Food of the gods as a therapeutic practice

beyond nutritional and biological values

Abstract

The tastes and eating habits in Candomblé rituals are directly linked to its sacred actions. Eating, beyond mere consumption, carries an expanded meaning, especially in Candomblé. To eat is to activate the axé, the fundamental energy and force of life. Together, the preparation methods, knowledge, and rituals transmit axé. Since nourishment goes beyond a biological act, encompassing cultural, social, psychological, and spiritual aspects, the project entitled “Food and Therapeutic Practices in Traditional Communities of Recôncavo da Bahia” aimed to understand the dietary and therapeutic practices in Candomblé terreiros and the significance of food in terms of physical and spiritual well- eing. Understanding the complexity of the spiritual connections developed within a Candomblé terreiro is often immeasurable, even for its followers, presenting itself as a complex religious system. Thus, food is so intricately woven into this religion that one could say they cannot exist without each other, just as physical and spiritual well-being are interconnected and form the concept of health in Candomblé. Food in this religious context holds a symbolic role in communication between beings and deities, as it is through energetic exchanges that they both nourish and are nourished.