Reflections on viruses, death, life and human-nature relationship in Candomblé

Resumen

Concerned about the possibility of cremation of bodies because of the increase in the number of deaths by Covid-19, some associations of Afro-Brazilian religions have claimed the right to burial of Candomblé members. Funeral rituals facilitate the passage of the dead to the spiritual world and his or her reintegration into society as an ancestor, and returns the matter with which the the person was formed to the earth. This concern for death is, therefore, a concern for life and nature and reaffirms the principle of interconnection among all beings and of circularity of existence.