Etnografia da umbanda em Caxias-Maranhão: explorando classificações, estruturações e identidades

Abstract

This ethnographic study, conducted by a researcher with a particular perspective as an insider-believer ethnographer, aims to understand the practice of Umbanda in the city of Caxias, Maranhão, seeking to comprehend its classifications, structures, and identities. Umbanda is a syncretic Brazilian religion that combines elements from Spiritism, Catholicism, and indigenous African traditions. The researcher, being part of the religious community and a believer in the Umbanda tradition, carries out an ethnographic study that presents itself as a living method, describing their lived experiences in the field of research. Employing a qualitative and exploratory approach, the research included participant observation in Umbanda temples, interviews with practitioners, and analysis of rituals and beliefs. The main identified categories include spiritual hierarchy, spiritual guides, and rites of passage. Umbanda in Caxias is constructed through belief in spiritual entities, ritual practices, and connections with ancestry. Umbanda in Caxias, Maranhão, presents a rich diversity of branches, with an emphasis on Umbanda traced/jurema or candomblé and a significant presence of Sacred/Natural Umbanda and Umbanda/Terecô, displaying syncretic influences with other Afro-Brazilian religious traditions.