Funding institution(s): INAGBE (Instituto Nacional de Gestão de Bolsas de Estudo - Angola)
Researcher: Helder Pedro Alicerces Bahu
Supervisor(s): Rosa Maria Perez
Participant Institutions: PhD in Anthropology
Keywords: feitiçaria, igreja, libertação, cura
Abstract
In its most varied forms of services, religion continues to be an important factor for socialization and social conciliation. The set of African religious beliefs consolidated over the centuries, the presence of Christianity and its adaptation to the realities faced has resulted in a composite culture that by the dimensions it has reached has expanded significantly. In the context of analysis, as well as this religious movement which values the Bible and the figure of Christ as central in its worship, there are other forms of worship, such as of the ancestors, in a constellation which, in the Angolan context, involves the circulation of the patient/believer between witchdoctors, medicine men, saints, church and hospital. In the study I propose to present I describe the daily life of believers of the Igreja Jesus Cristo Salvador (Savior Jesus Christ Church) taking into account their performance and hurdles as they seek psychological harmony and healing. Attendance and permanence in the church imposes a set of limitations in terms of excessive consumption of alcohol, tobacco and the practice of sexual intercourse with various partners and, on the other hand reinforces prayer with devotions and periodic trips to a mountain for purification and healing. As an essential part of integration in the church reformulation of social networks stands out, for the realization and maintenance of faith based on “sacrifices” evoked above is only possible if socialization is directed towards members of the same “body of doctrine”. The processes of healing are directed by the prophet, apostle, pastor or doctor who carry out a “chain of liberation” based on acts of exorcism to motivate believers towards the possibility of healing, combining this procedure with other forms of treatment (ceremony with light; smoke; daily prayer; anointing with oils or olive oil; drinking teas; purification of homes; pilgrimages to the mountain) to be carried out for a period of time which varies depending on the pathology.