The Beating Heart of Umbanda Practice
In the sacred rhythm of Umbanda, mediumship unfolds like a song carried on the wind—both a divine gift and a sacred responsibility. It links the visible and invisible worlds, allowing spirit and matter to meet. From a whisper in the heart to the presence of a guiding spirit, mediumship is the sacred current that animates Umbanda.
As described in our post on What Is Umbanda?, this Afro-Brazilian tradition thrives on connection—to the divine, to the ancestors, to the forces of nature. And it is through the work of mediums, those walking bridges between realms, that these connections become real, embodied, and luminous.
Mediumship: Path, Potential, and Responsibility
In Umbanda, everyone is considered a medium. Each person carries the innate potential to connect with the spiritual realm, but this path cannot be rushed or forced. There are no formulas or shortcuts—only dedication, humility, and spiritual development. The spiritual world does not respond to urgency; it responds to readiness. It comes not when called, but when welcomed, revealing itself at the right time, in its own way. For many, the gift of mediumship lies dormant, like a seed awaiting the season to bloom.
Mediumship in Umbanda is not seen as a talent but as a spiritual mission. It is a journey of learning and service that often begins with fear, awe, or confusion. Through giras de desenvolvimento (mediumship development sessions), new mediums are trained under the guidance of elder spirits and experienced practitioners. This process can take years and continues throughout life, combining ethical preparation, personal discipline, and spiritual maturity.
Types of Mediumship in Umbanda
Umbanda expresses mediumship in multiple ways, each revealing how spiritual and material worlds meet. Umbanda recognizes four main types of mediumship, each reflecting a unique dynamic of spiritual communication.
At the same time, these categories are not rigid. Different houses and traditions may emphasize one form over another or recognize unique expressions. Many mediums develop multiple types over time, which often complement each other. This diversity reveals the living, adaptive nature of Umbanda—a religion where spiritual connection unfolds according to personal growth, collective needs, and ancestral guidance.
Psychic Mediumship
Psychic mediumship is the subtle ability to perceive messages, emotions, and impressions from the spiritual plane without entering trance. These messages may come in the form of sounds, visions, sensations, or intuitive certainties, all while the medium remains fully conscious and anchored in the physical world.
Types of Psychic Mediums
- Clairaudient and Clairvoyant Mediums hear spirit voices or perceive symbolic visions, either internally or as if from outside.
- Clariolfactive and Clarigustative Mediums perceive spiritual aromas or tastes that may signal a spirit’s presence or vibration.
- Clairsentient Mediums feel emotional or energetic impressions, often sensing the presence or intention of spirits.
- Energetic Absorbers absorb the emotional or spiritual energy of others or the environment—most often unintentionally. These mediums often require spiritual hygiene practices to restore balance.
- Inspirational Mediums (irradiation) receive subtle insights or spontaneous spiritual understanding without entering trance.
- Pictographic Mediums serve as artistic channels, allowing spirits to express themselves through drawing or painting, sometimes producing complex or symbolic works beyond the medium’s artistic ability.
- Psychometric Mediums receive impressions through physical contact with objects, reading their energetic or spiritual history.
- Sensitive Mediums may not understand the message fully but can detect spiritual presence and emotional energy, which lays the groundwork for deeper development.
Trance Mediumship
Trance mediumship involves altered states where the spirit accesses the medium’s energetic and mental fields. Unlike full incorporation, trance does not always lead to physical expression. Instead, it opens a spiritual and mental pathway where communication can take place through impressions, speech, or movement.
Types of Mediums Within Trance
- Materialization and Telekinetic Mediums may allow spirits to affect the physical space through their energy.
- Projection Mediums may experience astral or mental travel, acting beyond the body to receive teachings or perform spiritual tasks.
- Psychographic Mediums receive spiritual messages through writing. In a light trance, their hand moves seemingly on its own, guided by a spirit to record teachings, insights, or spiritual narratives.
- Speaker Mediums channel messages through spoken word while in a lightly altered state, often feeling their voice guided by a wisdom beyond their conscious mind.
- Xenoglossic Mediums speak in languages unknown to them, often in ritual contexts or deep trance states, allowing a spirit’s cultural or spiritual identity to be expressed.
Healing Mediumship
Healing mediums channel spiritual energy to support physical, emotional, and spiritual recovery. Their work may involve laying on of hands, energy projection, or traditional Umbanda practices like passes. Some serve as vessels for spiritual energy, guided—intentionally or not—by healing entities, without requiring incorporation. Others offer healing from within, driven by personal intention and vibration. Though not always classified as mediumship, this second form may still attract spiritual support. What distinguishes the forms is the source—spirit, self, or both.
Incorporation Mediumship
Incorporation is the most recognizable form of mediumship in Umbanda. In this experience, the spiritual guide aligns closely with the medium’s perispirit—the subtle spiritual body that links spirit and matter—and temporarily directs the physical body. The medium’s gestures, tone, and expressions shift as the spirit aligns with their perispirit—forming a channel without physical possession. This process occurs with full consent of the medium.
The degree of incorporation can vary: it may be conscious, semi-conscious, or unconscious, depending on the medium’s development, sensitivity, the circumstances, and their openness to the experience.
Types of Incorporation
- Conscious Incorporation occurs when the medium remains fully aware of their surroundings and of the spirit’s expressions. There is cooperation between medium and entity, though the medium may feel slightly detached.
- Semi-conscious Incorporation involves a partial disconnection, where the medium retains some awareness during the communication. After the manifestation, they may recall fragments of the interaction.
