title: Fire (1996 film)

text: It is revealed that Radha faces a similar problem. Many years ago, Ashok had come under the influence of Swamiji, a local religious preacher, who teaches that desires are the cause of suffering and must be suppressed. Ashok is completely taken by these monastic teachings and suppresses all his desires. He also donates large sums from the meager store income to treat the Swamiji's hydrocele condition. The Swamiji teaches that sexual contact is permitted only as a means for procreation, and Radha is infertile. Accordingly, Ashok aims to stamp out all his desires and has not slept with Radha for the past thirteen years. He puts Radha through an excruciating ritual in which they lie motionless next to each other whenever he wants to test his resolve. Radha is racked with guilt over her inability to have children and driven to frustration by the ritual.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: While the older Radha remains bound by tradition and subdued into silence, the younger Sita refuses to accept her fate. Sita's attitude slowly spills over onto Radha, who becomes slightly more assertive. One evening, shunned by their husbands and driven to desperation by their unfulfilled longings, Radha and Sita seek solace in each other and become lovers. Overjoyed at finding satisfaction in this manner, they continue it in secret. They eventually realise their love for each other and start looking for ways to move out. The pair's daily antics and adventures are witnessed by Biji, who disapproves, but is unable to stop them. After some time, Mundu becomes aware of their relationship, and he causes Ashok to walk in on Radha and Sita.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Ashok is horrified. He is also shattered when he finds this incident has stoked his own long-dormant desire. Sita decides to pack her belongings and leave the house immediately, while Radha stays behind in order to talk to her husband. The women promise to meet each other later that night. Ashok confronts Radha, who overcomes her subservience and pours out her emotions. Amid this argument, Radha's sari catches fire, and Ashok angrily watches her burn without helping. Radha puts out the flames and recalls her mother's advice from when she was young – she can finally see her ocean.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: "Fire" was passed uncut by India's film certification board (the Central Board of Film Certification) in May 1998 with a rating of "Adult", the only condition being that the character Sita's name be changed to Nita. The board made their decision based on what it called the importance of the story for Indian women. The film was first screened on 13 November 1998 and ran to full houses in 42 theaters in most metropolitan cities throughout India for almost three weeks.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: On 2 December, more than 200 Shiv Sainiks stormed a Cinemax theatre in suburban Goregaon in Mumbai, smashing glass panes, burning posters and shouting slogans. They compelled managers to refund tickets to moviegoers. On 3 December, a Regal theatre in Delhi was similarly stormed. Mina Kulkarni, one of the Delhi protesters explained the reasoning behind their actions, saying, "If women's physical needs get fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse, reproduction of human beings will stop." Bajrang Dal workers with lathis invaded Rajpalace and Rajmahal in Surat, breaking up everything in sight and driving away frightened audiences. Some of the rioters set fire to theatres screening the film.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Theatres in Surat and Pune stopped screening the film on the same day. When attackers attempted to shut down a screening in Calcutta, however, ushers and audience fought back and the movie stayed open. Twenty-nine people were arrested in Mumbai in connection with these incidents. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi supported the actions to shut down screenings of "Fire", saying, "I congratulate them for what they have done. The film's theme is alien to our culture."


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: On 4 December, the film was referred back to the Certifying Board for a re-examination by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Indian government was criticised for siding with the vandals. On 5 December a group of film personalities and free speech activists, including Deepa Mehta, Indian movie star Dilip Kumar, and director Mahesh Bhatt, submitted a 17-page petition to the Supreme Court asking that a "sense of security" be provided, in addition to basic protection, so that the film could be screened smoothly. The petition referenced articles 14, 19, 21, 25 of the Indian Constitution, which promise the right to equality, life and liberty, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of conscience, free expression of religious practice and belief, and the right to hold peaceful meetings. On being asked the reason for discomfort, Dilip Kumar said that he hasn't seen the film and wasn't much concerned about its content but rather the kind of vandalism that takes place on their cultural life, whenever such issue comes up.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: On 7 December, Mehta led a candlelit protest in New Delhi with activists from 32 organisations, including CALERI, against the withdrawal of "Fire", carrying placards, shouting anti-Shiv Sena slogans and crying for the freedom of right to expression. On 12 December about 60 Shiv Sena men stripped down to their underwear and squatted in front of Dilip Kumar's house to protest his support of "Fire". 22 were arrested and Kumar, as well as others involved in the production of the film were provided with police security.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Cinemax reopened screenings of "Fire" on 18 December, but a hundred members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vandalised posters at the Sundar Theatre in Kanpur despite the police commissioner's reassurance that protection has been arranged. "Fire" was re-released without cuts by the Censor Board on 12 February 1999. Theatre screenings were resumed on 26 February and continued without incident.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: "Fire" and the conversation that began around the movie's general reception, both by supporters and detractors, encouraged lesbians and gay rights activists in India to be more vocal about their existence and the erasure of queerness from India's historical heritage. The release of this movie corresponded with the beginning of widespread national conversation about lesbian and gay rights. A new lesbian rights group, calling themselves the Campaign for Lesbian Rights (CALERI), formed in response to the backlash. This group held their own peaceful gatherings across India.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: In the weeks following its release, reviewers praised the film's explicit depiction of a homosexual relationship as "gutsy", "explosive", and "pathbreaking". Following the Shiv Sena attacks on the film, prominent party members said "Fire" had been targeted because it was an "immoral and pornographic" film "against Indian tradition and culture." The lesbian relationship depicted in the film was criticised as "not a part of Indian history or culture." Other politicians of the Hindu right voiced fears that the film would "spoil [Indian] women" and younger generations by teaching "happy wives not to depend on their husbands" and informing the public about "acts of perversion." Speaking on the dangers of "Fire", Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray compared lesbianism to "a sort of a social AIDS" which might "spread like an epidemic." Furthermore, Thackery claimed that the film was an attack on Hinduism because the protagonists were named Sita and Radha, both significant goddesses in Hindu belief, and that he would withdraw his objections to the film if the names were changed to Muslim names.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: A statement issued from the Shiv Sena's women's wing said, "If women's physical needs get fulfilled through lesbian acts, the institution of marriage will collapse, reproduction of human beings will stop." Critics charged the Shiv Sena of committing "cultural terrorism" and of using the rhetoric of "Indian tradition" to protest images of female independence and suppress freedom of speech. "The justification for [Shiv Sena's] action... demonstrates that Indian 'culture' for the Sangh Parivar is defined essentially in terms of male control over female sexuality."


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Gay activist Ashok Row Kavi criticised the Shiv Sena's protests as "gay-bashing" and disputed their claims that lesbianism was "against Indian tradition", indicating that homosexuality is in fact abundantly present in Hinduism and that the criminalisation of homosexuality was a legacy of British colonialism, heavily informed by Christianity. Pointing to evidence of lesbianism in Indian tradition, he said, "What's wrong in two women having sex? If they think it doesn't happen in the Indian society they should see the sculptures of Khajuraho or Konark."


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Feminist critics of Mehta's films argue that Mehta's portrayal of women and gender relations is over-simplified. Noted Indian feminist authors Mary E. John and Tejaswini Niranjana wrote in 1999 that "Fire" reduces patriarchy to the denial and control of female sexuality. The authors make the point that the film traps itself in its own rendering of patriarchy:


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Control of female sexuality is surely one of the "ideological" planks on which patriarchy rests. But by taking this idea literally, the film imprisons itself in the very ideology it seeks to fight, its own version of authentic reality being nothing but a mirror image of patriarchal discourse. 'Fire' ends up arguing that the successful assertion of sexual choice is not only a necessary but also a sufficient condition—indeed, the sole criterion—for the emancipation of women. Thus the patriarchal ideology of 'control' is first reduced to pure denial – as though such control did not also involve the production and amplification of sexuality – and is later simply inverted to produce the film's own vision of women's liberation as free sexual 'choice.' (1999:582)


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Whatever subversive potential 'Fire' might have had (as a film that makes visible the 'naturalised' hegemony of heterosexuality in contemporary culture, for example) is nullified by its largely masculinist assumption that men should not neglect the sexual needs of their wives, lest they turn lesbian (1999:583).


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: The authors additionally argue that viewers must ask tough questions from films such as "Fire" that place themselves in the realm of "alternative" cinema and aim to occupy not only aesthetic, but also political space (Economic and Political Weekly, 6–13 March 1999).


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Madhu Kishwar, then-editor of "Manushi", wrote a highly critical review of "Fire", finding fault with the depiction of the characters in the film as a "mean spirited caricature of middle class family life among urban Indians". She claimed that homosexuality was socially accepted in India as long as it remained a private affair, adding that Mehta "did a disservice to the cause of women... by crudely pushing the Radha-Sita relationship into the lesbian mould," as women would now be unable to form intimate relationships with other women without being branded as lesbians.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: Deepa Mehta expressed frustration in interviews that the film was consistently described as a lesbian film. She said, "lesbianism is just another aspect of the film..."Fire" is not a film about lesbians," but rather about "the choices we make in life."


