Today I want to post some pictures from Feb. 2nd, when thousands of Uruguayans gathered on the beaches to honor Yemanja, the goddess of the sea. Philip wrote about what we observed in our February newsletter. (If you've found your way to this blog but don't receive our monthly newsletter/prayer calendar, please let me know!).
Uruguay is known as the most secular culture in all of South America, yet yearly thousands gather to send out their "prayers" and "sacrifices" to Yemanja, a tradition that made its way to Uruguay by way of Brazil and Africa. We felt such spiritual oppression and sadness as we walked along the beach.
Playa Ramírez (Ramírez Beach)
Preparing the Sacrifices to the goddess of the sea
People line up to be "blessed" or "cleansed" by the practitioners of this religion. One lady told me, "Oh, I'm a Christian, I'm an evangelical. But I live near this beach and come every year to watch. It's so beautiful when the boats go out with their lighted candles at midnight. I always get blessed by one of the 'priests' - it can't hurt!"
Taking the sacrifices to sea
Assorted images
Here's a short video - the music shows the Brazilian influence of the religion of Yemanja.
1 comment:
Thanks for the update and now we know better how to pray for you.
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