Sacred Leaves of Candomblé : African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil / Robert A. Voeks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Voeks, Robert A., Author.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, [2000]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Winner, Hubert Herring Book Award, Pacific Coast Council on Latin American Studies Candomblé, an African religious and healing tradition that spread to Brazil during the slave trade, relies heavily on the use of plants in its spiritual and medicinal practices. When its African adherents were forcibly transplanted to the New World, they faced the challenge not only of maintaining their culture and beliefs in the face of European domination but also of finding plants with similar properties to the ones they had used in Africa. This book traces the origin, diffusion, medicinal use, and meaning of Candomblé's healing pharmacopoeia—the sacred leaves. Robert Voeks examines such topics as the biogeography of Africa and Brazil, the transference—and transformation—of Candomblé as its adherents encountered both native South American belief systems and European Christianity, and the African system of medicinal plant classification that allowed Candomblé to survive and even thrive in the New World. This research casts new light on topics ranging from the creation of African American cultures to tropical rain forest healing floras.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FIGURES

NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY

PREFACE

1 INTRODUCTION

2 THE BAHIAN LANDSCAPE

3 INDIANS AND AFRICANS

4 RELIGION OF THE ORIXAS

5 CANDOMBLE MEDICINE

6 MEDICINAL PLANT CLASSIFICATION

7 THE CANDOMBLE FLORA

8 AFRICAN RELIGION IN THE AMERICAS

Appendix 1 Candomble Species List

Appendix 2 House Abo for Three Candomble Terreiros

NOTES

GLOSSARY

REFERENCES CITED

GENERAL INDEX

INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Mar 2025)

ISBN:

9780292799936

OCLC:

1511480154