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: In 2010, veteran film critic and activist Shoni Ghosh wrote a book named "" that studies in detail the movie as well the controversies ignited by the film. The book detail the situations that lead to the chaos and its aftermath.


title: Fire (1996 film)

text: The soundtrack was composed and performed by A. R. Rahman except for tracks "Ramayan" and "Allah Hu". "Julie's Theme" and "China Town" were added as bonus tracks and were not used in the movie. A. R. Rahman reused or reworked some of his acclaimed songs from "Bombay".


title: Palace of Placentia

text: was an English royal residence that was initially built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in 1443. The palace was a pleasaunce; a place designed for pleasure, entertainment and an escape from the city. It was located at Greenwich on the south bank of the River Thames, downstream from London. On a hill behind the palace he built Duke Humphrey's Tower, later known as Greenwich Castle; it was subsequently demolished to make way for the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, which survives. The original river-side residence was extensively rebuilt around 1500 by Henry VII. A detached residence, the Queen's House, was built on the estate in the early 1600s and also survives. In 1660, the main palace was demolished by Charles II to make way for a proposed new palace, which was never constructed. Nearly forty years later, the Greenwich Hospital (now called the Old Royal Naval College) was built on the site.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: Humphrey was regent during the minority of Henry VI (his nephew) and started building the palace in 1433, under the name Bella Court. In 1447, Humphrey fell out of favour with Henry VI and was arrested for high treason. He died in prison, likely due to a stroke, though it was popularly believed that he was murdered (as is depicted in William Shakespeare's plays about Henry VI). Margaret of Anjou took over Bella Court, renaming it the Palace of Placentia, sometimes written as the 'Palace of Pleasaunce'.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: In 1482, Edward IV gave land and property adjacent to the palace for the foundation of a friary by the Observant Friars (a branch of the Franciscans). The friars' church was used for royal baptisms and marriages, including the christenings of the future queens Mary I and Elizabeth I. However, the friars were persecuted during the English Reformation and finally expelled by Elizabeth I in 1559.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: Henry VII rebuilt the palace between 1498 and 1504, with a design based around three large courtyards. It remained the principal royal palace for the next two centuries.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: The palace was the birthplace of Henry VIII in 1491, and it figured largely in his life. Following the king's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Placentia became the birthplace of Mary I in 1516.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: After Henry VIII's marriage to Anne Boleyn, his daughter, later Elizabeth I, was born at Placentia in 1533, and he married Anne of Cleves there in 1540. A fallen tree in Greenwich Park is known as Queen Elizabeth's Oak, in which she is reputed to have played as a child.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: Both Mary and Elizabeth lived at Placentia for some years during the sixteenth century, but during the reigns of James I and Charles I, the Queen's House was erected to the south of the palace. Placentia fell into disrepair during the English Civil War, serving time as a biscuit factory and a prisoner-of-war camp.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: In 1660, Charles II decided to rebuild the palace, engaging John Webb as the architect for a new King's House. The only section of the new building to be completed was the east range of the present King Charles Court, but this was never occupied as a royal residence. Most of the rest of the palace was demolished, and the site remained empty until construction of the Greenwich Hospital began in 1694.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: The palace at Greenwich was built in the Tudor style. Although the structure is no longer standing, the size and design of Greenwich palace were said to be similar to that of Hampton Court which was built around the same time as Henry VII's rebuild of Placentia.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: The original building was constructed primarily with brick and timber. The initial palace design had state apartments, a chapel, a five-story viewing tower, and two octagonal towers overlooking the tiltyard.The chapel, which was redone by Henry VIII, featured stained glass windows and black and white glazed tiles. The main face of the building looked out over the river Thames. It extended along 200m of the bank of the river and was accessible by boat. Piles from the original Tudor-era jetty remain today. Its red brick exterior showcased the monarchy's wealth as the material was expensive to manufacture and considered an extravagance. Aside from chapel renovations, Henry VIII also added an armoury, stables, and a banquet hall to the original palace.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: During the early 17th century, as the palace was being rebuilt, Queen Anne of Denmark commissioned several buildings including the Queens House, three rooms along the garden, and a grotto aviary to be built in the gardens. The aviary was designed by Salome de Caus, a French architect and engineer. It was ornately decorated with pearls and shells and was covered in moss. The only surviving building of the 17th century additions to the palace is the Queens House. This building, designed by architect Inigo Jones, is of particular architectural and historical significance as it is often credited as being the first classical building in England and was a clear departure from the Tudor style.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: Archeological work in 2017 gave new insight into the architecture of the old palace. One of the more notable findings was lead glazed tile. These tiles were likely used as the flooring for the service areas such as the kitchen.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: The Greenwich Hospital complex became the Greenwich Royal Naval College in 1873, when the naval college was moved from Portsmouth. The buildings are today occupied by the University of Greenwich and the music faculty of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: Construction work for drains in late 2005 identified previously unknown Tudor remains. A full archaeological excavation completed in January 2006 found the Tudor Chapel and Vestry with its tiled floor "in situ". The vestry of the old palace was not demolished and later became the home of the treasurer of Greenwich Hospital.


title: Palace of Placentia

text: During construction of the visitors center for the painted hall in 2017, two more Tudor palace room were uncovered. One room contained bee holes for keeping hives in the winter. The other was believed to be part of the service range.


title: Thalaivaa

text: Thalaivaa () is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. It stars Vijay in the title role. The film, produced by Chandraprakash Jain, features background score and soundtrack composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar with cinematography and editing handled by Nirav Shah and Anthony respectively. The story revolves around a dancer who takes over his father's duty as a crime boss after his death.


title: Thalaivaa

text: The film, which commenced production in November 2012 in Mumbai, was released on 8 August 2013 on the occasion of Eid-ul Fitr. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and audience. The film upon its early release was successful at the overseas box office and also successful in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka box office. Due to opposition from the ruling AIADMK as insisted by the then Chief minister J Jayalalithaa, the film had a delayed release in Tamil Nadu on 20 August 2013 and its performance was affected at the Tamil Nadu box office.The film went on to be remade in Punjabi as Sardar Saab in 2017.


title: Thalaivaa

text: A riot occurs in Mumbai where Ratnam and his son Logu are attacked. However, Ramadurai arrives and saves them. After the riot, Ratnam decides to leave Mumbai and start a new life somewhere else. Ramadurai asks him to stay, but Ratnam says it is best that he moves away. Suddenly that night, Ramadurai's house gets attacked by his opposite gang Bhadra. While trying to save him, Ramadurai's wife Ganga dies on the spot. Enraged, Ramadurai kills Bhadra. He takes his son Vishwa to Ratnam who is in a train and asking him to take Vishwa with him, because he doesn't want Vishwa's life to be wasted by Ramadurai's action and sends him away with Ratnam.


title: Thalaivaa

text: Vishwa is a dancer who lives in Sydney, Australia and also manages a water distribution business in the name of Ganga with his childhood friend Logu and his dance team members. Ramadurai is a crime boss, who fights for the rights of migrated Tamilians. He keeps in contact with Vishwa as he grows up and lies to him about his profession. Vishwa falls in love with Meera, the daughter of a restaurateur, who is one of his customers. Meera reciprocates Vishwa's feelings and joins his dance team, helping them win a dance competition. She soon proposes to Vishwa, who agrees. Meera's father agrees to the marriage, but wants to discuss the matter formally with Ramadurai. They leave for Mumbai, where Vishwa finds out about Ramadurai's true profession and that he is currently in hiding due to several false charges registered against him by his arch-enemy Bhima, who is Bhadra's son. Vishwa also finds out that Meera and her father are Crime Branch officers, who lured him to Mumbai so that they could arrest Ramadurai. Ramadurai is arrested, but just after he enters the police van, a bomb planted by Bhima in the van explodes, killing him. Vishwa is distraught over his father's death and decides to stay back in Mumbai and take over his father's crime syndicate. He dons the title of "Thalaivaa" and provides his own brand of justice for the helpless and downtrodden.


title: Thalaivaa

text: Meanwhile, Bhima instigates riots in Mumbai which kill many people and leave several others injured. Vishwa arrives at the scene and saves several others, including a Bhojpuri woman named Gowri, whose marriage was nullified due to the riots. Although there is seemingly lack of evidence that Bhima is responsible, a video recorded by a cameraman Kumar, highlighting Bhima's involvement in the riots is stolen by a Bhojpuri-speaking pickpocket. Vishwa and his gang manage to reclaim the tape from the pickpocket and publicize it, leading to Bhima's arrest. Vishwa also kills the corrupt CM of Maharashtra, who had given Bhima and his gang free rein, and puts the blame on Bhima. However, Bhima soon escapes from prison and kills most of Vishwa's henchmen on the night of Maha Shivaratri including Gowri, with the help of Vishwa's uncle Ranga, who is Vishwa's second-in-command. When Vishwa enters a fort after hearing Ranga is being "held hostage" there by Bhima, he is stabbed by Ranga, who immediately informs the police that Vishwa is "dead" and leaves the fort with his physically handicapped son, who is Vishwa's cousin and driver. When Ranga's son hears about his father's treachery, he becomes enraged and drives the car into a petroleum tanker, killing them both. Meanwhile, Vishwa, though injured fights with Bhima's henchmen and kills them one by one. After a bitter fight, he kills Bhima by stabbing his throat. Meera soon arrives at the fort and realizes that Vishwa killed Bhima, but she acts quickly and shoots the corpses of Bhima and his henchmen to imply that she killed them, thus saving Vishwa from prison term.


title: Thalaivaa

text: Meera eventually quits her job after realizing her love for Vishwa, and marries him. With Bhima and his gang out of the way, Vishwa is now the unchallenged crime boss in Mumbai.


title: Thalaivaa

text: After watching A. L. Vijay's period drama film "Madrasapattinam" (2010), Vijay was impressed by the film and contacted the film director for a new project. A. L. Vijay later narrated the "Thalaivaa" story to Vijay and he agreed to play the role within 15 minutes. Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Yami Gautam were initially approached for the lead female role. Later Amala Paul was selected. Vijay Yesudas was reported to be finalized for the antagonist role in this film, but he denied it as rumour. Sathyaraj was also selected to be a part of this film. A. L. Vijay's brother Udhaya has been selected to feature in a prominent role. G. V. Prakash Kumar will be the music director, while Nirav Shah will crank the camera. R. K. Naguraj has been enrolled as art director. Rumors about a Hollywood star portraying a singer, were refuted by Vijay.


title: Thalaivaa

text: The muhurta of the film was held in Chennai on 16 November 2012. The first schedule began in Mumbai from 23 November 2012. The title song "Thalaivaa Thalaivaa" was shot in Mumbai with 500 junior artists. A major portion of the film was shot in Australia. The first look and title was revealed on 14 January 2013. Additional posters were released on 26 January 2013.


