List of botanical species used in Umbanda Nagô temples Vladimir Stolzenberg Torres

Abstract

It is known the importance of plants in Afro-Brazilians rituals. Both the symbolic value of herbs in the religions influenced by African culture and also the effect that they cause to those who make used individually or collectively, the effects may emphasize certain behavioral aspects required by the rituals, such as trance. This knowledge was kept through the relationship with the gods and with nature, understanding the world through a sacred cosmology where the natural elements are integrated to human life. In this sense, there is shown use plants in the rituals, in searching for vibrations and irradiation of energy, for therapeutic and mystic purposes, as offerings to spiritual entities. The study was conducted in eight yards of Umbanda ritual Nago (seven located in Porto Alegre and one in the municipality of Cidreira). The inventory revealed performed using 56 plant species when considering the popular designations, a number that modify to 54 when considering the scientific nomenclature, distributed in 26 families Fabaceae being predominant, then Solanaceae. Only one species has been identified with a designation of use in Yoruba in this case Orô.