The Candomblé house is located on the outskirts of the city, at the edge of the majestic Atlantic Forest, draped in its emerald hues and delicate foliage. As you approach this sanctuary, a soft mist embraces the landscape, revealing a scene of ethereal beauty where a body of water blossoms amidst the lush vegetation. Known as Ilê Olá Omi Asé Opô Aràkà, the "House of Honor of the Waters of Oxum, sacred symbol that connects the heavens and earth of Oxumarê," embodies a timeless space where the sacred and memory intertwine.
Mother Carmen (left), with her sons Pai Karlito of Oxumarê (center) and Babá Cláudio of Oxum (right, seated), during the festivities dedicated to Oxum. In Candomblé, the spiritual guide is called a priesthood. However, the faithful use the term "saint," which stems from religious syncretism, giving rise to expressions such as "father of the saint" and "mother of the saint," corresponding to babalorixá and iyalorixá.
Ilê Olá Omi Asé Opô Aràkà
I have always wondered about the origin of the offerings I have observed at intersections, here and there, during my wanderings in São Paulo. According to a Brazilian friend, "it's macumba stuff," pejoratively and erroneously associating Afro-Brazilian religions with satanic practices or black magic. This idea emerged in the 1920s, at a time when Christian religious institutions in Brazil expressed reservations about macumba, considering it incompatible with biblical values.
In reality, the term "macumba" refers both to the drum that is used during the ceremonies, and to the cult itself, the word for which is more popular in Rio de Janeiro; elsewhere in Brazil, it is called candomblé or xangô.
Emerging from the darkness of the slave quarters of Black people brought from Africa, Afro-Brazilian religions have, over time, blended with the cultures of white Christians, mulattoes, Indigenous people, and Cafuzos (descendants of Black and Indigenous people), forming part of the cultural heritage of the Brazilian people. In Candomblé, worship is divided into nations, and followers venerate African deities, the orixás, who are pure forces of nature. However, the misunderstanding and exclusion stemming from the historical process of slavery in Brazil have led to the condemnation of African religious practices, resulting in discrimination and intolerance.
The Candomblé house Ilê Olá Omi Asé Opô Aràkà is located on the edge of a reservoir, surrounded by the Atlantic Forest. Among the seven classified "terreiros" in the state of São Paulo, it is the only place of worship built in the middle of vegetation.
This is how Babalorixá Cláudio de Oxum shared his commitment to his community with me during our first meeting: “I am an activist, Black, gay, and a practitioner of Candomblé, and I am very proud of it, because I believe it is essential to become aware of what is so good in each of us. Faith is something that is the air I breathe, and the air I breathe is called Oxum. Oxum provides me with food, money, health, love, happiness, and I feel more and more this feeling of love in Candomblé.”
Over the past few decades, public policies have recognized the historical and cultural legacy of Afro-Brazilian populations in the building of national society, inscribing Candomblé places of worship, called "terreiro," as tangible and intangible heritage. It is in this context, and after years of struggle, that the community of Mother Carmen and her sons, Karlito de Oxumarê and Cláudio de Oxum, inaugurated Ilê Olá Omi Asé Opô Aràkà in 1996, demonstrating the vitality of Candomblé in contemporary Brazilian life.
According to Cláudio de Oxum, the orixás contributed to the acquisition of the land. Just as Mother Carmen's family was about to abandon the purchase due to the payment terms, the owner discovered that the buyers intended to build a Candomblé house on the property, which facilitated negotiations. She was the daughter of a professor at the University of São Paulo, a specialist in religions and a friend of Pierre Verger, a renowned French scholar. for his work on Candomblé.
