Sofrimento, transformação e cura num Movimento Religioso do Século XVI

We highlight the therapeutic aspects in a religious-based social movement that occurred in Jaguaripe, Bahia, in the 16th century, by identifying and analyzing the sequence of events that led a young indigenous man to separate from his group and convert to Christianity following Jesuit religious teachings and, once again, to separate himself from everyday life and fleeing to the Sertão. He returned to reincorporate to local society after experiencing profound transition, appropriation of elaborate rhetoric and foundation of a complex sect, which attracted followers among indigenous people, enslaved and freed black people, as well as the caraibas. We assume that the experience of social suffering and promise of renovation of life have been fundamental for the unification of all in that belief, in search of a new understanding of the movement known as “Santidade de Jaguaripe”, by comparing with similar processes and theoretical interpretations in other studies.