How Religion, Race, and the Weedy Agency of
Plants Shape Amazonian Home Gardens
Nicholas C. Kawa
Abstract
Across Brazilian Amazonia, it is common to nd rural
households that keep plants with magico-medicinal proper-
ties in their home gardens. Despite widespread occurrence of
such plants, some Amazoniansespecially in Evangelical
communitiesopenly criticize their use as incongruent with
Christian belief and practice. In this article, I offer ethno-
graphic observations that indicate divergent attitudes
toward magico-medicinal plants between Evangelical Chris-
tians and Amazonian folk Catholics, the latter of whom
borrow heavily from Afro-Brazilian and indigenous reli-
gions. I contend that Evangelicals attempts to establish
distance from such plants is due in part to histories of ethnic
and racial marginalization that are indexed in their use.
Still, many magico-medicinal plants are weedy species that
actively colonize areas occupied by humans, thus openly
defying Evangelical attempts to evade them. In this manner,
magico-medicinal plants are not just subject to human agen-
cies, but are arguably agents in their own
right. [Amazonia, ethnobotany, Evangelical Christian-
ity, folk Catholicism, magico-medicinal plants, non-
human agency]
Introduction
Anthropology has always been an omnivorous
discipline, but with the growing interest in extending
anthropology beyond the human (sensu Kohn
2013), plants have become a greater focus of attention
and theorization (e.g., Hartigan 2015; Hustak and
Myers 2012; Myers 2015). Certainly, ethnobotany has
a well-established history in the discipline, document-
ing the diverse ways that people relate to plants
through their subsistence (Cushing 1920), healing
Nicholas C. Kawa is an assistant professor in the Department of
Anthropology at Ohio State University. His research centers on ques-
tions of humanenvironmental interaction with specic focus on
human relationships to plants and soils.
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment Vol. 38, Issue 2, pp. 8493, ISSN 2153-9553, eISSN 2153-9561. 2016 by the American Anthropological
Association. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/cuag.12073
practices and spirituality (Beyer 2010; Etkin and Ross
1982; Schultes and Raffauf 1990), ecological manage-
ment (Bal
ee 1994; Conklin 1954; Posey 1985), and
classicatory schema (Berlin 2014). Much of this eth-
nobotanical research has been conducted from an
anthropocentric vantage point, investigating how dif-
ferent people understand and relate to the botanical
world. Some studies, however, have attempted to
understand these interactions from the position of the
plants in question, examining how they engage
humans and place their own demands (e.g., Descola
1996, 19193; Franklin 2008). This article seeks to inte-
grate both approaches, looking not only at how
different religious groups in rural Amazonia relate to
plants with magico-medicinal properties, but also
how such plants actively respond to the human pres-
ence in the landscape.
In a past study, I determined that over 27% of the
useful plant species managed by rural smallholders in
the municipality of Borba, Amazonas state, Brazil,
had magical and healing properties attributed to them
(Kawa 2012). Despite the notable presence of such
plants, some rural Amazoniansespecially in Evan-
gelical1 communitiescriticize their use as
incongruent with Christian belief and practice. In this
article, I offer primary ethnographic observations that
illustrate divergent attitudes toward magico-medicinal
plants2 between Evangelical Christians and Amazo-
nian folk Catholics, the latter of whom borrow
signicantly from Afro-Brazilian and indigenous reli-
gions. Drawing from regional ethnobotanical and
historical literatures, I point out that many magico-
medicinal plants used in contemporary Amazonia are
tied to histories of racial and ethnic marginalization in
Brazil, and such associated stigmas may help explain
why some people, like several of the Evangelical
Christians I encountered, seek to distance themselves
from them today. However, I conclude by showing
that many magico-medicinal plants are weedy species
that actively colonize peoples living spaces and thus
challenge Evangelicals attempts to evade them. In
this manner, magico-medicinal plants are not just
subject to human agencies, but can be seen as agents
Figure 1.
in their own right. The main plaza of the town of Borba and its Catholic
basilica (Photo by Nicholas C. Kawa).
Background
Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the
world with approximately 123 million followers, repre-
senting over 11% of Catholics globally (Anonymous
2013). Like most of Brazil, the population of Amazonas
state identies primarily as Catholic. However,
Catholicism in Amazonia has deeply syncretic roots
that extend back to the colonial period, as Miller, Penn,
and Van Leeuwen (2006) note here:

Life in the missions brought together individuals

of separate tribes, with different languages and cul-
tures, for the compulsory adoption of the body of
beliefs and customs of the colonizer. The cultural
result was a patchwork of beliefs, the syncretism of
shamanism with a vague observance of Catholic Figure 2.
saints and holidays, the base for a folk Catholi- A rural Amazonian home surrounded by ac a
palms and
several magico-medicinal plants (Photo by Nicholas C.
cism, incorporating various native practices and
Kawa).
beliefs and the colonial inuences of the Por-
tuguese, as well as African slaves. (p. 49)

In the municipality of Borba, where this research

was conducted, most rural communities have a loose
afliation with the Catholic Church and arguably prac-
tice some variety of folk Catholicism or
Nonromanized Catholicism (see Mariz 1994). Images
of Catholic saints often feature prominently in peoples
homes, and festivals in honor of saints are commonly
observed. In the municipal seat of Borba, a festival ded-
icated to Saint Anthony spans ten days at the
beginning of June, attracting people from across the
region to pay their respects and take part in the revelry.
Many families from rural communities travel to the
town to fulll vows (pagar promessas) made to Saint
Anthony, while others attend a uvial procession along
the Madeira River in which an image of Saint Anthony
is retrieved from a church upriver and then escorted and Van Leeuwen 2006, 49; Smith 1981, 101;
into Borbas basilica (Figure 1). Figure 2).
During much of the year, however, rural families As a result of borrowing from Amerindian paje-
have little direct engagement with the formal struc- lanca (shamanism) and Afro-Brazilian religions,
ture of the Catholic church, and clergy are only rarely Amazonian Catholics typically rely on a wide variety
present in such communities (see de Lima 1992, 244; of plants used for ritualized protection and healing.
Wagley 1976, 218). Many aspects of Amazonian folk Some plants, including arruda (Ruta spp.), comigo-
Catholicism also reect its syncretic history, with a ningu
em-pode (Dieffenbachia seguine), pi~ ao roxo (Jat-
notable case being the use of magico-medicinal ropha gossypiifolia), and pi~ao branco (Jatropha curcas),
plants, which are kept in home gardens (Miller, Penn, are employed to ward off the evil eye (mau olhado) or

Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment 85 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
protect households from malevolent forces. Many of
the same plants, as well as others, including alfavaca
(Ocimum micranthum), cip
o-alho (Mansoa alliacea),
japana (Ayapana tripilinervis), and mucura-ca
a (Petiveria
alliacea), are incorporated into healing baths (banhos).
Baths are used to cure children aficted by folk ill-
nesses (i.e., culturally specic maladies), such as
quebranto and vento ca
do, which occur when children
are excessively admired or gazed upon by others
(Mau
es 2004). Healing baths can also be used to treat
adults, especially hunters and shermen who have dif-
culty securing their subsistence and believe
themselves to have been hexed (empanemado). These
examples illustrate how Amazonian Catholicism offers
a wide umbrella under which a variety of spiritual
practicesincluding healing, divination, and protec-
tion with magico-medicinal plantshave been
adopted and adapted to diverse social circumstances.
Evangelical Christians in Amazonas, however, are
often uncomfortable with the use of magico-medicinal
plants as well as the worship of saints, which feature
prominently in both folk Catholicism and Afro-Brazi-
lian religions. For many Evangelical Christians in
Brazil, any spirits other than the Holy Spirit are consid-
ered to be devils or malevolent forces. Mariz (1994)
notes that Evangelical Christians, and Pentecostals
specically, have a strong aversion to syncretic prac-
tices and are generally critical of the symbols, icons,
and rituals associated with folk Catholicism and Afro-
Brazilian religions like Candombl
e (pp. 6465). In
Evangelical churches, many pastors have expressed
open hostility toward folk Catholicism and Afro-Brazi-
lian Candombl
e, labeling the latter a form of demon
worship (da Silva 2007). The Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God (Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus), for
example, has repeatedly called for the shutting down
of Candombl
e places of worship, known as terreiros. In
some extreme cases, Evangelical pastors have even
invaded terreiros in attempts to destroy their altars
(Burdick 2005, 314; da Silva 2007, 12).
Evangelical Christians remain a minority popula-
tion within Brazil, but in the last few decades they have
experienced growing success at recruiting new follow-
ers. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE) has shown that between 2000 and 2010, the
Evangelical Christian population increased by over 16
million people, rising from 15.3% to 22.2% of the Brazil-
ian population overall (Altmann 2012). During that
same period, the percentage of Brazilians identifying as
Catholic dropped from 73% to 65% (ibid.). Although
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
all regions of Brazil experienced a signicant decline in
those who identied as Catholic, the greatest decrease
occurred in the Northern region, where Amazonas
state is located.
Study Area and Methods
The municipal seat of Borba, which is situated on
the Madeira River, lies 150 kilometers southeast of the
city of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. The
municipality covers an area of 44,251 km2 and has a
population of 34,961 inhabitants (IBGE 2010). A little
over 70% of the population identies as Catholic and
approximately 24% identies as Evangelical Christian
(ibid.). More than 200 rural communities are located
within the municipality, with economies primarily ori-
ented around agriculture and extractive activities.
Inhabitants of these communities are sometimes
referred to as caboclos, a term drawn from the colo-
nial period used to classify people of mixed
Amerindian, European, and African descent (Parker
1985; Wagley 1976). Although the label has been used
as a social category by anthropologists until now, it
carries pejorative connotations that have led several
scholars to abandon its usage (Kawa 2016, 4248).
This research was undertaken as part of a larger
project that examined socio-cultural and environmen-
tal factors inuencing household agrobiodiversity
management in Borba (see Kawa 2012; Kawa, Clavijo
Michelangeli, and Clement 2015). Semi-structured
interviews were conducted at 91 households in 16 rural
communities, during 12 months between 2009 and
2010. Upon acquiring informed consent, each property
was toured, with household heads being asked to list
the number of useful plant species in home gardens,
which included a cleared area around the house and
surrounding orchards, typically covering an area of
<0.5 ha.
In the exploratory phases of research, many
respondents mentioned using plants for purposes of
spiritual protection and healing, but were reluctant to
discuss questions made explicitly about magical
plants (plantas m
agicas). Proxy questions based on pre-
liminary survey responses were thus used to elicit
information. First, respondents were asked if they used
plants to scare off the evil eye (espantar mau olhado) or
for purposes of protecting the household. Second,
respondents were asked if they had any plants on their
property that they used for healing baths (banhos),
which are typically relied upon to treat folk illnesses.
86 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
Open-ended interviews were conducted to gather
information on additional plants with distinctive
magico-medicinal properties.
This study relies on traditional local classications
of plant species or ethnospecies to which Latin taxo-
nomic binomials were associated. Voucher specimens
were not collected because they were not deemed
essential for purposes of this study; most of the eth-
nospecies encountered were common to Amazonian
home gardens and could be accurately identied to a
scientic binomial. For more information on the
magico-medicinal plant species identied in this study
see https://nicholaskawa.wordpress.com/2016/10/04/
magico-medicinal-plants-of-rural-amazonia-supplemen
tary-table/.
Survey Results
As reported in prior research (Kawa 2012), 171 dif-
ferent useful plant species were identied at the 91
properties surveyed in Borba. Of these, 47 species were
considered to have magico-medicinal properties, which
consisted primarily of powers of protection (i.e.,
against the evil eye) and healing of folk illnesses. The
most commonly found species recognized for such
qualities were: pi~ ao roxo (Jatropha gossypiifolia; 21
households), mucura-ca
a (Petiveria alliacea; 20 house-
holds), cip
o alho (Mansoa alliacea; 11 households),
japana (Ayapana tripilinervis; ten households), man-
ao (Ocimum americanum; seven households),
jeric~
arruda (Ruta spp.; seven households), and pi~ao branco
(Jatropha curcas; six households).
Surveys and ethnographic interviews revealed that
not all households viewed individual species in the
same way or used them for the same purposes. The
most common plant listed above, pi~ ao roxo, was pre-
sent at 30 households, but only 21 of these described
using the plant in healing baths or for warding off the
evil eye. A closely related species, pi~ao branco,
appeared at 11 households, but only six of the house-
holds claimed such uses. Since many of the observed
species were recognized for having a variety of uses,
species were only counted as magico-medicinal
plants when such uses were directly reported by
interviewees.
Of the 91 households interviewed, 79 identied as
Catholic and 12 identied as Evangelical Christian. Of
the 79 Catholic households, 27 afrmed that they used
plants to ward off the evil eye and 35 used plants in
healing baths.3 Of the 12 Evangelical households, none
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
claimed to have plants to ward off the evil eye, but four
households kept plants that were used in baths.
Plant Use and Religious Afliation
On my rst visit to a small community where an
Evangelical church had been recently established, I
asked one household head if he kept any plants to pro-
tect his family against the evil eye. He stared at me,
paused, and then said: Now that we know the true
word of the Lord, we no longer believe in such things.
Later, another household head in a neighboring com-
munity responded to the same question by telling me
plainly: No, were Evangelicals. In my interactions
with Evangelical Christians, both in the town of Borba
and its rural communities, I noted an attitude in which
the use of such plants was deemed superstitious and
even un-Christian. Of the 12 Evangelical households I
formally surveyed, three told me explicitly that they
did not have plants to ward off the evil eye because they
were Evangelical. The remaining nine Evangelical
households told me simply that they did not keep any
such plants, although some did use plants in baths,
which they viewed as strictly medicinal.
Based on household surveys and interviews, it is
clear that not all Amazonian Catholics embrace the use
of magico-medicinal plants since only a third of house-
holds claimed to keep plants to ward off the evil eye
and a little under half reported having plants for heal-
ing baths. Still, not once did a Catholic interviewee
suggest that their religion conicted with the usage of
such plants. This aligns with observations by Luzar
and Fragoso (2013) among indigenous groups in the
Guianas where Catholics were more likely to accept
Amerindian shamanism than Evangelicals. It is just
one of many issues that highlight distinctions between
Evangelicals and Catholics in the Amazon region.
Although the use of magico-medicinal plants was not a
subject of simmering debate in Borba, it contributed to
the collective differences between adherents of these
religions.
In my conversations with Evangelicals, I heard sev-
eral claim that Catholics maintained lax attitudes
toward the use of alcohol and drugs, and did not take
the words of the gospel to heart. Others complained
about Catholics worship of saints, which they per-
ceived as a form of idolatry. Meanwhile, many of the
Catholics whom I encountered chided Evangelicals for
being insular, judgmental, and at times, hypocritical
suggesting that their actions did not always live up to
87 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
their strict ideals. Frictions between these religious
groups, in some cases, led to complete ssuring of rural
communities in Borba.
This was brought to my attention during a visit,
along with agricultural extension agents, to a ood-
plain community, as I described in eld notes from
2009: [it] is a divided community with half of the resi-
dents being Catholics and the other half Evangelical
Christians. They reside on opposite sides of the com-
munity soccer eld and tensions are fairly evident
although not openly hostile, at least as far as I know.
The extension agents whom I accompanied decided to
divide the materials we were distributingseeds and
motors for processing manioc ourbetween the two
groups equally in hopes to appease them both, or at
the very least, to avoid exacerbating the divisions
between them.
