Afro-Brazilian · branch
Candomblé
West African orixá worship carried to Brazil and preserved through initiation rather than through text — knowledge is transmitted inside a house, in stages, by a hierarchy. The body is where the divine becomes present, not an obstacle to it.
What makes it unusual
The axes on which this tradition sits furthest from the middle of the matrix — which is to say, the positions that actually distinguish it.
- A3 Pluralitymany powers and spiritsFurther toward "many powers and spirits" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decideFurther toward "clergy and tradition decide" than most traditions in the matrix.
- D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribedFurther toward "essential and prescribed" than most traditions in the matrix.
- B2 Reading of sacred textmetaphorical, or no text at allFurther toward "metaphorical, or no text at all" than most traditions in the matrix.
All seventeen positions
Each cell carries a centre, a dispersion — how much internal variation the tradition genuinely tolerates — and the source the position rests on. Disagree with one? Say so; corrections are public and recorded.
The same seventeen values as a single shape, read clockwise from A1 at the top. The outline is where the tradition sits; the wider band around it is the variation it genuinely tolerates, so a tight outline is a tight tradition.
- position
- tolerated variation
A · The divine
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Divine realitynothing beyond the natural → a divine reality certainly exists | a divine reality certainly existsCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 1.00 | 0.03 |
| A2 Personhoodimpersonal principle or order → a personal being one can address | leaning a personal being one can addressCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.68 | 0.15 |
| A3 Pluralitystrictly one → many powers and spirits | many powers and spiritsCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.95 | 0.04 |
| A4 Locuswholly beyond the world → fully present within it | fully present within itCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.90 | 0.06 |
B · Knowledge and authority
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| B1 Source of truthrevealed and fixed → reason and direct experience | between revealed and fixed and reason and direct experienceCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.58 | 0.16 |
| B2 Reading of sacred textliteral and binding → metaphorical, or no text at all | metaphorical, or no text at allCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.88 | 0.08 |
| B3 Institutional authorityclergy and tradition decide → individual conscience decides | clergy and tradition decideCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.08 | 0.07 |
C · Self and destiny
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| C1 Survival of the selfends at death → continues in some form | continues in some formCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.88 | 0.10 |
| C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgment → cyclical return | between one life, then judgment and cyclical returnCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.55 | 0.20 |
| C3 The human conditionfallen and in need of rescue → ignorant but fundamentally sound | leaning ignorant but fundamentally soundCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.82 | 0.10 |
D · Practice
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodgiven as grace → achieved by effort or insight | between given as grace and achieved by effort or insightCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.55 | 0.18 |
| D2 Centrality of ritualessential and prescribed → optional or absent | essential and prescribedCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.02 | 0.03 |
| D3 The bodyto be disciplined → to be celebrated | leaning to be celebratedCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.72 | 0.13 |
E · World and others
| Axis | Position | Value | ±σ |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 Exclusivityone true path → many valid paths | leaning many valid pathsCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.68 | 0.15 |
| E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional act → beginningless or natural | leaning an intentional actCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.28 | 0.18 |
| E3 Locus of belonginga people, inherited → an individual choice | leaning a people, inheritedCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.30 | 0.16 |
| E4 Standing of naturecreation, given for use → animate and itself sacred | animate and itself sacredCandomblé oral tradition and Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil | 0.92 | 0.06 |
Further reading
- Bastide, The African Religions of Brazil — The standard account of nation, lineage and initiation.
- Johnson, Secrets, Gossip, and Gods — Why B3 = 0.08 — knowledge here is structurally controlled.
Compared with
The questionnaire places your own answers on these same seventeen axes and reports how close you are to this tradition and to 64 others. Take it — eight to fourteen questions, nothing transmitted.