Brazilian Religion

In the book written by Laura de Mello e Souza entitled “The Devil and the Land of the Holy Cross” she explores the complexity of the religious foundation of colonial Brazil, a foundation that can be seen today in modern day Brazil. Mello e Souza delves deep into the popular religion of colonial Brazil, she uses many sources throughout the entirety of the text. This allows her to reference documents that provide evidence of the influences that helped shape Brazilian theology. The core of the text is to show Mello e Souza’s opinion that colonial Brazil was a fusion of Native, European, and African practices which created a form of hybrid religion of the three culture’s as they came and interacted with each other. Mello e Souza’s approach to

Rather she attempts to define that connection between total contrasting cultures of Three continents Africa, America, and Europe. By allowing the mixing of these culture’s it seems to have a strange effect which has never been seen before, the coming to light of sorcery among colonial Brazilian culture. Which seems unique in the sense that usually when a conquest occurs the people who are being invaded are subject to forms of conversion especially on the religious concepts. She gives that idea of a historical relation between those three cultures which allowed sourcery to flourish and transform rather than be subject to extinction. An important note is to not confuse daily life witchcraft as growing and being persecuted. The Portuguese were catholic and their faith was incredibly strong and similar to other catholic colonies they were subjected to inquisitors. Because the inquisitor had the ability to document cases and other matters dealing with situation that involved items that challenged catholicism, Mello e Souza would use this as evidence to help prove her

It was a mystery but known, it’s like a story that been told but yet there is no detail or information about this form of magic. The Catholicism that arrived to Brazil from the Iberian peninsula was already filled with popular beliefs, stories about spiritual beings, and the awe inspiring magical practices. Mello e Souza makes a connection to the middle ages of early Europe, at that time things like demons and magic were part of everyday life. Stories and folklore was widespread throughout the middle ages. In Brazil those forms of culture and religions survived within the colonial Catholic plantations and engenhos. They were traditions that were dissident and decentralized, representing that convergence and syncretism of the indigenous, African, and European influences. This connection is presented as the actual method of how they mixed working and living among people of different cultures and