Ancestral Cannabis: Glória Maria and the Spirituality of the Plant

In the cut of the episode #44 of Deusa Cast, Cannabis in Brazil: History, Spirituality, and Harm Reduction, the iconic scene from Globo Repórter, led by Glória Maria, paved the way for a conversation about the spirituality of cannabis. In the report from 2016, the journalist showcased the ancestral use of the bong in African communities, a symbol of knowledge passed down through generations. Glória experienced one of the most emblematic – and also hilarious – moments of her career by becoming the first Brazilian reporter to enter the most restricted rastafarian village in Jamaica. Brave and authentic, she marked journalism with her unique storytelling style. Glória Maria passed away in 2023, but left an unforgettable legacy in Brazilian journalism. 

For historian Luiz Fernando Petty, this record was a milestone: “This scene of Glória Maria greatly helped to demystify the plant, showing how its use carries ancestry and spirituality. Cannabis cannot be read solely through stigma, but through the legacy it brings.”

The Plant as a Spiritual Bridge

Can cannabis dentist Dr. Joyce Bernardo deepens the discussion by tracing the plant's journey through different cultures. According to her, cannabis arrived in Brazil intertwined with the syncretism of African and Indigenous traditions, being incorporated into rituals of healing, singing, and dancing. “In Jamaica, rastafarians use the plant in silence, in a circle, greeting Jah and meditating. It is in this silence that space opens for visions and spiritual connections. In India, the tradition connects cannabis to Shiva, the Ganges River, and the breath that inspired the Vedas, yoga, and Ayurveda,” explains Joyce.

She also recalls the power of the plant among enslaved peoples in Brazil. “Even amidst violence, hunger, and torture, they managed to sing and dance. This intrigued the colonizers, but the secret lay in the maceration of the plant, used to relieve wounds, pains, and bring spiritual solace. It was both resistance and an act of healing,” she elaborates.

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From Healing to the Sacred

The stories mentioned in the episode traverse rituals of jurema, African traditions, and even shamanic accounts that describe cannabis as a “plant of spiritual knowledge.” For Joyce, spirituality is experienced uniquely by each individual, but the plant occupies a prominent place in different traditions. “They deified the plant, sang to it, treated it as a goddess. There are even records in African rock paintings showing the cannabis leaf as sacred geometry, associated with ancestral knowledge and technologies.”

This special episode of Deusa Cast reveals that cannabis is not just science or politics: it is spirituality, memory, and resistance. Watch the video below to dive into this ancestral journey: