ABSTRACT
One of the most enduring legacies of British social anthropology is the notion that the way to study religion is to relate it to the social structure. Although this approach has been much criticized, it had the great advantage of focusing on behavior, and it effectively rescued the study of religion from an obsessive concern with belief. The ethnography to be considered deals with a possession religion, the Batuque, that studied in Belem, Brazil in the 60s and 70s. One striking feature of this religion is that it is filled with conflict. In effect, it is a religion of shamans, each claiming control over certain spirits and each attempting to sell supernatural services to clients. A more traditional analysis of the Batuque, based in part on British structuralism, which situates the religion in a specific community, considers its history, and even takes into account some psychological variables, seems to provide a better understanding of its characteristics.
