Psicologia USP , 2019, volume 30, e180093 1-11

1
Article
Umbanda and quimbanda: black alternative to white morality
Juliana Barros Brant Carvalhoa*
José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrãoa
a
University of São Paulo, Department of Psychology. Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil

Abstract: Quimbanda is an African-Brazilian religious modality generally presented as a mere ethical and
moral inversion of Umbanda that has been preserved through rituals made with spiritual entities that
supposedly contest or reverse the prevailing morality. In this study, we followed rituals and collected
interviews with priests in African-Brazilian religious communities, aiming to verify if there really is influence
of an ethical standard from the surrounding society that could have moderated or modified subjacent
African conceptions. Contrary to analyses that implicitly assume African-Brazilian cults as subjected to a
single conception of morality, we found that the sacred experience involving Quimbanda and Umbanda
is not attached to the prevailing morality, and that none of its manifestations can be properly described
as amoral.

Keywords: African-Brazilian cults, ethnopsychology, psychology and religion.

Introduction1 What is proposed here is the revision of the

assumption that the sacred experience involving
This article is the product of a research study Umbanda and Quimbanda would fit into antagonistic
carried out between 2011 and 2016 during a master’s categories such as “good” and “evil”. These religions
degree in Ethnopsychology, investigating social are described, even by their adepts, as having spirits
memory in an Afro-Brazilian context2. We considered that would generally fit into two large groups, the
it impossible to understand human beings without “right” and the “left”. Lying on the “right” line would
knowing their specific psychological constructions, be celestial entities related to light, while the “left”
establishing bridges and contrasts between different would encompass mundane entities, closer to humans.
ways of thinking, feeling and socializing (Lutz, 1983). The essential division of cults and rituals has been
In this field of knowledge and in its current state of interpreted by authors who study them as indicative of
development in Brazil, African religiousness plays an submission of “original” African religiosity to power and
important role (Bairrão & Coelho, 2016). As an example, dominant moral rules (Lapassade & Luz, 1972). This
some studies have focused on an African conception of interpretation is engendered in the tradition of analyses
being that encompasses life force (Leite, 1995/1996); strongly impacted by the argument of a classic author like
that seeks for prosperity, happiness and physical and Roger Bastide (1973) concerning the strong influence of
spiritual fulfillment (Frias, 2016; Ribeiro, 1996; Sàlámì the western way of thinking in “macumbas”. According
& Ribeiro, 2015), and is constituted by cultural elements to these studies, the adaptation of this religiosity to the
that should be considered in health care practices (Ilori, transformations in Brazilian society, especially in urban
Adebayo, & Ogunleye, 2014). The religious traditions contexts, is understood as a way of disintegrating its
derived from this origin offer an interesting contribution roots. It is also noteworthy to mention the notion that
to the development of Psychology of Religion in Brazil Candomblé would have preserved itself culturally due to
(Bairrão, 2017; Paiva, 2002; Ribeiro, 2005). its isolation, whereas in the so-called “white” Umbanda
there would be a de-characterization of the black model
as well as Christian moral vigils.
* Endereço para correspondência: [email protected] To the same extent, it was interpreted that magical
1 This article is dedicated to Agnaldo Moraes (in memoriam) and Emydgio practices in the “black” Umbanda or Quimbanda would
dos Santos Netto (in memoriam), who left a great legacy to the African have been “whitened”, progressively moralized and
religious community of Ribeirão Preto. replaced by the “Christian virtues” of the ruling class,
2 Thesis defended in the Graduate Program in Psychology of the Faculdade according to Renato Ortiz (1991), something that was
de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo
(FFCLRP-USP). Support: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal portrayed in title of the study as A morte branca do
de Nível Superior (Capes). feiticeiro negro (The White Death of the Black Wizard).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0103-6564e180093
Juliana Barros Brant Carvalho& José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrão
2
Although these authors value the elements proper to the its other extreme the Quimbanda, seen as closer to
religions of African origin, they seem to expect a sort Candomblé. It is to be noted that the “white” pole and
of “purity” associated to the western way of thinking. the “black” pole vary according to the position of its
Another author, Reginaldo Prandi (1996, 2001), who practitioners (Negrão, 1996a).
also affirms these ideas, describes Umbanda as attached Its syncretism with other spiritualities is pointed