title: Thalaivaa

text: As of 8 February 2013, 50% of total shootings were completed, with stunt scenes conducted by Stunt Silva. Ragini Nandwani, who plays a North Indian, stated that all of her film sequences were shot in Mumbai over 25–30 days. They moved to Chennai and shot a song at Binny Mills. A last shooting schedule in Australia was completed by 24 April. They shot scenes at the Bondi Beach in New South Wales. It was revealed that Vijay would portray a leader of a dance group based in Australia, performing dance styles of different genres including tap dancing with Sathish Krishnan ("June Ponal" from "Unnale Unnale" song fame), Karthik (Ungalil yaar Prabhu Deva winner), and their dance schoolmates.


title: Thalaivaa

text: The soundtrack was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar with lyrics by Na. Muthukumar, both teaming with A. L. Vijay for the fifth time. The soundtrack features five songs and two theme music tracks. As of 21 November 2012, he had composed two songs for the film. One song had been sung by Vijay alongside Santhanam. A third song was completed on 11 February 2013. The audio launch took place on 21 June 2013 in Hotel Connemara. The audio rights of Thalaivaa were bought by Sony Music.


title: Thalaivaa

text: The album received generally positive reviews from critics. "Behindwoods" rated it 3.5/5, stating "A true for the fans, high on energy and drama".


title: Thalaivaa

text: "Oneindia" said GV Prakash Kumar has composed the songs keeping new-age audience in mind. Thalaivaa album simply cannot be ignored. "Indiaglitz" said "Thalaivaa is all about energy and jive. Ranging from foot tapping to soul lifting, the album is elevating in all respects. For a crowd puller like Vijay, this album is aptly scored to be cheery and soulful. In all, GV Prakash has redefined music crafted for dance and rated 3.75 / 5 – Energy packed album. Get up and dance."


title: Thalaivaa

text: "Thalaivaa" distribution rights for the United States and Canada were bought by Bharat Creations. Ayngaran International acquired the overseas rights for "Thalaivaa" Tamil Nadu rights were bought by Vendhar Movies and Kerala rights by Thameens via Vendhar Movies. The music rights were sold to Sony Music. Prior to Vijay's birthday on 21 June a theatrical film trailer was released by Sony Music India on their YouTube channel. Trailer got 1.2 million in 32 hours and 2 million views within 2 days on YouTube after its release. The film garnered totally 3.4 million hits on YouTube. The satellite rights of the film were secured by Sun TV for a record sum of . The film's running length is 3 hours 2 minutes and was given a "U" certificate by the Indian Censor Board. The film has been released on Friday, 9 August 2013 worldwide.


title: Thalaivaa

text: Thalaivaa opened well at international markets, especially in the US and UK. In UK From the paid previews on Thursday till Saturday, Thalaivaa's gross in the UK is approximate from 34 locations and it is seen as a very impressive opening. Vijay's films generally embark on a great start in the UK, and Thalaivaa is no exception. The film's UK collection is said to be in its opening weekend. In UK "Thalaivaa" made an impressive start earning (£1,21,249) from 36 screens in the opening weekend. The film has made higher collections than Suriya's "Singam 2" in the UK. "Singam 2" earned around in the first week of its release. But Vijay's "Thalaivaa" crossed "Singam 2" collections in its debut weekend. The film continued its dream run at the UK box office even in its second weekend. Its total UK collections are now pegged at .


title: Thalaivaa

text: At the end of the first weekend, the US gross of Thalaivaa from 44 reported locations is US$212,000 . A record total of 70 locations are screening Thalaivaa and the total gross for the first weekend is expected to be in the US$250,000 range Thalaivaa fared well in Malaysia too. Thalaivaa has maintained exceptionally well in its second weekend in Malaysia. The film has become ninth highest grosser of all time in Malaysia's box office in just 10 days collection. In its second weekend the film has collected (MYR 579,153) on 60 screens and average working out per screens (MYR 9,654). Thalaivaa collected around in just 10 days at the Malaysian box office. Baradwaj Rangan of the Hindu wrote "The director gets a lot of things right...this film has been made with some integrity, with respect for the story being told (and, to some extent, the audience too). After Vishwa's transformation, he's rarely shown smiling. Even when Santhanam makes a re-entry, there is no joyous reunion. Even after the heroine is separated from the hero for a while, there are no "dream songs".


title: Thalaivaa

text: "Oneindia.in" stated that the film is a typical entertainer from Vijay, and will make his fans proud to be his fans. "IBN Live" gave it a 3/5 rating, stating that the film is a full-baked product. "Sify" stated "Thalaivaa is good and the movie was racy and shorter". "Metromasti.com" gave the movie 3/5 stars, stating, "Thalaiva which runs for 185 minutes has very intelligent scenes and is expected to be a complete class hit entertainer movie of the year".


title: Thalaivaa

text: 'Times of India' gave it a 3/5, stating Vijay is in top form when he's normal and menacing. Sathyaraj as the don is effective. But the one who makes this arduous journey enjoyable is Santhanam, whose poker-faced humour provides relief in a largely grim story. "MovieCrow" rated it a 3/5, stating that the movie is a typical entertainer. "Ananda Vikatan" rated the film 42 out of 100. "Bookmyshow" rated the film 3/5, stating that "Overall, Thalaivaa is a very good movie to watch, not just for movie fanatics down south but all across the nation. If it's the one thing you learn from this flick is – If you're your father's son, you will follow his footsteps!".


title: Sadie Hawkins dance

text: In the United States and Canada, a Sadie Hawkins dance is a usually informal dance sponsored by a high school, middle school or college, to which the women invite the men. This is contrary to the custom of the men typically inviting the women to school dances such as prom in the spring and homecoming in the fall.


title: Sadie Hawkins dance

text: The Sadie Hawkins dance is named after the "Li'l Abner" comic strip character Sadie Hawkins, created by cartoonist Al Capp. In the strip, Sadie Hawkins Day fell on a given day in November (Capp never specified an exact date). The unmarried women of Dogpatch got to chase the bachelors and "marry up" with the ones that they caught. The event was introduced in a daily strip that ran on November 15, 1937. In 1939, Sadie Hawkins events were held at over 200 colleges, according to "Life" magazine.


title: Sadie Hawkins dance

text: Similar dances, sometimes called Spinsters' Balls, have been organized for adults. The custom of holding Spinsters' Balls has spread outside the U.S., and exists in countries such as Australia. If held during the winter months, the Sadie Hawkins dance may be called the Snow Ball or some other wintry name. In a variation on pure Sadie Hawkins custom, a particular song may be designated a snowball dance by the DJ or master of ceremonies.


title: Sadie Hawkins dance

text: In that case, also known as "speed dancing" (because of its similarities to speed dating), the DJ picks two people to start dancing, usually to a slow dance. Periodically the DJ will shout "snowball", signaling that the dancers must find new partners, thus increasing the number of partners on the floor. Half of the people asking new dancers to come to the floor will be girls asking boys, Sadie Hawkins-style. By the end of the song, most of the people at the dance are on the dance floor. The "snowball dance" is typically used to get the dancing started, as school dances can be notoriously slow to start. In some areas, people chosen to dance cannot refuse, thereby ensuring people get onto the dance floor, and thus the "snowball" gains momentum and grows.


title: Sadie Hawkins dance

text: The Tolo Dance in the Pacific Northwest began several decades before Capp's comic strip. The word "tolo" comes from the University of Washington's Mortar Board, which began as an all-women's honor society called the "Tolo Club", from the Chinook word for success and achievement. To raise funds, the group held a dance where women asked men.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé () is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially that of the Yoruba, and the Roman Catholic form of Christianity. There is no central authority in control of Candomblé, which is organised through autonomous groups.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé involves the veneration of spirits known as "orixás". Deriving their names and attributes from traditional West African deities, they are equated with Roman Catholic saints. Various myths are told about these orixás, which are regarded as subservient to a transcendent creator deity, Oludumaré. Each individual is believed to have a tutelary orixá who has been connected to them since before birth and who informs their personality. An initiatory tradition, Candomblé's members usually meet in temples known as "terreiros" run by priests called "babalorixás" and priestesses called "ialorixás". A central ritual involves practitioners drumming, singing, and dancing to encourage an orixá to possess one of their members. They believe that through this possessed individual, they can communicate directly with a deity. Offerings to the orixás include fruit and sacrificed animals. Offerings are also given to a range of lesser spirits, including the "exus", "caboclos", and the spirits of the dead. Several forms of divination are utilized to decipher messages from the orixás. Healing rituals and the preparation of herbal remedies, amulets, and charms, also play a prominent role.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé developed among Afro-Brazilian communities amid the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th centuries. It arose through the blending of the traditional religions brought to Brazil by enslaved West and Central Africans, the majority of them Yoruba, Fon, and Bantu, and the Roman Catholic teachings of the Portuguese colonialists who then controlled the area. It primarily coalesced in the Bahia region during the 19th century. In places, it merged with another Afro-Brazilian religion, Umbanda. Following Brazil's independence from Portugal, the constitution of 1891 enshrined freedom of religion in the country, although Candomblé remained marginalized by the Roman Catholic establishment, which typically associated it with criminality. In the 20th century, growing emigration from Bahia spread Candomblé both throughout Brazil and abroad. The late 20th century saw growing links between Candomblé and related traditions in West Africa and the Americas, such as Cuban Santería and Haitian Vodou. Since the late 20th century, some practitioners have emphasized a re-Africanization process to remove Roman Catholic influences and create forms of Candomblé closer to traditional West African religion.


