BEYOND THE "TURNED BARA": THE SYMBIOTIC LEGBA–ZINA COMPLEX AND JEJE-VODUN SURVIVAL AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE BATUQUE OF RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Abstract

This article examines the worship of the deities Legba and Zina in the Batuque religion of Rio Grande do Sul, with particular emphasis on the Cabinda Nation. Classical anthropological scholarship has generally subsumed the messenger complex under the Yoruba Orisha Bara, thereby obscuring the role of Ewe-Fon Vodun traditions. Drawing on ethnographic evidence, liturgical documentation, and comparative analysis, this study argues that Legba and Zina constitute a symbiotic Jeje-Vodun complex responsible for mediating between the living and the dead and governing liminal spaces. It further explores the ritual reinterpretation expressed through the incorporation of Catholic cemetery angels into shrine iconography, alongside the preservation of the cult of the nine ancestral Eguns (Ya Omo Emesan). These findings demonstrate the survival of Ewe-Fon theological and linguistic structures within the Batuque of Rio Grande do Sul and contribute to a reassessment of the historical formation of this religious tradition.