to Catholic ethics, charity and altruism, contrary to its out by Silva (2012) as protection for this discriminatory
African origin. Candomblé, his main object of study, is process, in which the spiritual entities would have
described as a non-ethical religion, likely with grounds developed a “double face”, sometimes displaying a more
on a conception of ethics still tied to the Christian model. Catholic side by means of charity and identification
Nevertheless, the nature of Umbanda would with the saints, other times exposing an indigenous
be less connected to rules and formalisms, closer and African side, with sacred plants, occasionally
to the field of orality and poetic spontaneity, as its reffered to as demonic. Thus, this study sought to
myths and knowledge are narrated and constructed revisit the conception concerning the universe itself
collectively. This characteristic is powerful in listening in Quimbanda based on a collection of empirical data,
and transmitting memories (Zumthor, 1997) found in that is, discussing the previously presented arguments
the Brazilian social imaginary. Through the meanings concerning the interplay between the Christian ethico-
related to the body, enunciated by metaphors and moral referential and elements more rooted in its
metonymy in the form of colors, gestures, songs, dances African “pagan” origins.
and rituals, this religion reconfigures entanglements
of historical experiences in the spiritual plane as a Method
synthesis of Amerindian-African symbolic values,
often ill-treated by culture dominant (Bairrão, By means of a collective case study, data collection
2005). In the Umbandist spiritual pantheon, no rigid was conducted in two religious communities, with the
boundaries or precise divisions are established, but approval of the Committee of Ethics in Research4, using
instead a combinatorial network between Orixás, ethnographic techniques, such as participant observation;
guides and catholic saints that compose an elaborate records in field diary; and photographic, audio and video
set, widely described in other academic studies3. A techniques. By participating in rituals, feasts and spiritual
great number of its adepts would be constituted by consultations, it was possible to circulate and engage in
peripheral populations (Brumana & Martinez, 1991), conversations with participants in informal situations, as
who, nevertheless, gained strength in the construction well as with the entities incorporated during the cults.
of rising social classes, affirming themselves socially This kind of procedure indicates a deep insertion in the
and ethnically (Brown, 1985), which ended up leading world perceptions and the forms of interaction of the
to their growth in the last few decades (Negrão, 2009). communities, since it would not make sense nor would
Spirituality embodies popular values and re-signifies it be reliable to participate in the cult and not attend to a
characteristics considered “lowly”, insofar as they service. Coupled with the ethnographic model of research,
appear in the “upper echelon” from Umbanda (Bairrão, “participatory listening” was adopted (Bairrão, 2005),
2005). This ability, that is to say, is due to Umbanda’s as it is useful for listening to narratives said during the
own inclusive ethics (Barros, 2013), which is built in act, often prevented from being communicated directly
the present and everyday life, psychically affirming through social repression, which is followed by “self-
itself as a collective language. The encounter between censorship” of the collaborators. Their aesthetic and
memory and social reflection seems to be an ability sensorial manifestations were also listened to as narratives
for encrypting unbearable pain in sublime reparations of the sacred. Thus, it was possible to comprehend the
(Bairrão, 2004). community as a whole, observing everything that made
The demonization of the cult, especially in sense internally to its whole, such as the disposition of
relation to entities like the Exus and their feminine objects, gestures, thoughts, dreams, ways of life and
version, the Pombagiras, seen by hegemonic society as events, paying attention to the complexity of religious
a challenge to morality and catholic ethics, reproduces experiences and their collective elaboration. The method
a history of systematic persecutions of terreiros, related lends itself to unveiling statements that are not necessarily
to racial discrimination and considered antagonisms to reducible to words (Bairrão, 2011). In this way, inferences
modern life (Negrão, 1996a; Silva, 2012). The approach could be made about a sinuous knowledge that somehow
of Umbanda as Kardecist spiritualism is described by “hides” from the general public, but shows itself in the
Camargo (1961) as a medium continuum, having at eyes of tradition.
The position of letting oneself be interpreted
3 With respect to recent studies addressing the ethnopsychological meaning and cared for by religious communities for five years
of Umbanda entities, consult Bairrão, 2005; Barros, 2013; Barros & has allowed the development of deep bonds and mutual
Bairrão, 2015; Dias & Bairrão, 2011, 2014; Graminha & Bairrão, 2009;
Macedo & Bairrão, 2011; Martins & Bairrão, 2009; Rotta & Bairrão,
2007; 2012. 4 Opinion number: CAAE 30472314.3.0000.5407.