As my research continued, I encountered other
similarly divided communities, which raised questions
about the possible consequences such divisions might
have for the humanplant relationships I was investi-
gating. If the tendency of Evangelical Christians is to
avoid the use of plants associated with folk Catholi-
cism, then such communities may experience a shift in
the diversity of plant species under management over
time. However, it is also worthy of reiteration that four
of the 12 Evangelical households surveyed in this study
had plants used in healing baths, including pi~ ao roxo,
japana, and mucura-ca
a. It seems plausible, then, that
some species associated with folk Catholicism might
continue to be used by Evangelical Christians while the
rationale behind their uses is modied to better align
with Evangelical ideals.
Although this case study does not offer denitive
conclusions regarding Evangelicals relationships to
magico-medicinal plants, studies from Northeastern
Brazil (Voeks 1997), lowland Peru (Shepard 1998, 330),
highland Ecuador (Andrade 2005, 52), and the Guianas
(van Andel et al. 2015; Daly 2016) provide similar
observations in which Evangelical Christian leaders
actively oppose the use of such plants and encourage
their followers to reject them publicly. As Voeks and
Leony (2004) remark from their research in the Brazil-
ian state of Bahia: Arguing that the occult powers of
magical and medicinal plants represent physical mani-
festations of Satan, evangelical missionaries continue to
school their converts to abandon their use (p. S296).
An important question is why Evangelicals may
see these plants as manifestations of evil, or at the very
least, incompatible with their religion. The following
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
section, which examines individual histories of some of
these plants and the underlying racial dynamics of
their use, offers further insights into the matter.
Race, Religion, and Magico-Medicinal Plants
The plants that contemporary Amazonian Catho-
lics use for ritualistic healing and protection against
malevolent forces are drawn from diverse origins,
including species native to Africa, Europe, and the
Amazon region itself. Several of the most commonly
used plants, however, have histories directly linked to
Afro-Brazilian religious practice, which developed in
response to colonial oppression and slavery. Others
were likely passed on from indigenous groups who
used such plants to combat the rampant disease that
characterized the post-contact period. In other words,
many Amazonian healing plants used today are tied to
long legacies of human struggle following European
colonization in Brazil.
Pi~ao roxo, which was the most common magico-
medicinal plant found in this study, is a useful start-
ing point. The species is native to the American
tropics, but it was adopted by Africans following their
arrival to the New World and it became incorporated
into their religious and healing practices. In Afro-Bra-
zilian Candombl
e, pi~ao roxo is considered to belong
to the deity Omolu, a survivor of small pox, who has
the power to spread illness and disease but also cure
individuals of their afictions (de Albuquerque et al.
2007; Voeks 1997). Since Omolu watches over the
plant, followers of Candombl
e frequently keep it in
their front yards to protect the household. The leaves
of the plant are also used in healing baths to treat
those wracked by folk illnesses, including quebranto
and vento ca
do. These same uses are maintained by
Catholics in rural Amazonia today.
The second most common magico-medicinal plant
I encountered in home gardens in Borba was mucura-
ca
a, which is a native to the New World tropics as well.
In Western Amazonia, it is sometimes used in prepara-
tion with the hallucinogen ayahuasca to ritualistically
cleanse those suffering from witchcraft (McKenna,
Luna, and Towers 1995). Outside of Amazonia, in
Northeastern Brazil, it is known as amansa-senhor, a
name that hints at its ability to pacify slave masters.
During the colonial period, African slaves are said to
have secretly slipped it into their masters food or drink
to mollify them, with the hope that it would discourage
violent lashings and prevent sexual assault against
88 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
women (Reis 2015, 137). In high doses, prepared in
conjunction with other plant admixtures, amansa-sen-
hor was also capable of lethal poisoning, and some
slaves are suspected of ending their masters lives in
this way (ibid.).
A third example is rue, known in Portuguese as
arruda. It was a common medicinal plant in the Greek
and Roman empires, and was among the rst plants to
be introduced to the Americas by Europeans (Pollio
et al. 2008). With its introduction to Brazil, however,
Afro-Brazilians adopted it as an abortifacient to avoid
bringing children into slavery (Voeks 1997, 24). They
also placed sprigs of rue in their clothing or behind
their ear to protect them against the evil eye. Rural
Amazonians sometimes carry it to protect them from
snakes and other dangers while working out in their
elds, but also rely on it to ward off envy.