title: Candomblé

text: Each terreiro is autonomous although can be divided into distinct denominations, known as nations, based on which traditional West African belief system has been its primary influence. The most prominent nations are the Ketu, Jeje, and Angola. There are nearly 170,000 practitioners in Brazil, although smaller communities exist elsewhere, especially other parts of South America. Both in Brazil and abroad Candomblé has spread beyond its Afro-Brazilian origins and is practiced by individuals of various ethnicities.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé is a religion. More specifically, it has been described as an "African American religion", an Afro-Brazilian religion, a "neo-African" religion, "an African diasporic spirit possession religion", and "one of the major religious expressions of the African Diaspora". The anthropologist Paul Christopher Johnson stated that, "at its most basic level", Candomblé can be defined as "the practice of exchange with orixás"; the scholar Joana Bahia called it "the religion of the orishas." Johnson also defined it as "a Brazilian redaction of West African religions recreated in the radically new context of a nineteenth-century Catholic slave colony." The term "Candomblé " probably derived from a "kandombele", a Bantu-derived term for dances, which also developed into the term "Candombe", used to describe a dance style among African-descended communities in Argentina and Uruguay.


title: Candomblé

text: Various religions in the Americas arose through the blending of West African traditions with Roman Catholicism; due to their shared origins, Cuban Santería and Haitian Vodou have been described as "sister religions" of Candomblé. In Brazil, it was Yoruba traditional religion which eventually became dominant over Afro-Brazilian religion. Candomblé is not the only Afro-Brazilian religion, being closely related to another that also arose in the 19th century and involves the worship of the orixás, Umbanda. Umbanda is usually more open and public than Candomblé; while the latter employs songs in African languages, Umbanda's religious songs are sung in Portuguese. As a result, Candomblé is often regarded as being more African than Umbanda. The term "Umbandomblé" is sometimes applied to groups merging elements of both traditions, although this is rarely embraced by practitioners themselves. Another Afro-Brazilian religion is Quimbanda, and is associated primarily with Rio de Janeiro, while the term Macumba has been used primarily to describe Afro-Brazilian traditions dealing with lower spirits, the "exus". Candomblé has also been influenced by Spiritism, although many Spiritists are keen to distinguish their tradition from Afro-Brazilian religions. Scholars often regard these different Afro-Brazilian traditions as existing on a continuum rather than being firmly distinct from each other.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé divides into different traditions known as "nacões" (nations). The three most prominent are Ketu (Queto) or Nagô, Jeje (Gege) or Mina-Jeje, and Angola or Congo-Angola; others include the Ijexá and Caboclo. Each derives particular influence from a particular African language group; Ketu uses Yoruba, Jeje uses Ewe, and the Angola draws from the Bantu language group. Each nation has its own lexicon, chants, deities, sacred objects, and traditional knowledge, informed by its ethno-linguistic origins. Although originating among ethnic differences, this has largely eroded over time, with members drawn to different nations for reasons other than ethnic heritage.


title: Candomblé

text: As of 2012, the Nagô nation has been described as the largest. The Angola nation is sometimes characterised as being the most syncretic.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé is not institutionalised, with there being no central authority in the religion to determine doctrine and orthodoxy. It is heterogenous, and has no central sacred text or dogma.


title: Candomblé

text: There is regional variation in the beliefs and practices of Candomblé. Each lineage or community of practitioners is autonomous, approaching the religion in ways informed by their tradition and the choices of their leader. Some practitioners also refer to it as a form of science.


title: Candomblé

text: An individual who has taken steps toward initiation but not yet undergone this process is termed an "abiã".


title: Candomblé

text: In Candomblé, a male priest is known as a "babalorixá", a female priestess as "iyalorixá", or alternatively as a "makota" or "nêngua". The choice of term used can indicate which nation a person belongs to.


title: Candomblé

text: Most adherents of Candomblé also practice Roman Catholicism, and some priests and priestesses will not initiate anyone into Candomblé who is not a baptised Roman Catholic. Syncretism can be observed in other ways. The anthropologist Jim Wafer observed a Brazilian practitioner who included a statue of the Mahayana Buddhist deity Hotei on their altar, while Arnaud Halloy encountered a Belgian terreiro whose head was incorporating characters from Welsh and Slavic mythologies in their practice, and the scholar Joana Bahia found practitioners in Germany who also practiced Buddhism and various New Age practices.


title: Candomblé

text: Knowledge about Candomblé's beliefs and practices is referred to as the "fundamentos" (foundations"), and is guarded by practitioners.


title: Candomblé

text: In Candomblé, the supreme deity is called Olorun or Olodumare. This entity is regarded as the creator of everything but as being distant and unapproachable. Olorun is thus not specifically worshipped in Candomblé.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé focuses on the worship of spirits termed orixás (or orishas) or "santos" ("saints"). The males are termed "aborôs", the females "iabás". These have been varyingly conceived as ancestral figures, or embodiments of forces of nature. Around 12 orixás are well-developed figures in the Candomblé pantheon and recognized by most practitioners. Although usually given Yoruba names, in the Jeje nation they are instead given Fon names.


title: Candomblé

text: The orixás are believed to mediate between humanity and Olorun. The orixás are understood as being morally ambiguous, each with their own virtues and flaws; they are sometimes in conflict with other orixás.


title: Candomblé

text: In Candomblé, the relationship between the orixás and humanity is seen as being one of interdependence, with practitioners seeking to build harmonious relationships with these deities, thus securing their protection. Each orixá is associated with specific colours, foods, animals, and minerals, favoring certain offerings. Each orixá is associated with a particular day of the week; the priesthood also states that each year is governed by a specific orixá who will influence the events taking place within it. Their personalities are informed by a key conceptual opposition in Candomblé, that of the cool versus the hot.


title: Candomblé

text: Oxalá is the chief orixá, depicted as a frail old man who walks with a "pachorô" sceptre as a walking stick. Practitioners commonly believe that Olorun tasked him with creating humanity. In some accounts, all of the junior orixás are the children of Oxalá and one of his two wives, Nanã and Iemanjá. This trio are associated with water; Oxalá with fresh water, Nanã with the rain, and Iemanjá with the sea. Other accounts present this cosmogony differently, for instance by claiming that Oxalá fathered all other orixás alone, having created the world from a mingau pudding. An alternative claim among practitioners is that Nanã is the grandmother of Oxalá and the mother of Iemanjá, the latter becoming both mother and wife to Oxalá.


title: Candomblé

text: Xangô is the orixá associated with thunder and lightning; one of his wives is Obá, a warrior who has only one ear. Ogum is the orixá of battle and of iron, often depicted with a machete; her companion is Oxóssi, the male orixá of the hunt and forest. Obaluaiê or Omolu is the orixá associated with infectious disease and its cure, while Osanyin is associated with leaves, herbs, and herbal knowledge. Oya is the orixá of wind and storms. Oxumaré is regarded as both male and female and is portrayed as a serpent or a rainbow. Oxum is the orixá of love, beauty, wealth and luxury, and is associated with fresh water, fish, mermaids, and butterflies. She is married to Ifa, regarded as the orixá of divination. Tempo is the orixá of time; originating in the Angola nation, he is associated with trees. Due to the link with trees, he is sometimes equated with the Ketu-Nagô orixá Loko. The orixá Exú is regarded as a capricious trickster; as the guardian of entrances, he facilitates contact between humanity and the other orixá, thus usually being honoured and fed first in any ritual. His ritual paraphernalia is often kept separate from that of other orixás, while the entrances to most terreiros will have a clay head, decorated with cowries or nails, that represents Exu and is given offerings.


title: Candomblé

text: Each orixá equates with a Roman Catholic saint. This may have begun as a subterfuge to retain the worship of African deities under European rule, although such syncretisms could have already been occurring in Africa prior to the Atlantic slave trade. From the later 20th century, some practitioners have attempted to distance the orixás from the saints as a means of re-emphasising the religion's West African origins. Robert A. Voeks observed that it was the priesthood and more formally educated practitioners who preferred to distinguish the orixás from the saints, whereas less formally educated adherents tended not to.


title: Candomblé

text: In Candomblé altars, the orixás are often represented with images and statues of Roman Catholic saints. For instance, Oxalá has been conflated with Our Lord of Bonfim, Oxum with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and Ogum with St Anthony of Padua. Due to his association with time, Tempo is sometimes equated with the Christian idea of the Holy Spirit.


title: Candomblé

text: The orixás are regarded as having different aspects, known as "marcas" ("types" or "qualities"), each of which may have an individual name. Child forms of the orixás are termed "erês". They are deemed the most uncontrollable spirits of all, associated with obscenities and pranks. The child forms of orixás have specific names; the erê of Oxalá is for instance called Ebozingo ("Little Ebô") and Pombinho ("Little Dove").


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé teaches that everyone is linked to a particular orixá, the identity of whom can be ascertained through divination. This orixá is described as being "dono da cabeça": the "master or mistress of the person's head," or the "owner of the head." It is believed that they have an influence on the person's personality and social interactions. The gender of this tutelary orixá is not necessarily the same as their human's; non-heterosexuality is sometimes viewed, in a non-negative light, as being caused by a mismatch between the gender of an individual and the gender of their orixá. Failing to identify one's orixá is sometimes interpreted as the cause of various types of mental illness by practitioners. Depending on the orixá in question, an initiate may choose to avoid or to engage in certain activities, such as not eating specific foods or wearing specific colours. Some practitioners also believe that there are other orixá who could be linked to an individual; a second is known as the "juntó", while a third is called the "adjuntó", the "tojuntó", or the "dijuntó". Some believe that an individual can also have a fourth orixá, inherited from a deceased relative.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé also teaches the existence of spirits other than the orixás. One of these spirit groups are the "exus", sometimes termed "exuas" when female, or "exu-mirims" when children. These are regarded as being closer to humanity than the orixás and thus more accessible to practitioners. In ritual contexts, the exus are often regarded as the "slaves" of the orixás. In common parlance in Brazil they are often described as "devils", but in Candomblé are not regarded as a force for absolute evil but rather believed to be capable of both good and bad acts. Practitioners believe that the exus can "open" or "close" the "roads" of fate in one's life, bringing about both help and harm. Candomblé teaches that the exus can be induced to do a practitioner's bidding, although need to be carefully controlled.


