Ticumbi and the Art of Healing

The author invites the reader to get to know, through the eyes of Cultural Geography, the way of life of a traditional community of artisanal fishermen in the village of Itaúnas, located in Conceição da Barra, in the north of the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. Ticumbi is a social institution in the village (the largest). In this work we consider socially produced space. In this sense, the ways of spatializing and inhabiting embody an ethos in the territory, making it a place, a dwelling. The landscape reveals a narrative, a cultural identity of its inhabitants. This research is centered on the discussion of five themes that complement each other in a synthesis through a dialectical process: (i) socio-historical-geographical-cultural aspects; (ii) concepts of spatiality, territoriality, place and identity processes in intersubjectivity; (iii) cultural landscape; (iv) networks of affection; and (v) doing with healing knowledge as an expression of spatiality. There are two maps of the lived space experience: a mental map and an interpretive map. Ticumbi is not only a religious expression of the village of Itaúnas, but also a political one.