Meat and “Dendê”:

a research of the animals in Afro-Brazilian religions and its relation with Vegetarianism/Veganism in Brazil

Abstract

This research explores the significance of the sanctification of animals and the use of animal flesh/blood in three Afro-Brazilian creeds (Umbandomblé, Sacred Umbanda, and Candomblé from the Ketu nation) at São José do Rio Pardo, countryside of São Paulo. The research aims to investigate whether there are alternative practices within these religions that avoid the use of animals and the consumption of meat in religious spaces, cataloging the possible adaptations and meanings behind the use of meat and animals to understand how meat/blood/sanctification can be replaced or how other rituals can be adapted to gather believers who do not eat meat or who do not accept animal sacrifice. The goal was to find differences and similarities, through ethnographic research, between lineages and foundations regarding the sanctification of animals, meat consumption, and its adaptation, while considering the current controversies surrounding the use/exploitation of animals and the consumption of meat, alongside the debate on the new sensitivities surrounding animals.