title: Candomblé

text: Also present in Candomblé are the "caboclos", the name of which probably derives from the Tupi language term "kari'boka" ("deriving from the white"). These spirits come in two main forms: those who are "boiadeiros" ("cowboys" or "backwoodsmen") and those who are indigenous peoples of the Americas. In rarer cases, caboclos are linked to other contexts, portrayed as being from the sea or from foreign countries such as Italy or Japan. Almost exclusively portrayed as being male, the caboclos are believed to dwell in a forest land called Aruanda, which is also inhabited by flying snake-like reptiles called "cainanas". The caboclos favor beer, whereas the exus prefer wine and hard liquor, especially cachaça; the caboclos are also characterised as smoking cigars. Those practitioners who have tried to "re-Africanize" Candomblé since the late 20th century have tended to reject the caboclos as being of non-African derivation.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé espouses a cosmology largely borrowed from Yoruba traditional religion. The realm of the spirits is termed "orun"; the material world of humanity is called "aiê" (or "aiye"). Orun is believed to divide into nine levels. Death is personified in the figure of Iku. A person's inner head, in which their tutelary orixá is believed to reside, is called the "ori".


title: Candomblé

text: The spirits of the dead are called "egums" or "eguns". Those who are only recently deceased are termed "aparacá", while after they have been "educated" by receiving sacrifices they become "babá". Precautions need to be taken regarding these entities, for they have the power to harm the living. Sometimes they will seek to help a living individual but inadvertently harm them. The "contra-egum" is an armband made of plaited raffia which is sometimes worn to ward off these dead spirits. Typically discouraged in Candomblé, possession by "egums" is considered rare, but does happen. Many Canbomblé groups have prohibitions on allowing possession by the dead, deeming it spiritually polluting, a viewpoint that distinguishes Candomblé from Umbanda.


title: Candomblé

text: After death, the egun can enter orun, although the level they reach depends on the spiritual growth they attained in life.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé teaches the existence of a force called "ashe" or "axé", a central concept in Yoruba-derived traditions. Walker described axé as "the spiritual force of the universe", Bahia called it "sacred force," Wafer termed it "vital force", while Voeks favored "vital energy". Johnson characterised it as "a creative spiritual force with real material effects."


title: Candomblé

text: Practitioners believe axé can move around, but can also be concentrated in specific objects, such as leaves and roots, or in specific body parts, especially blood, which is deemed to contain axé in its most concentrated form. Humans can accumulate axé, but also either lose it or transfer it. Specific rituals and obligations are believed to maintain and enhance a person's axé, while other ritual acts are designed to attract or share this force.


title: Candomblé

text: The teachings of Candomblé influence the daily life of its practitioners. Problems that arise in a person's life are often interpreted as resulting from a disharmony in an individual's relationship with their orixá; harmony is ensured by following the orixá's "euó" (taboos) regarding issues like food, drink, and colors.


title: Candomblé

text: Male/female polarity is a recurring theme throughout Candomblé. Many roles within Candomblé are linked to members of a specific gender. For instance, both animal sacrifice and the shaving of an initiate's head are usually reserved for male practitioners, while female practitioners are typically responsible for domestic duties in maintaining the ritual space. Such divisions mirror broader gender norms in Brazilian society. Taboos are also placed on women while menstruating. However, women can still wield significant power as the heads of the terreiros, with most terreiros in Bahia being led by women; some have called it a female-dominated religion. The prominent place of priestesses within Candomblé has led observers like the anthropologist Ruth Landes to describe it as a matriarchal religion, although such a characterisation has been disputed.


title: Candomblé

text: There is evidence that Candomblé is more accepting of sexual and gender non-conformity than mainstream Brazilian society. Although many prominent male priests in the religion have been heterosexual, there is also a pervasive stereotype that the majority of Candomblé's male practitioners are homosexual.


title: Candomblé

text: Male homosexuals have described the religion as offering a more welcoming environment for them than forms of Christianity practiced in Brazil. They for instance have cited stories of relationships between male orixás, such as Oxôssi and Ossain, as affirming male same-sex attraction. Some practitioners have involved themselves in political causes including environmentalism, indigenous rights, and the Black Power movement.


title: Candomblé

text: Johnson noted that Candomblé was a "ritual-centric" religion, whose practitioners often regard it as a religion "of right practice instead of right doctrine", in that performing its rituals correctly is deemed more important that believing in the orixás. Johnson noted that Candomblé devoted "little attention" to "abstract theologizing". Rituals are often focused on pragmatic needs regarding issues such as prosperity, health, love, and fecundity; they often begin long after the advertised starting time.


title: Candomblé

text: Those engaging in Candomblé include various initiates of varying degrees and non-initiates who may attend events and approach initiates seeking help with various problems. Johnson characterised Candomblé as a secret society, as it makes use of secrecy.


title: Candomblé

text: Ranging in size from small houses to large compounds, some are well-known and wealthy, but most are smaller examples of what Roger Bastide called "proleterian candomblés." These may be concealed, so as not to attract the attention of opponents. Each terreiro is independent and operates autonomously, often disbanding when their chief priest or priestess dies. A terreiro's importance is generally regarded as being proportional to the number of initiates and clients that it has.


title: Candomblé

text: Terreiros consists of a series of rooms, some off-limits to non-initiates. They contain an altar to the deities, a space to perform ceremonies, and accommodation for the priests or priestesses. The floor is deemed sacred, consecrated to the tutelary orixá of the house. The "bakisse" is the "room of the saints", a storeroom containing both ritual paraphernalia and the "assentamentos" of the orixás, while the "roncó" ("retreat room") or "camarinha" is used during initiations.


title: Candomblé

text: One room, the "barracão" ("big shed"), is where public rituals, including acts of divination, take place; terreiros lacking a "barracão" may use a yard for public rituals. The "peji", or shrines to deities, will often be located around the perimeter of the barracão. The terreiro will often have a "cumeeira", central pole in the structure believed to link our world with the otherworld of the orixá. This stands above the "entoto" ("foundation") of the terreiro, a space which is periodically "fed" with offerings. The terreiro's enclosure may have a tree dedicated to Tempo, onto which strips of white cloth have been affixed, as well as a place set aside for the souls of the dead, termed the "balé", which is usually at the back of the terreiro grounds.


title: Candomblé

text: A priestess running a terreiro is a "mâe de santo" (mother of saints), a priest who does so is a "pai de santo" (father of saints). They are responsible for all important functions, including educating novices, adjudicating disputes, and providing healing and divination services; it is these latter services that many rely on as their primary income. Not constrained by external religious authorities, these "parents of saints" often exert considerable control over their initiates, who are expected to submit to their authority; conflicts between these "parents" and their initiates are nevertheless common. The head priest and priestess is assisted by others, including the "little mother", the "iyakekerê" or "mãa pequena", and the "little father". Other roles in the terreiro include the "iyabase", who prepares food for the orixás, and the "alabê" (musical director). The initiates, called the "filhos" (sons) and "filhas de santo" (daughters of the saints), assist as cooks, cleaners, and gardeners. The "ogã" are male members, often not initiated, whose role is largely honorific, consisting largely of contributing financially.


title: Candomblé

text: The terreiro's members are regarded as a "family" and its initiates consider each one another to be 'brothers' and 'sisters' in the orixá ("irmãos de santo"). Sexual or romantic relations between terreiro members is usually forbidden, although happen nevertheless. Being initiated connects an individual to the historical lineage of the terreiro; this lineage is linked to the axé of the terreiro, an axé that can be transferred from a mother-terreiro to a new one being established. The founders of a "terreiro" are called "essas".


title: Candomblé

text: The community of a terreiro is called an "egbé". There can be enmity between terreiros, for they compete with one another for members, and defection of individuals from one to another being common.


title: Candomblé

text: Public ceremonies take place at the terreiros where both initiates and non-initiates can attend to celebrate the orixás. At these, food is offered to specific orichas while the rest is shared among participants, with the latter thereby gaining some of the axé of the orichas. These public rites are both preceded and succeeded by a range of private ritual acts.


title: Candomblé

text: Most of the rituals that take place at the terreiros are private and open only to initiates. Walker believed that it was these that represented "the real core of the religious life of the Candomblé community."


title: Candomblé

text: African-derived terms are used in ritual contexts, although do not exceed one thousand words. In general, words of Yoruba origin predominate in the Nagô-Ketu nations, those from Ewe-Fon languages are most common in Jeje nations, and words from the Bantu languages dominate the Angola nation.


title: Candomblé

text: Yoruba is used as a ritual language, although few practitioners understand the meanings of these Yoruba words. There are no specific sacred texts.


title: Candomblé

text: Ritual objects are regarded as loci and accumulators of axé, although this supply needs replenishing at various intervals. Each terreiro is also regarded as having its own axé, which is strengthened by the number of initiates it has and the number of rituals it carries out.


title: Candomblé

text: Priests and priestesses are regarded as intermediaries between the orixás and humanity. Becoming initiated implies a relationship of mutual responsibility between the new initiate and the orixás.


title: Candomblé

text: Some evidence suggests that the proportion of female priestesses grew over the course of the 20th century.


title: Candomblé

text: The orixá are "seated" within objects in the terreiro. These are then stored, either all together in one room or, if space permits, in separate rooms. Women initiates who do not enter trance but assist those who do are called "ekedi"; their male counterparts are termed "ogan".


title: Candomblé

text: A prostration before the priest or priestess, or before someone possessed by an orixá, is termed a "dobalé"; prostrating before one's mother or father of the saint is called "iká".


title: Candomblé

text: An altar to the orixás is called a "peji". It contains an assemblage of objects termed the "assentamento" ("seat") or "assento" of the orixá, regarded as their house. This usually consists of various items placed within an enamel, earthenware, or wooden vessel, itself often wrapped in a cloth. The key part of the assentamento is a sacred stone known as an "otá". This otá possesses axé, and thus requires feeding. Different orixa are associated with different kinds of stone; those from the ocean or rivers are for instance linked to Oxum and Iemanjá, while those believed to have fallen from the sky are linked to Xangô. Practitioners are expected to find them, rather than buy them. They will then be ritually consecrated, being washed, given offerings, and "seated" in a vessel.


