Saci

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Saci-pererê

The saci or saci-pererê is a popular figure in Brazilian mythology . He is a leprechaun-like creature with black skin and only one leg. He smokes a pipe and has a magical red cap that allows him to appear and disappear at any time (usually in a vortex of dust).

Saci Pererê cannot swim. From Renato Bender

Depending on the region, he was a good or bad being and accordingly the stories were embellished as a role model or a deterrent. In its malicious variety, the Saci served as a child fright among slaves and farm workers ( Caboclos ).

Regional variants are Saci-trique ( fairer skinned and friendlier) and Saci-saçurá (with red eyes).

According to its distribution area in the south, it is assumed that the roots of the Saci myth are linked to Christian proselytizing. Relationships with Yaçi-Yaterê are also suspected, an equally goblin-like figure from the Tupí - Guarani mythology , who appears as a one-legged child with fiery red hair.

At the beginning of the 20th century, mainly based on publications by Monteiro Lobato , the theory that the Saci myth had a real background emerged. A search for evidence of the real existence of the Saci is carried out, but the seriousness of the effort can not be compared with the search for the Yeti or Bigfoot .

As the national counterpart to American Halloween , there has been the Dia do Saci , the "Day of Saci", on October 31 in Brazil since 2005 .

literature

  • José Bento Monteiro Lobato: O Sacy-Perêrê: resultado de um inquérito. Gráfica JB S / A, Rio de Janeiro 1998 (facsimile)
  • José Bento Monteiro Lobato: O Saci. Editora Brasiliense, São Paulo 1973
  • Míriam Stella Blonski: Saci, de Monteiro Lobato: um mito nacionalista. In: Belo Horizonte, Vol. 8 (Dec. 2004), pp. 163–171 full text (PDF) ( Memento from November 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

Web links