Children in Umbanda: who are the Erês, offerings and meaning

In Umbanda, Crianças are spiritual entities that manifest with the energy, voice, gestures, and joy of children. They are also known as Erês, Ibeijada, or the line of child spirits, and they work in terreiros (Umbanda temples) bringing purity, lightness, emotional healing, child protection, and spiritual renewal.

They are not orixás or deities. In Umbanda, the Crianças are spiritual guides for work, just like the Caboclos, Pretos Velhos, Ciganos, Exus, or Pombagiras, but they express themselves from the vibration of childhood. Their joyful and playful nature should not be mistaken for a lack of seriousness: behind the play lies cleansing, guidance, harmonization, and spiritual help.

It is also important to clarify that this article refers to the Crianças within Umbanda. Although the lineage is symbolically associated with Ibeji, the orixá of twins in the Yoruba tradition, the Crianças incorporated in the terreiro are not the orixá Ibeji nor the Jimaguas of Osha-Ifá. They are spiritual entities specific to the Umbanda universe.

Technical sheet of the Crianças in Umbanda

Date	Information
Name	Crianças, Erês, Ibeijada or line of child spirits.
Entity type	Spiritual working entities that manifest with childlike vibration.
Main tradition	Umbanda, Brazil.
Spiritual field	Joy, purity, emotional healing, child protection, sweetness, renewal, and harmony.
Form of manifestation	Childlike speech, games, laughter, mischief, singing, crying, sweetness and spontaneity.
Associated day	September 27th, the day of Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian in many Umbanda houses.
Common offerings	Sweets, candies, chocolates, guarana, soft drinks, fruits, toys and cakes.
Main symbols	Sweets, toys, balloons, fruit, light or bright colors, laughter, play and a children's table.

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Who are the Crianças in Umbanda?

The Crianças are spiritual entities that work in Umbanda with the symbolic power of childhood. They manifest as children, with a simple way of speaking, spontaneous gestures, a love of sweets, games, laughter, and an energy that often completely changes the atmosphere of the terreiro (temple).

In many traditions, these entities are understood to be spirits who passed away at a young age or who retain a childlike energy to work spiritually. Other traditions prefer to describe them as guides who take the form of children to transmit purity, joy, simplicity, and emotional healing.

Their work is not based on stern authority or solemn pronouncements. The Crianças help through tenderness, play, laughter, and innocence. This way of expressing themselves may seem simple, but it touches deep parts of the heart: sadness, fear, emotional exhaustion, loss of hope, and wounds that an adult often doesn't know how to express.

Why are they called Erês?

In many homes umbandaThe children are also called Erês. The term is used broadly to refer to child spirits or child entities that work in the rituals. Names such as Ibeijada, Ibejis, or Dois-Dois may also appear, depending on the house, region, and ritual language.

However, it's important to clarify these terms to avoid mixing different traditions. In Umbanda, when referring to Erês or Crianças, one is usually talking about child-like spiritual entities that work as guides in the terreiro (temple).

That is not the same as Ibeji as an orixá, nor the same as the jimaguas in the context of Osha-Ifá. The association exists because of the symbolic power of childhood, twins, joy and the protection of children, but association does not mean identity.

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Crianças, Erês, Ibeji and Jimaguas: important differences

This point is key to avoiding confusion. In Umbanda, Crianças belong to a line of child-like spiritual entities. Ibeji, on the other hand, is an orixá associated with twins, childhood, joy, and child protection within Yoruba traditions. Jimaguas belong to the Osha-Ifá context and have their own religious foundation.

In Umbanda, a symbolic association can exist between the Crianças and the power of the Ibeji, especially due to the syncretism with Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian. However, the Crianças incorporated during a ritual should not be treated as if they were the orixá Ibeji, nor as if they were the Jimaguas of Cuban Santería.

They must also be distinguished from the Erê of Candomblé. In Candomblé, the Erê can be understood as a childlike state or manifestation linked to the orixá of an initiate. In Umbanda, on the other hand, the Crianças line functions as a line of working spiritual entities. They are universes that overlap in certain symbols, but they are not the same.

Name	Context	How to understand
Children in Umbanda	Umbanda.	Childlike spiritual entities that work as guides in the terreiro.
Erês in Umbanda	Umbanda.	Name used for the Crianças or child spirits within many houses.
Ibeji	Yoruba-rooted traditions and orixás in a Brazilian context.	Orixá associated with twins, childhood, joy, and child protection.
jimaguas	Osha-Ifá and Cuban Santería.	A distinct religious foundation within the Rule of Osha, related to twins.
Erê in Candomblé	Candomblé.	Manifestation or infantile state related to the orixá of the initiate, different from the line of Crianças de Umbanda.

