The Throbbing Ritual of Macumba Contrasts With The Glitter and Glamour of Copacabana Beach

Rio has charmed millions of visitors, but there’s a fascinating side of this fascinating city seldom seen by an outside observer, which Sharon Dirlam shares here. --Jerry Hulse, Travel Editor

In a clearing in the forest, on the road up to the summit of Corcovado, was a macumba offering. There were goblets filled with wine, bottles of champagne and beer, flowers and ribbons, grapes and cookies. A feast for the spirits. A row of shadows cast in the hot afternoon sun.

Late that night, deep in a Rio slum and down a twisting dark alley, the spirits were beckoned again. In one corner of a large hall, young men sat with their eyes closed while their hands beat an incessant sambalike rhythm on drums held in their laps. Women danced and swayed in a snaky line, chanting.

The leader of the congregation puffed on a fat cigar and blew smoke at the dancers. As each worshiper approached him, the leader encircled the person with his hands, blowing smoke all the while, and then he shook his hands as if dismissing some evil presence, the way one would shake off drops of water.

As the long night wore on, the music got more frenzied, and every so often a dancer would twirl around until she crashed to the floor in a faint. Another would make noises that sounded like a caged animal, or a wounded spirit. Candles twinkled on the altar. Flowers lay wilting on the altar beside a small bird’s bloody body.

The drums and chanting drifted for a while, then swooped off again into a throbbing frenzy of stamping, wailing and drumming, then slowed, ending in a long, silent focus on the altar. Then everyone smiled and said his goodbys, as if church were letting out.

As many as 80% of Brazilians believe in macumba, which encompasses ritualistic practices ranging from spiritism to voodoo. The premise is that every saint recognized in the Catholic religion has a corresponding spirit, and it is the spirit that the people reach out to. Macumba offers moral counsel, business advice, the promise of well-being and the sweetness of revenge. Many Brazilians won’t make a move without first consulting the spirits.

One explanation of the origin of macumba is that African slaves taken to Brazil adapted the Catholic religion of their Portuguese masters, infusing it with their own religious beliefs. In Brazil today, rampant inflation and high unemployment may have something to do with a renewed interest in the spirit world.

Tour operators and the major hotels say they can get you to a macumba rite, if you are willing to pay anywhere from $25 to $50 for the opportunity. Or you can ask around and find one on your own, if you are feeling adventurous.

But be warned: There is an element of danger in venturing out into the slums of Rio late at night. The streets are dark and narrow, and everyone will tell you that Rio is a violent place, that you are not safe, that you may be robbed or mugged or worse, and that the police won’t help you if you are.

In Rio, the threat is all too real. There are streetcars through the slums: Don’t ride them or you will be robbed. Don’t venture down dark alleys at night. Don’t wear your diamonds to the beach. But after all, in what city would you do these things? The best advice is to be sensible.

But, of course, there is the flip side of all that there is to fear about the place: the glitter and the glamour of Rio. It’s a city that throbs with a pulsing, animal awareness of sensual life.

Rio is filled to bursting with people who exist at the extremes of wealth and poverty. The slums are stacked up and down the sides of the city’s hills and look directly across the way at the luxurious high-rise condominiums that line Ipanema Beach. Taxi drivers deeply mortgaged to their jalopies drive beautiful couples to the marble entryways of $150-a-night hotels.

Several lanes of heavy traffic circle the city between beaches and hotels, and next to the traffic is the famed wavy-tiled walkway lined with hawkers, shoeshine boys and souvenir vendors under brightly colored umbrellas.

The white-sand beaches rim the city like a wide band of lace on a voluptuous negligee. The waves are high, the undertow treacherous. The bikinis are all that you’ve heard about--and less. They are worn by bodies sculpted to a lean perfection--and more. Alas, far more. Women and men, the perfectly shaped, the wiggly and jiggly, the scrawny and the saggy, all stuff themselves into the tiniest possible bits of cloth and carefully position themselves on the sand to see and be seen.

