Initiation and family of saint

What it is: The deeper entrance into Candomblé passes through initiation processes and integration into the family of saint.

How the religion understands it: Religious authority is learned in coexistence, in the resguardo, in obligations, in ritual discipline, and in the relation with mothers, fathers, and siblings of saint.

Basis and context: The terreiro functions as a community of transmission, care, and hierarchy.

Debates and variations: The exact format of obligations, the initiatory time, and the details of rites vary between nations and houses.

Supportive

Oral tradition of the making of santo

candomble,making-of-santo,initiation,secrecy

Initiation is transmitted through secrecy, discipline, and shared life.

Reference: Oral traditions of making santo and initiatory obligations.
Content: Full entry into the religion involves observances, learning, ritual kinship, and transmission outside books.
Use in debate: It is a basic source for initiation and the santo family.

Roger Bastide, The Candomblé of Bahia

candomble,bastide,sociology,ritual

A classic work of sociological and religious interpretation.

Reference: Roger Bastide, The Candomblé of Bahia.
Content: Bastide analyzes ritual structure, syncretism, hierarchy, and the symbolic life of candomblé in the Bahian context.
Use in debate: It is an important source for initiation, plurality, and the relationship between religion and society.

Vivaldo da Costa Lima, The Santo Family in the Jeje-Nagô Candomblés of Bahia

candomble,vivaldo-da-costa-lima,santo-family,terreiro

An important study on ritual kinship and community structure.

Reference: Vivaldo da Costa Lima, The Santo Family in the Jeje-Nagô Candomblés of Bahia.
Content: The text shows how ritual kinship, hierarchy, and transmission structure life in the terreiro.
Use in debate: It is a central source for initiation and the santo family.

Contrary

Nina Rodrigues, The Fetishist Animism of the Black People of Bahia

candomble,nina-rodrigues,racism,against

A racialized and pathologizing reading of Afro-Bahian religion.

Reference: Nina Rodrigues, The Fetishist Animism of the Black People of Bahia.
Content: The work describes Afro-Bahian practices through racialist and evolutionist categories that are now widely criticized.
Use in debate: It is a historical source of contestation and stigmatization of candomblé.