Terreiros campinenses: tradição e diversidade.

Abstract

The afro-american religious practices in Campina Grande aggregate different trends of traditions that have expanded throughout their history, attributing to the religious field their own features. Theses trends have been comprised by mixing different religious traditions that have settled in this territory since the colonial period and have intertwined, in a constant flux, with other traditions, establishing the field of afro-american religious practices currently known. Among these current syncretisms, the traditions of the Catimbó-Jurema, of the Umbanda and of the Candomblé stand out. The Catimbó-Jurema de Alhandra rituals, which consisted of a healing-spell worshiping, were comprised of elements from the indigenous traditions, from Catholicism and Spiritism. Due to the legalization of the Afro-Brazilian religions by the State, it was incorporated to the southern Umbanda, establishing the current Umbanda yards – Jurema, in which entities and Orishas are worshipped, in a clear reference to the national translation of this worshipping. The Candomblé yards – Jurema, which is associated to the Nagô trends of Recife, properly entailed to the Sítio-de-Pai-Adão tradition, originated the houses that also worship Orishas and entities inclined to a kind of African loyalty. Among theses, it is also found yards recently created that, in a reference to the traditions of Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, originated the Candomblé yards wherein unique Orishas worshippings take place (ketu e ketu-angola), centering their practices to the “African tradition”. Theses processes implicated a diversification that has currently turned into a syncretism of traditions from which stand out the worshipping to the master entities, such as ‘Caboclos’, ‘Encantados’ and kings (Herón, Malunguinho e Salomão), in an association to the ancient Catimbó de Alhandra practices, which, from the union with the Umbanda, assimilated ‘marinheiros’, ‘boiadeiros’, ‘pretos velhos’, ‘ciganas’, ‘pombagiras’ and ‘exús’. Although it is perceived an evidence of the practice of an “updated Jurema” in the yards of Campina Grande, it is perceived, related to this manifestation as well, the growing of the worshipping towards the African deities, associated to the Candomblé. This fact can be proved by analyzing the emergence of unique Orishas’ worshipping yards.