USO MÍSTICO, MÁGICO E MEDICINAL DE PLANTAS NOS RITUAIS RELIGIOSOS DE CANDOMBLÉ NO AGRESTE ALAGOANO

Thus the study aimed to understand the uses and diversity of plants used in religious rituals of Candomblé in Alagoas. To attain the goal, the plants were categorized as mystical, magical and medicinal.So semistructured from visits to Candomblé delimited by the snowball method interviews were conducted.Interviews followed with priests and priestesses of Candomblé after signing the Informed Consent Form (ICF). 30 interviews in Candomblé distributed in the cities of Arapiraca, Campo Alegre, Coité do Nóia, Limoeiro de Anadia and Taquarana, in the state of Alagoas, were performed in all. 64% of respondents were in females (priestesses) and 36% were male (priests) as the years engaged in the activity ranged between 20-60 years. 198 species were cited, among which 177 were identified and distributed in 60 families. In this case the most representative families were Fabaceae (21 species), Lamiaceae (20 species), Asteraceae (12 species) and Anacardiaceae (12 species). In addition, eight species were identified, and 13 were