BLOOD, OIL, HONEY, AND WATER - SYMBOLISM IN SPIRIT POSSESSION SECTS IN NORTHEASTERN BRAZIL

In this article I propose to document a symbolic system in northeaster n Brazil in which different spirit possession group types assign vario us meanings to four symbols-blood, oil, honey, and water-that all thes e groups engage in their religious beliefs or ritual practices. All th e groups rely on these symbols either to represent or to disavow an id eology that is in turn correlated with a distinct ''racial'' identity. Participation in and recruitment into these groups are described and analyzed in terms of the meanings attributed to the symbols by the lea ders and members of Candomble Giro, and Mesa Branca groups. These mean ings, while stable when analyzed from an intragroup perspective, are o ften transformed in the intergroup context in dramatic and subtle ways . Once transformed the same symbol can be, and often is, used by each of the groups to evaluate and characterize the others in ways that hel p it to maintain its own coherence and appeal. The analysis of the sym bols as a system partially explains multiple use, and stability as wel l as changes in affiliation, by religious actors over time. Thus the i ntergroup symbolic domain is characterized by temporal, evaluative, an d transformative aspects that provide a framework for understanding co ntemporary religious affiliation and behavior in a socially inequitabl e, racially complex, urban setting.