Although Evangelicals in Borba may not be aware
of these histories, many magico-medicinal plants used
today continue to carry an association with Afro-Brazi-
lian religious practice, which is frequently referred to
in Amazonia as macumba4a term that carries a pejora-
tive connotation, similar to the way that some North
Americans refer to voodoo or black magic. Such
stigmatization of Afro-Brazilian faiths is deeply rooted.
During the colonial period, Afro-Brazilians were often
forced to practice their religion in secrecy, and through-
out the 20th century, they were subject to police
harassment (de Albuquerque 2014). Today, they con-
tinue to suffer discrimination and have been frequently
targeted by Evangelical pastors. da Silva (2007)
explains that the prominent Brazilian television station
Rede Record, which is owned by the Universal Church
of the Kingdom of God, often broadcasts religious pro-
grams depicting real life cases in which symbols and
elements of Afro-Brazilian religions are tied almost
exclusively to heinous acts: death of enemies, spread of
disease, divorce, and family strife (p. 11).
Despite these attacks, it would be misleading to
suggest that Evangelical Christianity is explicitly racist,
or that it seeks to negate racial and ethnic identities in
Brazil. For example, John Burdick (2005) has shown
that some anti-racist groups have successfully united
black identity and Evangelical Christianity, and a num-
ber of Amazonian indigenous groups have done so as
well (de Oliveira 2010; Wright 2009). It appears, then,
that Evangelicals vilication of Afro-Brazilian and
indigenous faiths may be part of a broader strategy to
distance themselves from histories of suffering and
marginalization. For many converts, this is precisely
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
the appeal of Evangelical Christianity: it offers an
opportunity to cut ties from a troubled past and project
a path toward a more prosperous future (Robbins
2004). For some, this means abandoning personal histo-
ries of abuse, drug use, and alcoholism, and being
born again. For others, it provides a way to disasso-
ciate from longer histories of economic
marginalization, ethnic discrimination, or gendered
and racialized violence (e.g., Goldstein 2003, 22324).
As Meyer (2004) describes of Pentecostal-Charismatic
Churches in Africa: [they] appear to derive their mass
appeal at least partly from propagating a complete
break with the past (p. 448). She expands on this,
writing: Being born-again is perceived as a radical
rupture not only from ones personal sinful past, but
also from the wider family and [place of] origin (p.
457).
In this light, Evangelical leaders and recent con-
verts may reject magico-medicinal plants because of
their association with social marginalization or per-
haps a troubled past. In disavowing them, they
hope to free themselves from these associated stig-
mas and suffering. Given rural Amazonians long
history of marginalization in Brazil (Kawa 2016, 42
48), this desire for a new beginning is especially
compelling.
The Weedy Agency of Magico-Medicinal Plants
Even as some rural Amazonians attempt to estab-
lish distance from indigenous and African religious
practices and the troubled histories of their followers,
some of the plants used by Afro-descendant and
indigenous peoples continue to insert themselves into
rural Amazonian social life. This is because many spe-
cies that have been adopted for magico-medical
purposes by Amazonian folk Catholics are weedy
plants that actively colonize spaces inhabited by
humans.
If a plant is completely unwanted in a yard, a weed
in the truest sense, then it is almost always removed.
Most rural Amazonians keep the area surrounding the
home cleared to prevent snakes and others pests from
having a place to hide (Hoelle 2015, 61). They also
believe that it gives their yard a clean esthetic, con-
veying to visitors that the property is well managed
(ibid.). Still, some weedy plants that appear voluntarily
in the yard are left to grow, which scholars consider a
form of passive or sparing cultivation (Voeks 2013,
402). Such a designation, however, privileges human
89 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
inaction while ignoring a plants active colonization of
human-inhabited spaces.
