Professor Brazeal spoke on the topic of the Devil in the Afro-Brazilian religions. His presentation style was animated and intriguing and filled with quips and comments. Professor Brazeal explained how he learned of the Afro-Brazilian religion by actually traveling to Brazil, living amongst the people there, and practicing their religion.
The topic was titled “Africa versus the Devil in the anthropology of Afro-Brazilian religions.” What caught my attention was how the presentation quickly started with explanation of how the Devil is worshiped in their religion. I expected an hour long journey through the inner workings of a satanic cult. However, Professor Brazeal explained how it really is a matter of semantics. It became clear that they are not talking about the same Devil found in Christianity.
To better understand the disparity, it is important to understand the history of the Afro-Brazilian religion. It dates back to the height of the slave trade of Africans to the Portuguese colonies in Brazil. Imported African slaves were pressed with the Portuguese extreme Catholic religion. Instead of simply adopting Catholicism, they blended the new beliefs with their old beliefs and traditions through a processes called syncretism. They equated the Devil of Catholocism with an African deity named Esu. However, the adaptation was not exact.
In Catholicism, the Devil is the darker half of an all good versus all bad dichotomy between God an the Devil. However, the African tradition is of many gods, or deities, and none is absolute. To them, Esu a is multidimensional deity, and not all good or bad. He is a kind earthly dealer that can be persuaded to help or hurt if approached in the right way. In order to reconcile their beliefs with the Catholic faith, they combined Esu and the Devil.
This is an excellent example of a culture in transition—floating between two places—that uses a word with strong connotations in an unorthodox way. The ambiguity can quite easily lead to misunderstanding. It really is all in the details.
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Excellent report--for what was, clearly, a very interesting talk.
very cool website!