ABSTRACT
Had Celestina de Araujo Santos, the young woman who became an Umbanda medium, not obtained relief from back pains and other problems, she certainly would not have returned to the Casa de Vovô Maria and completed the exchange that resulted in her becoming an adept. But her quest for assistance would not have ended, for it is unlikely that she would have resigned herself to the discomfort and suffering. Unlike the average North American, she may not have gone from one doctor or medical clinic to another. Instead, more likely, she would have confided her problems to another relative, friend, coworker, or mere acquaintance, and this discussion would have led her to one of the other competing religious groups. “There is not one Brazilian,” writes St. Clair (1971:237), “who doesn’t have a ‘spirit story’ to tell, be it something that happened personally or else to a friend or a member of the family.” Let us suppose that she was directed to a Spiritist healer-medium, the head of one of the “more African” religious centers, or perhaps an evangelical church. Had she spoken with someone who previously was successful with Spiritism, the spirit of a deceased doctor such as Fritz or Stams, incorporated in the body of an Edson Queiroz, Mauricio Magalhães, or Antonio de Oliveira Rios, might have helped her. During this treatment, the young beautician might have been told that she had mediumistic ability that should be developed. The implicit exchange between the sufferer and this view of the world of the supernatural is that if healed, the sufferer is obligated, as payment for what was received, to learn the Kardecist ritual practices and to receive its spirits and help others in need as part of the tradition’s mission of charity. Instead of becoming an Umbandista after being helped by the preto velho, Celestina would have become a Kardecist.
