Kongo Symbols, Catholic Celebrations: Adornment and Spiritual Power in Nineteenth-Century Religious Festivals in São Paulo, Brazil

This paper investigates the use of religious paraphernalia based on West Central African charms in the bodily adornment of participants commemorating the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary in late nineteenth-century São Paulo, Brazil. Our Lady of the Rosary constituted a popular patron saint fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Monroe, Alicia L. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: The Pennsylvania State University Press [2020]
In: Journal of Africana religions
Year: 2020, Volume: 8, Issue: 2, Pages: 202-231
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B State / Rosenkranzfest / Congo / Folk religion / Symbol / Usage / History 1850-1900
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
AX Inter-religious relations
BS Traditional African religions
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
KBR Latin America
KCD Hagiography; saints
KDB Roman Catholic Church
RC Liturgy
TJ Modern history
Further subjects:B Popular Festivals
B Material Culture
B Brazil
B African Diaspora
B Black Catholicism
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This paper investigates the use of religious paraphernalia based on West Central African charms in the bodily adornment of participants commemorating the festival of Our Lady of the Rosary in late nineteenth-century São Paulo, Brazil. Our Lady of the Rosary constituted a popular patron saint for Black confraternities across imperial Brazil (1822-1889). During festivals for this patron saint, West Central African forced laborers and their descendants clad themselves and their children in fine clothes and conventional symbols of orthodox Catholicism, such as crosses and rosary beads, but also with locally sourced materials and objects including pacová, olho de cabra seeds, and jaguar teeth, which referenced or constituted symbols of authority and fertility in West Central Africa. Afro-Brazilians in the city of São Paulo crafted and wore material expressions of religiosity that demonstrated engagement with Catholicism and concurrent reliance on and public celebration of spiritual knowledge from West Central Africa.
ISSN:2165-5413
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of Africana religions