Spirituality Beyond the Surface

In ‘The Bubble,’ religious life often takes the form of society events, attending services, or the occasional class discussion. For some students, spirituality extends beyond what can be publicly practised or defined and even beyond religion in the traditional sense. Instead, it takes shape in quiet, abstract, more personal ways. 

There are only five religious societies affiliated with the union, but there are thousands of religions practised around the world. Some of these less familiar religions are present in St Andrews, even if they're not formally represented. 

First-year Cecília Vieira is a practitioner of Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian diasporic religion rooted in Yoruba culture. “It's kind of difficult to distil,” Vieira said, noting that Candomblé relies heavily on oral history and physical participation to be understood. Candomblé was brought over from West Africa during the transatlantic slave trade and practised in secret among enslaved people. Vieira described Candomblé as "pure African spirituality." All of the songs, prayers, and rituals are conducted in Yoruba. Candomblé is centred around street deities, exus, and sky deities, orixás. Practitioners can pray and interact with exus who carry messages up to the orixás. 

“Even if you're not a practitioner, it's all around you,” Vieira said. Growing up in Rio de Janeiro, she constantly felt a pull to spirituality. “In a lot of samba songs and pop culture, there are references to Candomblé and Yoruba spirituality. So I grew up hearing about it,” Vieira explained. “My mom, even though she's American, is very spiritual and open-minded. Since she was an American white woman living in Brazil, she wanted to participate more. My dad's Brazilian, and I have this [religious] heritage, so she wanted me to get a little bit of that.” 

"I was around thirteen when I really started learning more about it,” Vieira said. Her stepfather is an avid practitioner of Candomblé and has produced cultural short films that shed light on their traditions. BAME Students’ Network even screened his films earlier this semester. Vieira attributes some of her passion for Candomblé to him and his knowledge of the religion. “It's such an oral tradition, and he's been in these spaces [of worship], and his family practices it,” she explained. His twenty years of experience make him a helpful source of connection for her. 

Now that she is physically removed from places of worship, talking to her stepfather is one way she maintains her connection to Candomblé. “If I have questions, I call him up, and we talk,” Vieira said. 

Although much of her initial connection to Candomblé is due to her ancestral heritage and familial involvement, Vieira also has her own personal ways of engaging with the religion. "The ritual that might work for one person, that might make them feel good and strengthen their relationship with the orixás, might be different [from] what another person needs," she explained. 

Vieira also spoke on the philosophy of Candomblé and how that resonates with her values. “I don't see the world as black and white. I think it's just all shades of grey. And Candomblé very much aligns with that,” she said. “Everyone can do good and bad. You give what you get, and you get what you give. You have a reciprocal, symbiotic relationship with your orixá.”

While Vieira balances her connection with Candomblé both ancestrally and personally despite physical distance, fourth-year Aliyah Trovoada explores what spirituality looks like for her at St Andrews.

With her upbringing shaped by the cultures of São Tome and Mali, Trovoada has grown up surrounded by a world shaped by merged ideologies, one often conflated with witchcraft. "There isn't a name back home for these religions. They just call it 'religion from the Earth’,” Trovoada said. “In day-to-day life, it means ancestral veneration. It means having a really deep and rooted connection to the Earth [and] to the land I live on and practice on. I think we get this negative perception that it's witchcraft and whatnot. It's really not. At the end of the day, we're just working with the tools that the Earth has given us.”

Trovoada's spiritual practice is intertwined with Islam. Mali, her mother's homeland, initially consisted of various tribes who practised their respective spiritual religions. When Islam was introduced to the region, many Malians maintained some of their spiritual practices despite being converted to Islam, creating a unique blend of beliefs. 

There is significant tension in Mali regarding the fusion of Islam with spiritual religions. Trovoada recalled 20,000 Malians paying a spiritual healer to cast a spell during the African Cup of Nations in hopes that Mali would win. “That's how deep it runs in our culture,” she explained. “And then obviously, because it's still against Islam, the guy got arrested. It just shows how people still want [a return to spirituality] to happen; they still want to tap into it.”

Trovoada doesn’t feel a need or desire to explain the intricacies of her faith to everyone. “If someone were to ask me, ‘What do you practice?’ or ‘What's your religion?’ I would just say I'm Muslim or that I grew up Muslim,” Trovoada said. “I don't even really have a religion. I don't identify with one, but I do have a certain belief system.”

At St Andrews, Trovoada struggles to stay connected to her beliefs and family. “I feel so disconnected, so far. Not just physically, but even spiritually,” she said. Without her family, Trovoada finds it difficult to find comfort, but has tried to incorporate her beliefs into her life here. “I've found ways to sort of deal with that. Even in my classes, I talk about these things, which is, I guess, an offering in a sense,” she explained. “[For] one of my previous assignments for [Comparative Literature], I wrote a love letter to one of the goddesses that I really appreciate, and it made me feel definitely more at home.”

Though their beliefs originate in different continents and are demonstrated in different ways, both Vieira and Trovoada's connections to spirituality are resilient, ancestral, and personal. Religious life at St Andrews is ubiquitous and unlimited, even without being named, organised, or frequently discussed. Spirituality is present here and everywhere. 

Illustration by Veronika Sullivan