title: Candomblé

text: Alongside the otás, vessels often contain "ferramentos", or metal objects associated with specific orixá, cowrie shells, bracelets called "idés", animal body parts, statues of the associated Roman Catholic saints, and a mix of water, honey, and herbal preparations. They may also include hair from the initiate to whom they belong. The assentamento can be stored in the home, or inside the terreiro's bakisse room, which is only opened by the priestess or priest in charge. There, the assentamentos of the initiates may be arranged on a multi-level altar, which is decorated with ribbons, colored lights, and flowers.


title: Candomblé

text: Practitioners believe that in giving blood to their ritual paraphernalia it renews the axé of these objects. In Brazil, various stores specialise in paraphernalia required in Camdomblé.


title: Candomblé

text: Offerings are known as "ebós", and are believed to generate axé which then gives the orixá the power to aid their worshippers. Material offered to the orixás or lesser spirits in these ebós include food, drink, fowl, and money; when animal sacrifice is not involved, a food offering is termed a "comida seca". When a ceremony starts, practitioners typically provide a "padé", or propitiatory offering, to the orixá Exu. Food is offered to the orixá, often being placed at an appropriate location in the landscape; offerings to Oxum are for instance often placed by a freshwater stream. Specific foodstuffs are associated with each orixá; a mix of okra with rice or manioc meal, known as "amalá", is considered a favourite of Xangô, Obá, and Iansã. When placed in the terreiro, food is typically left in place for between one and three days, sufficient time for the orixá to consume the essence of the food. The ritual payment of money, often accompanying the sacrifices, is termed "dinheiro do chão" ("money for the floor"). As part of this, money is placed onto the floor and often splattered with blood, before being divided among the participants of the rite.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé entails the sacrifice of animals to orixás, exus, caboclos, and eguns, which is called "matanças". The individual who conducts the sacrifice is known as an "axogun" (or "axogum") or sometimes as a "faca" (knife). Species typically used are chickens, guinea fowl, white doves, and goats. The animal will often have its neck cut with a knife, or in the case of birds, its head severed. After the animal is killed, its blood is spilled onto the altar; its organs are then often removed and placed around the "seat" of the orixá. Following the sacrifice, is it common for divination to be performed to determine if the sacrifice has been accepted by the spirits. Other body parts will then be consumed by the participants of the rite; the exception is if the sacrifice was for eguns, which is instead left to rot or placed in a river. Some of the food may then be taken away, to be left in the forest, thrown into a body of water, or placed at a crossroads; this is referred to as "suspending a sacrifice".


title: Candomblé

text: Bird sacrifices are sometimes performed not as an offering, but as part of a ritual cleansing; the bird will sometimes be wiped over the human requiring cleansing; it will then have its legs, wings, and finally its neck broken. In these cases, the bird is not then eaten.


title: Candomblé

text: Outside Brazil, practitioners have faced challenges in performing animal sacrifice; in Germany, for instance, it is banned by law.


title: Candomblé

text: Practicing Candomblé requires initiation, and the religion is structured around a hierarchical system of initiations. To be initiated is referred to as "feito", while the process of initiation is termed "fazer cabeça" ("to make the head") or "fazer o santo" ("making the saint").


title: Candomblé

text: Initiates in Candomblé are known as "filhos de santo" ("children of the saints"). At their initiation, they are given a new name, the "nome de santo" (saint's name), which usually indicates the identity of their tutelary orixá. Many individuals arrive at Candomblé through problems in their lives, such as sickness. A priest or priestess will use divination to determine the cause of the problem and its remedy, sometimes revealing that initiation into the religion will fix the issue. Many feel that an orixa has demanded their initiation, with it being their "obrigação" ("duty"). If a group of individuals are being initiated together, they are termed a "barco" ("boat").


title: Candomblé

text: The length of the initiatory process varies between Candomblé houses but usually lasts from a few weeks to a few months. The initiate is first brought to the terreiro, where they are left for a period of relaxation, the "descanso", so that they might become 'cool', as opposed to 'hot'. They will be dressed in white clothing; a small bell may be attached to them to alert others if they leave the terreiro. One of the first acts during the initiatory process is to give the initiate a string of beads associated with their orixá. The necklace is colored according to the tutelary orixá of the initiate; white for Oxalá, dark blue for Ogum, or red and white for Xangô, for instance. These beads will be washed and sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed animal. These beads are sometimes perceived as protecting the wearer from harm.


title: Candomblé

text: The initiate is then secluded in a room in the terreiro called the "roncô", during which time they are termed an "îao". In the roncô, they sleep on a straw mat, eating only bland food; often they will not be permitted to speak. During this period they are taught the various details of their associated orixá, such as its likes and dislikes and the appropriate drum rhythms and dances that invoke that deity. The time spent in isolation varies, although three weeks is typical. They will be bathed in water mixed with herbs, especially their head, which will then be shaved.


title: Candomblé

text: The initiate is then taken into a neighbouring room, where altars have been set up. A drummer plays while pre-existing initiates sing praise songs. Animals are sacrificed, including from a four-legged animal, and some of the blood may be touched on parts of the initiate's body. The initiate's head is then shaved and two cuts made into the apex of it with a razor; a mix of animal blood and herbs may be added to the incisions. This is done to allow the orixá entry into the head. A cone of wax, the "adoxu", is then placed on the wound to stem the bleeding; the head will then be wrapped in cloth. Depending on the terreiro, cuts may also be made on the tip of the initiate's tongue, on their back, upper arms, thighs, buttocks, and the soles of their feet. With the incisions made, the orixá is "seated" within the individual's head during the "assentar o santo" ritual.


title: Candomblé

text: Following the initiation, the new initiate may be presented to the rest of the community through a public "coming-out" ceremony, the "saida". Along with their white clothes, their body will be covered in white spots. During this, they may be expected to give the name of the "marca" of their tutelary orixá, which they are supposed to have discovered via a dream. In the "panán", the initiate is symbolically re-taught mundane tasks, a ritual sometimes followed by an auction in which the initiate is symbolically sold to their spouse or a member of their family, a reference to the era of slavery. On the following Friday, they are expected to attend mass in a Roman Catholic church, known as the "romaria". Finally, a senior member of the terreiro will lead the initiate, still wearing white, back to their home.


title: Candomblé

text: Over the course of the following year, the initiate may conduct further "obligations" to build their relationship with the orixá.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé includes a number of additional, graded initiations, which are expected to take place one year, three years, and then seven years after the original initiatory ceremony. Over the course of this they are expected to learn to receive all of their tutelary orixa. Those who have performed seven years of initiatory rituals are called "ebomi" or "ebame". At the end of the seven years, they "receive the "decá"" from their initiator, being given a tray of ritual objects; this enables them to go and form their own temple. In practice, many adherents cannot afford to pay for these ceremonies at the specified time and they instead take place many years after.


title: Candomblé

text: Music and dance is a fundamental element of Candomblé. The drumming will often take place all night. Participants are expected to wear white, with women wearing skirts. Three main types of drum are employed, the largest being the "rum", the middle-sized being the "rumpi", and the smallest being the "lé". These drums are understood as living and need to be fed. The head drummer is known as the "alabê". Many terreiros maintain that women should not be involved in this ritual drumming, although others reject this tradition. In some rituals, practitioners will drink a concoction containing jurema, a mildly hallucinogenic plant, which is sometimes mixed with the blood of sacrificed animals.


title: Candomblé

text: The state of vertigo signalling the onset of trance is known as "barravento". As the trance begins, practitioners often experience a body spasm termed the "arrepio" ("shiver").


title: Candomblé

text: Practitioners believe that when an individual is possessed by a spirit, they have no control over the latter's actions.


title: Candomblé

text: Within Candomblé, it is regarded as a privilege to be possessed by an orixá. A common Bahian way of referring to the possession is "receber" ("to receive"). As it entails being "mounted", being possessed is regarded as being a symbolically female role. For this reason, many heterosexual men refuse initiation into Candomblé; some believe that involvement in these rites can turn a man homosexual. Among practitioners, it is sometimes claimed that in the past men did not take part in the dances that lead to possession. Often, those believed possessed by an orixá will not eat, drink, or smoke, emphasising their aristocratic disposition, and that they will also rarely if ever speak. When they dance, it will often be stylized and controlled. Many terreiros prohibit photography of those undergoing a possession trance.


title: Candomblé

text: After an individual becomes possessed, they may be led into an anteroom to be dressed in clothes associated with the possessing orixá; this usually includes brightly colored dresses, regardless of the gender of those involved. Those possessed by Ogun will for instance often be given a metal helmet and axe, while those possessed by Oxum wear a crowd and carry a sword and the "abebé" fan.


title: Candomblé

text: The style of speech adopted by the possessed will be influenced by the type of spirit believed to be possessing them. Those deemed to be possessed by caboclos will often smoke cigars, and sometimes place gunpowder into the palm of their hand, which they then light with their cigar to cause an explosion.


title: Candomblé

text: A false trance is known as an "equê". Those who do not go into a trance are known as "ogâs" if male, and "equedes" if female.


title: Candomblé

text: Although details of the liturgical calendar vary among terreiros, Candomblé features a yearly cycle of festivals or feasts to the orixás. These are sometimes private and sometimes open to the public. These are typically held on the Roman Catholic saint's day associated with the saint linked to a particular orixá. The main festival season begins in September, with the feast of Oxala, and continues through to February, when the feast of Yemanja takes place.


title: Candomblé

text: In some cases, Candomblé festivals have become widely popular with the public, especially those of Oxala and Yemanja. Hundreds of thousands of people congregate at the beach on Yemanja's Day (2 February), where they often load offerings to her onto boats, which then take them out into the water and cast them overboard.


