Tag Archives: Brazilian

Headless Mule Legend

Text: Below is the performance describing the Brazilian Headless Mule legend.

Interviewer: Do you have any stories of legendary figures?

Interviewee: Yeah, so in Brazil we have, uh, I used to be really, like deathly scared of this one mythological creature, in Portuguese the name is Mula sem Cabeca. In English, it, uh, the Headless Mule, and it’s basically a mule, headless mule, but in the place of its head, it’s, uh, it’s like a bunch of flames. So, uh, when I used to, when someone read to me that story and showed me, like, a picture, I was like always scared of, like, going to my Grandmother’s farm, where there were like horses and stuff, so I was just, like, very scared of horses, but, uh, it’s like a cool little Folklore. I don’t know the story behind it, but I think there is, like, an origin story.

Context:

The interviewee is a 22 year-old college student who grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. At first he could not recall any legends from his childhood, and then he remembered the figure above. He learned about the legend from a family member reading him a story about the figure from a children’s book.

Analysis:

This mythical creature exemplifies how folklore interacts with published media. The widespread Brazilian folkloric legend of the Headless Mule was incorporated by a children’s book publisher as a folklorism, which helped further disseminate the story. The interviewee’s own life experience affected how he interacted with the legend, as growing up around a farm made him worry that this legendary animal might attack him around his grandmother’s farm animals. The legend of the Headless Mule is a clear example of the frightening effect of the uncanny. The familiar sight of farm animals was made scary by its alteration. This folkloric belief is similar to that of the evil headless horseman, but this time, it is the evil farm animal that is headless, not its rider, showcasing how across cultures, headless entities are folk figures of horror.

Seven Waves New Year’s Tradition

Text: Below is a student’s performance describing a New Year’s tradition.

Interviewer: Are there any traditions you follow for New Year’s?

Interviewee: Yeah, so for New Year’s, in, like, Brazil, just as the clock strikes midnight, uh, we, people that are at the beach, we all, like, jump seven waves to rid ourselves of any bad luck that comes with the previous year.

Context:

The interviewee is a college student, who grew up in São Paulo Brazil. This interview took place after a conversation about Holidays, and a discussion on if there were any unique ways he partook in Holiday celebrations. At first, he could not think of any particular folk traditions, but eventually he remembered this one. He participates in this ritual when he is on the beach in Brazil for New Year’s Eve.

Analysis:

This folk habit represents a commonality of New Year traditions, which consists of preparing for the future year. Some traditions seek to bring good luck, for example, by eating grapes to bring fortune. However, this particular tradition engages in conversion magic, seeking to remove bad luck built up from the previous year. The habit of jumping, in particular, seven waves showcases how the number 7 is viewed as lucky in Western cultures. This action reflects a similar New Year’s tradition, the Times Square Ball Drop, where excitement over the New Year’s is also shared in large groups.

Carnaval Brazilian Festival

Informant: Carnaval, the most famous Brazilian Festival. You probably know it. Huge party every year. In Carnaval you play music in groups and do specific group dancing. its about celebrating your community and having fun with others around you.

Context: My informant was born in Brazil and spent the majority of his childhood there. Obviously he celebrated the Carnaval every single year. He would go with his family and dance all night and all day and listen to good music and eat good food. He hasn’t been back to Brazil in quite some time so he is looking forward to that.

Analysis: It is always interesting looking at the holidays of other cultures. You start to see the differences and similarities between what they celebrate it and why. Most American holidays are celebrated because of some holy person or because some tragedy that led us to being American. I quit like how this holiday according to my informant is just celebrating the community and having good times with everyone close by.

