Anuário Antropológico
January 1, 2013
Rosa Virgínia Melo
4 citations
The article discusses the symbolic elaboration of the ayahuasca effect, called burracheira, within the União do Vegetal, a trance guided by the spirit of the doctrine's founding Master, consubstantiated in the drink. The constitution of this entity in the sacrament is interpreted through the reading of UDV myth and rite via metaphors and metonymies expressive of organic, emotional, and moral processes that reveal the hierarchical relationship between enchantment and discipline, effective and legitimizing elements of the institutionalization of religious practice. The author problematizes the hierarchical relations between enchantment and discipline in the notion of the person, symbolically constructed, as a potential for transforming individual behavior.
September 1, 2016
Rosa Virgínia Melo
2 citations
The discussion examines how myth and ritual in the União do Vegetal (UDV), an ayahuasca religion from Brazilian Amazonia, serve as symbolic channels for institutional meanings activated by the psychoactive sacrament. The decoction, called vegetal or hoasca, combines the leaf of Psychotria viridis (containing DMT) and the vine Banisteriopsis caapi (containing beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine). The vine's alkaloids inhibit monoamine oxidase (MAO), enabling the oral psychoactive effects of DMT. Both substances are active constituents in the human body.
Mana
December 11, 2015
Rosa Virgínia Melo
A book resulting from a collaborative research project maps Afro-Brazilian religious houses (terreiros) in Rio de Janeiro state. It describes a dual movement in these religions, both "invention" and "heritage," where memory work simultaneously drives transformation. The work is presented as a fundamental contribution to combating the vulnerability of the "povo de santo" (religious community). The research, conducted between 2008 and 2011 by PUC-Rio's Nirema and Nima centers, used systematic and participatory fieldwork to build a quantitative and qualitative documentary base for social cartography. The project aimed to map as many houses as possible through direct referrals, forming a network based on identification and trust, not an exhaustive census.