7 Umbanda lines: what they are, elements, colors, orixás and more!

In the Umbanda religion, the spiritual world is divided into groups, the first of which is the orixás, and then the groups of the spirits that help them. A lineage of Umbanda is a large group, or army, of spirits that obey a specific Orisha and carry its characteristics in itself.

Like, for example, a sailor who is someone with a deep relationship with water belongs to the lineage of Yemanjá who is the queen of the sea, or caboclo (indigenous) who is in the line of Oxóssi who is the orixá lord of the woods and forests.

Read in this article everything about the seven lines of Umbanda, what they are, which orishas they are governed by, what are their functions and main characteristics, in addition to knowing the principles of the Afro-Brazilian religion Umbanda.

Umbanda is one of the most widespread and well-known religions in Brazil, being considered one of its official religions. However, for many her principles and beliefs are still unknown, and sometimes feared, due to lack of access to real information about her.

Read below about the religion and learn about what it is, how it came about, what the principles of Umbanda are, what religious syncretism is and why it is so important in the emergence of this essentially Brazilian religion.

Umbanda is an Afro-Brazilian religion that emerged in the early 20th century, resulting from the union of the beliefs of African peoples such as Candomblé, the Spiritist doctrine from Europe, more specifically from France, and the Christian religion that came with the colonizers. Portuguese to Brazil.

The meaning of the name varies somewhat according to the source, but the word Umbanda is believed to belong to the Kimbundu vocabulary of Angola, which means “magic” and “the art of healing”. It presents some variations in each center, tent or yard, as it is not a religion with immutable rules or a single book that governs it.

It has different aspects, where some are more Christian, others closer to Candomblé, and others that follow a new path, among them are: traditional Umbanda, mixed, esoteric, sacred and astrological. But all are guided by faith in the orishas, ​​in the immortality of the soul, faith in spirits, and charity.

Umbanda officially emerged on November 15, 1908, having been announced by the medium Zélio Fernandino de Moraes (1891-1975). At the beginning of the 20th century, Zélio, as a young man, already had mediumistic abilities and attended the spiritist center in his city.

On a certain day, his personal guide, Caboclo das Sete Encruzilhadas, descended on him during a session at this spiritist center, but for Kardecist spiritist doctrine, this type of spirit is not evolved and, therefore, could not be there in their mediumistic session. And that’s why they asked the entity to leave.

After this episode Zélio, receiving instructions from his Caboclo, inaugurated the religion known as Umbanda, and opened the first umbanda tent called Tenda Espírita Nossa Senhora da Piedade, in the city of São Gonçalo in Rio de Janeiro.

And in this new religion, spirits like those of Indians, old people who were slaves, sailors and cowboys, who in life were always placed on the margins of society, have their space and importance, and with their earthly and spiritual knowledge they are allowed to help and advise the alive.

Umbanda has light, charity and love as its principles. And its way of working for this purpose is carried out through rites called giras, which involve songs sung and played with atabaques called points, the use of candles, herbs, offerings, passes for energy purification, baptism, smoking, scratched points and unloading , which are energy cleanings with the aim of releasing the person from the influence of a malicious spiritual, popularly known as backrest.

As well as the characteristic for which religion is most known and misunderstood, the incorporation of mediums by spirits and entities. In Umbanda, unlike Candomblé, the orishas do not embody people, because according to Umbanda they are made of much more powerful energies than a person could handle, and that’s where the 7 lines of Umbanda come in.

In each of the 7 lines, there are spirits that work with the characteristics of a certain Orixá, so that the incorporation in the mediums is done by one of these spirits that assume the face of a type of spirit, such as the sailor, the caboclo, the dove – rotates and so on.

With the help of more enlightened spiritual friends, all of your rituals are done to promote the spiritual purification of the people present in general, and in private conversations between the entity and the consultant, where advice is given on situations in your private life, always for their development and learning.

Syncretism is the fusion or mixture of different philosophies, ideologies, social systems or cultural elements. Thus, religious syncretism is nothing more than the mixing of religions, sometimes founding a new religion, or sometimes simply changing two existing ones.

