Mãe Stella de Azevedo Santos has devoted her life to Candomblé. She has spent 66 years as a priestess—the last 26 as head of a renowned temple in Salvador, Brazil. She has asserted Candomblé’s independence from Roman Catholicism, preserved its history in a new museum, written two books, and made a video.

“We worship the supreme God—Olorun—and the divinities—orixás. They are living entities and phenomena of Nature that appear in the most varied forms possible. After we perform our rituals, they can respond to our most basic needs.”