title: Candomblé

text: Festivals for the caboclos usually take place on 2 July, the day which marks Bahia's independence from Portugal.


title: Candomblé

text: Some terreiros hold public festivals for both the orixás and the caboclos, although some only hold them for one of these two categories of spirit. Public festivals for exus are rarer. The tone of the event differs depending on which spirit category is being honoured; those for the orixás have more of a fixed structure and a greater formality, while those for the caboclos are more spontaneous and have greater interaction between the spirits and the human participants.


title: Candomblé

text: In the Nagô-Jeje nation, the Waters of Oxala ritual is performed at the start of the liturgical year; it involves bringing fresh water, sometimes from a well, to the terreiro to purify and replenish the assamentos.


title: Candomblé

text: The most common form of divination in Brazil is the "dilogun" or "jogo dos buzios" ("shell game"), which is performed by both men and women. It entails throwing cowrie shells onto the floor and then interpreting answers from the sides onto which they have landed. It is common for 16 shells to be thrown, and then a further four to confirm the answer provided by the first throwing. Each configuration of shells is associated with certain "odu", or mythological stories. The specific odu is then interpreted as having pertinence for the client's situation.


title: Candomblé

text: Another common divinatory practice involves slicing an onion in two and dropping the pieces to the ground drawing conclusions from the face onto which they fall; alternatively a kola nut may be cut into quarters and read in the same way. Ifá is another divinatory system practised by the Yoruba people, specifically by male initiates called "babalawos"; however, by the start of the 21st century this was characterised as being either extinct, or very rare in Brazil.


title: Candomblé

text: Healing rituals form an important part of Candomblé. When acting in a healing capacity, practitioners are often called "curandeiros". Priests and priestesses may offer healing for a wide range of conditions, ranging from obesity and hair loss to pneumonia and cancer.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé teaches that many personal problems are caused by a disequilibrium with the spirit world. Thus, staying healthy can be ensured through ensuring a state of equilibrium with the orixás, avoiding excess, and following lessons imparted in the religion's mythological tales. A sick person is regarded as having an "open" body that is vulnerable to harmful influences and lacks axé. The religion teaches that ailments may be a punishment from the orixás, or that a spirit of the dead may attach itself to an individual or even possess them, thus causing harm. It is also believed that humans can cause harm to others via supernatural means, either inadvertently, through the "mau-olhado" (evil eye), or through witchcraft and cursing, which practitioners seek to counter.


title: Candomblé

text: Individuals will often approach a priest or priestess seeking a remedy to a problem in their life, such as sickness. The priest or priestess will use divination to ascertain the cause and remedy. The first step in the healing process is the "limpeza", or spiritual cleansing. This will often entail providing an offering to a particular orixá or lesser spirit; a "sacudimento" (leaf whipping), whereby certain leaves are wiped over the patient's body; or an "abô" (leaf bath), during which they are washed in water infused with various herbs and other ingredients. Healing the patient may also necessitate their initiation into the religion. Another type of ceremony is known as the "bori". This entails placing food on the individual's head to feed the orixá that is believed to partially reside within the cranium. This may be conducted to bolster the individual's health and well-being or to give them additional strength before an important undertaking. Another is the "cleansing of the body" rite, designed to remove an egum that is troubling an individual. In the "troca da cobeça" rite, the sickness is transferred to another, especially an animal that is then killed. The healer may also recommend that the sick person seek help from a medical professional like a doctor.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé healers are often well versed in herbalism. Herbs are deemed to contain axé which needs to be appropriately awakened, but if improperly harvested can lose potency. The leaves used should be fresh, not dried, and often picked late at night or early in the morning to ensure their maximum potency. They are often purchased from one of the "casas de folhas" ("houses of leaves") in markets, but if taken from the forest, permission should be sought from the overseeing orixá and offerings left, such as coins, honey, or tobacco. These may then be rubbed directly only the sick person, or brewed into a "chá" tea or other medicinal concoction; practitioners may also produce "pó" (powder), which may have a variety of uses, from healing to harming or attracting someone's romantic attention.


title: Candomblé

text: Historically, terreiros could retain African medical traditions, where they would have hybridized with Native American and European traditions. An individual knowledgeable about leaves is called a "mâo de ofá".


title: Candomblé

text: Like many other Brazilians, Candomblé will often wear amulets, sometimes concealed beneath clothing to avoid unwanted attention. Common examples are horns or the "figa", a fist with the thumb in inserted between the index and middle finger. A "patuá" consists of a small cloth pouch containing various objects, plant parts, and texts. Sprigs of the "arruda" or "laranja-da-terra" plants may also be carried on the body to protect against the evil eye. Specific plants, associated with a particular orixá, are often kept by doorways to prevent the entry of negative forces.


title: Candomblé

text: Following a senior practitioner's death, their fellow terreiro members will conduct "axexé", a series of rituals which transform the deceased into an ancestral spirit of the terreiro's own pantheon. This ensures that they do not become a potentially dangerous wandering spirit. A wide range of offerings, including sacrificed animals, are given both to the dead individual and to accompanying orixás and other spirits during the axexé. A Roman Catholic mass will also be performed.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé formed in the early part of the nineteenth century. Although African religions had been present in Brazil since the early 16th century, Johnson noted that Candomblé, as "an organized, structured liturgy and community of practice called Candomblé" only arose later.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé originated among enslaved Africans transplanted to Brazil during the Atlantic slave trade. Slavery was widespread in West Africa; most slaves were prisoners of war captured in conflicts with neighbouring groups, although some were convicted criminals or those in debt. African slaves first arrived in Brazil in the 1530s, and were present in Bahia by the 1550s. Over the course of the trade, around four million Africans were transported to Brazil, an area that received more enslaved Africans than any other part of the Americas. Within Brazil itself, these Africans were most concentrated in Bahia.


title: Candomblé

text: In the 16th century, most of the enslaved came from the Guinea coast, but by the 17th century Angola and Congo populations had become dominant. Then, between 1775 and 1850, the majority of slaves were Yoruba and Dahomean, coming from the Gulf of Benin, largely in what is now Benin and Nigeria. Priests of the Oyo Empire were likely among the enslaved when the latter was attacked by Fulani and Fon groups. As the last wave of slaves, these Yoruba and Dahomean people became numerically dominant among Afro-Brazilians, resulting in their traditional cosmology becoming ascendant over that of longer established communities. On being brought to Brazil, these slaves were divided into "nations", primarily on their port of embarkation rather than their original etho-cultural identities. This process meant that Africans of different cultural backgrounds, regions, and religions were thrown together under a unifying term such as "Nagô", the latter used for those exported from the Bight of Benin.


title: Candomblé

text: Transportation merged deities venerated in different regions in Africa as part of the same pantheon. Whereas in Africa, people had generally venerated deities associated with their specific region, these commitments were broken up by enslavement and transportation. Of the thousands of orishas venerated in West Africa, this was cut down to a much smaller pantheon in Brazil. Which deities continued to be venerated probably depended on their continued relevance in the new Brazilian context. Orisha associated with agriculture were abandoned, probably because slaves had little reason to protect the harvests of slave-owners.


title: Candomblé

text: By the 18th century, accounts of African-derived rituals performed in Brazil were common, at which point they were referred to generically as "calundu", a term of Bantu origin. A 17th and 18th century ritual that incorporated drumming and spiritual possession, known as a Calundu, is believed to be an influence of Candomble's drumming works.


title: Candomblé

text: The Roman Catholic nature of Brazilian colonial society, which allowed for a cult of saints, may have permitted greater leeway for the survival of traditional African religions than were available in Protestant-dominant areas of the Americas.


title: Candomblé

text: Many of the slaves learned to classify their orixás in relation to the Roman Catholic saints and the calendar of saints' days. There is no evidence that the slaves simply used the cult of saints to conceal orixá worship, but rather that devotees understood the two pantheons as comprising similar figures with similar abilities to fix certain problems. Some ecclesiastical figures in the Roman Catholic Church saw the syncretisation as a positive step in the process of converting the Africans to Christianity. The Christian teaching provided to enslaved Africans was often rudimentary. Among slave owners, there was also a belief that allowing the slaves to continue their traditional religions would allow old enmities between different African communities to persevere, thus making it less likely the slaves would unify and turn against the slave-owners. It was also thought that allowing the slaves to take part in their traditional customs would expend energies that might otherwise be directed toward rebellion. However, as steps were taken to convert the African populations to Christianity in Brazil, many Africans had been converted before being brought to the Americas. In Brazil, enslaved Africans and their descendants were also exposed to ceremonial magic practices from Iberia.


title: Candomblé

text: After enslaved Africans successfully led the Haitian Revolution, there were growing fears about similar slave revolts in Brazil. The 1820s and 1830s saw increased police repression of African-derived religions in Brazil. Laws introduced in 1822 allowed police to shut down "batuques", or drumming ceremonies among the African population. It was during this period that the Engenho Velho ("Old Sugar Mill") terreiro was established; it was from this group that most Nagô terreiros descended. Various records indicated that Creoles and Whites were also sometimes taking part in the rites which the police were suppressing.


title: Candomblé

text: In 1822, Brazil declared itself independent of Portugal. Under British pressure, the Brazilian government passed the Quieróz law of 1850 which abolished the slave trade, although not slavery itself. In 1885 all slaves over the age of 60 were declared free, and in 1888 slavery was abolished entirely. Although now free, life for Brazil's former slaves rarely improved. Various emancipated Yoruba began trading between Brazil and West Africa, and a significant role in the creation of Candomblé were several African freemen who were affluent and sent their children to be educated in Lagos. The first terreiros formed in early 19th-century Bahia.


title: Candomblé

text: One of the oldest terreiros was the Ilê Axé Iyá Nassô Oká in Salvador, established by Marcelina da Silva, a freed African woman; this was probably active by the 1830s.