In the context of Umbanda, which is a religion founded from the union of beliefs of three previous religions, syncretism occurs strongly and is very well known in terms of its entities of worship. Umbanda is a religion that has elements of Candomblé and Christianity and to understand how these two doctrines came together we need to look at the history of Brazil.

After the discovery of the country and the failed attempt to enslave the indigenous peoples who lived here, the Portuguese brought slave labor from Africa. And the treatment given to enslaved people was aimed at erasing any trace of their past, their beliefs and identity and anything that might give them strength to revolt, hope or bond with other enslaved people.

Among these attempts to erase their culture was the prohibition to maintain their original religious cults, and when that happened they were severely punished. So in order to keep their faith and continue to worship their gods, the enslaved began to disguise their entities in Catholic saints who had similar characteristics.

Some examples are Yansã and Santa Bárbara who govern thunder and storms, Ogun and São Jorge who are warriors, and Oxalá and Jesus who bring the energy of love and peace.

Thus, it is not uncommon to this day when entering an Umbanda tent to see Catholic saints on the altar, because if before this was done to disguise, today for Umbanda practitioners, who have their religion as a result of syncretism, the two are the representation of the same energy. .

The term 7 lines of Umbanda is very popular because Umbanda is a very widespread religion, but sometimes people hear it without knowing what it means or what exactly these lines are. So find out below what the 7 lines of Umbanda are, what they are for and what are the main characteristics of the lines of Oxalá, Yemanjá, Xangô, Ogun, Oxossi, Iori and Iorimá.

Umbanda lines are the spiritual groupings that can be called armies or legions that help a certain orisha. An orixá guides this line and their spirits follow the same characteristics, and these spirits are known as the entities called Caboclo with their various sub-denominations such as Caboclo Sete Flechas or Cabocla Jurema, and others.

Its function is to help the orishas in contact with humans, as the orishas have such great energy that they cannot communicate with people through incorporations, and therefore they send their assistants to help people with their needs in life.

The religious line is governed by the orixá Oxalá and although according to some ideologies there is no fixed order of the lines, which can change from terreiro to terreiro, there is a consensus that the line of Oxalá is always the first of the seven lines of Umbanda, since he is the most important orixá and for that reason this is the line that commands all the others.

Despite this case, this does not mean that there is a greater or lesser degree of importance in the sequence of the other lines, or among the other orixás.

The element of the religious line, or of Oxalá is the crystal. The translucent stone is famous for its high energy power, being able to heal and transform energies and to transmute a beam of light into a rainbow, a metaphor for the skills and characteristics of this orixá.

The color of the orixá Oxalá is white, which represents greater peace, the spiritual. This orixá emerged from the air and is responsible for faith and religion, so the white color refers to his pure, kind spirit, full of peace, serenity and love.

In syncretism, Oxalá presents himself as Jesus Christ, as both carry the same characteristics of faith, love, kindness, light, truth, peace and charity, and also being both, the leaders of their respective religions.

The religious or Oxalá lineage is composed of entities such as pretos-velhos and caboclos. And also the Catholic saints, the people of the East also known as the monks, the masters of the religions there and in general people who were strongly related to spirituality in the eastern molds.

This line represents the beginning, that which has not yet been created, faith, religiosity and the reflection of God. It is the reflected light that influences all vibrations. The entities that participate in this line are soft-spoken and express themselves with a lot of spiritual elevation. The sung points of hope invoke high mysticism, however they are rare to be heard because they hardly assume head leadership.

The water people’s lineage is governed by Yemanjá, the mother of the waters of the sea. This is the most feminine line that works with the power of the sea and salt water, and also with pregnancy, as Yemanjá is known for being considered as a mother who nourishes and protects her children.

The element of the line of the people of water, of Yemanja is the water element, because this orixá is the queen of the waters of the sea, and that is why she and her phalanges work through this element.

The color of Yemanja’s line is blue, or light blue. This color conveys strength, peace and at the same time tranquility, qualities that are found in sea water.

In syncretism…