Macumba
DEFINITION
Macumba is a Portuguese word primarily used in Brazil in the 19th Century that means both "musical instrument" and "magic". At the time, the Roman Catholic Church in it's attempt to convert Brazilian natives to Catholicism instead created a syncretic religious system; a blend of the former belief system with Catholicism. Macumba is the name given to all the syncretic religious systems created in South America at this time.<br>