A experiência religiosa e a institucionalização da religião

Abstract

WITHIN the dynamics of the Brazilian religious milieu, different groups are constantly emerging - some remain, while others disappear. This essay is an attempt to show how these groups constitute a gradient, a continuum that stretches from their inception to their ultimate institutionalization, either as a church or in peculiar manners of institutionalizes sacredness. The main theoretical reference is Roger Bastide's concept of "savage sacredness".