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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



Gods are there?," instead of giving the expected 

 reply as stated in the catechism, said, "At home, 

 my Aunt Chica has one," and explained that in 

 her house there was an image of Jesus crucified. 

 She was called wma hoba (a fool), however, by 

 a woman in the village. "Everyone should know 

 that Jesus is there in the heavens and the image 

 is only a representation of him." 



The official conception that one prays to the 

 Santos so that they will intercede with the Su- 

 preme Deity to obtain from Him the answer to 

 a request, is known rather generally in the com- 

 munity. "If Santo Antonio doesn't help you find 

 what you've lost," said a woman in the village, "it's 

 because God doesn't want you to find it. If God 

 doesn't want you to have something, the sa.nto 

 does not ask Him, isn't that so?" Actual be- 

 havior almost always implies, however, a different 

 conception. Prayers are usually addressed only 

 to the santo, and he alone is held responsible for 

 the failure to obtain that which was desired. 

 Moreover, he is not asked to intercede with the 

 Supreme Deity but himself to grant the favor. 

 Promessas are also made directly to the Santo and 

 fulfilled only in his name. If a request goes un- 

 answered, sympathetic magic may be applied to 

 the image of the santo to force the reluctant re- 

 sponse. The image may be taken from the ora- 

 torio, a "hat" which has been made fi'om the comb 

 of "malignant wild bees" put on the "head" and 

 the image hid behind the door. If the desired 

 response continues to delay, the image may suffer 

 other indignities, such as being hung by the neck 

 in a well, held over a fire or, in extreme cases, put 

 into the pilao and smashed up. 



Treatment of an image in this fashion is cen- 

 sured, however, by many persons in the commu- 

 nity. "If you make a promessa to Santo An- 

 tonio," said an elderly woman in the village, "and 

 he doesn't do anything for you, it's better to keep 

 quiet because, if you don't, he never will listen to 

 you. These people who mistreat a santo are no 

 good. Credo!^^ What kind of people is it that 

 do things like that." ^=^ 



As implied in several of the remarks cited above, 

 the tendency is rather generalized to consider the 

 primary function of a santo to be that of aiding 

 an individual in obtaining something which he 

 needs or desires. With few exceptions, prayers 

 to him have this objective. 



Known and referred to, then, as specific santos 

 by the local inhabitants are the following: 



Nossa Senhora da Aparecida 

 Nossa Senhora da Ajiarecidinha 

 Nossa Senhora do Bom Parte 

 Nossa Senhora da Conceicao 

 Nossa Senhora do Desterro 

 Nossa Senhora das Dores 

 Nossa Senhora das Gragas 

 Nossa Senhora da Guia 

 Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrat 

 Nossa Senhora da Piedade 

 Nossa Senhora da Penha 

 Nossa Senhora dos Rem^dios 

 Nossa Senhora do Rosdrio 

 Sao Bom .Tesus da Cana Verde 

 Sao Bom Jesus de Iguape 

 Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora 

 Sao Bom Jesus da Prisao 

 Menino Jesus 

 Divino Espirito Santo 

 Santo Antonio 

 Sao Benedito 

 Sao Bento 



Sao Braz 

 Sao Geraldo 

 Sao Gongalo 

 Sao Jeronimo 

 Sao Joao Batista 

 Sao JosS 

 Sao Lazaro 

 Sao Lourengo 

 Sao Norberto 

 Santo Onofre 

 Sao Pedro 

 Siio Roque 

 Sao Sebastiao 

 Sao Tarclsio 

 Santa Barbara 

 Santa Catarina 

 Santa Cecilia 

 Santa Luzia 

 Santa Rita 

 Santa Rosa 

 Santa Terezinha 



^* A shortened form of the Apostle's Creed widely used in the 

 community when one speaks or thinks of that which might harm 

 him and against which he desires protection. 



25S The same informant also recalled that "once I was in Pira- 

 cema and I saw a woman there who had made a promessa to 

 Santo Onofre so the man she had been living with would come 

 back to her. But Santo Onofre hadn't listened and so she struck 

 him an awful blow." 



Also considered as a santo by several persons 

 in the community is Antoninho Marmo, a boy who, 

 even before his early deatli, was thought to possess 

 miraculous power (Willems, 1940). His gi'ave 

 in a Sao Paulo cemetery is visit«d each year, on 

 All Soul's Day, by thousands of persons. "They 

 say that once a young man in Sao Paulo was very 

 sad and disheartened," remarked a farm woman. 

 "He was out of work. One daj' as he was leaning 

 up against the wall of Consolagao cemetery, Santo 

 Antoninho Marmo suddenly appeared there among 

 the flowers. He asked him why he was so sad. 

 The young man replied that he had no money 

 and could not find any work to do. Then Santo 

 Antoninho said to him, 'Go to such-and-such a 

 place and there you will find work.' He went to 

 that place and, sure enough, he got a job." In 

 lieu of images, photographs of the boy are em- 

 ployed and are to be seen in many homes of the 

 community. 



The Divino Espirito Santo (Holy Ghost), rep- 

 resented as a dove, is thought of as a santo, al- 

 though there is no "cult of the Divino" as is to be | 



