The word "botánicas" refers to herbs and plants used by many in the Latino community as a form of alternative medicine and to provide a sense of hope and healing. The first botánicas or “green pharmacies” were opened in Cuba and Puerto Rico in the late 1950s and early ´60s and the earliest Mexican and Mexican American botánicas, a decade or so later. Among those who frequent botánicas are practitioners of Santería, one of numerous spiritual traditions with roots in West Africa and practiced throughout the island and coastal communities of the Greater Caribbean and their diasporas. At the heart of the practice of Santería is aché, a Yoruba concept which refers to the vital forces or energies that sustain the cosmos. These energies are manifested through over forty orishas or emanations of Olodumare, the omnipresent divinity that is the source of all life. Each orisha is associated with a Roman Catholic saint and natural phenomena. The goal of Santería is to “facilitate communication between orishas and humans in order to establish physical and spiritual balance.” According to a fosforo aritcle, advised by Professor Rosa Carrasquillo and written by a couple of Worcester college students, they say , "The purposes underlying these rituals vary from physical healing to spiritual cleansing. In the process of performing these rituals, the Santeros and Espiritistas communicate with the spiritual beings to discern the problems at hand. Mr. Rosario explained that the ceremonies and rituals they perform are meant to protect the individual, and never to inflict harm upon others." Botánicas offer members of this practice a safe space to fill the gap between all the medical disparities they have experienced, botánicas have become a sanctuary for these practitioners and praise it in its most celestial way.

Sources: "Botánicas en Worcester." Fósforo, 4. College of the Holy Cross, 2007. Internet http://college.holycross.edu/fosforo/4/botanicas.htm; OrishaNet. http://www.orishanet.org/vocabs.html

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