Candomble

Candomble was brought to South America on the hellish slave ships that carried millions of African men and women from their homes into a land of uncertainty and oppression. Over a period of many years, these people were brought to Brazil from Congo, Angola, Mozambique, Nigeria, Benin and Togo. Torn from their homeland, removed from the culture and traditions of their people, they carried with them their own native rituals for worshipping and summoning their ancestral spirits.

The word itself, Candomble, refers to the ritual of spirit possession. Known as orishas, these spirits or deities descend upon the minds of their devotees, carrying with them a vital energy that brings the community peace, protection and prosperity.

Candomble has undergone many important influences since its arrival in South America, and for centuries, it has been mixed, stirred and moulded into what it has become today. For example, many of the slaves who managed to escape their allotted districts came into contact with the native witchdoctors, who shared with them their knowledge of myth and of medicine, and invited them to take part in gatherings of worship and summoning.

In addition to the native influence, the Portuguese colonisers of the fifteenth century were swift in banning Candomble, a practice that was dark and dangerous to their own belief system. Very shrewdly, therefore, the orishas were carefully hidden behind the identities of catholic saints, so that the worship could go unpunished. In this way, over time, the characteristics of both the Candomble and Catholic deities have merged and become inextricably linked.

Candomble, therefore, is best described as a fusing of African tribal beliefs, native South American rituals and Roman Catholicism.

As fascinating as all this was to me at the time, this information was acquired under a great deal of external pressure. The priestess with whom I had inadvertently crossed paths was fluent in the ways of the old magic, and sent after me an unrelenting hoard of spirits. You can imagine how alarming this was to me, how bizarre and bewildering. They were so persistent, in fact, that they followed me across the ocean to England, and steered me into my first dealings with the Talamasca, a long-established order of paranormal investigators.

I was wild and confused upon finally reaching them, but under their guidance and after many weeks of instruction, I was able to bring these raging spirits under my power.

But I could not rest until I knew everything. I returned to Brazil and to the priestess who had so cleverly sent me reeling out of Rio only months before. With more than mild persuasion I convinced, cajoled, flattered and bribed her into teaching me all that I could absorb and all that she could impart.

I became the aficionado of Oxala, the mountain dweller, creator of people and the ultimate giver of life.

The rhythmic drumming would begin, and I would immerse myself in the pulsating circle of devotees, opening both mind and soul, lost to the primal beat, surrounded by the wailing servants of the powerful spirits. When the Orisha came, the trance descended, and there was nothing to be felt but the rhythm and the power, and nothing to be seen but the light that heralded the coming of Oxala.

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