174 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 12 



A young mother of two children : 



My little girl is called Benedita because my mother-in- 

 law made a pronicssa that if Sao Benedito would help me 

 give birth to her, we would name her in honor of him. 

 I had been iu childbirth for a day and a night. My mother- 

 in-law made the vow at 4 o'clock in the morning and by 

 8 : 30, Benedita was born. When my second child came, my 

 husband was so afraid I might suffer like I did when 

 Benedita was born, that he made a vow to Sao Bom Jesus 

 de I'irapora to take the baby's picture to him if I did not 

 suffer so. 



A farm mother, aged 23 : 



I once made a vow to Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora for 

 my son. He had a sore on his foot that would not heal. 

 He got burnt from his grandmother's pipe. She thought 

 a lot of him. She couldn't see him without wanting to 

 take him in her arms. But she could hardly walk; she 

 had to remain seated nearly all the time. One day, when 

 he was about 10 months old, he was crawling near her. 

 She reached down to pick him up. The bowl of her pipe 

 turned over and the burning tobacco fell on his foot. It 

 wouldn't heal : he was always crawling around in the 

 dirt. I went to Boa Vi.sta to get some medicine for him 

 and on the way I made a vow to Sao Bom Jesus de Pirapora 

 that if he would let the medicine cure the sore I'd let tlie 

 boy's hair grow and then I'd have a photograph made of 

 him and take it to the santo. The remedy I got was a 

 white salve. It was just like taking the sore out with 

 your hand ; in a few days, his foot was well. We let his 

 hair grow imtil he was 2 years old and then we had a 

 photograph made and took it to Pirapora to the santo. 



A young farm woman : 



Our family will have to give a dance for Sao Gongalo. 

 My mother made a vow that if my father got over being 

 paralyzed, she would hold a dance for the santo. He got 

 well. For a long time she intended to fulfill her promise. 

 At first she didn't have enough sugar because of the War, 

 and she couldn't hold a fcstn and not feed everyone well. 

 Later, when the War was over and she had enough sugar, 

 it was diflicult to get bread.™' Then my father died. And 

 before she could fulfill the promise, my mother became 

 ill herself and died. But the promessa is still valid and 

 must be fulfilled. 



A farmer, aged 50 : 



When I was sick, I made a promessa to Sao Bom Jesus 

 de Pirapora that if I got well I would go from the village 

 to Pirapora and back on foot. I mu.st go into the village 

 one of these days and start out to fulfill it. 



A farm woman, aged 38 : 



I once had a sore on my leg, a very ugly sore. It was 

 eating through tlie leg. I made a promessa to Sao Gongalo 

 that if he would heal it, I would hold a dauce for him. I 

 got well and a few weeks later we held a dance for Sao 

 Gongalo at our house. 



A farm woman, aged 34 : ' 



My little boy once caught his forefinger and his little 

 finger in the cogs of our etii/enho."'- His hand swelled up 

 badly. I rubbed hot castor oil onto it, and arnica and 

 salt. I also gave him a little of the arnica to drink. I 

 then made a vow to Sao Bora Jesus de Pirapora to take a 

 wax hand to him if the hand of my little boy got well. It 

 did. As you can see, the fingers are only a little crooked. 



A young farm woman : 



My little girl is sick. I have just made a vow to Sao 

 Benedito that if she gets well, I will ask a cruzeiro of 

 the first person who comes to visit us, tie it in a handker- 

 chief around her neck and take it to the santo. When we 

 get to the church, I'll untie the handkerchief and put the 

 money at his feet. When my other little girl was sick 

 some time ago, I made a promessa to Sao Eoque to beg 

 alms for a Mass in his honor. The other day I took her 

 to the village and in a little while I had 13 cruzeiros. I 

 gave 10 cruzeiros to the priest to say a Mass and I sent 3 

 cruzeiros to Senhor Sao Roque. 



A villager: 



Once when I was going to Pirapora there was a man in 

 the bus with a child about 14 years old. It was dressed 

 like a boy, with shirt, necktie, and pants. But it had two 

 large braids tied up on top of its head. So I wasn't sure 

 whether it was a boy or a girl. I kept quiet for a long 

 time. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I 

 asked the father if it was a boy or a girl. "It's a boy," he 

 said. "He was born 'strangled' (with the umbilical 

 cord tight about the neck). It was a half hour before 

 we knew whether he would live or not. The midwife was 

 frantic. Before she had time to see whether the child 

 vi'as a boy or a girl, she made a vow to the Divino Espirito 

 Santo that if the child lived, its hair would not be cut 

 until it was 15 years old." 



A farm woman, aged 37 : 



When we left Minas to come here, I made a vow that 

 if we got here safely, I would have a Mass said after we 

 had been here a year. I also promised that if I didn't 

 have enough money by that time to pay for a Mass, I'd 

 beg esmolas (alms) for the amount. When the year was 

 up, we didn't have the money. So, at a f-esta in Paratinga, 

 I begged enough money for a Mass. You must always' i 

 "pay" a promessa, you know; if you don't, it'll be bad 

 for you. 



A farm woman, 60 years old: 



Each time my daughter was about to have a child, I 

 made a vow to Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrate (Serrat) 

 that if she would give Nena a good hour when she had 

 the child, I'd take it to her altar to have it baptized. 

 Thank God ! Nossa Senhora do Monte Serrate heard me. 

 Both of Nena's babies were baptized at her altar. 



="■ See Food and Food Habits, p. 37. 



"^^ See Tools and Other Equipment, p. 55. 



