Jurema e transiência ontológica: das matas às cidades, do Brasil a Portugal

Abstract

This article analyses the interaction between the jurema plant and humans in new ritualistic and spiritual landscapes. There is a related historical and cultural legacy of studies on jurema in Brazil, still strongly related to its use in the context of African and Indigenous religions. However, this connection is providing new links through emerging flows and interactions that go beyond these traditional structures and boundaries. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of what ontological transitions are based on the case study of jurema, which transcends not only its own category as a plant, but also the position it occupies in space through its cultural expansion into Portugal. Using the scientific lens of anthropology, it has been possible, through the ethnographic method, to immerse ourselves in this intricate plant-human relationship, analyzing the transition of scenarios through which the jurema is making its way. To this end, by conducting fieldwork in Brazil (2019 to 2021) and Portugal (which began in an exploratory way in 2022), this relationship has been scrutinized, allowing direct dialogue to be established with some interlocutors. In this sense, the first impressions of the jurema rituals practiced in Portugal, these "other" subjects seem to be looking for mediumistic development; improvement of living conditions and well-being in all fields (physical, mental, financial, spiritual); overcoming difficulties, projecting on the jurema entity: support, help, teaching and strength to continue their earthly life.

Keywords

• jurema
• power plants
• spirituality
• plant-human interaction
• cultural landscapes
• ontological transience