- Unconscious Incorporation is marked by a complete surrender of awareness. In this deep trance state, the medium retains no memory of what is said or done during the spiritual manifestation. This form of incorporation is rare, typically emerging only after years of disciplined development—and sometimes only in exceptional or extreme circumstances.
Most mediums experience semi-conscious incorporation, with shifts in awareness that serve different purposes. At times, the entity creates a moment of greater clarity to help the medium retain a specific message.
Mediumship as the Structure of Spiritual Work in Umbanda
While incorporation is the most visible form of mediumship in Umbanda, the spiritual work carried out in the terreiro (Umbanda temple) depends on a subtle and coordinated network of various mediumistic expressions. Mediumship supports every phase of ritual, from preparation to transformation.
Spiritual Preparation Before the Gira
Before the ritual even begins, the spiritual guides of the house—operating from the spiritual plane—prepare the energetic ground. They assess the needs of those attending, harmonize the vibrational field, and assign spiritual tasks. This is a moment of intense spiritual coordination, laying the foundation for everything that follows.
Meanwhile, incarnate participants engage in their own mediumistic readiness. Some spend the day in reflection; others take ritual baths (banhos) or offer prayers. The goal is to prepare body, mind, and spirit for communication.
Much of this spiritual planning unfolds in silence and invisibility. Yet mediumship is already at work—without incorporation. Intuition, dreams, subtle sensations, and sudden certainties begin to emerge. These non-incorporative channels synchronize the spiritual and physical realms, ensuring alignment before the gira begins.
Harmony During the Gira
During the gira, the entire terreiro works as a coordinated spiritual body. Cambonos, ogans, healing mediums, incorporated mediums, and all participants contribute to sustaining the spiritual current in harmony.
A cambono—a key assistant in Umbanda rituals—is responsible for helping both the spirit entity and the medium during incorporation. They also welcome and guide those seeking help. Cambonos support the medium and spirit, guiding energy and helping sustain the ritual’s balance.
An ogan—a ritual musician in Umbanda—is responsible for playing the atabaques, the sacred drums that maintain and amplify the spiritual vibration. Beyond rhythm, the ogan plays through perception and energy. They adjust tempo and rhythm in tune with the unfolding spiritual work, shaping the drum’s vibration through their sensitivity. The rhythm can facilitate incorporations, shift energies, or anchor the ritual’s intent.
Healing mediums are also called upon when needed. Sometimes they work with the support of an incorporated entity, particularly when spiritual diagnosis or guidance is required. More often, however, they act independently—relying on their sensitivity and alignment with the current of the gira to deliver subtle yet essential forms of spiritual care.
Incorporating mediums are the visible channel through which the spirits speak, move, and act during a gira. Through their preparation, receptivity, and spiritual alignment, they allow the entity to express itself through voice, gestures, and energy. Yet their role is not passive. Incorporating mediums stay actively engaged, even in altered states. They help anchor the spirit’s intention and ensure clear, respectful communication.
Beyond What Can Be Seen
These are just a few visible roles in the ritual. Yet Umbanda reminds us that many other forces—unseen and unnamed—are present in every gira. Guiding spirits, elemental beings, and ancestral presences form a vast, silent network supporting and aligning the spiritual work.
This affirms a deeper truth of Umbanda: incorporation is only one expression within a broader current of mediumship. From subtle impressions to spiritual manifestations, mediumship sustains sacred service throughout the ritual.
The Spirit-Medium Partnership: More Than Incorporation
Umbanda sees the medium and the spiritual entity as a team, a bond forged in the rhythm of the gira and nurtured over time. What begins as collaboration during ritual evolves into a living partnership that extends beyond the sacred space. The spirit continues to guide the medium through subtle signs, intuition, and shared purpose, even outside ritual contexts. Over time, this connection becomes part of the medium’s daily life—a relationship grounded in trust, presence, and mutual transformation.
Mediumship and the Orishás: Understanding the Distinction
Many confuse the role of Orishás in Umbanda mediumship. In traditional practice, Orishás are not incorporated. They are not spirits of the dead but sacred forces that govern nature, destiny, and the Ori—a person’s spiritual head. Their influence shapes temperament, behavior, and life paths, yet they do not manifest through mediumistic incorporation.
Instead, mediums incorporate spirits such as Pretos-Velhos, Caboclos, Erês, and Exus, who may act under the vibration of an Orishá. These entities work within the divine current, but they do not become or embody the Orishá itself.
During a gira, a medium—incorporated or not—may sense the presence of an Orishá during a gira, often through intuition or energy. This is not incorporation, but alignment or resonance with the divine.
Final Thoughts: Embracing Mediumship With Respect and Clarity
Mediumship in Umbanda is a sacred collaboration—a dance between the human and the spiritual. It requires patience, honesty, and guidance. More than a supernatural phenomenon, it is a path of transformation for both the medium and the community they serve.
Have you experienced mediumship in your own way—during a gira, through intuition, or by supporting spiritual work in the terreiro? Share your experience or reflection in the comments—we’d love to hear your story.
Ashé—may your journey through the sacred paths of mediumship be full of light and learning.
Dive Deeper
- Learn more about the Pontos Riscados in Umbanda: Sacred Signs of Spiritual Presence
- Discover The Marinheiros in Umbanda: Joyful Healers of the Waters
- Explore Monotheism and Orishas in Umbanda: Divine Unity and Spiritual Entities
Sources:
