Quantos Orixás Tem Na Umbanda

Understanding the Orixás in Umbanda

There isn't a single agreed-upon number. When people ask quantos orixás tem na umbanda, the answer immediately splits depending on which terreiro they visit, which lineage they follow, and whether they're counting only the major deities or including regional variations. The most commonly cited figures range from 14 to 16, but the actual number shifts considerably when you dig into specific traditions.

quantos orixás tem na umbanda — a practical breakdown

The baseline that most candomblé-derived umbandista houses work with includes Oxalá, Iemanjá, Oxum, Ogum, Xangô, Iansã, Ossaim, Oxumará, Nanã Buruquê, Omulu, Obaluaiê, Logunedé, Ibeji (as a pair), Exu, and several others like Euá and Iansã depending on the region. That puts you somewhere between 14 and 17 depending on how you group things. Some lineages treat Omulu and Obaluaiê as two separate orixás while others consider them two aspects of the same entity. That single decision bumps the count up or down by one. I've seen practitioners in São Paulo give you 14, then in Rio de Janeiro get told there are 16, and in Salvador they'll say the full pantheon includes 20 or more when you count the regional additions. The confusion isn't accidental. It's structural. Umbanda absorbed elements from multiple source traditions — Candomblé Ketu, Candomblé Jeje, Espírito Santo, and Indigenous influences — and each contributed different orixás at different times.

The problem I ran into personally was trying to standardize a reference list for a community group I was helping organize. Every member brought a different number. One swore there were 14 based on their pai de santo's teaching. Another said 16 because their mãe de santo included Ogumjá and Ogum Araketu as distinct entities. A third referenced a published booklet claiming 18. The only way I resolved it was by mapping each number back to its specific lineage and documenting which orixás each tradition actually recognizes rather than pretending there's one authoritative list.

Why the number keeps changing

Umbanda isn't a centralized religion. There's no single authority that defines the official pantheon. Different federations have different positions. The Confederação Nacional de Umbanda published lists that vary across editions. Some Terreiros consider only the seven main orixás as the core, while others expand to include secondary deities, ancestral spirits, and regional variations. Here's a detail most beginners miss: the orixás themselves aren't static. Certain orixás manifest through different names and attributes depending on the regional tradition. Ogum in a Ketu-based terreiro carries different associations than Ogum in a Jeje-influenced house. Exu is sometimes counted as an orixá and sometimes classified separately as a messenger entity. These classification differences alone can shift the total by two or three.

I encountered another edge case that surprised me. In some Amazonian-influenced umbanda lineages, indigenous spirit entities like Caboclo and Curupira are counted alongside orixás in the spiritual hierarchy, though technically they're not orixás at all. When someone asks how many there are, the answer depends entirely on whether you're including those entities or restricting the count to the African-derived deities alone. I learned to always clarify the scope before giving any number.

A more useful approach than counting

Instead of chasing a definitive number, it's more practical to understand the categories. The primary orixás generally fall into groups based on their domains — war and iron, ocean and femininity, thunder and justice, health and healing, death and rebirth, fertility and youth. Each domain has one or more orixás associated with it, and some domains have multiple depending on the tradition. If you want a working reference, the most frequently cited core set in mainstream umbanda includes Oxalá, Iemanjá, Oxum, Ogum, Xangô, Iansã, Ossaim, Oxumará, Nanã, Omulu/Obaluaiê, Logunedé, Ibeji, Exu, and Euá. That's 14 entries with Omulu and Obaluaiê listed as a paired reference. Adding Ogumjá, Euá, and a few other regional orixás brings most practitioners to somewhere between 16 and 18 depending on their specific house.

The number isn't as important as understanding which orixás your particular terreiro recognizes and respects. Different houses emphasize different entities. Some focus heavily on Oxalá and the white line. Others center on the precepteiros and the seven oxuntens. Your local practice matters more than any published list. If you're looking for a specific terreiro's pantheon, the most reliable method is to ask directly or attend a session and observe which orixás are honored. Published lists are useful as general reference but they don't replace knowing your own community's tradition. The disagreement over the exact count usually disappears once you stop treating Umbanda as a monolith and start recognizing it as a collection of distinct lines and traditions, each with its own valid way of organizing the spiritual world.