The Iemanja Festival - Rio de Janeiro

The Iemanja Festival - Rio de Janeiro

"The ocean is large, the sea is a road without end, waters make up more than half the world, they are three-quarters of it, and all that belongs to Iemanja. There she combs her hair (beautiful slave girls come with combs of silver and ivory), hears the prayers of the women of the sea, unleashes storms, chooses the men she is to take on the bottomless journey to the depths of the sea. And it is here that her feast takes place. Because the night of the feast of Iemanja is a thing of beauty. On those nights the sea is of a color between blue and green, the moon is always in the sky, the stars accompany the lanterns on the sloops, Iemanja slowly spreads her hair out toward the sea and there is nothing in the world as beautiful (sailors on big ships that travel all over always say) than the color that emerges from the mingling of Iemanja’s hair with the sea. " Jorge Amado

Sounds like a pretty romantic description of New Years eve in Rio de Janeiro. On December 31st thousands of people plunge into party mode and flock to the beaches of Rio to celebrate the New Year in the typical manner. And some come to do it Festa de Iemanja style.

The mother of all gods in the Umbanda religion of Brazil, Iemanja is the Goddess of the Water. Regarded as the beautiful watch keeper of the sea she is offered flowers, gifts, perfume and rice which are either tossed directly into the water or sent in little boats out to sea. Umbanda faithfuls appease the goddess to encourage her good favors for the year to come and to thank her for her kindness in the past.

The predominant religions in Brazil are Roman Catholic, Protestant, Espiritismo, Mormon and Candomble. The Iemanjá and Umbanda doctrines are associated with the Candomble, a kind of macumba, sometimes referred to as a voo-doo like ritual. Macumba came to Brazil with the slave ships from Africa and was first practiced around Salvador, where the ships landed. The merging of Christianity and macumba resulted in a set of deities, with characteristics of both religions. Thus Iemanja is St. Anne, or patron of the sea, and she is pictured as light skinned, with fair hair and wearing white and blue, the colors of Umbanda.

The Iemanja Festival in Rio de Janeiro is a joyous occasion of song to celebrate the goddess, and appropriately due the voo-doo heritage, you may also find many statues of Iemanja in any of her many guises in the macumba shops!