Point at the Stars and get a Wart

TEXT:

SS: “The first one is one I always got told while growing up. While you’re stargazing at night, if you point at the moon, if you point at the stars, if you point at anything beautiful in the sky, then you’re going to wake up with some sort of wart… on your face, on your finger, somewhere like that. So growing up, I always used my fist if I wanted to point out a star. And it worked for me! That is, until one night. My family was hanging out in the jacuzzi, chatting, having a great night, and then we talked about this beautiful star in the sky, the brightest star in the sky. I said it’s so nice, and my family said they didn’t know which one I was talking about, so obviously the go-to is to assist them. So I get my big old finger and point straight at this bright, beautiful star, and right after I look at my finger and my family and said “NO!” After that, I was like oh no, something’s going to happen, this will really suck, maybe I’ll find out if this is the real deal or not. I was so worried… the rest of the night, I made sure to use my fist so I wouldn’t get like, double the trouble or something. The next day I wake up and go to the mirror, and I’ve got a fat pimple on my nose. I was so annoyed! I was like this is real, I screwed it up, I should have pointed with my fist… that’s why I believe that superstition to be true. Moral of the story: don’t point at the stars.”

CONTEXT: SS is my roommate and close friend, a recent graduate of USC who was born in Brazil but moved to the United States soon after. She frequently flies back with her parents and brother to visit her family in Brazil.

SS: “All the Brazilian superstitions I have I learned from my family. I have multiple.”


ANALYSIS: SS described the practice as a superstition when she described it: she was self-conscious of its magical nature. The belief itself is an example of a jinx. She didn’t have to physically contact the star, so contagious magic appears to be out. On the topic of SS’s experience with the superstition, Her story about it becomes a memorate because of the way that she inserted herself into the narrative. Her experience with the superstition is built into the way that she describes it. Her testing of the superstition is significant because it was a one-time event: she followed the superstition at all other times in her life, making the one time where she didn’t dramatic in comparison. Her test could have been an outlier, but because her test confirmed her belief, she’s not going to try again. She built her own debate into the way she told the story, making sure to mention the fact that she herself was doubting it, but she makes it clear that in the end, her belief was confirmed, almost as though she was trying to convince her audience.

Brazilian Sandals Superstition

TEXT:

SS: So basically, something I grew up with… in the home… There’s a really big tradition in Brazilian culture to never walk around barefoot. We always walk around with flip flops, some kind of sandals. Something I used to do is if I was walking around outside, the bottoms would get really dirty, and I’d be afraid of my mom telling me to not walk around in my dirty sandals. So what I’d do is I would walk in and I’d set the sandals upside down, so the straps would be facing the ground. But every time I’d do that, my mom would tell me don’t put those upside down, or something will happen to a close relative of yours if you do that. I forget if it’s they’ll die, but it definitely wasn’t positive: they’d get harmed in some way. So every single time I put it upside down, I’d get a comment like that and get scared. My mom would always say “You want me to die?” and things like that intense sometimes. And finally, after a long time of thinking it was legit superstition, apparently it’s a joke among Brazilian parents. Like “I don’t want you to get my floor dirty.” “I don’t want the feet of your sandal to touch the dirty cold floor.” So it’s a way for parents to scare their kids. It’s always something I got scared of.

CONTEXT: SS is my roommate and close friend, a recent graduate of USC who was born in Brazil but moved to the United States soon after. She frequently flies back with her parents and brother to visit her family in Brazil.


ANALYSIS: For most of her life as a child, SS saw this rule as a superstition and treated it as such. The contrast between her and her mother’s beliefs is interesting: for the mother, the superstition was never real, but her insistence on the rule made it reality for her daughter. The text itself reminds me of the rhyme “Step on a crack, you’ll break your mother’s back.” It’s similar in structure: the stepping on and contact with the ground—either the floor or a crack on the ground—results in injury to a part of the family, specifically the mother. That being said, the “superstition” detailed here has two key differences. First, the rhyme is often repeated between children and peers, whereas the superstition SS recounted was told to her by an authority figure—her mother. Second, the superstition has a legitimate motive to be told by parents. SS’s mother had a very clear purpose in telling her daughter not to step on the floor: so that she didn’t dirty them.