2 Psicologia USP I www.scielo.br/pusp

 Umbanda and quimbanda: black alternative to white morality
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trust. Certain characteristics from the researcher were their works have a “price” and behave as allies of those
relevant as an instrument for this interaction with the who seek them (Trindade, 1985), even if one would use
field, training her sensitive perception by knowing the raw and direct means and words for such, which would
specific forms of communication of the given context. correspond to their commitment to their interlocutor,
The conviviality and free interviews with two eminent in one’s defense, but not necessarily to their liking.
Umbandist leaders were of note: “Seu” Agnaldo, founder Instead of protectors, guardians and messengers, they
of the terreiro Pai Joaquim do Congo e Ogum Guerreiro, deal well with human ills, with what is dark. It presents
and “Seu” Emygdio. Both worked at the Mogiana tortuous features (signaled as twisted body members)
railway company in Ribeirão Preto and shared valuable that do not subjugate themselves to the standards of
memories of their biographies for attending one of the civility that colonize and subalternize others, possibly
first terreiros for Umbanda founded in the region. After being irreverently expressed (Macedo & Bairrão, 2011),
their work, they held spiritual meetings around the which nevertheless requires seriousness and care during
train tracks, which contributed to the rescue of former the ritual due to what they represent. Exu is also an
elements of Afro-Brazilian communities. In the analyses Orixá in the traditional Yoruba religion (Sàlámì &
conducted, we sought to focus on broader aspects than Ribeiro, 2015), considered the lord of primordial force,
those related only to individuals, highlighting the data dynamism, transformation and vitality, neither good
that were repeated in the communities and related to nor bad, reigning over earthly designs and exchanges
collective memory. In order to do so, the terms that with the sacred when carrying orders and responses
appeared in the context were also used here, in order between humans and deities (Oliva, 2005).
not to displace the knowledge status of the tradition In Umbanda, Exus are understood as spirits of
protagonists themselves due to academic purposes. disincarnated people with some qualities that make
them closer to this deity. Pombagiras are also part of the
Results and discussion left line, being entities described as representatives of
the subversive and the feminine, that offer a symbolic
The name Quimbanda, often used as an accusation place for carnal experiences, and ultimately for desire
against Umbanda practices, is not limited to it, as there are (Barros, 2013; Barros & Bairrão, 2015).
groups calling themselves Quimbanda, the case of one of But not only Exus and Pombagiras make up the
the groups analyzed in this article. However, in the context “left”, as this is a possible orientation present in the cult
of Umbanda it is usual to refer to Quimbanda as the other that can be shared by different entities of the pantheon.
par excellence (when referred to, it is defined as closer to Other entities are also present in this line, such as Exus
Candomblé, or compared with another terreiro that would mirins, spirits of “terrible” or “infernal” children, in
supposedly practice under the “false” denomination of which evil is narrated as experienced horror and street
Umbanda, or with regard to a problem understood as an experience. Their spiritual function is an inversion of
entity attack of Quimbanda, or a ritual done with some those who have been victims of social exclusion and,
purpose in a terreiro for Umabanda and disapproved by after death, become “experienced” protectors of those
the other etc.). who communicate with them (Bairrão, 2004).
Those who call themselves connoisseurs or In addition to the children, this line also
practitioners of the Quimbanda describe that it requires a includes some pretos-velhos. Dias and Bairrão (2014)
lot of “firmness”, that is, to be firm and thorough, which explored the spiritual category of pretos-velhos da
requires experience and knowledge. In Quimbanda, the mata, supposedly spirits from ancient quilombolas,
spiritual entities of the left line—which in Umbanda sorcerers (quimbandeiros), healers and rebels. Considered
usually occupy a very important position, although dangerous because of their magical knowledge, they call
a subaltern and peripheral one that does not define attention to subjective experiences of enslaved people,
the cult—take precedence. This line is described as such as rebellion and insurgency, most often omitted
“dangerous” and as such in Umbanda it is usually under or abbreviated in the most common description of the
the tutelage of the “right”, which informs the interlocutor pretos-velhos (attributed to the right line and reported as
about possible risks that need to be well known. It humble, loving and patient). The pretos-velhos da mata
should be noted that some entities of this line present represent the experiences of slavery at a time when “far
themselves as “street folk”, spirits of residents and street from being defenseless and homogeneously obedient
children, wanderers, prostitutes, rogues. . . . In this and submissive to servile labor and the disintegrating
line there are also Exus, living entities of the realm of condition of slavery, many black people rebelled, fled
darkness, who in turn reveal the true aspects of people their masters, and fought for freedom and autonomy”
so that they can reconsider themselves and their own (Dias & Bairrão, 2014, p. 169).
potential, representing the unknown in oneself, and This line can be constituted by practically all
being hostile against the discourse of the other and to other classes of entities, including caboclos, making
domination attempts (Bairrão, 2002). Connected with it clear in this religiosity that being part of the “left”
pleasure, sex and material goods, it is understood that is not a property of certain types of this spirituality,

