Saber local e práticas terapêuticas da doutora raiz: uma pesquisa antropológica sobre medicina popular e crença

Abstract

Trying to understand the popular therapeutic practices within the context "urban-rural" in the neighborhood Pium, in the city of Parnamirim, state of Rio Grande do Norte, we find "a full street pharmacies” as explained Dona Francisca, or for some, "Dra. Raiz". She indicates to us the ways to make up our practices of self care from the knowledge of the environment in which we live. It is the belief and knowledge among the elements of the effectiveness of therapeutic practice. She acknowledges the herbs that heal, and produces "garrafadas", teas and soaps materializing in handicraft products the analysis of the need of every person. From the knowledge passed by his mother and grandmother about the utility of each root, bark, leaf, flower are found in her yard and on the street, added his research in scientific medicine books. So we discussed how Dona Francisca builds that knowledge transmitted by orality and family environment with the knowing accessed by consults of books and incorporates in her way of life, and her source of income, sociability mode and a marker on her concept of healthy eating due to consuming daily which produces. How "eating" is a suite of practices and social processes, from raw materials to the product and its consequences, situated in time, space and social context. We seek the connectors between her agency and the relation with the community and the environment, through narratives, itineraries and cultural practices that permeate her experience.