Abstract

BAIRRAO, José Francisco Miguel Henriques  and  ROTTA, Raquel Redondo. Mediuns women and spiritual caboclas. Arq. bras. psicol. [online]. 2010, vol.62, n.2, pp. 169-177. ISSN 1809-5267.

Umbanda may be seen as a cultural language which reveals social types and experiences, giving sense to personal and group experiences. Spiritual entities called caboclas are usual in Umbanda context. This article explores meanings that might be related to the ritual use and psychological value of caboclas which act in Umbanda communities and women. The study has been performed in São Paulo inland terreiros by means of participative observation and theme script guided interviews. In the Umbanda language frame, known and accepted by the communities in which it is worshiped, without taking into account its ontological status, meaningful signs resulted from the caboclas’ possession experience have been found to exemplify people's ideals and lead to their achievement.

Keywords : Umbanda; Women; Ethnopsychology.

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