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Linking the chain: Essay about the relation between spirituality and sociality in Afro-Brazilian religious fraternities in the Itapemirim Valley

Abstract

This paper regards an ethnography realized in the Brazilian southeast state of Espírito Santo and describes the transversality of spiritual and social relations among quilombos remaining communities. It highlights the concept of “spiritual chain”, a conjunctive force that acts amid persons and invisible entities. By a ritual calendar that organizes mutual visits and that must be followed by religious fraternities known as “bate-flecha”, the spiritual chain sews the communities and reinforces a series of obligations and powers that flows through it.

Keywords
Afro-Brazilians religions; spiritism; Espírito Santo; spiritual chain; esotericism

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