Early in my research while living in the town of
Borba, I spent an afternoon casually surveying the dif-
ferent species of ornamental plants on the street where
I was staying with my friend Diana. One species,
which had deeply lobed green and maroon leaves,
appeared consistently in the front yards of houses on
the block, including Dianas. This, she told me, was
pi~ ao roxo (Jatropha gossypiifolia). It had started grow-
ing in the yard voluntarily and she had left it because
she liked the way it looked. Since its arrival, several
lhos (seedlings, or literally children) had taken root
as well. Although Diana viewed it strictly as an orna-
mental plant, my friend Valdo later told me that it was
often kept around homes to ward off the evil eye. From
then on, I began to notice pi~ ao roxo in front of resi-
dences both in the city and rural communities where I
conducted my surveys. It seemed to crop up
everywhere.
When Diana claimed that pi~ ao roxo had simply
appeared in her yard, I thought she may have
offered this explanation because she was embarrassed
to acknowledge the plants association with the evil
eye and macumba. But then I heard others describe its
unexpected appearance in their yards in the same way.
Gisele, a resident outside of Borba, told me that she
also had pi~ ao roxo in her yard and she knew quite well
of its ability to ward off the evil eye. But she hadnt
planted it there. It simply appeared, she insisted.
Many magico-medicinal plants found in Amazo-
nian home gardens exhibit a weedy habit and can be
adopted through sparing cultivation, including amor-
crescido (Portulaca pilosa), chic
oria (Eryngium foetidum),
coirama (Bryophyllum pinnatum), cuia-mansa (Alter-
nathera sp.), jambu (Acmella oleracea), marcela (Pluchea
sagittalis), mastruz (Chenopodium ambrosioides), mucura-
ca
a, pi~ao branco (Jatropha curcas), and pi~ ao roxo. This
tendency to adopt weeds for healing purposes is not
unique to Amazonia. As Stepp and Moerman (2001)
have shown in their research among Highland Maya
people of Chiapas, Mexico, short-lived weedy species
are more likely to have secondary bioactive com-
pounds that inhibit the growth of other plants or guard
against herbivory, and such compounds often have
curative properties for humans. These researchers also
point out, quite logically, that easy-to-nd plants are
much more useful to a household when someone falls
ill. Although conservation biologists have argued that
primary forests need to be conserved to protect plants
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
that may offer benets to modern biomedicine, in
many parts of the world, people rely on plants that
thrive in disturbed areas or environments where
humans are active. Ethnobotanist Robert Voeks (2008)
reinforces this point through his cross-cultural research
in the tropics, asserting that Anthropogenic nature
represents the ideal tropical medicine chest (p. 865).
Voekss observation is derived in signicant part
from long-term study of plant use in the Afro-Brazilian
religion Candombl
e. He has shown that a whole host
of cosmopolitan weeds are used in Candombl
e, includ-
ing castor bean (Ricinus communis), English plantain
(Plantago major), dand
a-da-costa (Cyperus rotundus),
folha-da-costa (Kalanchoe integra), and folha-da-fortuna
(Bryophyllum pinnatum), among others (Voeks 1997,
2732). Some of these plants, like castor bean and Eng-
lish plantain, came over from the Old World and
spanned out across Brazil after their arrival. Others,
like pi~ao roxo and folha-da-costa, are American natives
that Africans adopted and adapted to their needs. The
broad exchange of plants back and forth across the
Atlantic immediately following European arrival to
the Americas helped enslaved Africans and their
descendants to reconstruct their ethnobotanical tradi-
tions following their displacement (Voeks 2013).
Weedy species, which are often themselves displaced
ora, were important partners in the process.
Although most scholarly accounts of the use of
weedy plants emphasize human ingenuity and agency,
there is an opportunity here to entertain notions about
the agency of plants as well. For most social scientists,
agency refers to action with intention. However, if this
denition is modied to consider agency simply as
purposive behavior, it becomes possible to recognize
that humans are not the only ones with agency in such
interspecies relations (Sagan 2013, 129). Just as many
magico-medicinal plants are cultivated or sought out
by humans, there are many such plants that also seek
out people, as pi~ao roxo and other species illustrate.
