Article: Yoruba spirits alive and well in Bahia, visitors find.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

SALVADOR, Brazil _ On a summer evening in this old, seaside city, a nattily dressed, middle-aged man walks into the whitewashed ceremonial hall of Ile Axe Opo Afonja, a famous temple for the practice of Candomble, the Afro-Brazilian religion. The man wears a freshly pressed, plaid shirt. He strolls in with his wife beside him, her arm linked through his. He is smiling. There's a bit of a jaunty air to the man, who seems lifted by an air of expectancy.

Moments later the drums start.

The man is a priest, it turns out. He has changed into rust-colored ritual garments and joins a circle of dancers. There are about 80 of them, priests and priestesses, who ...

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