Skip to main content
  • free

    Life giving resources. Faithfully delivered.

    FREE delivery on orders over £10

  • UK

    Serving over 2 million Christians in the UK

    with Bibles, Books and Church Supplies

  • Church

    Our Buy-Now-Pay-Later accounts used

    by over 4,000 UK Churches & Schools

  • Excellent 4.8 out of 5

    Trustpilot

Botanicas

Sacred Spaces of Healing and Devotion in Urban America [Hardback]

by Joseph M. Murphy

    • Author

      Joseph M. Murphy

    • Book Format

      Hardback

    • Publisher

      University Press of Mississippi

    • Published

      February 2015

      Read full description

      Today's Price

      £29.12

      Free delivery icon

      Free UK Delivery


      Available - Usually dispatched within 3 days


      • Paypal
      • Google Pay
      • Apple Pay
      • Visa
      • Mastercard
      • Amex

      Botanicas

      Today's Price £29.12



      Product Description

      "Botanicas" is an exploration in text and photographs of spiritual shops found in Latino neighborhoods throughout the United States. Readers discover these marvelous spaces and their alternative spiritualities that help patrons cope with the grind and challenges of city life. Botanicas provide access to an array of invisible powers and sell the ingredients to construct symbolic solutions to their patrons' problems. The stores are bright and baroque, and the powers they invoke come from religious traditions in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the native Americas. In "Botanicas," Joseph M. Murphy offers a cultural history of the devotions on display and a reflection on the efficacy of their powers to heal. Readers will come to see that the goods and devotions of botanicas give their patrons--mostly Latino, often immigrants--pathways for empowerment and transformation. The name "botanicas" comes from the "botanicals" for sale, herbs and plants with healing powers. The pharmacopeia of botanicas can be vast, and owners may know hundreds of remedies for treating problems of health, wealth, and love. Botanicas vend herbs for upset stomach, herbs for finding a job, and herbs for wooing back a wayward spouse. Supplementing these medicinal and magical plants, botanicas sell candles, holy statues, and tools for devotion to an array of spiritual powers--Catholic saints, African gods, indigenous spirits, and Asian divinities. Each spirit has its own ritual of petition, and botanica owners can discern the proper offerings and prayers to help the supplicant. Murphy explains the religions of the botanica with subtlety and sensitivity. He gives readers a deep sense of the contexts of the stores and a sophisticated analysis of the religious traditions that suffuse them. Visually fascinating, culturally rich, and religiously profound, "Botanicas" is a window into a world of beauty and power. "

      Specification

      • Author

        Joseph M. Murphy

      • Book Format

        Hardback

      • Publisher

        University Press of Mississippi

      • Published

        February 2015

      • Weight

        943g

      • Page Count

        212

      • Dimensions

        197 x 258 x 20 mm

      • ISBN

        9781628462074

      • ISBN-10

        1628462078

      • Eden Code

        4457223

      More Information

      • Author/Creator: Joseph M. Murphy

      • ISBN: 9781628462074

      • Publisher: University Press of Mississippi

      • Release Date: February 2015

      • Weight: 943g

      • Dimensions: 197 x 258 x 20 mm

      • Eden Code: 4457223


      Product Q+A

      Ask a Question

      Recently Viewed