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Spiritualism

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Candomblé, the mental religion

The candomble is one of the Brazilian religions most practised in his fatherland although at present the same one has gone so far as to have his extension up to such countries like Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Uruguay.

The base that supports all the beliefs typical of the candomblé is the "soul" or soul of the nature, and precisely for this reason, the candomble is considered to be a mental religion, which began in Brazil of the hand of the African priests who were being employed at the coffee plantations like slaves.

Although the candomble was directed only to the slaves, since his practice was absolutely prohibited by the catholic church and in some cases, it even was a motive of criminal accusation for many of the slaves who usually carried out his respective practices in certain moments of the day, especially to the dusk. Anyhow it is important to emphasize the fact that the candomblé spread and prospered for at least four centuries, and obtained his followers' highest level in the year 1888. At present one of the principal religious ones represents between all those who managed to settle as such, and in addition to possessing thousands of million followers, there are great the temples of candomble distributed by the world.

On the other hand we cannot leave aside the importance that possesses non-confusing the candomblé with the umbanda (although the candomble has a lot to do with the influences of which I originate the religion umbanda, this one was modified based on the practices and beliefs of the voodoo) or the macumba since although they possess the same origin, the practices and beliefs do not have too much that to see with the candomblé. This is a monotheistic religion what indicates that only they believe in an absolute God, while they are You Oxidize them, that are those beings who receive the messages of the faithful by means of canticles, gifts, dances and some special ritual.

In general, it is common to meet a branch of the candomble that realizes cult to approximately 500 different deities and this is due to the fact that according to his perspective, each of the deities possesses different skills, what means that in this branch of the candomblé it is not accepted that only one God possesses the finished qualities that a divinity must have. As well we said previously, many candomble temples exist in the world, and so that an idea could happen of what it is a question, we can say that basically they talk each other of small houses constructed in rock. Now then, if it is a question of one of the central temples of candomble then it is probable that it is a question of some property with such dimensions to lodge many persons who decide to focus his life in the religion, but we must say that in these cases, it is some civil organization who acts like owner of the same one.

Principal characteristics of the religion candomblé

One of the principal characteristics for which the candomblé stands out between other African religions is the sophistication in his rituals, since the same ones, tend to create an attraction luck in most of the persons who attend them, especially by the artistic methods that it uses and the ceremonies of the above mentioned rituals they are catalogued usually more like a holiday than like a religious ritual. Generally the faithful show the energy of his God by means of the dance and the singings, always using a solemn idiom following a strict ritual logic that is usually directed by the sound of several drums sounding simultaneously and generally when the above mentioned ritual finishes, dinners are offered to the public with sacred meals that have to do with the celebration of the night. For his part, the temples or house of candomble, they are characterized usually for possessing a constant and intense activity that alludes to the maintenance of the relations between the layman and the sacred thing; the spaces are usually carefully definite although it is common that in the candomble temples we find all kinds of sacred objects, plants, grasses between many other things. Finally we do not want to leave aside that the obligations that establish the rules of the candomblé with respecta his God look for the difficult harmony that there grant the different powers that they represent to a temple candomble.