Paper short abstract:

How is Xangô, a cult of Yoruba origin in Recife (north-eastern Brazil), learned? I propose an empirical inquiry on the nature of religious knowledge and on the many ways and contexts of acquiring it.

Paper long abstract:

How is a Xangô, a cult of Yoruba origin in Recife (northeastern Brazil), learned? After describing the various contexts of learning as well as the religious and relational principles that shape the transmission of knowledge related to this form of worship, attention is drawn to the strong correlations between three categories of data having to do with this learning process: 1) the type of knowledge activated (exegetic knowledge, liturgical know-how, ritual attitudes, etc.); 2) the way that this knowledge is actually conveyed

(through books, observation, involvement); and 3) the individuals position in the cult (initiate, adept, client...). This empirical inquiry on the nature of

religious knowledge and on the many ways and contexts of acquiring it ends with comments on this cultual relations with its own history and with competing forms of worship present in the vast field of Afro-Brazilian religions.