Nascer vodunsi: ritos estéticos iniciáticos no Candomblé Jeje-Mahi

Abstract

The visual essay presented here is part of the cartographic journey between the researcher and the Terreiro T'Aziry Ladè, in which joint affectations are traced through the Candomblé of the Jeje-Mahi nation, whose cult is directed at the deities known as voduns. The photographs within the scope of this work refer to the initiation of a novice into the Candomblé hierarchy, in other words, the rebirth of a vodun. This word from the Fon dialects, used to designate those whose lives are permeated by initiation into the cult of the voduns, demarcates the union between the human and the sacred. The photographic record crystallizes the aesthetic dimensions of the initiation rites that mark the first public appearance of the newly-initiated Nanã, based on three distinct moments that reiterate the presence of the sacred in her body in trance.