What Is The Umbanda After All?

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Original post: Orisha Ogum

WHAT IS THE UMBANDA AFTER ALL?


Essentially, Umbanda is a religion that was officially registered on Rio de Janeiro, between the end of century XIX and the beginning of century XX, which originally it added elements from spiritualism and bantos beliefs, these last already under influence of jeje-iorubas beliefs and culture. However, the practice of this religion is much more ancient here in Brazil than that.

The Umbanda was born of the African religion fusing brought by the blacks in the colonization times, with the religion practised by our European colonizers, the Catholicism, and even a bit of the Shamanism that was practised by the Indians here in Brazil.

The necessity to preserve the culture and the religiousness, made with that the catholic saint images were associated to the Orixas, as a way to mock the suffered religious oppression at that time, and thus continuing to practise and to spread out the cult of the nature forces.

To this association, the name of "religious syncretism" was given, and was born in Brazil the Umbanda religion, with many of the original precepts and fundaments, but also with the images and mentions to the catholic saints.

Beside the cheat with catholic saints, some authors and studious in comparative religion can safely affirm that Oxalá is really Jesus, Xangô and Jupiter are the same, as well as Iemanjá and Venus, Exú and Mercury, and so on. However, it is another story that I will explain later on.

Returning to the topic, beyond the cult of the nature forces of the African religion, it also worship the ancestors, and in the same way the Umbanda also made it.

Ancestors of those who practised and spread out the religion at that time were kings, queens, princes, princesses and even common people brought or not of Africa as enslaved. These non-incarnated spirits, are known by us as "aged-blacks", many of which had opted to trace their spiritual evolution through the practice of charity, keeping the characteristics of their last incarnations and incorporating in mediums on Umbanda "terreiros".

The same can be said about the spirits of colonists, caboclos, indians, ox-drivers, children and even of common people who had a difficult period on Earth, and that they had been joined to this religion for affinity, to develop themselves and to help others to evolve through
the practice of charity: Incorporating, giving passes, giving messages, medicating, guiding, protecting, etcetera...

These groups of spirits are "organized" in the Umbanda into lines: Caboclos, Aged-Blacks, Children, and Exus. Each one of them with their functions, characteristics and ways to work well specific, but all subordinated under the nature forces that conduct them, the ORIXAS.

The word Umbanda itself, is a derivative of the word Quimbanda and have many correlated meanings on Africa:
1) the faculty, science, art, profession or business;
[INDENT]
a) of cure with natural medicine (herbs) or supernatural (enchantments);
b) of foretell the future by the consultation of the dead persons or of the geniuses and devils, spirits that are neither human nor divine;
c) of induce these humans and not-human spirits and the nature forces for the good or for the evil;
[/INDENT]
2) about the forces in run on cure, on fortune telling and on influence of spirits;
3) about the objects (offerings and enchantments) that lay down the connection between the spirits and the physical world.

The Umbanda is a communication system, between the psychic world or spiritual and the physical or material world, and is in this system
that is enclosed all the livings beings and deceased, been born and for being born. The spirits are divided in two great groups: ORIXAS and EGUNS.

ORIXAS: Spirits of the highest frequency that never had any sort of material life.
EGUNS: Evolutional spirits, of low frequency, that evolves through reincarnations in this and other Orbs.

All the known Umbanda Guides, are Eguns, evolved, that work on the Divine Plane, in favor of the learning of the imprisoned brothers
in the evolutional matter, under the aegis of the ORIXAS.

The Spirits gather themselves into NATIONS.

A Nation is a gathering of people or beings, that circuit the same local, use the same vestments, speak the same language (including dialects), and have the same philosophical, religious and dogmatic system.

The Umbanda, is practiced by the following seven (7) Nations:

[INDENT]
7) ORIENTE
6) OMOLOCÃ?
5) ALMAS
4) ANGOLA
3) NAGÃ?
2) GÃ?GE
1) KÃ?TO
[/INDENT]

The rituals or sessions which made use of the Nations 1, 2, and 3, are not called as Umbanda anymore, but as CANDOMBLÃ?, where there is no work with Eguns. On that sort of ritual the Followers will celebrate, sing, dance, give food and drink, do animal sacrifices (sometimes), at long last they do everything for praise the Saint (ORIXA). Sporadically, on these Nations, there is a "Touch of Umbanda", as is called the work with the Eguns.

The Nations 4 and 5, works frequently with the Eguns, however being also going in to "Candomblé".

The Omolocô is an eclectic Nation since it have it basis on commixture of all others, subdividing as following:

Omolocô - approach to Kêto
Omolocô - approach to Gêge
Omolocô - approach to Nagô
Omolocô - approach to Angola
Omolocô - approach to Almas
Omolocô - approach to Oriente

The Omolocô, is also known, by some people, as White Umbanda or as Jurema's Umbanda.

The Oriente is a special Nation, where one do without the ritual of the all others, and apparently is more smooth, more subtle, due to the fact that there is no work with the direct incorporation; nevertheless to become able to face the complexity of works on this Nation, the follower must know and learn the rituals of all other Nations. The cost of vital energy vital, by the Medium on Oriente, heighten up to four or five times more than normal, since he will have to use the necessary rituals without the physical demonstration of the same.

The practical Umbanda have in each one of the seven Nations, seven Rows, each Row seven Phalanges, each Phalange seven Legions, each Legion seven Pawns, each Pawn rule seven Elementals, and each Elemental have for your own services, seven Servants.

Which results in:
7 Nations
49 Rows
343 Phalanges
2,401 Legions
16,807 Pawns
117,649 Elementals
823,543 Servants

and a total of 960,709 entities that could be directed on your purpose, without mention the Orixas which are 16 into the Brazilian tradition, but countless in Yorubá mythology.

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Authors: Angelo Gomes de Oliveira (author), Orisha Ogum (translation and co-author)
[This post is 100% Troll-Proof made]

Feel free for comments and questions.

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Original post: Dracophoenix

Very educational