The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast · Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, Rose de Castellane, Gregory Mill

Episode 151, 'Afro-Brazilian Religions' with José Eduardo Porcher (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)

January 25, 2026·35 min·3 clips

José argues that in Candomblé, objects aren't symbols but actual seats of deities, defying colonial interpretations.

The question begins with enchanted objects. Stones, iron, rivers, and other entities can be treated as places where the divine shows up, which sends the host into bigger metaphysical territory. It sounds airy for a minute, then it lands. The host tests the idea against Thales on water, panpsychist claims about consciousness, and a more dualistic picture of souls and life force. Jose keeps pulling the frame back to the religion itself. The word that matters is axé, described here as a property or energy that has to move between human beings and the orishas. That can happen through incorporation or possession. It can also happen by feeding the deity through sacrifice, and sacrifice can mean fruit and favorite meals, not only animals. The orishas have tastes, apparently. Some like goats, some chickens, some popcorn. That small detail gives the theology a surprisingly domestic feel. Then blood raises the pressure. Since blood is described as the strongest carrier of axé in living beings, animal sacrifice becomes the ultimate sacrifice. In Brazil, that is still controversial. The guest places some of the tension inside Brazil's Christian majority, where sacrifice usually is not part of religious practice. So this is not just colorful ritual detail. It is a test of how the tradition thinks about sacred energy, exchange, embodiment, and divine presence. The show briefly veers into patron thanks, with football, carnival, the Amazon, and creation language folded into the roll call. The ending comes back to scholarly gratitude, Jose's work, the short book on Afro-Brazilian religions, and a warm closing from the guest.

As heard by us

A thoughtful inquiry into divinity in matter, ritual transmission, and the pressure Afro-Brazilian religion puts on familiar philosophy.

Afro-Brazilian Religions frames metaphysics as a question of where divinity lives. Oli Mali and Jose Eduardo Porcher move from stones, iron, and rivers occupied by deities to Thales, panpsychism, and dualism, using those ideas to ask whether Asher is everywhere at once or…

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Want to know whether rivers, stones, iron, and blood can carry divinity? This is your metaphysical rabbit hole.

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