At the Festival of the Goddess of the Sea, Iemanjá, which is held during August, throngs of followers of the religion of Candomblé enact bizarre rites of worship throughout the beaches of Brazil.

Once a year believers congregate on the golden beaches of Fortaleza to worship and revere Iemanjá. As part of the beach rituals, cigar-toting priests and priestesses usher people forward to enter trances (pegar um passo). It is not long before someone, mesmerized by the beats of the insistent drums, enters a convulsing fit or even begins to foam at the mouth.

The reason for all this is that Iemanjá is the God of sensorial pleasures. It is therefore up to her followers, dressed in the white tunics of their West African ancestors, to sate her appetite once a year with a menu of overt dancing, smoking and trances.

The closing highlights take place at dusk - Candomblé followers administer offerings to the goddess and rafts are covered with objects from champagne to perfume and flowers, and then launched out to sea.

Source: What’s on When Official Website

Suggestion of ARTEH® Hotels in Brazil.

Pousada Convento do Carmo, in Salvador da Bahia

Brava Hotel, in Búzios

Pestana Angra, in Angra dos Reis