What is Quimbanda?
Quimbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion practiced primarily in the urban city centers of Brazil. It is a spirit-mediumship religion whose rituals focus on spirit mediums “incorporating”, or being possessed by, various ancestral spirits. Quimbanda focuses on male spirits called exús as well as their female counterparts, pomba giras. Quimbanda’s practices are often focused on worldly success regarding money and sex. Practitioners of Quimbanda perform rituals called trabalhos, which can be used to ask the spirits for assistance with love, justice, business, and vengeance.
As a religion, it has been described as taking influences from Kardecist Spiritism, folk Catholicism, and Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé. Unlike Umbanda and some of the other Afro-Brazilian religions, Quimbanda does not invoke any of the Catholic saints; instead, practitioners call upon the spirits of Exus, Pomba Giras, and Ogum. While Umbanda continued to incorporate European beliefs and saints into practice, Quimbanda rejected the Christian influence on spiritual hierarchy, and returned to a more African-based system.
Origins & Lineage
Quimbanda originated during the period of the transatlantic slave trade, and is found primarily in Brazil. While many enslaved people converted to Catholicism, others began to follow a religion called Macumba, which was a syncretic blend of African spirituality mixed with Catholic saints. From Macumba, which was popular in urban areas like Rio de Janeiro, two distinct subgroups formed: Umbanda and Quimbanda. Umbanda is a religion that emerged in the area around Rio de Janeiro during the 1920s. It combined elements of Spiritism (Espiritismo) with ideas from Afro-Brazilian religions like Candomblé, as well as influences from Roman Catholicism.
Historically, the term Quimbanda has been used by practitioners of Umbanda, a religion established in Brazil during the 1920s, to characterise the religious practices that they opposed. Quimbanda began as “a pejorative term for rejected elements of Umbanda”. The anthropologists Diana Brown and Mario Bick noted that, for the early Umbandistas, “Quimbanda represented a repository for all the opprobrious associations from which they wished to escape.”
The black consciousness movement and the women’s movement of the late 1970s created the perfect environment for the emergence of Quimbanda. These movements helped acquire civil liberties during Brazil’s long process of returning to democracy. Historians refer to this process as ‘re-Africanization,’ meaning the “intentional assertion of aesthetics, theologies, and practices considered more African.” The re-Africanization movement caused increased popularity and respect for exus and pomba giras spirits previously viewed as illicit and demonic. Quimbanda grew considerably in the 1970s.
How It’s Practiced
A Quimbanda ritual, called a trabalho, typically consists of several parts: a motive, dedication to a spirit, a marginal location, the metal or clay (earthy) material, an alcoholic drink, scent, and food (usually a peppered flour-palm oil mixture, sometimes called miamiami). Rituals usually take place at night, believed to be the time when spirits are most active. Animal sacrifice, generally avoided in Umbanda, is common in Quimbanda as it is in many Afro-Brazilian religions. Species sacrificed include pigeons, chickens, goats, sheep, and bulls.
In distinction from Umbanda, it focuses on interactions with “spirits of the street”, namely exus and pombagiras but also, since the 1970s, ciganos. Songs that Quimbandistas sing for the deities are commonly called pontos. Traditional Quimbanda rituals are called a trabalho. A trabalho might be performed for a variety of purposes: to bring about justice in a court case, to seek vengeance or cause harm to an enemy, or to open the road to success ahead of a practitioner. In addition to magical purposes, a ritual always includes the dedication to one of the powerful Quimbanda spirits. Offerings are made, typically of an alcoholic drink—beer for Ogum, or rum for the Exus—and food, which is usually peppers and a blend of palm oil and manioc flour.
Those seeking involvement in Quimbanda will often undergo an initial massanga or baptism, a ceremony taking place over several days. Full initiation may later take place, involving the spirits being “seated” within the individual through full spirit possession. Once performed, the initiate becomes a priest (tata) or priestess (yaya).
Quimbanda Today
Although very little of the Brazilian population claims to follow Quimbanda, many people from all social ranks use Quimbanda rituals occasionally. It is a common practice for businessmen to consult Exus before major business dealings. By the early 21st century, Quimbanda had also spread to North America. Quimbanda also spread to North America, often being adopted by people with an existing history with Western esoteric traditions like Thelema, Traditional Witchcraft, and New Age spirituality. Writing in 2025, Gregorius noted that the number of North Americans seeking initiation into the tradition was in the hundreds.
Quimbanda has also been promoted to Westerners through publications, for instance by the Norwegian-Brazilian writer Nicolaj de Mattos Frisvold. Contemporary practitioners can access teachings through books such as Mario dos Ventos’s Na Gira do Exu and Frisvold’s Seven Crossroads of Night, as well as through initiation with established lineages in Brazil and North America.
Common Misconceptions
It is sometimes wrongly associated with black magic and evil practices. Many people confuse Quimbanda with Umbanda, despite their distinct differences. The portrayal of Quimbanda in popular media often exaggerates its darker aspects, ignoring its positive elements. Practitioners face discrimination and prejudice due to the religion’s misunderstood nature.
The scholar of religion Fredrik Gregorius noted that although Quimbanda had similarities to the Afro-Brazilian traditions of Candomblé and Umbanda, it differed from those by having “a sinister façade”. However, this perception largely stems from the tradition’s deliberate embrace of marginalized spirits and practices rejected by more “respectable” religions. Exús, commonly referred to as “spirits of the left,” are not purely evil. Instead, they are more human-like in their qualities and share in human weaknesses.
The boundaries between Umbanda and Quimbanda are nevertheless not always clear, with various spirit mediums engaging or promoting practices associated with both. Hess noted that the two represented “ideal types,” but that “in practice they comprise a total system in which one side only makes sense when placed in dialogue with the other side.”
How to Begin
Approaching Quimbanda requires respect and seriousness. Quimbanda initiation is not a simple affair. In its lived practice, it is expensive, requires time and effort, and the rituals are not always pleasant. Those interested should begin by studying foundational texts: Mario dos Ventos’s Na Gira do Exu: Invoking the Spirits of Brazilian Quimbanda provides ritual songs, sigils, and traditional framework; Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold’s Seven Crossroads of Night: Quimbanda in Theory and Practice offers doctrinal overview and cosmology.
Beyond reading, seekers must connect with initiated practitioners. In North America, initiates first undergo baptism or massanga, which takes several days and requires the initiates to be physically present. A further initiation involves the initiates being “seated” by their exu or pombagira, and through spirit possession, establishes them as vessels for the spirits, making them priests (tatas) or priestesses (yayas). Divination with an experienced tata or yaya reveals one’s personal exu or pombagira before establishing a working relationship. Approach with humility, willingness to learn, and understanding that this is a living tradition rooted in ancestral lineages, not a self-study path.