Cultural photosynthates, notions related to biochemical energy in guaraní cosmology and possible equivalent concepts in christian liturgy

Abstract

Ethnobiology has been defined as the study of the notions and concepts developed by any culture about life and living things. Such concepts and notions are often present in the religious beliefs of human groups, suggesting plausible articulations between Ethnobiology and Theology. As an example of such articulations, in the present paper it is proposed that if from ancient times the human being has been able to perceive the central role of the king star in the growth and diversification of the biosphere, for example observing or even influencing the differential growth of plants under good lighting conditions; then it is possible that notions about the bioenergetic flow are in some way represented in the theological conceptions or in the liturgical practices of the sun worshipping religions. The practice of ?Mborayu‟ among the Guarani natives of South America involves the communal distribution and consumption of food among all the members of a village, including small game or harvested products, The foods distributed in this practice are understood as portions of the contemplative energy of the solar progenitor (their prime God), who is the first ancestor still alive and therefore the subject with the highest cultural influence. Sunlight is understood as the perception or creative wisdom with which this supreme being recreates daily life on Earth and that wisdom can be transmitted to the members of the community indirectly through the consumption of foods that are the result of his creative contemplation. Hence there is an equivalence between food and liturgical resources, which in turn explains why distributing food is also to distribute knowledge or cultural participation. In a lineage in which the first ancestor is the Sun, such equivalence suggests an evident notion of ?chemical energy‟ stored in the food and its distribution among the members of a community reinforces the social identity through communion with the supreme cultural authority.