How the Crianças manifest themselves on tour

Recognizing a Criança incluido is usually easy. Their behavior can resemble that of a child: simple speech, spontaneous laughter, playfulness, small whims, mischief, a craving for sweets, quick movements, and a joy that is contagious to those present.

Some Crianças arrive very cheerful, singing or running. Others may manifest themselves crying, asking for food, looking for toys, or showing a quieter sensitivity. Each entity has its own personality, and not all behave the same way.

In some houses, differences are noted between boys and girls within this lineage. Boys may be more restless, mischievous, or messy; girls, sweeter, more sensitive, or calmer. But this isn't a fixed rule. Each Criança has its own way of working, its own name, its own energy, and its own relationship with the medium.

Precisely because of this expansive energy, the Crianças tours require order and guidance. The leaders, shamans, and mediums of the house ensure that the play doesn't become a distraction and that the spiritual message can be conveyed clearly. Joy is part of the work, but the foundation remains serious.

The spiritual force behind the game

One of the most common mistakes is thinking that the Crianças are “less important” entities because they manifest themselves through play. In Umbanda, the opposite is true: their play has a spiritual function.

Laughter, sweetness, and spontaneity help break down emotional burdens that adults hold tightly. Often, a simple word from a child can touch more deeply than a long speech. Their energy disarms defenses, softens heavy atmospheres, and opens hearts.

The Crianças work with joy, but not superficially. They can cleanse sadness, alleviate emotional pain, harmonize the home, protect children, renew hope, and bring lightness back to people who have been carrying worries for a long time.

Its strength reminds us that spirituality doesn't always come with solemnity. Sometimes it comes with a sweet treat, a laugh, a children's song, or a simple phrase that restores confidence.

How do the children help?

The Crianças are often sought out for matters related to the soul, joy, child protection, and emotional healing. Their energy helps to soften tense environments, alleviate sadness, and restore a sense of hope to those who feel tired or despondent.

They are also associated with childhood, motherhood, fertility, child protection, and the beginning of new chapters. In many homes, their work has a vibration of renewal: they help people start anew, regain confidence, and view life with less burden.

• To relieve sadness, anguish, and emotional exhaustion.
• Healing wounds of the soul linked to abandonment, fear, or loss of joy.
• Protecting children and strengthening their spiritual well-being.
• To accompany orders related to maternity, fertility or family.
• To regain lightness after difficult stages.
• Harmonize heavy or tense environments.
• Strengthen hope, gentleness, and trust in life.
• To help release rigidity, bitterness, or excessive worry.

Their help should not be seen as childish magic or a baseless game. The Crianças work from a vibration of purity, but within the spiritual order of the terreiro.

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The day of the Crianças in Umbanda

The day most associated with the Crianças in Umbanda is September 27th, the feast day of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Brazilian folk Catholic tradition. In many terreiros, this day is celebrated with songs, sweets, fruits, guarana, toys, colorful tables, and much joy.

The celebration combines several symbolic layers. On one hand, there are Saints Cosmas and Damian, physician saints and martyrs in the Catholic tradition. On the other, there is the association with Ibeji, an orixá linked to twins and childhood in the Yoruba tradition. Added to this is the Umbanda experience of the Crianças as childlike spiritual entities that bless, cleanse, and bring joy to the terreiro (temple).

A very popular custom in Brazil is to give sweets to children on that day. In Umbanda houses, the celebration can become a very special ritual, where the Crianças (children) manifest themselves, play, bless, advise, and spread an energy of tenderness and renewal.

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Saints Cosmas, Damian, and Doum

The syncretism of the Crianças is often linked to Saints Cosmas and Damian, two brother saints associated with medicine, help, and protection. In Brazilian folk tradition, Doum also appears, presented as a third child or younger brother within this children's devotion.

These associations do not mean that the Crianças “are” Catholic saints, nor that they are exactly Ibeji. Syncretism functions as a symbolic bridge: different traditions converge around childhood, protection, sweetness, health, joy, and the blessing of children.

Therefore, in Umbanda, a children's table can include sweets, toys, images of saints, vibrant colors, and songs specific to the terreiro (temple). All of this forms part of a spiritual language where childhood becomes a sacred force.

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Offerings to the Children

Offerings to the children are often the sweetest and most joyful within Umbanda. In many homes, they are offered candies, chocolates, guarana, juices, fruits, cakes, toys, and items that evoke the world of childhood.

However, there is no universal recipe. Each house may have its own rules, and each Criança may request specific items depending on their way of working. The important thing is to offer them with love, respect, and joy, not as a mechanical obligation.