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Juliana Barros Brant Carvalho& José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrão
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but a mode of manifestation and action of any spiritual At the same time, this Exu states that anything can be
subjects. Thus, Quimbanda, although “obfuscated” and asked for, as if it could address any needs. Its spiritual
marginalized, often being practiced under the shadow function would be to offer support and protection to its
of Umbanda, disguised by prejudice and social pressure, followers, in the face of challenges and fight against
is enunciated in narratives and ritual acts, which will be injustices, massacres, persecutions, and abuses of power.
described next. It must be noted that the spiritual conception of Umbanda
is that every action brings consequences to the author,
“Seu” Emygdio and this ritual responsibility requires that the subject
who performs it be responsible for it.
Many people sought Emygdio dos Santos Netto, For those people who did not know the routine
“Seu” Emygdio, for spiritual care, 78 years old man of “Seu” Emygdio, when passing the closed gate of his
(1939-2016) known in this religious environment as house it would not be possible to notice that there occurred
“quimbandeiro”. He attended one of the earliest terreiros spiritual consultations. This subtle characteristic of his
for Umbanda in the region, for many years closely resembles the Omulu/Obaluaiê, an entity from whom
following the pai-de-santo known as Pai José, until he “Seu” Emygdio is a spiritual son. In Nigeria, these two
himself was qualified as a spiritual leader, dedicating deities are different, and in Umbanda they usually merge
much of his life to his own religious community, in and are recognized as related to medical practice, healing,
appointments that occured daily within a room in his and graveyard inhabitants.
own residence. The people who looked for him waited As terreiros are generally open to the public, and
on the living room couch or in the yard before being a very peculiar religious conception can be observed in
called to the consultation. It is pointed out that in the this form of “privacy” with regard to its surroundings,
terreiros, as well illustrated in this case, the carnal or even its opposite, a complete opening of the intimacy
family is not seen as separate from the spiritual family. of rooms in a house to receive the consultants. As
His filhos-de-santo and other relatives also followed pointed out by Brumana and Martinez (1991), there is
him on the “giras”, which are spiritual ceremonies held no separation between house and terreiro. The terreiros
in places like forests, waterfalls, crossroads, beaches, are called “centers”, with a Kardecian connotation, but
chapels or cemeteries. they are also called “houses”, indicating in the own
The services were performed with the help of two denomination of parents, mothers and children-de-santo
entities: Exu Quimbandeiro and Exu Gato Preto, which the dimension of a spiritual family, in which not only
give us clues for further reflection on the argument of carnal relatives are important within the framework of
assimilation of the Christian model. According to Ribas relations of closeness and trust. In this sense, another
(1989), Umbanda means “art of healing” in Angolan common characteristic in Afro-Brazilian spirituality
etymology (Bantu languages), and in the same grammar, is the secrecy dimension in relation to some ritual
the prefix “ki” designates the agent, the one who elements, determining the degree of initiation and
ministrates, whereas “Kimbanda” is the person doing commitment to the religion. In addition, discrimination
the “art of healing”. against Umbanda, and particularly against Quimbanda,
The name of the Exu Quimbandeiro would be an would have left its disguise or concealment as a mark,
adaptation of the African meaning “Quimbanda” to the which is reflected in the conduct of some practitioners
Portuguese “o quimbanda”, or “quimbandeiro”, that keeps who opt for a kind of social invisibility, often being
the same meaning and sound of “healer” (curandeiro). known in the neighborhood as “benzedeiros”.
According to Temples (1959), in Bantu cosmology, the One of the ritual practices we could participate
knowledge of the “nganga”, a spiritual authority or a was held in a forest (Figures 1, 2 and 3). “Seu” Emygdio
fortune teller (p. 57), accompanies the use of sacred incorporated Caboclo Pena Branca, a reference to Oxalá
plants, the same thing Ribas (1989) described as being pertaining to the color white, and which also sounds like
the agent that can cure diseases of the body or soul by white “pemba”, a powder used in Umbanda and in Africa
rituals involving the living and the dead, offerings and during Bantu rituals (Thompson, 1983). He is the one who
“cleansing” used in all circumstances, serving to protect, crosses out pontos-riscados, which for Thompson (1983),
bring benefits, and also “harms who is hostile” (19). similarly to pontos-cantados, are messages encrypted in
The name Exu Gato Preto would be related to the visual and sound metaphors for “calling” spiritual entities.
imagery of “witchcraft”, often referred to in police and Despite this entity, the caboclo, being characteristic to
criminal reports with regard to practitioners of Afro- the Umbandist spiritual repertoire, it is also manifested
Brazilian cults (Negrão, 1996a). One of its characteristics in Quimbanda, though in a distinct ritual arrangement,
is “liking blood,” which concerns the flesh, the mundane, in the open woods.
and can be understood as a taste for war, for confrontation. Another ritual was held in the chapel of Cruz
The signifier “blood” is associated with the red color and do Pedro, on a Friday night full moon, hour and day
“fire” proper to Exus, and is also an element of connection recommended for services of the left line. In this chapel
between the carnal and the spiritual world (Slenes, 2011). (Figure 4) a rite without drums began, in harmony with

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 Umbanda and quimbanda: black alternative to white morality
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the characteristic of not drawing too much attention,
trying to be the less noticeable as possible. This chapel
is located in the rural area of Ribeirão Preto, above
the tomb of the boy Pedro, a son of slaves who was
brutally murdered for having stolen food. In memory
of the miracles that occurred after this event, according
to Molina (2012), this chapel is very important in the
history of the region, although almost forgotten. Built on
a large coffee farm, its bells were played in the morning
as part of the routine of the coffee houses that supplied
the Mogiana Railway. Away and difficult to reach, it
currently congregates believers from various cities in
the region, likely family members of the colonies, and
it is where a pilgrimage takes place annually and a June
festival is celebrated.

