a spiral conversation between the “terreiro” and ancestrality: childhood, community and belonging

Abstract

The article presents a conversation between Professor Edna Olimpia da Cunha and Professor Wanderson Flor do Nascimento, held in the historic Pedra do Sal, in Rio de Janeiro, which discusses childhood from the perspective of African traditions and the ways of thinking of the “terreiros”. The dialog addresses spiral time and the figure of Exu, who, represented as a child, carries the collective memory and plays with time, connecting past and present. This perspective breaks with linear, Western views of childhood, recognizing children as living manifestations of ancestry. The notion of community is central to the conversation, being described as a historical and relational entity that precedes and sustains the individual. Education, in turn, is approached as a continuous, relational and collective process, rooted in community practices, orality and ethics. In the terreiros, ancestry is lived in the present, challenging neoliberal and colonial logics that fragment collectivity and prioritize individualism. The teacher highlights the political role of terreiros as spaces of resistance and formation, which integrate tradition, belonging and transformation. The practices value interdependence between community members, creating alternative ways of existing and educating. The continuity of this formative model, which questions hegemonic paradigms, depends on a political and community engagement capable of sustaining these ancestral forms of coexistence, memory and formation.