THE NAME THAT SATANISTS wouldn't like to guess

In practice, the devotions of Brazilian Catholics are guided by the liturgical calendar. With or without a priest, every day is a saint's day, presenting itself as an opportunity for festivities and every kind of private devotion. Shrines in the home, chapels by the roadside, processions, pilgrimages, vows, recitations of the rosary, sisterhoods, all these customs could be practised under lay leadership and led by local revellers. The cult of the saints was, therefore, held in high regard, while the Eucharist was relegated to second place. The "protection" given by patron saints in the face of the uncertainties of life became a central part of many beliefs and practices. Masses were undoubtedly important, but only in special circumstances or extraordinary situations. According to the figures issued by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE - PNAD, 1988), only 17% of Catholics go to mass regularly once a week.
Since it is hardly regulated by the official Church, the cult of the saints has opened itself up to a series of syncretic links. In Amazonia, where indigenous traditions are stronger, Catholic saints of transatlantic origin form a counterpoint with spirits who inhabit "the depths" of forests and rivers. Pajelana, practised by lay priests, guides the Catholic faithful in the use of sacred herbs and in the rituals involving "enchanted" beings who live in the depths of the waters.Even in the Colonial era, the Inquisition had warned of African influences on the beliefs of the Portuguese in Brazil. Combining saints of medieval origin, whose feastdays involved everyone, and spirits venerated by the slaves, who were sometimes taken up by the slave owners, Brazilian society weaved an intricate web of religious practices.At the end of the nineteenth century, Nago traditions combined with ancestral memories of Africa and resulted in cults which spread throughout Brazil. Candombl in Bahia, Xang in Recife, Mina in Maranho, are all varieties of a common set of beliefs and practices. In each case, the Afro-Brazilian cult merged with the calendar of the Catholic Church, adopted the observances of Lent and Easter as a sign of respect for the great drama of Christ's death and resurrection, and combined the feasts of the orixs with the feasts of the saints.In Brazil, religion does not imply an exclusive cultural identity. =A third current of belief was introduced by Kardecist Spiritualism, which has grown in Brazil since the nineteenth century. Although it is based on Christianity, the distinguishing feature of spiritualism is communication with souls. This helps the individual soul to find and follow the right path in the vast process of evolution, which it does through successive reincarnations. Saints, orixs and souls made up such a rich tapestry of spiritual beings that a new religion came into being, with decidedly Brazilian characteristics. This was Umbanda, a creation of the twentieth century. Umbanda venerates the Catholic saints and the African orixs, but there is also room for spiritual guides of another kind, namely disembodied spirits of purely local significance who do not form part of the hierarchies of conventional religions.
Examples of such spirits are the 'caboclo', a free and daring figure from the forest; the 'preto velho' (old black man), a slave worn out by a lifetime of work, but full of wisdom; the 'exus' and the 'povo das ruas' (mischievous little spirits), such as the rascal Z Pilintra, the dancing prostitutes, the gypsies or the cattleman, and the naughty children. Umbanda demonstrated by its success that Brazilian Catholics love to listen to voices from the margins of society.