Figure 3. Pedro’s Cross

Source: Authors.

At the opening, “Seu” Emygdio and his helpers

lit many candles, illuminating the place. Asking
for “strength” and “protection” to Orixás, a ponto-
cantado was sung “calling” for the caboclos. A medium
incorporated this entity, who “gave the healing touch”
in the consultants with the use of a branch full of leaves.
After this moment, a ponto-cantado was sung for the
Figure 1. Place of the ritual in the woods baianos. The pai-de-santo incorporated this entity, who
Source: Authors. also “gave the healing touch”, approaching happily each
person, holding his hands and saying “I am Joaquim
Baiano”. Another medium incorporated Virgulino
Cangaceiro. The pai-de-santo then “received” Martinho
Marinheiro, being delivered a bottle of pinga that he put
under his arm and, afterwards, greeted everyone present,
showing a drunken walk. Soon afterwards an “arrived”
a preto-velho, and at the time the researcher was allowed
to take a photograph of the entity (Figure 5), who went
“away” after that.
Before the ritual ends, “Seu” Emygdio says:
“now it will be what was not to be done here, but
it will be right here regardless”. What “can not be
done, but will be done regardless” in the chapel is the
incorporation of the Exus. People were asked to stand
outside waiting for the individual attendance that would
be performed with the Exu Quimbandeiro, followed
by the Exu Gato Preto.
In Umbanda, the cemetery and the street are places
of worship for the left line, and a chapel is a typical place
Figure 2. Place of the ritual in the woods of the “right”. Here there was a reversal: the “left” was
Source: Authors. inside the chapel. The consultants waited for the moment
of service in the open, under the light of the moon that

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Juliana Barros Brant Carvalho& José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrão
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cleared the forest around. The cambone (ritual helper) In addition to the forest as a ritual element, there’s
explained that it was the “Exus, the indigenous folk also the importance of the chapel, which here is at the
of the forest” who protected them, therefore, caboclos same time a tomb, over which there is a large cross
quimbandeiros. That is, in this variant of the cult, the stretched out on the ground. The cross is described in
typical Exu gives the consultations (in a chapel!) and Bantu cosmology as the junction between the world of
caboclos protect the outside (in this case, a forest, territory the living and the dead (Souza, 2002, Thompson, 1983).
of caboclos). The two lines making up a cross form a crossroads, the
meeting of paths, which in these cults is Exus’ territory,
the ones who fulfill the role of “opening ways”, addressing
the interlocutor with responsibility for walking. Under
the “Pedro’s cross” lies a dead person, a small cemetery,
where it is common for the so-called “soul cruises”, which
in turn in cults like Umbanda are places associated with
pretos-velhos. The symbolism of the cemetery is related to
the sea, to “kalunga”, as well as to the ancestors (Slenes,
1992). The cross represents a complex set of memories
and its connections with both Christian cosmology and
African cosmologies, resulting in an active negotiation
of Afro-Brazilian traditions between the “old” and the
“new” world (Souza, 2002).
“Seu” Guina

Sitting next to Agnaldo Moraes, “Seu” Agnaldo

(Guina), seemed to have a conversation with a preto-velho,
but not in spirit, in “flesh and blood”. Grandson of an
African man and a Brazilian woman, he attended during
his childhood the “white table”5 with his grandmother,
Figure 4. Ritual inside the chapel and in his youth he went to work at the Mogiana railway
Source: Authors. company. With the patience provided by his 85 years
(1930-2015), he affirmed that “we always learn”, and
he then told stories, always in the position of a master
talking to an apprentice. When asked about his experience
in religion, he narrated characteristics of different
spiritual entities. When asked about Quimbanda, his
answer was indirect, interrupted, non-linear, and with
long digressions, reporting parts of his biography. By
examining this form of acting in his community and its
role in the tradition of transmission of knowledge, full
of prohibitions, reveals the not well-defined separation
between spirits and people.
The spiritual head of the terreiro founded by
“Seu” Agnaldo, today directed by his daughter Rosemary
(Meire) (Figure 6), is the preto-velho Pai Joaquim do
Congo, entity of his wife and old mãe-de-santo, “Dona”
Antonia (Tonica) (1928-2007). The pretos-velhos are
conceived as spirits of former enslaved Africans, whose
performance in Umbanda occurs through patience
Figure 5. Preto-velho and consultants during the ritual and humility. They represent the reversion of the one
Source: Authors. who suffered from abandonment and who, after being
dead, became a caretaker. When associated with the
The forest, according to these spokesmen of the quilombolas, they are residents and have deep knowledge
tradition, brings “more strength” to the ritual. Depicted of the secrets of the forest (Dias & Bairrão, 2014). Another
in the indianism as a synonym of fertility and beauty, spiritual leader of this terreiro is Ogum Guerreiro, deity
and as a historical stage of the massacres of colonization, related to iron, and consequently to railroads, in which
the forest exalts indigenous people and with it a specific
ideology of nation and freedom (Zilberman, 1994). 5 Spiritism session in Umbanda are known as “white table”.

