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Product Description
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.
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Amazon Average Rating 5.0/5.0
Sacred Leaves of Candomblé: African Magic, Medicine, and Religion in Brazil
SACRED LEAVES OF CANDOMBLÉ: AFRICAN MAGIC, MEDICINE, AND RELIGION IN BRAZIL is a fabulous book. It is lucidly written and is chock-full of useful information.
Robert A. Voeks is an Associate Professor of Geography at California State University, Fullerton. He divides his book into 8 chapters. Chapter 1 is a short introduction, which tells what he the rest of the book will be investigating – namely the transfer of the African religion and leaf medicine to Brazil. Chapter 2 — The Bahian Landscape begins with the development of the continents and tells how the flora of South America and Africa were the same and how they were different. Chapter 3 entitled Indians and Africans relates the introduction of Africans as slaves into Brazil and they’re relationship with the native Indian population. Chapter 4 – Religion of the Orixás gives the history of the African religion in Brazil and an overview of its structure. Chapter 5 – Candomblé Medicine tells the types of medicine practiced and who and how it is practiced. Chapter 6 – Medicinal Plant Classification gives the relationship of the Divinities with the plants and their usages. Wow! Chapter 7 – Candomblé Flora tells what plants are used and how they survive or arrive in Brazil. Chapter 8 – African Religion in the Americas relates how and why African religion survived and flourished in some parts of the New World and why it didn’t take hold in others. The author includes an appendix on Candomblé Species List and one on House Abô for Three Candomblé Terreiros as well as Notes, Glossary, References Cited, General Index and Index of Scientific Names.
The author’s beautifully coherent prose makes this book a great pleasure to read. Those who are interested in the African New World religions, ethnobotany, or the African Diaspora will find this book useful and informative. Highly recommended!
Rating: 5 / 5
Peter Voeks has accomplished something that Anthropologists and Religious Studies scholars have failed to do for years– he has given us a fresh perspective on Candomble. Not since the early work of Robert Farris Thompson and Pierre Verger have I been so intrigued by a new publication on Afro-Brazilian religion. Voeks’ book is both thoughtful and sensitive, and has something to offer the experienced student of Afro-Braziliana.
Rating: 5 / 5