Paper
Perception, sensoriality and health in Candomblé initiation (Brazil)
presenters
Francesca Bassi
Nationality: Italy
Residence: Brazil
Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia (Brazil)
Presence:Face to Face/ On Site
Keywords:
Candomblé, sympathy, antipathy, sensoriality, health
Abstract:
After the initiation, the existence of the follower of Candomblé religion acquires a particular symbolic resonance that gives new meanings to life events and allows new ways of acting, now hinging on sensoriality, and perceptiveness. The affinities with the main orisha, but also with the secondary ones, multiply the possibility of interpreting symbols tailored to the existence and to the sensory dimension of the initiate. Each orisha acts and reacts in a particular way, revealing even its antipathies (especially food antipathies) through the novice's intolerance and allergies symptoms or bodily sensitivity (nausea or disgust). Having relegated possession to specific and highly ritualised moments, the orisha remains latently present in ordinary time, outside of the phenomenon of trance, binding the novice in his intimate gestures, for example in his choice of food, but also endowing him with intuition and clairvoyance that involves a new resource for physical and mental health. A condition of continuous attention to the relationship with the orisha characterises the existence of the novice in everyday life - older initiates advise him to pay attention to the agency of the orisha, now perceptible precisely in different sensations, but also dreams and visions. The aversions with substances or natural elements of the world suggest a negative “energetic” connection with them; in addition, minor physical problems can be indicative of a much larger negative spiritual situation, so each symptom is carefully considered and interpreted, possibly resorting to divination. Therefore, the natural elements and substances associated with a physical rejection are intertwined with spiritual clues creating a more-than-human vision of health.