Umbanda’s mid-century expansion in Brazil

Record summary

Umbanda became increasingly organized and publicly visible in Brazil during the period, combining Spiritist ideas with Afro-Brazilian, Indigenous and Catholic figures. Mediums commonly entered controlled trance and incorporated entities such as caboclos and pretos-velhos for healing, counsel and ritual work. This is a strong comparative lead for culturally patterned altered states and debates over pathology, fraud and religious legitimacy. Histories differ over origins and institutional boundaries, while outsider accounts may miss practitioners’ own categories. It documents ritual practice, not proof of discarnate agency.