Abstract
During the process of African enslavement in Brazil, blacks brought with them an immense symbolic-cultural background, such as dances, food, festivities and religious ceremonies. In the religious sphere, the process of exchanging African doctrines with cultural elements already existing in Brazilian lands gave rise to the Umbandaist religion. This article aimed to know the conceptions of practitioners and consultants of three Umbanda terreiros (meeting places) about health, illness and care. As a methodological matrix, we used the reference of Institutional Analysis “on paper”. The participants were three Umbanda priests and their practitioners and consultants of the terreiros they conducted. As a result, we identified some elements that would explain, according to Umbanda cosmologies, the health / disease processes: energy imbalances; negative thoughts and conduct towards life; nervousness; obsessors; unresolved mediumship or any medical or psychological issue. Therefore, it can be seen that the knowledge of the Umbanda peoples on health is very different from those on which the hegemonically instituted knowledge that directs health professionals is based.
Keywords:
Afro-Brazilian religions; cosmology; health; illness; care