An abiã or abian is a person who joins the Candomblé religion, also called a filho/a de santo, after having gone through the ritual of washing a string of sacred beads.

Auxiliary or immediate substitute of the mãe de santo, who accompanies the initiation of the filhas de santo and supervises them in the ceremonial dances; also mãe pequena, or little mother.

The alabê (from the Yoruba alagbê) is the ogã responsible for the ritual touches, “feeding”, conservation and preservation of the sacred musical instruments of Candomblé.

Concubine/concubinage, but also a common-law union.

The sacred burial, usually in the earth of the yard of the house, of amulets that protect the Candomblé house.

Priest of the Ifá cult; spiritual guide who practises divination using cowrie shells.

Also known as pai de santo, this is the priest of Afro-Brazilian religions.

Literally a boat, a group of eight to fifteen people who participate in an initiation ritual together.

A Candomblé shed, the space where public parties are held. The shed is also used for Bori, Ebori, Ory rituals and other indoor parties. When not used for parties, it functions as a dormitory.

From the fusion of the word bó, which in Yoruba means “offering”, with ori, which means “head”; literally translated, it means “offering to the head”. The action consists of offering sacrificial foods to the head of twelve performances, these being vocative and iconographic representations of the twelve main orixás of Candomblé.

Cowrie shells used for divination.

Rotating credit system.

A phenomenon of (social) banditry, crimes and violence that occurred in almost the entire backlands of Northeast Brazil between the nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.

Literally “corners”, a meeting of men from Africa or their descendants who gather on a particular street corner and are organised on the basis of a certain trade and/or provenance from a specific African nation.

Capoeira players.

Candomblé house or temple.

The stories lived by people or told by others, which can be either real or invented, or with real parts and parts transformed by the teller, because as the popular saying goes: “whoever tells a story increases one point”.

Common-law union.

Selection, open application.

Beads or threads of beads made in the colours of each deity and intended to symbolize the nations and positions within Candomblé. In addition, these beads are strung on pure cotton threads (cordone) and washed with water and sacred leaves.

The one who takes care of the orixá while he is incorporated by the person in a state of trance. She is the one who directs everything and has to be a person of extreme trust.

The religious family, which is different from the biological family; the religious leader of the Candomblé house is called “mother” and her assistants are called “daughter” or “son” by her (filha/o de santo).

Literally, “done”; initiated.

Fetish.

Feast, festive celebration.

Literally the saint’s daughter (or son), the daughter (or son) of the mãe de santo (the saint’s mother), that is the priestess who leads the Candomblé house.

(Holy) leaves.

To feel attracted to (a person), to be fond of someone.

Captain or sailor of a fishing boat in the form of a raft, with a sail and a mast.

A game played with cowries; one of the divinatory arts used in traditional African religions and in African diaspora religions in many countries in the Americas. Along with the kola nut, this is the oldest oracle instrument of the Yoruba.

An illegal exchange of betting on numbers that represent animals. It was created in 1892 by Baron João Batista Viana Drummond, founder of the Rio de Janeiro Zoo.

(Future-telling) games or techniques.

Memories.

Xango’s axe

A generic variation of cult, attributed to Afro-Brazilian cults, syncretized with influences from the Catholic religion, occultism, Amerindian cults and spiritism. In the “family tree” of Afro-Brazilian religions, macumba is an offshoot of Candomblé.

Literally, the saint’s mother, that is the priestess who leads the Candomblé house.

Literally, small mother, second in line in the hierarchy of a Candomblé house.

Hustlers.

Common-law marriage.

Ritual slaughter.

Brown, clean brown

Marks.

Ogã is the generic name for several male roles in the Afro-Brazilian religion Candomblé. Often it is the name of the priest chosen by the ancestral deity (orixá), who remains lucid during a ceremony, not going into a trance, but still receiving spiritual intuition.

The men responsible for conducting spiritual energies in Candomblé rituals with the help of drumming. Using their voices and that of their drums, they summon the gods.

Suspended ogã. Having gone through the ceremony, the person chosen by an orixá to be an ogã is placed in a chair and suspended by the ogãs of the house, meaning that, in the future, his position will be confirmed and he will undergo all obligations to be an ogan.

One of several saints in the Candomblé religious system.

Literally, “father of the saint”; the male religious leader of a Candomblé house.

Panã (in Fon: àkpánón) is a Queto initiation ritual that takes place shortly after intitiation. Its main objective is to make the novice relearn the activities of the profane and everyday world, so that nothing will be harmful to him in the future.

A piece of fabric woven on a manual loom by slaves or descendants of slaves; it has religious and social significance.

A sacred space of Afro-Brazilian culture; also called Ilê Orixá (House of the Orixá), or holy room.

Guesthouse.

Literally, “the saint’s folk”; the community of followers and sympathizers of a Candomblé house.

Religious obligations.

Roots.

The orchard or yard of a Candomblé house, where sacred plants and trees grow.

Saint or orixá.

Nostalgia.

Literally, a sect; a popular term to describe Candomblé up to the 1980s.

The backlands.

Associations.

The Candomblé house and its yard.

vodúnsi (in Fon: vodu-asé) is the one dedicated to vodum in Candomblé Jeje.

One of the most popular orixás.

Mãe de santo or ialorixá is the designation of the person in charge of managing a Candomblé terreiro and its liturgy, of exercising authority over the members of their group, at any level of the hierarchy.

Iaô (in Yoruba: Ìyàwó) is the name for the sons of a saint who have already undergone initiation into Candomblé; popularly known as “making a saint”, but who have not yet completed the seven-year period after initiation.

Literally, “caretaker”, a popular term to describe the pai or mãe de santo up to the 1980s.