gbeiguelman - NOCIOUS AND SUSPECTED VENOMS

Author: gbeiguelman

Sabina India

Índia Sabina (Belém do Pará, c. 1715 — date and place of death unknown)

In the Amazon of the 18th century, Índia Sabina gained renown by combining indigenous knowledge and elements of Christianity to break spells and make predictions. In her rituals, she used crosses, holy water, and prayers to the Virgin Mary, but also pipes, local herbs, cinnamon-flavored rum, and incense. She conducted intense ceremonies, inducing patients to purifying vomiting, in which, it was said, lizards, wasps, and fantastic creatures, such as fish-headed centipedes, were expelled.

Luzia Pinta

Luzia Pinta

(Angola ≈1700 - Portugal, date of death unknown) Luzia Pinta was enslaved as a child and lived in Minas Gerais. She bought her freedom from her brothers João Pinto Dias and Manoel Pinto Dias, her masters, and a small plot of land in Sabará, where she lived. She took part in calundus, collective rituals of possession and trance, with divinatory and therapeutic functions, [...]

Trotula of Salerno

Trotula of Salerno (Italy, 1050. Date of death unknown)

Trotula of Salerno, from the 10th century, a pioneer in women's health, wrote On the Diseases of Women. Her work was silenced and attributed to men for centuries.

Maria Sybilla

Maria Sybilla Merrian (Germany, 1647 - Netherlands, 1717)

Maria Sibylla Merian, a pioneering naturalist, revolutionized the study of metamorphosis with works such as Metamorphosis Insectorum. Rediscovered, she is a symbol of resistance

Maria Graham

Maria Graham (England, 1785-1842)

Maria Graham, a writer and naturalist, stood out for her botanical collections in Brazil, criticism of slavery and works that marked the science and art of the 19th century.

Mary Banning

Mary Banning (USA, 1822-1903)

Mary Banning, author of The Fungi of Maryland (1888), revolutionized the study of mushrooms in the USA, but died in 1903 without recognition, isolated and forgotten.

Marianne North

Marianne North (England, 1830-1890)

Marianne North defied convention with her vibrant aesthetic. She created a gallery at Kew Gardens and has the Nepenthes northiana in her honor.

Constança Paca

Constança Paca (Rio de Janeiro, 1844-1920)

Constança Paca, a botanical illustrator and companion of Barbosa Rodrigues, inspired the Constantia orchid genus and contributed to pioneering scientific works.

Maria Bandeira

Maria Bandeira (Rio de Janeiro, 1902-1992)

Maria Bandeira, a pioneer in the Botanical Garden and a specialist in bryophytes, had her career marked by discoveries and mysteries, and ended her life in seclusion.

Victoria Regia

Victoria Regia and White Lotus

The Mayans used the white lotus for ulcers and considered it sacred. In the Amazon, the lapuna has greater symbolic value.

Trumpet

Trumpet

Traditional pre-Columbian cultures used Trumpet in shamanic rituals, linked to healing practices and spiritual experiences of expanding consciousness.

tobacco

Tobacco

The use of tobacco in indigenous practices integrates spirituality, medicine and culture, with women guardians of ancestral knowledge.

chili pepper

Chili pepper

Chili peppers, seen as "primitive" by European elites, were transgressive when used by women, associated with lack of control and excessive sexuality.

Orchids

Orchids

Orchids aroused intense passion during the European "orchidomania" of the 19th century. But they also inspired horror stories associated with evil women.

basil

Basil

Basil has medicinal properties. A symbol of fertility and prosperity, it was associated with witchcraft in medieval Europe,

Wild yucca

Wild yucca

Manioc is fundamental to the subsistence and identity of many indigenous peoples. Women play a central role in its preparation...

Manacá de cheiro

Manacá-de-cheiro

The manacá-de-cheiro has medicinal properties and is part of purification rituals in candomblé and umbanda.

Jurema

Jurema

Jurema is used by the indigenous peoples of north-eastern Brazil to treat physical and mental ailments, as well as being an aphrodisiac and an element of love magic.

Jaborandi

Jaborandi

Linked to female shamans, jaborandi reflects the role of female spiritual and medicinal leadership in indigenous traditions.

guinea

Guinea

Guinea, used by enslaved people in Brazil, combined bodily and spiritual healing. Its sedative effect made it known as "amansa-senhor".

guarana

Guarana

Guaraná is sacred to the Sateré-Mawé (Amazon). It symbolizes vitality and renewal. Its origin is linked to the eyes of a child who died prematurely.

morning glory

Morning glory

Mayan women used morning glory seeds in healing rituals and to induce childbirth, and the Aztecs considered them divine

yerba mate

Yerba Mate

The arrival of Jesuit priests in South America in the 16th century brought mistrust of yerba mate, a sacred plant for the indigenous Guarani, associated with spiritual connection.

cat grass

Cat grass

Cat grass (nepeta) is used in initiation ceremonies to induce altered states of consciousness among peoples of the present-day USA, Canada and Mexico.

Coke

Coke

Coca has been used for more than 4,500 years. Pre-Columbian societies considered it a gift from the Sun God.

Carnivores

Carnivores

The fascination with carnivorous plants began in the 18th century and from the beginning linked them to female sexuality and stereotypes.

Cannabis

In ancient traditions, such as Egypt, cannabis was used to treat menstrual pain and women's health problems.

Rue

Rue

Rue is traditionally used by mothers-of-saints and benzedeiras in purification rituals.

Absinthe

Absinthe

Artemisia absinthium has a long history of use in women's health, relieving menstrual cramps and reproductive problems.