Terreiros (places where the rituals occur) from the state of São Paulo, Brazil collaborated. The narratives revealed aspects that overlap those from the culture of the people of the northeast, suggesting there is a transmutation of regional scenes in metonymies and metaphors that are recombined so that one does not immediately reflect upon types that are socially determined. These meanings are materialized in rituals and in narratives rich in oxymorons, as well, enabling one to express contradictions and provide religious symbols in which the human, paradoxical and conflictive elements can be recognized.