100 Places Every Woman Should Go

LIKE SANTERÍA IN CUBA AND VOODOO IN HAITI, CANDOMBLÉ IS A vibrant religion born from the tragedy of slavery. During three centuries of colonial rule, Portuguese planters enslaved five million Africans to work the sugar cane fields of Brazil, and forcibly converted them to Catholicism in the process. The slaves noticed many similarities between this new faith and their own native religions, including the worshipping of supreme beings who created and maintained the world, and the use of intermediaries to talk with them. Over time, the slaves fused them all together, with every Catholic saint corresponding to an African orixá, and created a new syncretic religion called Candomblé. It is a passionate faith, and respectful travelers are often welcome to partake in its rituals.

One particularly revered Orixá is Iemanja, the goddess of the sea, often associated with Mary. If you’re lucky enough to spend New Year’s in Rio, stop by the Copacabana beach that evening to watch white-clad practitioners float little boats to her, proffering gifts of flowers, mirrors, and candles along with their wishes for the new year. If she accepts the gift, she’ll sink the boat; otherwise, she’ll return it. Iemanja’s official feast day, February 2, is marked with music and offerings throughout the nation, but festivities are especially grand on the beaches of Rio Vermelho in Salvador da Bahia.

The colonial town of Cachoeira in the state of Bahia is considered Candomblé’s spiritual center. Ask a local or someone at the tourist office on Praca da Aclamaca for a schedule of the week’s ceremonies. Most start late in the evening and end around midnight: wear all white and leave the camera behind. Women generally stand on one side of the room and men on the other. Several hours of drumming will transpire as the all-female maes-de-santo (or priestesses) ask the Orixás to come forth and possess them. One by one, they do—often dramatically. It is usually possible to tell who has possessed whom, as assistants give the maes-de-santo the corresponding Orixá’s paraphernalia, such as their trademark headpiece, crown, or club. At this point, the drumming is very intense, and the energy—frenetic. Once the Orixás finally take their leave, everyone sits together for a communal feast. “It is mesmerizing, from the unceasing drum rhythms to the physical intensity of each Orixá’s arrival,” says Latin American historian Victoria Langland. “When it’s over, you know you’ve experienced something profound.”

A great celebration of the New World’s African diaspora is the Festival of the Boa Morte in Cachoeira. Held in mid-August, it is organized by the Irmandade da Boa Morte, or Sisterhood of Good Death, a society of women that dates back to the days when abolition and escape routes were discussed in whispers in slave quarters. For three days, their descendants dress up in traditional Bahian fashion—full, ankle-length skirts, turbans, shawls, and yards of shell-and-bead necklaces—and parade through the streets with an elaborately dressed Virgin (to symbolize her Assumption). They also cook up a storm and offer a great samba. The festivities draw enormous crowds, particularly of African-Americans wearing “Black Pride!” t-shirts. Indeed, for many, the Boa Morte embodies Brazil’s flourishing black empowerment movement.