Todos Os Santos
1 July 2005 (Friday) – Salvador, Brazil
Salvador, Salvador… this is a city steeped in history! I recalled the cute story I had read by Jorge Amado – ‘Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands‘, which was based in Salvador… and could not help grinning as I spied at the little charming alleys, dingy nooks and crannies where scandalous affairs and the odd hauntings must be taking place constantly.
I wandered up and down the meandering streets of Pelourinho, the historical centre, and noticed many streets with multi-coloured flags tied at the top. Either the city had just finished with some sort of celebrations or it was preparing itself for one. It was not long before I realised that 2 July, tomorrow, is the Independence Day of Bahia. Wow, I had no idea and how lucky I am to be in Salvador on time!
My first stop was the Museu Afro-Brasileiro which contains exhibits displaying the cultural influences from Africa to Brazil. I found that if I stared at the exhibit’s explanations very hard and read slowly, I could more or less understand 60%-70% of the Portuguese that was written there. The exhibits include many items representing the various African gods, called orixas, as well. And there were also photographs depicting the items in use, or during Candomble ceremonies and these were taken by Pierre Verger! Wow, how nice to meet Mr Verger again! There are many differences from the origins of the orixas in Africa to how they were adapted here in Brazil.
For example, the god Oxumare of the Yoruba mythology, the divine rainbow serpent is associated with Saint Bartholomew and hence, celebrated on 24 August here in Brazil. Yes, I took special interest in Oxumare because it is celebrated on my birthday. And he is the god of wealth, fortune, abundance and fertility. Not bad. There was even an exhibit of 27 wooden panels carved by Argentine artist Hector Julio Paride Benabo, called the Carybe which showed the various orixas, their special representative implements and animals. Very stylistic and artistically done. I loved them to death! To my surprise, Oxumare’s representative animal is the ox and I was born in the year of the ox. What a coincidence.
I took down notes from the various exhibits as I found the orixas very interesting. In my last trip here, I had attended a Candomble ceremony and had seen some of the people-in-trance dressed in these costumes representing the various orixas and carrying the interesting implements. Later, a guy came up to me, asking if I wanted to attend a Candomblé ceremony tomorrow, as tomorrow is a special day, there would be a very interesting Candomblé ceremony, he explained. Hmm… yeah, although I had been to one before, I figured I would like to go again. I know, it seemed to be rather touristy now. It used to be that we had to ask several tour agencies before we could get a Candomblé tour organised. Now, I saw it advertised everywhere, and there were even touts coming up to me. But I guess, as long as we respect the rituals, do not take photos and do not wear the wrong colours, I think it is a very eye-opening experience for the tourists.
Tags: 03) The Land of the Spirits, Salvador
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