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 Umbanda and quimbanda: black alternative to white morality
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both our collaborators worked. During the spiritual
experiences of Quimbanda that “Seu” Guina performed
with a group of friends, among them “Seu” Emygdio,
after services he would do night meetings around the
tracks of the train, euphemistically called “high magic”,
wherein he resquested for clairvoyance from spiritual
entities6, and to get to know ritual and plant secrets. He
mentioned that it is necessary to “please” the “left” of
the person to whom one wants to fight or defend, stating
that “you get your enemy in accordance with what he
thinks is an advantage”. He and “Seu” Emygdio frequently
visited the terreiro of Pai José. In his trajectory, “Seu”
Agnaldo, spiritual son of Xangô, Orixá of justice, gave
the blessing to those who sought him and was called by
the community as grandfather. Figure 7. Agnaldo de Moraes
Source: Authors.

Umbandoquim
He emphasizes the trajectory of “Seu” Agnaldo,
supervisor of spiritual justice, and of “Seu” Emygdio,
defender of the most reserved cases, a history of two
leaders (who in their age go back almost a century) with
important experiences in one of the first terreiros in the
region. The narratives in these traditional terreiros reveal
a synthesis between the two poles of this spirituality. This
knowledge imposes itself as responsibility and coherence
in their own acts, and the steps of these leaders are the
foundation for transferring their principles. There seems to
exist an Umbanda especifically directed towards charity
on the one side, wherein Quimbanda would be its demonic
side; just as there is another possible manifestation of the
same religiosity, a version through its interior, named
by the words of “Seu” Agnaldo as being two sides of
the same coin: “there is the Umbanda that is the right,
the Quimbanda that is the left, and Umbandoquim that
is two in one”.
In this way, we find in his words not only what is in
practice a single conception of worship, but the term that
Figure 6. Rosemary Rodrigues de Moraes, current mãe-de-santo denominates it. It is a long designation carefully protected
Source: Authors. from curious looks, perhaps because of the risk of fanciful
derivations that the use of words and the trivialization of
In his teachings he used to repeat: “Try to take knowledge can bring to Afro-Brazilian cults.
care of yourself. Try not to harm anyone.” “Caring” According to “Seu” Guina, not only those who
is a daily practice and “evil” appears as an option for teach, but also those who learn have responsibilities. A
his listener. In his words, to do evil would be very ritual is a way of conveying this knowledge, the gesture
easy, the “hard part” is to be “firm”, “keeping your and religious practice have meanings that pass through
head in place”. the sense organs and do not need to be explained, or
perhaps there are often no words to translate them. He
said that if “one has to be aware of the cause” one must
“know what one is doing”. “Knowing how to do” means
6 “Seu” Agnaldo was not a possession-enabled medium, but stated
to have wisdom, knowledge, as well as being involved
being able to see and perceive entities. During his service, he sat in his in action, to take responsibility.
wheelchair next to the congá (altar), most of the time with his eyes closed In many oral traditions, doing is not distinct from
and his head lowered. He had spectacular vision and hearing. There were thinking (Leite, 1992). As a sensitive and welcoming
times when he would raise his head at the same time someone spoke or
acted inappropriately, even though the person was at the other end of the spirituality sustained in collective memory, these cults
room. reveal a moral conception that cannot be understood in

