Home›Afro-Brazilian Deities›PantheonBrowse ByPantheonThis page groups deities by the named pantheon or deity type they belong to, the specific cultural system of gods such as the Greek, Norse or Egyptian pantheon. Wikipedia defines a pantheon as "the particular set of all gods of any individual polytheistic religion, mythology, or tradition." Browsing this way lets a visitor stay inside one mythological system, or compare the same role, such as a sky god, across several pantheons at once.FactsLearn MorePantheonConnectionsSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe orixas and related spirits served in the Afro-Brazilian religions - Candomble, Umbanda and their relatives - which formed among enslaved and freed Africans in Brazil out of Yoruba, Fon-Ewe and Bantu sources alongside Catholicism. The houses are initiatory, and each nacao keeps its own liturgy, ritual language and roll of spirits. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedAngola and Congo houses, drawing on Bantu sources, whose spirits are the inquices 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedJeje houses, drawing on Fon and Ewe sources from the Bight of Benin 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedKetu and Nago houses, drawing on Yoruba sources, whose ritual language is a Brazilian Yoruba 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedThe oldest continuously functioning Candomble houses in Bahia are documented from the first half of the nineteenth century, and sustained outside description begins with Brazilian ethnography around 1900. The religion is served today. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedServed today in terreiros across Brazil and in the Brazilian diaspora. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Learn MoreDeities of Afro-Brazilian religion This small group holds divine figures of Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomble and Umbanda, which took shape among enslaved Africans in Brazil, chiefly from Yoruba, Fon and Bantu sources blended with Catholicism and, in Umbanda, with Spiritism. The deities are the orixas, the Brazilian form of the Yoruba orishas. The browser will find figures served in the terreiros of Brazil, paired in practice with Catholic saints. Because these overlap closely with the Yoruba orishas treated elsewhere in the atlas, the entries note the shared source tradition while marking what is distinctively Brazilian in their worship.PantheonFilter Results1 entryDomain / FunctionAllDivine messenger (1)Love and desire (1)Protection and guardianship (1)Travel, roads and boundaries (1)Trickster (1)GenderAllFemale (1)Male (1)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (1)HistoricityAllNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (1)ArchetypeAllThe Lover (1)TheologyAllAncestor-centred (1)Henotheistic: a supreme being above served lesser divinities (1)Worshipped InAllQuimbanda (1)Umbanda (1)Divine HeadshipAllA supreme creator who withdrew from active rule and receives little direct cult (1)Era of Attestation End YearAll2026 (1)How Mortals Enter the PantheonAllAncestors and founders become objects of cult (1)Membership of the PantheonAllForeign gods are adopted and identified with gods already held (1)Structure of the PantheonAllA supreme creator above a working order of intermediary powers (1)Succession Between Divine GenerationsAllThe senior god withdrew and left the world to junior powers (1)The Creator and the Ruling GodsAllThe creator withdrew after making the world and is seldom addressed in cult (1)Show ResultsAfro-BrazilianPantheon2 entriesConnectionsBelongs to TraditionCandomblé, Religions Well-attested Afro-Brazilian deities: the orixas served in Candomble.Source Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian CandombleJ. Lorand Matorytier 1Umbanda, Religions Well-attested Afro-Brazilian deities: the figures served in Umbanda.Source Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality, and Black Magic in BrazilKelly E. Hayestier 1Sources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 1Category: Deities2. Black Atlantic Religion: Tradition, Transnationalism, and Matriarchy in the Afro-Brazilian Candombletier 1J. Lorand Matory, Princeton University Press, 2005IntroductionView the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality, and Black Magic in Braziltier 1Kelly E. Hayes, University of California Press, 2011Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.