Xangô: fogo, matéria e transformação

Xangô: Fire, Matter, and Transformation is an educational e-book written in Brazilian Portuguese that presents an interdisciplinary dialogue between Afro-Brazilian religious traditions, the history of chemistry, and decolonial epistemologies. Developed as part of a teacher education program in Chemistry, the work is designed for pre-service teachers, Basic Education educators, and high school students interested in exploring alternative ways of understanding matter, transformation, and knowledge production. The book centers on Xangô, an orixá associated with fire, lightning, stone, and justice in Yoruba and Afro-Brazilian traditions, and examines how his myths and ritual symbols articulate complex conceptualizations of transformation. Through narratives such as the myth of Xangô teaching humans to produce fire, the text connects symbolic, cosmological, and material processes, highlighting how cultural knowledge systems encode sophisticated interpretations of natural phenomena. A key contribution of the work lies in its articulation between Xangô’s symbolic universe and alchemical and chemical traditions. By exploring concepts such as fire as an operator of transformation, the balance of opposing forces, and the role of material elements (e.g., stone, lightning, and combustion), the book proposes a comparative framework in which Afro-Brazilian cosmologies and the history of science converge as distinct yet dialogical epistemic regimes. The e-book also incorporates discussions of material culture, such as the oxé (double-headed axe) and the Odùm Ará (lightning stone), understood as both physical objects and carriers of symbolic and ritual meaning. These elements are analyzed in relation to their chemical properties (e.g., flint and quartzite composition, combustion processes) and their role in structuring practices, language, and systems of belief. Combining accessible language, visual resources, and conceptual analysis, the work aims to support critical and culturally responsive pedagogical practices. It encourages readers to rethink dominant scientific narratives, recognize the epistemic value of African and Afro-Brazilian knowledge systems, and engage with science education through a contracolonial and semiotic perspective.