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Tradition

This page groups sacred sites by the specific religion or culture that consecrated them. Wikipedia defines a sacred space as "a designated area, often marked by physical boundaries or symbols, that is considered holy or consecrated by a particular religion or culture." Browsing by tradition lets a visitor read every site belonging to one tradition together.

Facts

Overview

What Defines This Grouping

Terreiros: walled compounds in which shrine houses for individual orixas stand among consecrated trees, stones and springs. The ground and its plantings are themselves the sanctuary, which is why heritage law written for buildings protects them badly. 2

Peoples and Traditions Covered

Candomble is organised in nacoes: Ketu and Nago from Yoruba practice, Jeje from Fon and Ewe, Angola from Bantu-speaking Central Africa. Each has its own liturgical language and its own spirits. They are distinct houses, not dialects of one religion. 2

Status

Status Today

A living Afro-Brazilian religion whose senior houses trace continuous lineages of initiation from the early nineteenth century to the present. Beyond the public barracao where ceremonies are shown, a terreiro is closed. What is transmitted in initiation is not published, and the existence of ethnography about it is not a licence to reproduce it. 2