CandombléCandomblé (kɐ̃dõˈblɛ) is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially those of the Yoruba, Bantu, and Gbe. There is some influence from the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organized around autonomous terreiros (houses). Candomblé involves the veneration of spirits known as orixás.
SpiritismSpiritism (spiritisme; espiritismo), spiritist doctrine, Kardecism or Kardecist spiritism is a spiritualistic and reincarnationist doctrine established in France in the mid-19th century by the author and educator Allan Kardec (pseudonym of Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail). It explains, from a Christian perspective, the cycle by which a spirit supposedly returns to material existence after the death of the old body in which it dwelled, as well as the evolution it undergoes during this process.
MediumshipMediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spirit channelling, including séance tables, trance, and ouija. Belief in psychic ability is widespread despite the absence of objective evidence for its existence. Scientific researchers have attempted to ascertain the validity of claims of mediumship.
Porto AlegrePorto Alegre (UKˌpɔːrtuː_əˈlɛɡreɪ, US-_ɑːˈleɪɡri,_ˌpɔːrtoʊ_əˈlɛɡrə, Brazilian ˈpoʁtwaˈlɛɡɾi; "Joyful Harbor") is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the 12th-most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fifth-largest metropolitan area, with 4,405,760 inhabitants (2010). The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian state.
FlorianópolisFlorianópolis (floɾi.aˈnɔpolis) is the capital and second largest city of the state of Santa Catarina, in the South region of Brazil. The city encompasses Santa Catarina Island and surrounding small islands, as well as part of the mainland. It has a population of 508,826, according to the 2020 IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) population estimate, the second-most populous city in the state (after Joinville), and the 47th in Brazil. The metropolitan area has an estimated population of 1,111,702, the 21st largest in the country.
Yoruba religionThe Yoruba religion (Yoruba: Ìṣẹ̀ṣe), or Isese, comprises the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practice of the Yoruba people. Its homeland is in present-day Southwestern Nigeria, which comprises the majority of Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara and Lagos States, as well as parts of Kogi state and the adjoining parts of Benin and Togo, commonly known as Yorubaland (Ilẹ̀ Káàárọ̀-Oòjíire). It shares some parallels with the Vodun practiced by the neighboring Fon and Ewe peoples to the west and to the religion of the Edo people and Igala people to the east.
OrishaOrishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. The preferred spelling varies depending on the language in question: òrìṣà is the spelling in the Yoruba language, orixá in Portuguese, and orisha, oricha, orichá or orixá in Spanish-speaking countries.
SpiritualismSpiritualism was a social religious movement in the nineteenth century, according to which an individual's awareness persists after death and may be contacted by the living. The afterlife, or the "spirit world", is seen by spiritualists not as a static place, but as one in which spirits continue to evolve. These two beliefs—that contact with spirits is possible, and that spirits are more advanced than humans—lead spiritualists to the belief that spirits are capable of providing useful insight regarding moral and ethical issues, as well as about the nature of God.
White BraziliansWhite Brazilians (brasileiros brancos bɾaziˈle(j)ɾuz ˈbɾɐ̃kus) refers to Brazilian citizens who are considered or self-identify as "white", typically because of European or Levantine descent. The main ancestry of current white Brazilians is Portuguese. Historically, the Portuguese were the Europeans who mostly immigrated to Brazil: it is estimated that, between 1500 and 1808, 500,000 of them went to live in Brazil, and the Portuguese were practically the only European group to have definitively settled in colonial Brazil.
UruguayUruguay (ˈjʊərəɡwaɪ , uɾuˈɣwaj), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay or the Eastern Republic of Uruguay (República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately and has a population of around 3.