D’P Local Scene: Science and Spirituality Unite in a Book About the ‘Hidden Power of Herbs’ | De Ponta News

Written by Michel de Jos

The use of medicinal plants is not new at all. The Chinese, Egyptians, and Hebrews were already cultivating herbs with the intention of turning them into medicine. To recover this ancient wisdom, the pharmacist from Ponta Grossa, Carlos Ramón Carneiro, who also works as Pai Pequeno at the Terreiro de Umbanda Esperança Sagrada (TUES), has released the book “The Hidden Power of Herbs – Ancestor Alchemy” (Madras, 2022). The publication brings together more than 100 plants known and cataloged by science, and lists their medicinal benefits, contraindications, historical aspects and their relationship to oryxa.

The author reports that the idea for the book came from an Umbanda entity, Capitão das Conchas, who encouraged him to create a handbook for people to study and understand the things that spiritual guides say. “Because I also do psychological messages, the whole part of Ancestral Chemistry created a methodology to facilitate the use of plants along with evidence to help those who wish to recover and thrive in a more holistic way,” he explains, highlighting that the work seeks to help readers. On preparing infusions, boils and poultices, understanding what can be eaten and which plants require care.

Carneiro notes that the book was developed with one foot in science and the other in spirituality. “Allopathic therapies work on the physical part of the body; phytotherapy complements this treatment. And religious use underpins all of this,” he notes, arguing that the use of plants should be complementary, never a substitute. “We must not abandon our medicines, we must benefit from them as well as medicinal plants. After all, it is not because it naturally does not harm,” he warns.

The Hidden Power of Herbs – Ancestral Alchemy can be purchased through the Madras website: madras.com.br.

Content originally published in Revista D’Ponta #294 March/April 2023