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In article the author highlights the connection of lights with god's message and religion, Candomblé, a religion widely practiced in Brazil. Topics include the presence of spirits bounded by light not just dark; and the "white table" ceremony (mesa branca) and temple's hall covered with statues of catholic saints and spirit entities.

This article is an ethnography of Candomblé transnationalization to the city of New York. I describe the journeys of three Brazilian mães-de-santo (mothers-of-saints), who have carried their practices and knowledge with them from Brazil. I report how they settled in the city, the dialog with urban space in a megalopolis, the changes that have occurred in the rituals, and the potential transpositions to this new space, their clientele and motivations. It aims to comprehend the importance of the Candomblé itinerary as one of the main components responsible for its maintenance, establishment and expansion in Brazil and in other parts of the world. The connecting points of this article were the stories of three Brazilian mothers-of-saints who moved to New York City, carrying with them Candomblé rituals practiced in Brazil, transposing them to this new place, having to discuss and rethink their practices in the North American context, reinventing traditional religious settings or, rather, inventing traditions, and dialoging with the concept of reinvention of tradition, as proposed by Roy Wagner (1975). An important topic found in this reinvention process is a change of hierarchy, as a more horizontal interaction system is adopted by the mothers-of-saints with their devotees and clients, as opposed to the more vertical model which prevails in the Brazilian terreiros (places of worship). Following the work of the three mothers-of-saints, aiming to transpose religion to a new context, I describe their encounters with their devotees, who seek health care and well-being through the use of plants and prayers during rituals and religious ceremonies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paper which describes the everyday life of religious shrines in the city of Cachoeira in Bahia, Brazil, how people relate to them and how they work, is presented. Topics covered include how the festa, sacred objects and images of Catholicism, Candomblé and even Spiritism are brought together in the ritual performed at the Ogun shrine during the festival of Saint Anthony, altars and secrets in Candomblé and magic and images in popular Catholicism.

The text of a public lecture delivered by Valdina Oliveira Pinto, a teacher and practitioner of the philosophical and healing traditions of the Afro-Brazilian religion, Candomblé, at the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Denver in April 2011. Topics include Pinto's personal history with Candomblé, reflection on the environmental consciousness embedded in the religion and role of Candomblé in the preservation of African-based ritual resources in Brazil.

This article discusses the presence of "images" in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé In many traditional houses of Candomblé it is often said that it is not allowed to photograph or film rituals. On the other hand, in recent years, the presence of Catholic and other figurative images in Candomblé shrines has been questioned by recent "purification" movements--often led by these traditional houses--who fight syncretism, separating Catholicism from African religion. Still, in many cases figurative images are present in shrines, and rituals are photographed and filmed. This article argues that, beyond syncretism, images in Candomblé are contentious because they can be powerful: they can be indexes of the presence of Candomblé santos, they can become instances of a "distributed person." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the interweaving of the traditional, the modern, and the postmodern into the practice of Candomblé, an African-derived religion of Brazil. Multiple and competing perspectives on what is traditional or legitimate Candomblé practice coexist today. Over the course of the twentieth century, such claims about authenticity have been staked by an increasingly wider variety of agents—including government officials, social activists, college professors, and tour guides—and have been mediated by an expanding array of means of representation, including television and the Internet. Here I examine some of the ways that candomblecistas have actively responded to and shaped the shifting context in which they practice their religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the impact of history on the religious culture of Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. Due to its slaveholding past, African heritage is prominent in the state of Bahia and Afro-Brazilian religious cults permeate the city life, particularly in Salvador. The candomblé religion has an especially strong following. The author thoroughly describes a candomblé ceremony with the intent to convey and explain the spiritual beliefs behind the rituals and dispel the notion that cult members perform such demonstrations for the entertainment of tourists.