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Coins for the Dead, Money on the Floor: Mortuary Ritual in Bahian Candomblé

2017; Linguagem: Inglês

10.62791/33vwqb78

2573-1432

Brian Brazeal,

Psychedelics and Drug Studies

Abstract: This paper examines the exchange of money, commodities, and services among religious adepts and between humans and their ancestors in a Candomblé mortuary ritual in Cachoeira, Bahia, Brazil. In the axexé, profits from secret ceremonies fund communal devotions. Communal devotions tie initiatic kin together through reciprocity. Mortuary rituals sever these ties when initiatic family members die. Parties in the service of benevolent deities bring fame to houses. Fame attracts clients. Clients pay to undo the malfeasance of their enemies or to make them suffer. Their money in turn funds communal devotions. Evil underwrites good. Concealment underwrites spectacle. The dead become the livelihood of the living.