Herbology is the science that is dedicated to the study of plants, their properties and applications, the same benefits and knowledge from which the Santeria rule for the use of sacred herbs in their consecration rituals.
The mystical energy currents that plants give off are the main reason for their use for religious purposes.
Herbology in the Yoruba religion
The herbs are used within the Osha in multiple rituals such as:
- the making of spells,
- in spiritual invocations,
- the spoils,
- the recollections,
- the creation of potions and
- omieros saints.
Each Orisha in the field of Santeria is attributed a series of magical herbs or ewes, foundations on which the saint works, precisely these being the natural element on which they send their blessings and knowledge to their children.
Osain del Monte, Herbologist Orisha of the Yoruba Pantheon.
Osain del Monte, is the Orisha responsible and owner of all the herbs that penetrate into the interior of the Osha's room.
This deity is the only saint who knows all the secrets of plants and therefore their benefits and harms in the magical-religious sphere.
For this reason, whenever the religious is about to collect some wild plant for the performance of a ritual, he must invoke the Orisha Osain before pulling the grass and asking for his blessing.
Do plants have magical properties?
Plants are living beings Therefore, they have vital energy, the same that is exposed to the influence of nature and other external agents of the environment that surrounds it.
They are a source of energy purification, they are possessed of the gift of modifying the moods of their spectators and thus releasing their emotional charges, a fact that constitutes more than fifty percent of the reduction of stress suffered by the organism. human on a daily basis.
How are plants used in the Yoruba Religion?
The use of plants in the Yoruba Religion dates back to ancient times when the first Yorubas discovered the energetic virtues that herbs possessed.
Since then they began to use them in:
- healing rituals,
- in making potions,
- spells,
- offal and
- sanctions.
Many cultures have used plants, such as tobacco, in order to communicate with spirits.
Other religious sects use herbs in concoctions and infusions that help them communicate with their ancestors, through trances related to the ingestion of these drinks.