Botánica
The name botánica is Spanish and translates as "botany" or "plant store," referring to these establishments' function as dispensaries of medicinal herbs.
[1][2] Most botánicas sell products and services associated with spiritual practices such as Candomblé, Curanderismo, Espiritismo, Macumba, Palo Monte, Santa Muerte, María Lionza and Santería.
Without access to professional health services, many Latinos have found effective care in the herbal treatments and psychological support that botánicas offer.
The majority of the products offered for sale and the services provided at botánicas are most closely associated with Afro-Cuban religions (Santería and Palo Mayombe); Latin American Spiritist doctrine (Espiritismo); localized, vernacular expressions of Catholic piety (folk Catholicism); and Latin American folk healing or traditional medicine (Curanderismo).
A tradition established by Frenchman Allan Kardec, popular in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and elsewhere, it focuses on communicating with spirits of dead through séance, writing, and possession.
Finally, another popular aspect found in botanicas include Latin American manifestations with shrines and altars to saints rooted in folk Catholicism.
[8] Botánicas offer a variety of spiritual and religious merchandise and services, including candles, incense, potions, powders, icons, statues and consultations.
For instance, red stands for love, green symbolizes prosperity, white guards children, yellow protects adults, and orange resolves family conflicts.
[9] Scholar Michael Owen Jones found that in Los Angeles botánicas, shopkeepers reported that most patrons were interested in love-related items first (attracting and maintaining relationships), then luck, and then protection from enemies and seeking justice.
Alternative medical treatments found in botánicas are used to treat such varied conditions as arthritis, asthma, hair loss, menstrual pain, and diabetes.
[8] Botánicas also provide services to help with more specific interpersonal, legal, financial, and metaphysical matters that include achieving domestic tranquility, solving immigration problems, avoiding or resolving legal issues, attracting or repelling a suitor, obtaining or keeping a job, securing good luck, attaining protection from envy and evil spirits, and removing or reversing spells.
Ultimately, botánicas serve as a bridge in efforts to develop community healthcare programs that link families with conventional medical practitioners who lack their native familiarity.
Botánicas provide a place for people to congregate, socialize, and discuss political and other issues that affect immigrant communities without fear of censure or reprisal.
Botánicas are popular in heavily populated urban and Latino communities like Miami, New York, Los Angeles, the Greater Boston Area, and the Texas Triangle.
At the botánica, people can find strength in this affirmation of identity, both in the preservation of creative, sustaining traditions from home countries as well as in building a new space in a new world.
