Candomblé: Encyclopedia II - Candomblé - Temples and priesthood

Candomblé - Temples and priesthood

Candomblé temples are called houses (casas), plantations (roças), or yards (terreiros). Most Candomblé houses are small, independently owned and managed by the respective higher priests (father- or mother-of-saint). A few of the older and larger houses have a more institutional character and more formal hierarchy. There is no central administration.

Candomblé priesthood is organized into symbolic families, whose members are not necessarily relatives in the common sense. Each family owns and manages one house. In most houses, especially the larger ones, the head of the family is always a woman, the mother-of-saint (ialorixá in Ketu), seconded by the father-of-saint (babalorixá). Some houses have a more flexible hierarchy which allows the father-of-saint to be the head priest.

Admission to the priesthood and progression in the hierarchy is conditioned to approval by the Orixás, possession of the necessary qualities, learning the necessary knowledge, and performance of lengthy initiation rites, which last seven years or more.

Upon the death of a ialorixá, the successor is chosen, usually among her daughters, largely by means of a divinatory cowrie shell game. However the succession may be very disputed or may fail to find a successor, and often leads to splitting or closing down of the house. Only a handful of houses in Brazil have seen their 100th anniversary. Among the oldest that are still extant are Ilé Axé Iyá Nassô Oká (the "White House at the Old Sugarmill"), in Salvador, Bahia, and the Casa das Minas in São Luís, Maranhão (ca. 1796).

See also: Olga de Alaketu

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Temples and priesthood", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki