“You are the rivers and waterfalls. You are the mountains and forests. You are the ocean waves hitting the shore. You are the sky and the wind, the storms of thunder and lightning, the rain, the quiet ponds. You are the forces of nature, the sun moon and stars. You are made of all the elements of creation. “
— Caboclo Caçador de Oxossí
The Kingdom of the Heart
Mediumship Development and the Spiritual Universe of Umbanda
Ialorixá Ana de Xangô will be giving a 10-Week Course on Spiritual and Mediumship Development in the Traditions of Umbanda, Candomblé and Spiritism.
The course will present an overview of the stages of spiritual and mediumship development with a focus on each individual's particular mediumship and spiritual path. The participants will learn how a commitment to the principles of love, truth and humility can lead to a life in service of others to give spiritual charity to those in need through prayer and the practice of mediumship.
This course will cover how to understand and identify each participant's type of mediumship, how to identify your spiritual guides and how to progress through the stages of mediumship development. We will cover the history, theology and cosmology of Umbanda, Candomblé and Spiritism, and the vast spiritual universe these traditions reveal to us.
Ialorixá Ana de Xangô will teach the fundamentals of the tradition of Umbanda, its various lineages, its connection to other spiritual traditions, such as, Spiritism, Candomblé and others. The course will cover the process and practice of Umbanda works and Giras, the use of medicinal plants, the lineages and divisions of spiritual beings in Umbanda. Each topic will be at an introductory level with opportunities for deeper study in all the primary areas. The course will emphasize learning based on each individual's personal experience and answering all the participant’s questions about the process of mediumship.
First class - Saturday 7/20 at 11am PST.
The classes will meet weekly every Saturday at 11am - Each class will be recorded and available online for all participants.
The Course will cover:
Week 1 - What is Mediumship - What are the stages of Mediumship Development - Mediumship as a form of service to others - What are the traditions of Umbanda, Spiritism and Candomblé - How is mediumship developed in these traditions - The central role of prayer
Week 2 - The divisions of healing beings in Umbanda - The spiritual universe of Umbanda - Identifying and communicating with your spiritual guides - The path of mediumship development - Introduction to the roles of the terreiro - The commander, the mediums, the cambonos, the master of ceremonies, the musicians, the participants and visitors
Week 3 - Understanding the Orixás - The divine forces of nature - How to understand your relationship with the Orixás - How to work with the Orixás in Umbanda - The process to identify your parent Orixás - How to cultivate your relationship with your Orixás
Week 4 - The structure and practice of Giras and spiritual healing works in Umbanda - The role of Pai e Mãe de Santo - Father and Mother of Saint - The roles of the mediums, participants and musicians - The structure and protection of the place of the spiritual work - The formal phases of a Gira or spiritual work of Umbanda
Week 5 - Use of Medicinal Plants for healing and cleansing - Banhos de Ervas - Defumação - Using plants, tinctures and essential oils for healing, protection and cleansing
Week 6 - The Music of Umbanda - The categories of Pontos and Corimbas - The process of singing chamados to connect with and call the spiritual guides - The role of the Ogan and the role of drumming in Umbanda
Week 7 - Creating an altar in your house - Microcosm and macrocosm - Making the vast small, and making the small vast - Communicating with your Spiritual Guides in your house and in everyday life. Developing a practice of prayer and communion with God, nature and your spiritual guides.
Week 8 - Exus and Pombagiras - The guardians of the spiritual works and the guardian spirits of the earth. Understanding the most misunderstood entities in Umbanda.
Week 9 - Reviewing the stages of mediumship development in depth. The four principles of development: love, truth, and humility, to be able to practice charity. The stages of spiritual and mediumship development. The central role of prayer and meditation.
Week 10 - Understanding your spiritual life mission and your particular form of mediumship and your particular way of living and working in service of others. Understanding your role in the spiritual story of life on Earth.
Each class will be split into two parts. The first part will consist of a teaching on a particular area of mediumship development and spiritual study. The second part will be a session of questions and answers. The goal of the course is to provide a broad, detailed understanding of mediumship development, as well as the theology, cosmology and practice of the traditions of Umbanda, Spiritism and Candomblé. The objective is to answer all the questions the participants have about Umbanda and their individual path of mediumship development
All the classes will be recorded and available online as well as all reading material and other media.
WHAT IS UMBANDA?
Umbanda is a Brazilian Spiritual Tradition that combines Indigenous Beliefs, Spiritism, Catholicism and Candomblé. In Umbanda the Heavens come down to the Earth. The Caboclos and Pretos Velhos, the beings of light and healing, the beings of nature, arrive on the sacred ground of the Terreiro carrying with them the presence of the Orixás - the pure forces of nature.
It is an open tradition, accepting of everyone, from every walk of life, no matter their beliefs, culture or tradition. Umbanda is a non-dogmatic tradition based on practice and experience rather than a set of structured beliefs. The Umbandistas develop their connection to the inward spiritual dimensions through the practice of mediumship development. Through drumming, singing and dancing, the practitioners call on the illuminated beings that arrive in the spiritual works to heal, to counsel and to teach.
In Umbanda we hold the credence that before we were born the illuminated Beings, the Caboclos and Pretos Velhos were with us. According to Umbanda, these gracious beings carefully prepared us for our birth and sent us to Earth with the purest hope and prayers for our success. Like patient gardeners watching over their nursery, the Caboclos and Pretos Velhos watch over us now and many of them know us better than even we know ourselves.
According to Umbanda, each person of the Earth carries in their heart a purpose that is the very essence of their nature and the very reason they were born. Each person has a purpose to complete their life mission and to fully realize and express their purest nature, sharing with others the gifts they have brought into the world. However, because of past karmas and the darkness of the world, there are myriad obstacles that stand in the way of completing their life mission.
In Umbanda we teach that each person must battle to redeem their karma, to overcome the darkness and to give the gifts they carry within them to the world. Each person, when they are able to fully and completely be the pure nature of their unique self and overcome the obstacles, are able to create tremendous joy and great healing for themselves, for their family, for the community and for the world.
