"The plants have axé": investigating the use of plants in Afro-Brazilian religions of Santa Catarina Island.
Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine April 25, 2020 Tiago Santos Pagnocca, Sofia Zank, Natalia Hanazaki 19 citations
Afro-Brazilian religions on Santa Catarina Island, Brazil, use plants not only for spiritual purposes but also for their medicinal properties. Interviews with 27 spiritual leaders from Candomblé, Umbanda, and Ritual de Almas e Angola terreiros identified 93 plants (86 species) used in 14 categories. Liturgical ritual use was most common (59%), followed by general diseases (32%) and digestive diseases (27%). Sixteen plants were cited across all terreiros, indicating a culturally important set of species. Direct contact between plant and patient occurs in many liturgies, such as baths and smoke cleansing. The authors suggest these plants warrant pharmacological investigation for external use and emphasize valuing ancestral Afro-Brazilian knowledge and its broader, spiritual view of health.