Bead necklace dedicated to the Afro-Brazilian deity Oxossi

Necklace of green flat, cylindrical porcelain beads.™ The necklace is dedicated to Oxossi, the deity of the forest and the hunt. His color is green or green with red and his sign the arrow or bow and arrow.‖ Oxossi is also deity of the Indians and therefore head of all Caboclos, a group of guardian spirits in umbanda. \ÒCaboclos is the Brazilian term for anyone of mixed Indian-European, or Indian-African descent (Figge, 1973: 43). \In the Afro-Brazilian religion umbanda, this originally West African deity is identified - through the arrows - with the Roman Catholic saint Saint Sebastian.In the Afro-Brazilian religion candomblé, Oxossi is associated only with Saint George but Ralph M. Becker (1995:137-138) mentions, however, that Saint Sebastian in Bahia is indeed identified with Oxossi and then in his appearance of Ibualamâ. \In the Afro-Brazilian religions umbanda and candomblé necklaces like these are indispensable. The color of the necklace indicates the deity ('orixa') to whom the necklace is dedicated. The necklaces are considered to signify the special protection of the deity in question and have an amulet-like character.‖ All orixas and spirits have their own type of necklaces: the orixas usually have strings of glass or porcelain beads, except Omulu who wears raffia strings with cowrie shells. The "Pretos Velhosos" (the Old Blacks, a group of ancestral spirits) wear necklaces of iron wire adorned with fruits and amulets and the "Caboclos" (Native American guardian spirits) wear cords of animal teeth. \All such necklaces, regardless of material, have a special power and are consecrated with tobacco smoke. However, ordination for priestly and medium necklaces is done with sacrificial blood and specially prepared cleansing fluids. \Even ordinary believers in umbilical and candomblé often wear strings of glass beads under their clothing as amulets for protection (Figge, 1973: 109-110).