Element	What is usually offered to them	Frequent meaning
Sweet Wines	Candies, bullets, chocolates, lollipops and assorted sweets.	Joy, sweetness, tenderness, childhood and loving offering.
Beverages	Guarana, soft drinks, sweet juices or drinks indicated by the house.	Celebration, freshness, lightness and childlike energy.
Fruits	Fresh fruits, especially sweet and colorful ones.	Vitality, purity, health, abundance and renewal.
Toys	Small toys, dolls, toy cars, balls or simple objects.	Play, innocence, closeness to the entity, and shared joy.
Homemade cakes and sweets	Cakes, biscuits, honeys or sweet preparations.	Party, affection, shared table and celebration of the Crianças.
Sails	Clear, pink, light blue, white or colored candles depending on the house.	Light, protection, request, purity and spiritual connection.
Flores	Light-colored, cheerful flowers, or those indicated by the entity.	Purity, tenderness, beauty, harmony and elevation of the environment.

The offering should not be understood as payment for something. In Umbanda, offering to the Crianças is a gesture of affection, gratitude, and spiritual connection. For more specific practices, it is advisable to seek guidance from a reputable terreiro (temple).

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Colors and symbols of the Crianças

The Crianças are often associated with light, bright, and cheerful colors. White, pink, light blue, yellow, light green, and soft tones may appear in candles, tables, decorations, clothing, or items used on tour. However, there isn't a single color for the entire line.

Its most frequent symbols come from the world of childhood: sweets, toys, balloons, fruit, songs, laughter, colorful tables, and simple objects. These elements are not merely decorative; they express the spiritual vibration of childhood, purity, joy, and renewal.

Symbol	Frequent meaning
Sweet Wines	Sweetness, joy, tenderness, affection, and childlike energy.
Toys	Playfulness, innocence, spontaneity, and closeness to the entity.
Guarana or soft drinks	Celebration, freshness, festivity and spiritual lightness.
Balloons	Joy, upliftment, celebration, color, and emotional expansion.
Fruits	Vitality, purity, health, abundance and renewal.
Children's songs	Calling, connection, ritual joy and harmonization of the environment.
Light or bright colors	Purity, lightness, childhood, hope and spiritual joy.

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Names of Children and Children

Each Criança can be presented with a proper name, often a childlike, affectionate, or diminutive name. There is no fixed list for all houses, because each terreiro recognizes its own entities and each medium can work with a different Criança.

Along with names associated with syncretism, such as Cosme, Damián or Doum, simple and affectionate names may appear such as Pedrinho, Joãozinho, Mariazinha, Rosinha, Aninha, Juquinha, Paulinho, Chiquinho, Tatá and other similar names.

The important thing is not to memorize a list of names, but to understand that each Criança has his own way of manifesting himself, his energy, his way of advising and his particular relationship with the house where he works.

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How to work with children

Although the Crianças manifest themselves through play, their work requires respect. They are not entertainment nor a "minor" part of the terreiro. They are spiritual entities that arrive with joy, but also with a foundation, a mission, and the capacity to help profoundly.

Approaching them with respect means treating them with affection, without mockery, without offensively infantilizing their work, and without improvising rituals taken from the internet. In Umbanda, the entities are attended to within a house, with guidance, order, and foundation.

• Approach with affection, respect, and genuine joy.
• Do not make fun of their childish way of expressing themselves.
• Do not treat them as entertainment or a simple game.
• Do not promise sweets, toys, or offerings that you will not fulfill.
• Seek guidance from a terreiro or experienced guide.
• Do not improvise complex rituals without foundation.
• Remember that their gentleness does not diminish the seriousness of their spiritual work.
• Respect the house rules during Crianças tours.

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Frequently asked questions about Crianças in Umbanda

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Final summary

In Umbanda, Crianças are childlike spiritual entities that work with joy, purity, sweetness, protection, and emotional healing. They are also called Erês, Ibeijada, or child spirits, depending on the house and tradition.

They are not orixás and should not be confused with Ibeji or the Jimaguas of Osha-Ifá. Although there is a symbolic association with childhood, twins, and Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian, each tradition has its own foundation and its own way of understanding these figures.

The strength of the Crianças lies in their lightness. They play, laugh, ask for sweets, and manifest themselves with childlike energy, but their spiritual work can be very profound: they cleanse, alleviate sadness, protect children, harmonize environments, and restore hope.

Understanding the Crianças requires respect for Umbanda and caution regarding religious mixing. In the terreiro, their sweetness is not mere play: it is a form of healing, a luminous way of remembering that joy can also be spiritual strength.

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To delve deeper

The Crianças are part of the vast universe of Umbanda entities. To better understand their place within the terreiro, you can also read: