The healing of relationships permeates all other forms of healing, as it emerges as an essential disposition underlying them all. To journey towards the healing of thoughts, emotions, exchanges, and the womb of Mother Earth, we must fundamentally alter how we relate within the framework of modernity. This encompasses our interactions with one another, with our own thoughts and emotions, with other communities, non-human living beings, and the fabric of existence – including spiritual entities, the enchanted ones, and ancestors. Moreover, it encompasses our connection with Mother Earth, who plays a central role in sustaining and nurturing life on our planet.

 

Hence, Ninawá Huni Kui often asserts that "one healing brings forth another." In his view, the connections between human beings and nature are eroding day by day, particularly our capacity to communicate with other beings and elements – animals, plants, and stars. According to the Huni Kui, the sacredness of relationships with Dyuba, the sacred boa constrictor, or with Tani – a name that refers both to a feminine presence and a sacred plant – becomes compromised when nature is viewed solely as a resource, a material possession, merely a cog within an economic cycle. The significance of a tree, its wisdom, as well as its role in generating oxygen, fertilizers, and nutrients for Mother Earth (and for all of us) defies the metrics of value employed within the modern/western/colonial framework of society.

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For Indigenous peoples, as Ninawá emphasizes, existence holds little meaning without this spiritual connection to non-human beings. Huni Kui music, intertwined with the sacred and the spiritual, is sung for the very purpose of being heard by nature. Thus, when a healer ventures into the forest  singing to harvest a medicinal plant, the plant also listens to this music – an integral facet of the healing process. The healing of relationships hinges upon the preservation of these knowledges and connections. Consequently, it is imperative for the younger generation to keep this essence alive, as there is always an elder willing to impart these wisdoms to the generations to come, ensuring the unbroken umbilical cord that ties us to the Earth remains pulsating from one generation to the next. Without this knowledge, the possibility of healing remains elusive, and a tree continues to be seen solely as wood.

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Mateus Tremembé learned from his elders that "those who sing, pray twice." Songs also serve as a form of healing for the Fulni-ô people. Through songs, the community is reminded, for instance, of the role that non-human entities play in the creation and sustenance of life. For them, these entities hold authority over our journey on Earth, rather than the other way around. This perspective offers a lesson in humility, teaching the people to restrain their egos, comprehend that their presence is in service, and recognize the finite duration of their existence.

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Yoran Fulni-ô perceives the inability to control time as a lesson in surrender and integration into a collective intelligence. According to Rosa Pitaguary, respecting each individual's rhythms and timings – their moments to act and moments to accept – is essential for processes of reconciliation. Developing sensitivity to these temporalities involves relating to others as they are, rather than how we might wish them to be. This perspective applies to oneself as well.

Cultivating a profound relationship with oneself, understanding the patterns of retreating, returning to the womb, and then emerging anew, becomes a prerequisite for expanding one's ability to connect with the entirety of existence.

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According to Nádia Pitaguary, time is but transformation, not an end, as bodies and spaces shift, yet the universe endures. As we remove our shoes and place our feet on the Earth, we feel like the Earth, becoming aware of our land nature and paving the way to embody the planet and become a part of the universe. The universe and the womb intersect and mirror each other through their movements, generating life. It's imperative to perceive the vast universe and our relationship with it, but to achieve this, we must scrutinize a myriad of connections. What is our relationship with the Earth? With the winds? With the beings of the waters? With the birds? With our (many) selves?

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Pajé Barbosa, from the Pitaguary people, views the Moon as a conduit for this connection with the universe – both its illuminated aspect in relation to the sun and its hidden, dark side. In the latter, there lies secrecy, meditative silence, and a link to the ancestors.

 

Consequently, the shifts in lunar phases mark moments of pajelança, of making requests, and engaging with the beings of the night.

Adriana, a leader of the Tremembé people from Barra do Mundaú, regards the relationship with Mother Earth as akin to an exchange, manifested in sacred spaces, rituals, and the utilization of medicinal plants. Yet, this connection also goes beyond a mere exchange, as it encompasses care and protection. Mother Earth sustains us and offers guidance to foster our strength. To remain alive, whole, and resilient, we need to be woven within this intricate web of relationships. Mateus Tremembé underscores that this relationship hinges on continuity – it's not sufficient to seek healing once and then forsake the bond with Mother Earth. It requires a continuous nurturing of this relationship, as well as an ongoing commitment to future generations. This demands time, and often, generations are needed to reestablish and uphold these connections when they have been lost.

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Expanding these relationships also broadens our senses and capacity to engage, enabling us to discover the ancestries and spiritualities inherent in our territory. For Ubiraci Pataxó, relationships, senses, and emotions are profoundly interconnected. Emotions are what bind and hold relationships together, akin to the glue that strengthens bonds. Healing processes require encounters marked by reverence for alterities and the humility to recognize that we can be taught by both human and non-human existences. Nourishing ourselves physically and spiritually from these interactions is a vital aspect of these encounters.

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Gestures Towards healing and transforming our patterns of relating

 

• Learning to form genuine relationships without idealizations (projections, instrumentalizations and romanticizations)

• Exploring different possibilities for being and relating not grounded on shared meaning, identity or conviction

• Feeling part of a wider metabolism (planet/land) and collective body (group/community)

• Experiencing the difficulties and complexities of ethical engagements and solidarity from a space of accountability

• Learning through difficult events with humility, compassion, generosity and patience

• Going through the difficult work of mobilizing visceral responsibility