In thisarticle I will try to answer some questions concerning Quimbanda that surfaces withfrequency. Questions concerning how to work this cult solitary and somehowdislocated from the cultural climate of understanding here in Brazil arefrequently asked as are questions concerning the magical tools, such as guias,patuas and statues, available to the general public.I want to beinitiated in Quimbanda, how do I proceed with that?When we speakof initiation in the perspective of Quimbanda we are speaking of a true andintense merging with spirit that involves a pact/agreement, a spirit vessel(assentamento), ordeal and oath. There are elements used in this process thatare common to every house/terreiro/cabula/lineage of Quimbanda that reveals acommon origin. There are different varieties of Quimbanda in Brazil, and theexpression of the common root, will always depend of the constellation ofspirits we find in the tronco. In other words, a Casa de Exu that isdominated by Exu Mor, Exu Morcego and Pomba Gira Maria Padilha will most likelyexpress itself differently from a Casa de Exu where we find Exu Lucifer, ExuTranca Ruas and Pomba Gira Cigana taking dominant positions. In additionwe have the issue of pedigree and also the orientation of the people involvedthat generates an even deeper nuance of the specific house coloured by thehuman factor. It is in this field we find the frequent quarrels anddisagreement between houses typically mediated by truth-holding that is imposedon those that do things in different ways. We need to keep in mind that we are,when speaking about Quimbanda, dealing with a living tradition, which meansthat we are dealing we actual spirits, souls and intelligences that we interactwith and that influences us as we influences them. This means that at the end of the day whatmatters is the connection with spirit being true and this is revealed in thecapacity of the practitioner to merge with his or her Exu or Pomba Gira in atruthful way.Initiation,or to have your Exus and Pomba Giras fully seated and be made Tata/Yaya at thefeet of the Maioral is for the majority of people pointless, a charge to heavy,a burden that overcomes the vessel and so Quimbanda should not be perceived asa hierarchical ladder, but as a cult design to facilitate communion with spiritand enhance your natural mago-spiritual power, self-understanding andunderstanding of your spirit mirror that you find amidst your Exus and PombaGiras.This meansthat for most people a solitary and personal practice focused on communion withones personal spirits will be sufficient. What we have done in the case of ourCabula is to isolate some parts of the full cycle of seating spirit and turnedthis into a Quimbanda baptism (massange), where the candidate is goingthrough ritual steps that fortifies the bond with ones ancestors, the kingdomof the Cruzeiro (roughly the Quimbanda ancestors ruled by Exu Omolu) and isexposed for ritual actions that are basically a baptism of fire both by fierywaters and fire itself. Going throughthis ceremony we deem the person a Quimbandeiro proper at this is in truth asfar as need to be going on this path for the majority of people. The divide isbetween those who are destined to guide