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Juliana Barros Brant Carvalho& José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrão
8
linear manner, being more attentive to each case and African referents. Although the studies developed by
to individuals then doctrinal rules. In Afro-Brazilian this key are of great importance and constitute valuable
religions, the ritual is used for spiritual initiation, as contributions, considering their historical constraints
well as with the purpose of solving the questions of and methodological limitations, they do not exhaust
life as a whole, which is defined by Negrão (1996b) the subject. If we accept their presuppositions, we are
as a “pragmatic moral” (p. 88) in function of the full condemned to think of Umbanda (and Quimbanda)
satisfaction of human needs, which integrates the person using as parameter Christian morality, risking ignorance
and all their aspects of the past, present and future as of their own ethics, reducing it to mere amorality. In
re-signified and having a symbolic nature, including contrast, if we take into account the difference resulting
health-disease relations. These religions turn to the from traces of African culture inherent to this religious
solution of problems for the benefit of their practitioners, expression, it is possible to find in them an elaboration
especially as protection against the injustice committed on the ethical question distinct from the terms in which
towards marginalized populations. it has traditionally been approached.
The spiritual lines in Umbanda loop between When analyzing the Quimbanda category, which
“right and front, left and back” (Negrão, 1996b, p. 82), is far from disappearing and is even practiced today in
and although divided they may reflect a judgment of value Ribeirão Preto, it is possible to observe that what was
that separates entities called “left”, often described in the pointed out as disintegration of tradition was in fact
level of discourse and of explanations based on prejudices a form of protection. The distinction between right
as being lacking in character, this may not coincide with and left, which appear as two variants of this spiritual
practice, in which they occupy a place in the ritual wherein practice, are not actually opposite. The line of “right”,
an importance and deep respect is directed towards them, the light, behavior tending towards righteousness,
at a first moment being honored and effectively being in consciousness, and entities of the “left”, the darkness,
“front” of the most difficult problems and at the same behavior tending towards cunning, seem to be, in
time taking care of the “back”. When those entities are the eyes of the community, references to this same
the ones to occupy a leadership position, in the case of spirituality.
Quimbanda, the religious structure, however, can remain Quimbanda and Umbanda, which usually present
anchored in the same apprehension of nature as well as themselves as distinct or as antagonistic practices, share
the bodily, aesthetic, and symbolic senses. symbolism and ritual paraphernalia representing two
The data found demonstrate the importance of stages of the same religious conception. Although
this information. In a simple ritual regarding a resistant this division undoubtedly inhabits the conscious
Quimbanda (commonly unnoticed or ignored by recording representations not only of that social portion that insists
strategies incapable of apprehending its silent forms of on demonizing Afro-Brazilian cults, but also sometimes
expression), a certain contribution stands out that can shed of its own practitioners (and of some of its scholars),
light and allow to infer the ethical specificity inherent to it does not correspond to the deep conception of this
this spirituality, through elements that are not captured religious universe, usually silenced in its proper way of
by speech or doctrine, but are revealed through action. In being, full of symbols and little being said in words and
this way, their rituals and practices can preserve socially explanations about its own definition (perhaps because
repressed meanings that are transmitted through the body they are useless to those who have not yet understood
and enunciate implied historical and spiritual narratives their subtleties, as well as unnecessary for those who
(Connerton, 1989). think and act within them). Quimbanda, on the other
It should also be emphasized the fluid transit and hand, reinforces the senses of contesting against the
the coexistence between Umbanda and Quimbanda, one who colonizes, struggling and resisting in face of
something not foreseen by analyses of ethnocentric power relations. It disregards social and moral laws from
nature, based on matrices of thought and morality “above”, where unless some explanation on the use of
unrelated to their reasons. The fact that they refer to the term as well as the comparison conditions are made,
another cultural model, of communicating through non- it impossible to qualify it (neither it nor any other Afro-
verbal resources, and to be less accessible to linear and Brazilian religious practice) as amoral.
excluding categories of thought, does not mean that they This solidarity between Umbanda and Quimbanda
have disappeared. Today, in the middle of the 21st century, enables a spiritual experience that does not deprive or
it is possible to observe through a historical perspective exclude humans from their integral characteristics,
the misconception of the bet of some authors, led by including the intolerable or the most fearsome ones,
an analysis attached to the surface of what these cults making each one responsible for their walk. The
show through a hurried look. According to this view, the association between Quimbanda and the blackest pole,
Umbanda would not only be “whitened,” as it would be or witchcraft and even satanism, can be understood more
an opposition to the Quimbanda, apparently ostracized, properly as a function of the practitioner’s position in the
that is, submissive to the assimilation of values of the system rather than with a fundamental distinction with
dominant culture and increasingly distanced from its regard to Umbanda. These spiritualities unfold in an