title: Candomblé

text: Brazil's first republican constitution was produced in 1891; based on the constitutions of France and the United States, it enshrined freedom of religion. However, Afro-Brazilian religious traditions continued to face legal issues; the Penal Code of 1890 had included prohibitions on Spiritism, magic, talismans, and much herbal medicine, impacting Candomblé. The authorities continued to shut down terreiros, claiming they were a threat to public health. The late 19th century saw the first terreiros open in Rio de Janeiro, a city then seeing a rapid expansion in its population. The period also saw various upper-class white Brazilians seeking out Candomblé.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé became increasingly public in the 1930s, partly because Brazilians were increasingly encouraged to perceive themselves as part of a multi-racial, mixed society in the midst of President Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo project. Vargas approved the presidential Law Decree 1202, which recognized the legitimacy of terreiros and allowed them to practice. The Penal Code of 1940 gave additional protections to some terreiros.


title: Candomblé

text: By 1940, Johnson argued, Candomblé in its contemporary form was discernible. The 1930s saw a proliferation of academic studies on Candomblé by scholars like Raimundo Nina Rodrigues, Edison Carneiro, and Ruth Landes, with 20th-century studies focusing largely on the Nagô tradition. The growing literature, both scholarly and popular, helped document Candomblé but also contributed to its greater standardisation. The religion spread to new areas of Brazil during the 20th century. In São Paulo, for instance, there were virtually no Candomblé terreiros until the 1960s, reflecting the very small Afro-Brazilian population there, although this grew rapidly, to the extent that there were around 2500 terreiros in the city in the late 1980s and over 4000 by the end of the 1990s. Some practitioners became increasingly well known; the priestess Mãe Menininha do Gantois was often seen as a symbol of Brazil. She had made efforts to improve the image of her terreiro, establishing an administrative directorate to facilitate public relations in 1926. During the 20th century, various organizations emerged to represent the terreiros, notably the Bahian Federation of the Afro-Brazilian Cults, the National Institute and Supreme Sacerdotal Organ of Afro-Brazilian Culture and Tradition, and the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixás.


title: Candomblé

text: By the late 20th century, Candomblé was increasingly respectable within Brazil. This was partly fuelled by well-educated Afro-Brazilians embracing their previously stigmatised cultural heritage, and by the growing number of intellectual and white initiates. By the early 21st century, tourist literature increasingly portrayed Candomblé as an intrinsic part of Brazilian culture, especially in Salvador. References to the religion's beliefs became more apparent in Brazilian society; Varig Airlines for instance used the tagline "Fly with Axé." When the Internet emerged, various terreiros set up their own websites, while footage of its rituals were distributed through YouTube.


title: Candomblé

text: In the closing decades of the 20th century, some practitioners sought to remove Roman Catholic-influenced aspects from the religion to return it to its West African roots. In 1983, the prominent priestess Mãe Stella Azevedo for instance called on adherents to renounce all Roman Catholic saints and transform Candomblé into a more purely African tradition. Many of those emphasising this Afrocentric perspective were white middle-class practitioners, who re-emphasised Africa as a new source of authority because they had little standing with the predominantly Afro-Brazilian Bahian Candomblé establishment. Many terreiros distinguished themselves from this approach, arguing that to abandon the Roman Catholic elements would be to abandon an important part of their religious ancestry. The 2000s also saw growing opposition from Evangelical Protestants, including a rise in physical attacks on practitioners and terreiros; Candomblé practitioners responded with marches against religious intolerance from 2004 onward, with the first national march taking place in Salvador in 2009.


title: Candomblé

text: In 2010, there were a recorded 167,363 practitioners in Brazil. The religion has also established a presence abroad, initially in other parts of South America like Argentina and Uruguay, and from the 1970s in Portugal. Since then, Candomblé has appeared elsewhere in Europe, including in Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In Brazil, Candomblé is a largely urban phenomenon. It is generally found among the poor, although there are terreiros whose membership is largely middle-class or upper-class. The religion's membership is more diverse in southern Brazil, where there are large numbers of white and middle-class followers. Most practitioners are poorer, black women; various anthropologists have observed a far higher number of females than males in the terreiros they studied. Women dominate in the Ketu nation, although men instead dominate the Angola and Jeje nations. Despite its Afro-Brazilian origins, Candomblé has attracted those from other ethnic backgrounds; by the 1950s it was being described as a religion of mulattos and whites as well as blacks, while in a country like Germany it has attracted white followers with no Brazilian heritage.


title: Candomblé

text: It has also been claimed that Candomblé offers a sense of empowerment to people who are societally marginalised; some practitioners have cited its tolerance of homosexuality as part of its appeal, especially in contrast to evangelical Christianity's typical condemnation of same-sex sexual activity. Male practitioners are often stereotyped as being gay, and it has attracted many male homosexuals as practitioners; in Rio de Janeiro for example the gay male community has had longstanding links with the terreiros, which have often been seen as part of a gay social network. Many gay men who have joined have cited it as offering a more welcoming atmosphere to them than other religious traditions active in Brazil. Various lesbians have also been identified as practitioners, although the anthropologist Andrea Stevenson Allen argued that they rarely received the same level of affirmation from the religion as their gay male counterparts.


title: Candomblé

text: Many practitioners of Candomblé already have a family link to the tradition, with their parents or other elder relatives being initiates. Others convert to the movement without having had any family connections; some of those who convert to Candomblé have already explored Pentecostalism, Spiritism, or Umbanda; some Umbandists feel that they can go "deeper" by moving towards Candomblé. Many describe having been ill or plagued with misfortune prior to being initiated into Candomblé, having determined through divination that their ailments would cease if they did so.


title: Candomblé

text: Johnson noted that Candomblé appears to appeal to those who identify strongly with an African heritage; some black people in Germany have been attracted to it because they feel it is a more authentically African religion than the forms of Christianity and Islam now dominant across Africa.


title: Candomblé

text: The religion's "core area of practice" lies in the city of Salvador and surrounding area. A 1997 census by the Bahian Federation of Afro-Brazilian Religions recorded 1,144 terreiros active in the city. Within Brazil, Candomblé's influence is most pervasive in Bahia, and practitioners in Rio de Janeiro and Sâo Paulo often regard Bahian terreiros as being more authentic, with deeper fundamentos. It is "most widely practiced" in the Bahian city of Salvador, a settlement that practitioners sometimes regard as a holy city. Several thousand terreiros exist in Salvador. In Bahia, it is the Nagô nation that has the largest number of houses and practitioners.


title: Candomblé

text: Although lineages are independent, practitioners have formed umbrella organisations, called "federations", in most Brazilian states. These represent practitioners in their dealings with the government and society more broadly. They have also established a national organisation, the Conference of the Tradition and Culture of the Orixás (CONTOC), through which to represent their interests.


title: Candomblé

text: Since the 1960s, Candomblé has featured in various films, such as "The Given Word" (1962) and "The Amulet of Ogum" (1974), as well as documentaries like Geraldo Sarno's "Iaô" (1974). The Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado makes repeated references to Candomblé throughout his work. In the 1980s, the American writer Toni Morrison visited Brazil to learn more about Candomblé. She subsequently combined ideas from Candomblé with those of Gnosticism in her depiction of the religion pursued by "The Convent", an all-female community in her 1991 novel "Paradise".


title: Candomblé

text: Themes from the religion have also been included in the work of Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha. References to the religion also appeared in Brazilian popular music. For instance, Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa's song "Prayer to Mãe Menininha" made it into the country's chart.


title: Candomblé

text: Candomblé has been described as a much maligned religion, and its practitioners have often encountered intolerance and religious discrimination. More extreme hostile views of Candomblé have regarded it as devil worship and "macumba", while milder critical views see it as superstition that attracts the simple-minded and desperate. Brazil's Roman Catholics have mixed opinions of Candomblé, with some expressing tolerance and others expressing hostility to the presence of Candomblé practitioners at mass. Evangelical and Pentecostal groups present themselves as avowed enemies of Candomblé, regarding it as diabolical and targeting it as part of their "spiritual war" against Satan.


title: Candomblé

text: Johnson noted that many academics who have studied Candomblé have sought to portray it in the best light possible, so as to counter racist and primitivist stereotypes about Afro-Brazilians. Academic studies have in turn influenced the way that the religion is practices, helping to establish "correct practice" among divergent groups. Many terreiros own copies of academic studies of Candomblé by scholars such as Pierre Verger, Roger Bastide, and Juana Elbein dos Santos. Various practitioners own books on Candomblé and other Afro-American religions, including those written in languages they cannot understand, as a mean of presenting an image of authority.


title: Candomblé

text: Although objects associated with Candomblé were initially found only in police museums, thus underscoring the stereotypical association between the religion and criminality, as it gained greater public acceptance such objects eventually came to be featured in museums devoted to folklore and Afro-Brazilian culture. From the 1990s onward, practitioners began establishing their own museum displays within their terreiros. For instance, the bedroom of the famous Candomblé priestess Mãe Menininha do Gantois, located within her Bahia terreiro, was converted into a memorial within in 1992 and then formally recognised as a heritage site in 2002. Candomblé practitioners have also lobbied other museums to change the way that the latter display items associated with the religion. For instance, practitioners successfully called upon the Museum of the City of Salvador to remove some "otá" stones from public display, arguing that according to the regulations of the religion such items should never be visible to the public.


title: Brachiopod

text: Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major categories are traditionally recognized, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods. The word "articulate" is used to describe the tooth-and-groove structures of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic skeletal feature, by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished as fossils. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple, vertically-oriented opening and closing muscles. Conversely, inarticulate brachiopods have weak, untoothed hinges and a more complex system of vertical and oblique (diagonal) muscles used to keep the two valves aligned. In many brachiopods, a stalk-like pedicle projects from an opening near the hinge of one of the valves, known as the pedicle or ventral valve. The pedicle, when present, keeps the animal anchored to the seabed but clear of sediment which would obstruct the opening.