{"id":1408,"date":"2015-11-22T17:18:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-22T23:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2022-02-10T10:28:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T16:28:10","slug":"festa-do-divino-santa-rosa-do-barao-maranhao-november-17-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/?p=1408","title":{"rendered":"Festa do Divino: Santa Rosa dos Pretos, Maranh\u00e3o (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>The Festa do Divino<\/em> is understood to have come to Brazil from Portugal in the 18th century, but it is also possible that it also came from slaves brought to Brazil from the Azores.\u00a0 Having been adopted by Azorean slaves of African origin, it had already become a hybrid practice that has no direct equivalent in Europe or North America (though there are accounts that it is practiced in some areas of the United States by Azorean descendants).\n

This European-African-Brazilian hybrid continues in Maranh\u00e3o today in its distinctive identity.<\/p>\n

\"DM4A7701\" — Al altar prepared for the Festa do Divino in Santa Rosa dos Pretos. It is an idiosyncratic altar representing the practices of the particular group of celebrants. It does not follow an institutional liturgy or sanction of the Catholic Church, but is an example of the many variations of Brazilian \u201cpopular Catholicism\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In the most widely-known Festa do Divino<\/em>, the Espirito Santo<\/em> (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost) is the Brazilian Portuguese designation for Pentecost<\/em> (English), Pfingsten<\/em> (German), Whitsunday<\/em> (UK)\u00a0 is honored in a ceremony that includes courtly dances whose movement an costumes recall their Portuguese origin.\u00a0 Adults worship, dance and sing a liturgy, but children are the centerpiece. These events of Popular Catholicism are not normed by the official Church and often follow customs and dates of their own.<\/p>\n
Children perform in what North Americans would understand as a pageant play \u2014 representing Biblical figures.\u00a0 They wear costumes with crowns.\u00a0 Usually there are a girl and a boy representing \u201croyalty\u201d \u2014 an emperor\/empress, or king\/queen.\u00a0 In some interpretations they are seen as various representations of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 However, any simply reference to celebrations on the Catholic calendar elsewhere in the world are confusing.<\/p>\n
*Here are some unusual features of the Festa do Divino as practiced in Maranh\u00e3o:<\/em><\/p>\n*
*It has a Catholic \u201cfeel,\u201d but its main carriers and celebrants are caixeiras\u00a0 \u2014 women who are dedicated to honoring the Holy Spirit in percussion and song.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n*
In other countries a similar celebration may fall on the 40th day after Easter (corresponding to the Pentecost), but in Maranhao it is celebrated in the 3rd week of November.\u00a0 It may last as long as a week.<\/em><\/p>\n
It is associated with thanks for gifts (joias) received.\u00a0 This is often expressed in the form of animals and other food gifts that form the feast.\u00a0 Children and other blessings are also honored, but the feast is a central part of the celebration.<\/em><\/p>\n
The ceremonies are not presided over by a priest.\u00a0 They are lay ceremonies and part of what is called \u201cpopular Catholicism\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 hybrid Catholic practices that exist alongside, or even separate from, the institutional Church.<\/em><\/p>\n
*The practice is intertwined with African-Brazilian spiritual practice and generally is practiced by people with links to non-Catholic spiritual groups.<\/em><\/p>\n*
We observed one Festa do Divino<\/em> celebration in Santa Rosa dos Pretos.\u00a0 The community lies along Brazilian federal highway 135 about 2 hours south of Sao Luis.\u00a0 In some accounts it has a long history as a quilombo<\/em>, a community of fugitive and freed slaves formed outside the colonial power structure.\u00a0 Many estimates place the number of such communities in Maranh\u00e3o at 500-700 or more, but the number varies widely between official (registered) and unofficial (not registered or contested) definitions.\u00a0 Registered quilombos<\/em> are protected under federal and state laws, but their status is matter of continuing contention over identity, cultural practice, and land rights. A registered quilombo<\/em> under procedures developed after the Brazilian Constitution of 1988, has official legal status. Many communities are still unofficial and often contested and even areas of violence with other claimants on land rights.<\/p>\n