This point is not lost on rural Amazonians, who
actively recognize the agency of a wide array of non-
human others, from the weeds that invade their elds
to the massive snakes believed to carve out the regions
waterways (Kawa 2016, 10408). Weedy species dis-
rupt boundaries of dened human social space and
often defy human attempts to exert control over the
landscape (see Cresswell 1997). This can be a source of
consternation, especially for farmers weeding their
elds or families clearing their yards. However, this
disruption can also make such plants a source of
90 Vol. 38, No. 2 December 2016
intrigue and even economic innovation. People across
the world seem to have learned a simple lesson when it
comes to weedy species: if you cant beat them, nd a
use for them.
For Amazonian folk Catholics, the weedy agency
of their magico-medicinal plants will likely help to
encourage continuity of the practices related to them. It
is also the tenacity of such species as colonizers that
will continue to defy Evangelical attempts to establish
distance from them.
Conclusions
For Evangelical Christians in Amazonia and per-
haps some secular skeptics, the plants used in folk
Catholic, Amerindian, and Afro-Brazilian religious tra-
ditions might be viewed as fetishes upon which these
religious followers project their hopes and desires.
However, this interpretation of magico-medicinal
plants over-privileges human agency while ignoring
the ways in which such plants also act in the world. As
I have shown, many of the plants used in Afro-Brazi-
lian and folk Catholic ritualistic healing have
distinctive properties related to their weedy habits,
having co-evolved with humans and the landscapes
they inhabit.
Based on inferences I have drawn from this
research and that of others, it stands to reason that
Evangelical Christians might resist such plants due to
their historical stigmatization and association with
marginalized racial and ethnic groups. Further studies
will hopefully shine greater light on this matter. Yet
regardless of the reasons behind some Evangelicals
rejection of such magico-medicinal plants, it is unlikely
that those species will completely stop appearing in
their yards. In fact, it appears that many of them will
continue to take root regardless of how their property
owners feel about them.
The legacies of Afro-Brazilian and folk Catholic
magico-medicinal plant use will not likely die out any
time soon either. Whether they will continue to suffer
stigmatization in parts of Brazil is another matter. It is
possible that Evangelicals will come to adopt such
plants while insisting that their uses are strictly for
purposes of healing and medicine, as some respon-
dents in this study suggested. However, if their uses
continue to be viewed as superstitions or even
unwanted reminders of troubled pasts, they will likely
draw ongoing criticism. Still, like many of the weedy
species that actively resist attempts to wrest control of
Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment
them, I do not expect rural Amazonians to abandon
them too easily. In the face of growing Evangelical
popularity, the Catholic Church has recently come to
accept and incentivize folkloric celebrations and ritual
practices that it once fought to exclude (Pantoja 2011,
111). With any luck, magico-medicinal plants might
just be next.
Notes
1. I use the term Evangelical Christianity because this is
the blanket term most commonly used in Brazil. However,
most of the Evangelical Christians in rural Amazonian
communities belong to Charismatic Pentecostal churches.
Some scholars have argued against using the term Evan-
gelical Christianity in reference to Charismatic
Pentecostalism, but I have opted to keep it as a reection
of its use in Brazil.
2. I use the term magico-medicinal plants because while
many of the plants are used for purposes of healing, they
are oftentimes used to cure illnesses with etiologies that do
not align with Western biomedicine. Many plants are culti-
vated for the powers they possess, often used to repel or
attract different beings or forces.
3. In the 2012 study, I reported on the total number of house-
holds using magic plants. I report that nine only had
plants for warding off the evil eye, 19 had plants used in
healing baths, and 20 had plants that they used for both
purposes. In short, 29 of the 91 households had plants to
ward off the evil eye, and 39 of 91 households used plants
in healing baths. After reviewing those data, I found some
ambiguities in the surveys at two households, leaving 27
households with plants kept to ward off the evil eye. In
this study, the numbers are broken down by religious
afliation.
4. Macumba is an Afro-Brazilian religion similar to Can-
dombl
e, most commonly practiced in Rio de Janeiro and
southeastern Brazil. However, in Brazilian Amazonia, I
most commonly heard it used as a derogatory label for
Afro-Brazilian religious practice in general.
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