Modesty, control, moderation--these are not words that find any particular favor in Rio. The city is a study in excesses, culminating, of course, in Carnaval, that world-class party played out on the streets of February until exhaustion.

Copacabana is one of the most famous beaches in the world, and it remains Rio’s tourist center, with its row of fine hotels, good restaurants, theaters, shops and nightclubs.

The Finest Jewels

Just south are Ipanema and Leblon, considered to be the finest jewels in Rio’s crown, mainly residential, with beautiful high-rises lining the beach and the most sophisticated shops, restaurants and nightclubs that money can produce.

The first thing I did upon arrival in Rio was meet an acquaintance for lunch. To a Carioca (a Rio native), this may have been merely another pleasant meal in the sunny city. To me, it seemed an appropriate introduction to the scene of the senses.

How anyone returns to work after such a lunch, I can’t imagine. Lunch is the main meal of the day (with the dinner hour barely getting started at 9 p.m.) and often lasts for two or three hours.

We went to Mariu’s churrascaria rodizioa , a place where you can sample Brazilian barbecued meats. Mariu’s, at the top end of Lema Beach, is a popular place, but with seating for 334 there is seldom a wait, and if there is they serve you drinks outside.

Great Chunks of It

Once you are seated, the waiters start making their endless rounds. It is not just meat they bring you, it is great chunks of it skewered on a sword, which they slice off onto your plate until you hold up your hand to signal that’s enough for the moment.

They offer rib of beef on a sword, filet mignon, brisket, pork ribs, chicken, ham, sausage, leg of lamb and slabs of pork and beef. As Christopher Pickard says in his excellent “Insider’s Guide to Rio de Janeiro,” “They keep bringing it until you beg them to stop. Don’t go unless you are hungry or you won’t survive.”

If you want a trip into history, then the Confeitaria Colombo in downtown Rio is the place to try. This is a turn-of-the-century continental cafe with an air of elegance, where you can enjoy a leisurely lunch.

If you can tear yourself away from basking in the sun by day, three-hour lunches and a nightly round of nightclubs and samba shows, Rio is also a visual delight. It has sun-splashed high-rises, wide beaches and mounds of coastal terrain that look as if they were carved out and piled up by a heavenly child with a cosmic sand pail and shovel.

Breathtaking Vistas

There are breathtaking vistas wherever you look, and whatever you can’t see from the vantage of Corcovado (with its famed statue of Christ), you can see from Rio’s other main attraction: Sugar Loaf.

A cable car takes you to the top of Sugar Loaf, and you will most likely be joined on the spectacular ride by dozens of locals. It’s a short taxi ride from anywhere in town to the cable car, and an inexpensive outing. From Sugar Loaf you have views of the city, the harbor and the panoramic coastline.

The luxurious 418-room Rio Palace rates high with visitors. The hotel sits atop a 150-store shopping center, and each room has its own balcony with full views of Copacabana and Ipanema. With two swimming pools, several popular restaurants and a nightclub, one would hardly need to venture forth at all. Doubles start at $130.

Restoration has begun to return the grand hotel the Copacabana Palace, which 50 years ago was one of the world’s top hotels, to its original splendor. Even now the rooms are comfortable and plush (many are remodeled already), and the grand hotel’s restaurants are among the finest anywhere. It has the best location on Copacabana Beach. Doubles start at $90.

Towers 30 Stories

The Othon Palace marks the center of Copacabana Beach and towers above it for 30 stories. It’s comfortable, modern and efficient, and its Skylab bar serves up unforgettable views of the sunset and beyond. Doubles start at $110.

Rio’s fourth most popular hotel is the Meridien, very French in atmosphere, a gourmet’s delight, with unbeatable views and rooms that offer sophisticated comfort. Doubles start at $150.

Officially, the dollar is worth about 7,500 Brazilian cruzeiros, but unofficially you can get up to 10,000 cruzeiros for a dollar. The practice is so common that it’s called the “parallel market” instead of the black market, and both official and unofficial rates are listed in the daily newspaper.

For further information about Brazil contact the Brazilian Trade Center, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 240, Los Angeles 90071.