The Music of the Bahian Caboclos

The Caboclos are a pantheon of deities worshipped in the Candomblés of Bahia and throughout Brazil. They are Brazilian cowboys and Indians fêted at public parties and private ceremonies and invoked by devotees to work on earth. The incorporation of this pantheon was enabled by the pragmatic efficacy attributed to music in ritual contexts of Candomblé worship. In these ceremonies, music is not just an accompaniment to ritual actions; it is the means by which ritual work is done. This pragmatic efficacy creates the conditions of possibility for innovation and incorporation of new gods and new ritual practices.