Between tradition and modernity: the relationship among healers and medicinal plants in an urban center in southern Brazil

Abstract

Background: Blessing (or benzedura) is a traditional health practice present in both rural and urban areas of Brazil.Several ethnobotanical studies demonstrate that practitioners have a vast knowledge of medicinal plants; however, it is still necessary to expand research to include the importance of the practice and the ways knowledge is transmitted when facing modernity. Thus, this study was conducted in an urban region of Florianopolis (SC) where we sought to investigate the diseases treated by blessings, the plants used in this practice, and the process of cultural transmission.Methods: We conducted interviews with eleven healers from the eastern region of Florianopolis. Information was collected through semi-structured protocols with a free list of plants, and the botanical collection and identification of mentioned plants. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 34 types of diseases and ailments that are treated through blessings were cited. For the treatment and cure of these ailments, the use of 24 species of medicinal plants was recorded, the most cited were Ruta graveolens (6 citations), Rosmarinus officinalis (3) and Petiveria alliacea (3). In terms of knowledge transmission, most respondents (46%) learned in childhood, 36% learned in adulthood through course, and 18% learned in adolescence. During the interviews, we noticed that new ways of transmitting knowledge are emerging, where courses and mobile applications are gaining importance.Conclusions: The practice of blessing continues to play an important role in the health of communities in the eastern region of Santa Catarina Island, and it is undergoing modernizing adaptations. It is important that future studies investigate the effect of technologies on this practice and the possible implications for the resilience or vulnerability of these health systems.

Traditional knowledge in medicinal plants and intermedicality in urban environments: a case study in a popular community in southern Brazil

“…Ethnobotanical studies on medicinal plants carried out in areas affected by urbanization primarily relied on the participation of women in the interviews, reaching 90% in some communities studied (Ávila et al 2015, Piccinini 2008, Vendruscolo 2004). In addition to these studies, Leal (1992), Marques et al (2015) and Da Silva and Zank (2022) draw attention to the role of women in family and community health promotion, which could also be observed in Morro da Cruz. Comparative studies between the local botanical knowledge of women and men from the same community can provide clues on how this protagonism is constituted and on the role of gender in structuring knowledge patterns of transmission.…”

“…Studies with traditional healer's report that awakening to this gift, or learning, also occurred or started in childhood (Attuch 2006, Da Silva & Zank 2022, Loyola 1984, Quintana 1998. Throughout her life, the midwife developed her mediumship, the midwife practice and spiritual leadership with the various religions she attended.…”

The influence of exotic and native plants on illnesses with physical and spiritual causes in the semiarid region of Piauí, Northeast of Brazil

“…From this perspective, the causes of illnesses or “therapeutic targets” may present variations depending on the perception of human groups. They can be categorized into: (1) illnesses or therapeutic targets with physical causes, when they are related to natural causes and linked to physical perceptions, with some degree of correspondence with biomedical systems [ 21 , 24 , 25 ]; or (2) illnesses or therapeutic targets with spiritual causes, when the causes are not recognized by biomedicine, but are associated with a symbolic and immaterial dimension, with explanations linked to a supernatural atmosphere accepted by a human group or ethnicity [ 21 , 26 , 27 ]. Thus, disease and health are not limited to biological and objective configurations, but are rather sociocultural constructions that vary according to each social group and its cultural identity [ 28 , 29 ].…”

“…Plants play a fundamental role within the sociocultural context of health and disease. They are used to treat not only diseases caused by physical factors, but also disorders of a spiritual nature; they are used for example for energy cleansing, “mau olhado” (evil eye), “vento-caído” (‘fallen wind’, when a child takes a fright), “quebranto” (‘brokenness’), spells, and so on [ 26 , 30 , 31 ]. Exotic plants have been incorporated into spiritual therapeutic practices, including rituals and related therapies, resulting in modifications within cultural systems [ 32 ].…”

Rural Botanical Knowledge in Urbanity: Restructurings and Resignifications in the Peripheries of a Patagonian City in Argentina

“…Hurrell and Pochettino (2014) discuss the peripheries of Buenos Aires city in terms of immigration patterns and the roles that certain human groups have played in the circulation of medicinal plants, while questioning stagnant notions about traditional botanical knowledge associated to rurality, and nontraditional knowledge associated to urbanity. This nondichotomous perspective is key to understand the dynamics of medicines among migrant communities in contexts of intermedicality (Casagrande, Ritter, and Kubo 2023). Wayland (2004) describes the use of medicinal plants in the Amazonian urban peripheries of Brazil as a form of social resistance against the failed promise of urban development and prosperity brought by the change toward modern lifestyle.…”