Abstract

The presence of women in possession cults has frequently been noted. Thus women are usually the priviliged religious participants in Haitian Voo-doo and in the African Bori Hausa. Even allowing for the distinction of whether the role of religious chief is held by a male or a female, it seems women are in the majority in the cases representing almost the totality of those cultists who fall into a trance. In this article we propose to compare the position of women within two possession cults in Brazil. One, Candomblé is of African origin; the other, Umbanda, is a synthesis of African religions, Catholicism, and the spiritism of Allan Kardec. We shall attempt in each case to associate the religious position of women with the social position they exercise in each society.