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 Umbanda and quimbanda: black alternative to white morality
9
ethics of personal implication, adverse to the dichotomy person is not subordinated to that, but does not necessarily
between “good” and “evil”. dissociate from it, nor even does the person oppose it.
Hence, it can be understood that there are cults
Final considerations with a certain kind of Quimbanda, while retaining
similarity with Umbanda, which has unparalleled
In addition to the doctrine and visible religious transparency and kindness, supported by a determination
rites, there is a dimension of spiritual experience that of the hearts of men, wherein righteous, faithful Exus
is impossible to reduce to words and explanations, but and Pombagiras as good conjugal counselors manifest
which is transmitted through practice and silence. In this themselves, etc. They decide not good or evil, but rather
context, there seems to be no real opposition between the articulation between the system and the singularities
Quimbanda and Umbanda, which unite in a unique of each individual involved in it. This would explain why
experience reflecting the wide range of human intent there are groups in which the aesthetics is fully related to
and motivations, none of which is left out. These spiritual Umbanda, including the colors, meanings, the order of
masters exemplify that it is preferable not to give it a the ritual, and the religious entities, but is still considered
name, but if necessary, it must gather in itself Umbanda as Quimbanda by third parties and by the practitioners
and Quimbanda, according to the condensation proposed themselves, since the focus is the intent of the practitioner
after many years of discussion, addressed only once and not so much an external form of the cult.
by “Seu” Agnaldo: “Umbandoquim, two in one”. This It can be said that, in all cases, there is no
continuum does not occur in the first place, especially bottomless figure, and therefore the two are always one.
in the form of an external rite. The passage from one There is freedom and independence in a heart “obedient”
and the other occurs at the heart of the experience and (firm) towards the rich nature, underlying the looping
has a nature of choice. In Umbanda, there would exist a linearity of individual and personalist motivations. In
conception of nature seen as an aesthetic and a “correct” this way, and perhaps for this very reason, right and
action, similar to a stone that is hard, firm and just; the wrong, good and evil, when determined in the absence
herb that heals, that is medicinal; the water that cleans; of human sensibility and motivation, as well as their
the forest that protects and provides, etc. . . . In this subjective truth, would be inadequate and unscrupulous
interplay with Quimbanda, humans are the ones who categories and qualifiers, not due to a denial of their
act, an action wherein the same herb can be used to kill, validity, but due to its inapplicability and impertinence
the stone can be used to hurt, the water can be used to in this context. The concept of a rhetorical subjection to
stain, the forest can be used to hide. This is not to say dichotomies like good and evil, presumably excluding
that Umbanda is good and Quimbanda is bad. When other conceptions of morality, is not valid in this case,
the person adheres to Umbanda, there is an adherence and as such the attribution of amorality is not applicable,
to its ethical and symbolic meanings, such as those of as it is derived from projections and fantasies of external
the caboclo, that is, rectitude, while in Quimbanda, the observers who could not grasp its internal logic.

Umbanda e quimbanda: alternativa negra à moral branca

Resumo: A quimbanda, modalidade de culto afro-brasileiro habitualmente apresentada como mera inversão ético-
moral da umbanda, preservou-se em rituais com entidades espirituais que supostamente contestam ou invertem
a ordem moral vigente. Neste estudo acompanharam-se esses rituais e coletaram-se depoimentos de sacerdotes
em comunidades religiosas afro-brasileiras, com o objetivo de revisar se de fato há uma pressão exercida por
padrões ético-religiosos da sociedade envolvente que poderiam ter moderado ou modificado concepções africanas
subjacentes. Na contramão de análises que implicitamente pressupõem a subordinação dos cultos afro-brasileiros a
uma única concepção de moralidade, constatou-se que a vivência do sagrado implicada na quimbanda e na umbanda
não atrela-se a essa moralidade vigente, e que nenhuma das suas manifestações pode ser corretamente descrita
como amoral.

Palavras-chave: cultos afro-brasileiros, etnopsicologia, psicologia e religião.

Umbanda et Quimbanda: une alternative noir à la moralité blanche

Résumé: Le Quimbanda, une modalité de secte afro-brésilienne généralement présenté comme une simple inversion éthique et
morale d’Umbanda, conservé dans les rituels avec des entités spirituelles qui sont supposés contester ou inverser l’ordre moral

Psicologia USP , 2019, volume 30, e180093 9

Juliana Barros Brant Carvalho& José Francisco Miguel Henriques Bairrão
10
actuelle. Dans cette étude, ces rituels ont été suivis et les témoignages de prêtres ont été recueillis dans des communautés
religieuses afro-brésiliennes, afin de vérifier si, en effet, il y a une pression exercée par les normes éthiques et religieuses de la
société environnante qui pouvait modérer ou modifier les conceptions africaines sous-jacentes. Contrairement aux analyses qui
supposent implicitement la subordination des sectes afro-brésiliens à une seule conception de la moralité, on a été constaté
que l’expérience du sacré impliquée dans le Quimbanda et l’Umbanda n’est pas liée à cette moralité actuelle, et qu’aucune de
ses manifestations peut être correctement décrit comme immorale.

Mots-clés: sectes afro-brésiliennes, ethnopsychologie, psychologie et religion.

Umbanda y Quimbanda: una alternativa negra a la moral branca

Resumen: La Quimbanda, modalidad de culto afrobrasileño y que generalmente se presenta como una mera inversión ético-
moral de la Umbanda, conservó sus rituales con entidades espirituales que supuestamente invierten el orden moral vigente
o lo contestan. En este estudio se acompañaron estos rituales y se recogieron declaraciones de sacerdotes en comunidades
religiosas afrobrasileñas, con el objetivo de revisar si y en qué medida las presiones ejercidas por patrones ético-religiosos de
la sociedad circundante podrían haber moderado o modificado las concepciones africanas subyacentes. Al contrario de los
análisis que implícitamente presuponen la subordinación de los cultos afrobrasileños a una única concepción de moralidad,
se encontró que la experiencia de lo sagrado involucrada en la Quimbanda y en la Umbanda no se vincula a esta moralidad
vigente, y que ninguna de sus manifestaciones puede ser correctamente descrita como amoral.

Palabras clave: cultos afrobrasileños, etnopsicología, psicología y religión.

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