Okay. I've never
blogged before, so I have no idea how this is gonna go. The idea of
this blog is to talk about Brazil - it's culture, language, and
colloquial language, as well as anything anyone is wondering about.
I'll start this
post with some basic introduction to Brazilian folklore, as some of
it is very different from the traditional more commonly known
European stories. We do have the Grimm stories as
well, although some details and character names are different.
We have more
characters than specific stories about them, although they are often
included in pop culture, such as the classic
Monteiro Lobato children's book series “Sítio do Pica-Pau
Amarelo” (The Yellow Woodpecker Ranch) or in the wildly popular
Turma da Mônica comic books, both of which I will
blog about at a later date.
Keep in mind
details in folklore vary from area to area – these
are the versions I grew up hearing about. If you ask someone from a
diferent state or even a diferent family from the same city some of
the details of these creatures could vary, and both versions are
equally correct.
Also, I am aware
some of these may not be all that politically correct nowadays. But
folklore is folklore. It's old and doesn't make all that much sense
half the time, let alone follow political correctness.
Boitatá
Boitatá is a
giant snake made of fire that lives in rivers and punishes anyone who
sets fire to forests.
 |
| Two representations of Boitatá |
Pisadeira
Literally, “The
Stomper”. She is a mean old woman spirit that stomps on people's
bellies as they sleep and thus gives them bad dreams and causes them
to sleep badly.
A Cuca
The Cuca is somewhat equivalent to the European boogeyman (though
the official translation of boogeyman is “bicho
papão”).
She is a witch/spirit monster that steals
away bad children and takes them to her lair to eat them. She
is described as
looking like an alligator or reptilian creature of similar
appearance. It is a recurring antagonist in Monteiro Lobato's classic
stories, which I will go into further detail some other time.
 |
| The Cuca from the Sítio tv series |
A Mula-Sem-Cabeça
Literally, “The
Headless Mule”. She is a woman who laid
with a (Catholic) priest and is thus cursed by God to remain a
monster as punishment. They are depicted as being a headless mule
that has fire blazing out of where the head should be. One can break
the curse by successfully putting a bridle on her – though how one
is meant to do that when there is no head to put the bridle on I have
no idea. They are said to roam the countryside at night searching for
unlucky travellers to haunt.
Iara/Mãe D'Água
The Turma da Mônica rendition of Iara
Mãe D'Água means "Mother of the Water(s)". Iara is a mermaid who rules over the rivers and is the protector of streams and rivers as well as the creatures that live within it and near it. Like most mermaids, she enchants men and then drags them down to the watery depths to their death.
 |
| Iara charming her victim |
Caipora
The Caipora is a nature
spirit similar to Curupira. It rides a wild pig and protects the
forest animals. Like Curupira, it is angered by over-hunting and
poaching.
 |
Caipora from the 1990's TvCultura children's show
Castelo Rá-Tim´Bum |
Saci Pererê
The Saci is the most
symbolic folklore creature in Brazil. He's a mischievous trickster
that likes to cause trouble, like braiding a horse's mane or making
milk go sour. He looks like a young black boy with only one leg who
wears a red cap and likes to smoke a pipe. The Saci travels inside a
mini tornado-like dust cloud. You van capture it by throwing a
strainer or sieve into the dust cloud. Once you have captured the
Saci you must take away his red cap. While it is in your possession
the Saci must do what you tell him.
Recently the
31rst of October was made “Dia do Saci” (Saci Day).
This version is from a famous comic strip series in Brazil
called "Turma do Pererê" by cartoonist Ziraldo.
O Boto
 |
| A Boto seducing a young woman. |
Literally, “The
Porpoise”. The Boto
is somewhat similar to the
Irish Selkies. He is a porpoise by day and at night becomes a
handsome young man, who then goes into town and seduces young women.
You can tell a Boto from a human because they always wear a hat to
hide the blowhole that remains in the middle of their forehead as a
remnant from their porpoise shape.
O Curupira
The Curupira is a nature
spirit in charge of caring for the forest. He looks like a little
boy, except his hair is made of fire and his feet are on backwards.
They are neutral towards humans if you are hunting for food, as
hunting like this is part of nature. If you are poaching, however, or
hunting merely for sport, the Curupira is a being you most definitely
want to avoid. The feature of his backwards feet is important because
he uses his feet to make tracks leading away from the animals and
right into danger, such as cliffs or bogs.
O Lobisomem
Literally, “The Werewolf”. “Lobis” is derived
from “Lobo” (wolf) and “homem” (man). Actually, the English
equivalent is the same but in reverse: “Were” is an old word for
“man”, and “wolf”... well, that's pretty self explanatory.
In Brazil they are usually depicted as the European werewolf, such as Lobi in the Turma da Mônica comics.
 |
| Lobi, the werewolf from Turma da Mônica's spinoff comic series Turma do Penadinho. |
However, the Brazilian traditional
“werewolf” is a giant pig, with ears that cover its face. It
might seem silly, but this probably comes from countryside areas
where they raise very large pigs, which are indeed very vicious and
will readily kill any children (and the occasional adult) who happen
to fall into their pen.
No matter whether depicted as a wolf or pig a
werewolf is always the seventh son born to a family with six
daughters.
This is the only creature that I know a specific folk
story about. I was told this tale by my friend's mom, whose family
comes from a little town near our city. It goes more or less like
this:
“Once upon
a time a family who had six daughters had a son. As such, he was a
werewolf. He was not aware of this, since his eldest sister had died
before he was born.
Every full
moon he would sneak out of the house, hang his clothes on a peg by
the pig pen and jump in. He would roll around in the straw, and
become a giant, vicious pig with ears so big they flopped over its
eyes, and all you could see was its gaping maw of glistening teeth.
It would roam the countryside, eating any creature unlucky enough to
cross its path.
His wife was
also unaware of his condition. One day, she went to visit a friend
for the day and took her infant son with her. She ended up staying
longer than expected.
“Stay the
night,” her friend offered, “It'll be dark soon.”
But the woman
declined, sure she could get home safely. She left, and she was three
thirds of the way home when she heard a rustling noise up ahead. When
she called out, no one answered, but the noise staedily got closer
and closer. Suddenly, she saw it: a giant ferocious pig was running
straight at her.
She quickly
swaddled her son to her back and ran to the nearest tree, climbing as
fast as she could. As she did so, however, her son started to slip
from the sling. She realized this a moment too late, and could only
watch in horror as her son fell from her back and straight into the
pig's awaiting jaws. The pig stayed surrounding the tree until near
daybreak, when it turned and ran back the way it had come.
She waited
until daylight before climbing down, wondering how on Earth she was
going to tell her husband about their son's death. When she arrived
home her husband greeted her at the door. When she looked up, he was
smiling at her. In between two of his teeth was a wisp of red
flannel, just like the one she had bundled up their son in the night
before.”
If you think that story's creepy now imagine hearing it for the first time at age 8, in the dark, with only a flashlight. O.o;;;
Alright,
there we go. My first ever blog post. I feel so proud....
.jpg)
.jpg)
