Entre o Céu e a Terra: a suspensão corporal como prática espiritual

Abstract

his study analyzes body suspension as a ritualistic and spiritual practice of a subjective nature, situating it within the contemporary context and examining the cultural and historical dimensions of body modification practices. The research begins with the understanding of the body as a territory marked by symbolic disputes, highlighting how the domestication of the body was central to the civilizing project in Brazil, leaving historical marks on the individual. By revisiting archaeological and anthropological records, it becomes evident that body modification practices have appeared across different peoples and time periods, revealing their persistence as a symbolic language of identity and social belonging. In the contemporary setting, body suspension emerges within artistic and spiritual circuits. More than an aesthetic practice, suspension is understood as a ritual gesture that reinscribes meaning onto the body through collective environments and the sensory intensity of the act, establishing new forms of perception and existence for the subject.