Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I analyse food offerings in Afro-Brazilian Candomblé and I explain how the composition of the ingredients, substances and energies can be subjected to change, innovation, renegotiation and intuition with and through more-than-human entities and beings.

Paper long abstract:

In Afro-Brazilian candomblé, ritual practices involve not only a set of rules imposed by tradition, but also experience and expertise in the making and manipulation of ingredients, objects and energies. In this sense, I would like to use the metaphor of rituals as recipes: to make a certain dish, certain ingredients are necessary. While some of these items can be substituted, others are fundamental to maintain the identity of the dish. However, all practices need to be negotiated with the deities and entities, and assembled according to the resources available in the material context. In this work based on ethnographic research, I intend to take into consideration the role of intuition, ritual knowledge and sensoriality in the construction of the offerings and the ritual performance.