This is the first of two Festas do Divino<\/em> that we observed and documented.\u00a0 The second (see later post on Maria Caixeira) was in Pindar\u00e9 and was combined with the Festa do Sao Gan\u00e7olo, another celebration that \u201cfeels\u201d somehow Catholic, but is rich in other practices as well.<\/p>\n
In both cases, the festival was organized and carried out by the *caixeiras <\/em>\u2014 women who perform percussion and singing as part of their devotional practice.<\/p>\n*
$\"IMG_4329\"$ <\/a>
A \u201ccaixeira\u201d \u2014 a Maranh\u00e3o tradition of women devoted to the Espirito Santo who drum and sing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Festa do Divino<\/em> was held in this church, with part of the feast and celebration in a house nearby.<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A7679\"$ <\/a>
The \u201cChurch of the Divine Holy Spirit\u201d in Santa Rosa dos Pretos is not an official church with priest and staff, but is part of the community and its events. The altar is especially decorated by the community for this celebration.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Festa<\/em> can also mean feast, which is an important part of the celebration which may go on for days. The house below follows a common rural practice of having an open kitchen area where food is prepared and passed between the interior and exterior areas.<\/p>\n
$\"DM4A7492\"$ <\/a>
The rear of the kitchen at the meeting place for the celebration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"DM4A7486\"$ <\/a>
The makeshift field kitchen for preparing food the the celebrants.\u00a0 The rough work is done outside.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"IMG_4184\"$ <\/a>
The procession of children in the Festa do Divino<\/em> celebration.\u00a0 The celebration is dedicated to worship of the Espirito Santo<\/em> (Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost).\u00a0 The flags are an essential part of the procession as they lead the children dressed in royal dress.\u00a0 The commemoration corresponds in part to the Pentecost as practiced elsewhere, but in Maranh\u00e3o this celebration to the Holy Ghost occurs in November. Popular Catholicism\u00a0 follows changes in climate and culture from the cultures of origin of festivals, and often take on new meanings and observances.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"DM4A7502\"$ <\/a>
The Festa do Divino<\/em> is celebrated by the caixeiras<\/em>, groups of women percussionists for whom this is a central spiritual practice (caixerias<\/em> are those who play the caixas<\/em>, or this particular type of drum).\u00a0 Behind them are some of the children in courtly dress (reflecting the Portuguese heritage of the celebration).\u00a0 In spite of the heat in the mid-90s, the children wear heavy ceremonial clothing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"DM4A7666\"$ <\/a>
The caixeiras<\/em> play and sing in a long celebration that blesses the event and the food to be shared.\u00a0 The caixeiras<\/em> are the carriers of the celebration and represent the deep African-Brazilian roots of the observance.\u00a0 This part of the ceremony is a true \u201cthanksgiving,\u201d that may go on for nearly an hour as every animal and gift of food is blessed and honored.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"DM4A7681\"$ <\/a>
Part of the celebration near the Festa do Divino<\/em> altar. There is constant drumming and devotional singing throughout the event.\u00a0 In this case a man is allowed to join, but is the focus of dialogue and joking with the women.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
$\"DM4A7697\"$ <\/a>
A group of the female *caixeiras<\/em> are joined by a male drummer in a special performance for us<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"*The Festa do Divino is understood to have come to Brazil from Portugal in the 18th century, but it is also possible that it also came from slaves brought to Brazil from the Azores.\u00a0 Having been adopted by Azorean slaves of African origin, it had already become a hybrid practice that has no direct equivalent … Continue reading Festa do Divino: Santa Rosa dos Pretos, Maranh\u00e3o (2015)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-folk-culture-and-spiritual-practice-in-maranhao-brazil"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2928,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions\/2928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meredithwwatts.com\/MWBrazilBlog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}