CRUZ DAS almas: a BRAZILIAN VILLAGE' — PIERSON 



143 



To receive the blessing and to respect tliem. 

 To ask tlieir blessing and to kiss their hand. 



A godfather or godmother sometimes exercises 

 greater control over a godchild than its own par- 

 ents. To an IS-year-old girl in the village who 

 wished to accompany a group who were going in 

 a truck to a neighboring town, her mother said, 

 "Your godmother won't like it." The girl, how- 

 ever, decided to go anyway. ""When I saw the 

 truck," said the godmother later, "and someone 

 told me my godchild was in it, I went right down 

 there and told her to get down off the truck. She 

 got down in a hurry. "Wliat does a girl mean to 

 go out that waj' when she may get home late ? I 

 won't have it." 



At times, the godchild may assume obligations 

 of a material character toward a godparent. One 

 young woman in the village, for instance, who has 

 a steady income as postmistress, gives her spin- 

 ster godmother 50 cruzeiros each month. 



The relation of compadrio binds together a 

 large portion of the community. Since each child 

 has two godparents at his baptism and one also 

 at his christening, and his parents themselves may 

 be the godparents of other children, in due time 

 a large number of people will be related in this 

 way to a large number of other persons, and even- 

 tually these interrelationships will become so 

 numerous that they extend throughout the entire 

 community. 



Of 25 persons who were asked how many god- 

 children each had, none had less than 1 and one 

 person had 40 ; the average was 8. Another per- 

 son replied, "More than a hundred." A villager 

 who was asked to prepare a list of his compadres 

 gave the names of 53 persons, 42 of whom reside 

 in the community. Three live in one neighboring 

 town and two in another. Three others live in a 

 small town about 25 miles away and one lives in 

 each of two other towns about 30 and 60 miles 

 away, respectively. One is in Sao Paulo. Of 

 the 53 compadres, 7 are relatives : 4 are brothers, 

 1 is the man's father, 1 his son, and 1 is his son-in- 

 law. The other 46 bear no blood relationship to 

 him. 



The institution appears to be functioning as 

 effectively today as in the past. A village official, 

 upon being asked if he had observed any lessening 

 of respect between godparents and godcliildren 

 and between compadres, replied, with positive 



conviction, "None at all. In every time and place 

 there are always some people who are no good. 

 But there are no more today than there used 

 to be." 



RITUAL, CEREMONY, AND BELIEF 



Indicating the fact that, in the area under 

 study, religious ideas and practices occupy a 

 prominent place in the thought and other behavior 

 of local inhabitants, the weekly newspaper in the 

 nearby town of Boa Vista gives over a generous 

 portion of each issue to announcements of coming 

 religious festas or accounts of past festas and 

 other news of similar character. In the issue of 

 January 3, 1948, for example, a headline in bold 

 type which runs entirely across the front page, 

 reads : "Send in your Prendas '*^ for the auction to 

 be held on January 4, 5, and 6 in honor of the 

 church of the miracle-working Sao Benedito. 

 Prendas can be sent either to those in charge of 

 the festa or to this newspaper and Sao Benedito 

 will thank you with his blessing." Underneath 

 is a reproduction of the image of Sao Benedito 

 and a prayer. The upper third of the front page 

 is entirely given over to the announcement of the 

 festa. 



Rituals and ceremonies of a religious character 

 which are performed in the village church, in the 

 various chapels scattered about the community, 

 and in private homes are primarily Roman Cath- 

 olic in derivation, as also is the belief predominant 

 in the community. The principal sacred func- 

 tionary is the padre, who is appointed by the eccle- 

 siastical authorities and is assisted by the patron- 

 esses and the acolytes. 



One observes in the rituals and ceremonies, how- 

 ever, which are predominantly Roman Catholic in 

 derivation, especially those held without the at- 

 tendance of the padre in the wayside chapels and 

 in private homes, as well as in the belief of almost 

 all persons in the community, certain elements of 

 folk derivation. In local thought and practice, 

 for example, the work of the "blessers," which is 

 believed to have magical efficacy, assumes a prom- 

 inent role. Belief and practice with reference to 

 the Santos are extensively encrusted with folk ele- 

 ments, as similarly are those with reference to the 

 almas, the promessas, and certain festas. 



=« See discussion of the leiloeiro in Division of Labor, p. 58. 



