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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



cated at the side of a road little used today. Said 

 a farmer: 



It is very old, very, very old ! They say it was put 

 up when that road was the principal one in these parts ; 

 when the tropeiros went along it to Santos to fetch stuff 

 on the backs of their burros. I have asked many people 

 if they remember when it was put up, but they always 

 say that ever since they were alive and able to see what 

 was around them, that cross was there. 



When passing a wayside cross during the day, 

 a man takes off his hat and a woman or a child 

 makes the sign of the cross. Many persons avoid 

 at all cost passing a wayside cross at night. "If 

 you have to go by after sundown," said a farmer, 

 "it's not good to take off your hat, nor even look. 

 If you do, it will disturb the arma at his penance." 

 An exception is made in the case of a capeldo or 

 other person who conies to pray for the soul of 

 the person who has died at that spot. "This must 

 be done at night," said a capeldo, "because the arma 

 is there only at that time and the ar7na must be 

 present when you offer the prayers." Cases of 

 assonibragoes are often linked, rather understand- 

 ably, with these crosses, as also are legends like 

 that of the "sow and her seven little pigs." ^'^'^ 



As has been indicated,^" a small chapel may be 

 erected over the cross. Occasionally this may be 

 done at the time the cross is set up, in fulfillment of 

 a vow made to the Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) as in 

 the case of a small chapel at the side of the Sao 

 Jose dos Patos road, located about a half mile 

 from the village. A farm woman said : 



It was NhA Quina, the mother of my liusband, who 

 had it built there by the wayside. The family was in 

 great need. Their house was falling apart. They had 

 no money. So my husband's mother made a vow to the 

 Santa Cruz. She promised to put up a cross and build 

 a chapel over it if they could get on better in life, es- 

 pecially if they could have a new house. It didn't need 

 to be a very fine house, she said ; just one that was not 

 falling apart. Things soon began to get better and one 

 day they built the house where they live now. So she 

 had that chapel built and a cross put up inside it. 



A similar but larger chapel was erected some 

 years ago at the edge of the village, near the creek 

 ( see map 2) . It is located at the end of the "Street 

 of the Pasture,"^*" its open front facing up the 



^^s" Abortion is thought, to be punished b,y the return, after 

 death, of the woman in question, in the form of a sow, to wander 

 disconsolate about tlie earth while her unborn children, in the 

 form of pigs, "torment her." They appear in solitary places, 

 especially at midnight. 



2^ See section on Churches and Chapels, p. 145. 



street, so that anyone entering the street from else- 

 where in the village will see the chapel and its cross. 

 The chapel is about 12 feet long, 9 feet wide, and 

 8 feet high. Its three walls are of brick, covered 

 with reboque, calcimined in white. The floor is 

 also of brick. The roof is of tile and there is no 

 ceiling. In front are two low, narrow gates to 

 keep out stray animals. Against the back wall is 

 an altar on which is a large wooden cross. Along 

 each of the side walls is a wooden bench. 



One of the principal festas in the village, that 

 of the Sagrada Santa Cruz (Sacred Holy CriDss), 

 is celebrated here. This year it was held on Satur- 

 day, Maj' 24. Early that morning, the church bells 

 were rung by John-the-Bell-Ringer to "announce" 

 the festa to the countryside. 



For the festa, the cross had been wrapped in 

 white crepe paper, and white and red artificial 

 flowers had been placed on the altar. On wires 

 strung overhead from one side wall to the other, 

 pennants, made of white tissue paper, had been 

 hung. In front of the chapel, the street had been 

 carefully swept. To either side, a rude shelter, 

 called a harraquinha, had been erected, consisting 

 of a roof of palm fronds, still green, supported on 

 four poles, where quentdo '" and pastries were to 

 be sold. Overhead, above the swept space between 

 the two barraqmnkas, other wires had been strung 

 and pennants, made of colored tissue paper, hung 

 from them. About 60 feet in front of the chapel, 

 a deep round hole had been dug in which to set up 

 the tnastro in honor of the Santa Cruz. To one 

 side, several feet away, sticks of wood had been 

 piled, ready for a bonfire. 



The principal festeiro, a villager famed for his 

 skill in cooking, had prepared for the auction to 

 be held in connection with the fest/i, several roasted 

 chickens and a roast goat. About dark, he ap- 

 peared at the chapel, dressed, in spite of a light 

 rain which was falling and the chilly wind which 

 blew from the south, in a white coat he wears only 

 on special occasions. Hanging a lantern on a nail 

 over the entrance to the chapel, he lighted several 

 thick wicks and stuck each in a can of kerosene 

 which he then placed about the swept area in front 

 of the chapel, to provide light for the festa which 

 traditionally lasts all night. 



2«i The street is beginning also to be called the if ho rfo Santa Cruz 

 ( Street of the Holy Cross ) . 



=»' See Pinga, Tobacco, and Cafi?, p. 40. 



