Saci (Brazilian folklore)

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Portrait of the Saci-pererê (2007) by J. Marconi.

Saci (pronounced

pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes (usually in the middle of a Dirt devil). Considered an annoying prankster
in most parts of Brazil, and a potentially dangerous and malicious creature in others, he nevertheless grants wishes to anyone who manages to trap him or steal his magic cap. However, his cap is often depicted as having a bad smell. Most people who claimed to have stolen this cap say they can never wash the smell away. In addition to having only one leg, Saci has a hole in both palms of his hands. A favorite pastime of Saci, is passing a lit match through these holes. [1] The legend says that a person can trap a Saci inside a bottle when he is in the form of a dust devil.

There are several variants of the myth, including:[2] Saci-pererê (pronounced [sɐˈsi peɾeˈɾe]), black as coal; Saci-trique (pronounced [sɐˈsi ˈtɾiki]), bi-racial and more benign; Saci-saçurá (pronounced [sɐˈsi sɐsuˈɾa]), with red eyes.

Powers, weaknesses, and habits

An incorrigible prankster, the Saci causes no major harm, but there is no little harm that he won't do. He hides children's toys, sets farm animals loose, teases dogs—and curses chicken eggs, preventing them from hatching. In the kitchen, the Saci spills salt, sours the milk, burns the bean stew, and drops flies into the soup.

If a

seamstress
's needles, hides her thimbles, and tangles her sewing threads. If he sees a nail lying on the ground, he turns the point up. In short, people blame anything that goes wrong—in or outside the house—on the Saci.

Besides disappearing or becoming invisible (often with only his red cap and the red glow of his pipe still showing), the Saci can transform himself into a Matitaperê or Matita Pereira, an elusive bird whose melancholic song seems to come from nowhere. One can escape a pursuing Saci by crossing a water stream. The Saci dares not cross, for then he loses all his powers. Another way is to drop ropes full of knots. The Saci is compelled to stop and undo the knots. One can also try to appease him by leaving behind some cachaça, or some tobacco for his pipe.

He is fond of juggling embers or other small objects and letting them fall through the holes on his palms. An exceedingly nimble fellow, the lack of his right leg does not prevent him from bareback-riding a horse, and sitting cross-legged while puffing on his pipe (a feat comparable to the Headless Mule's gushing fire from the nostrils).

Every dust devil, says the legend, is caused by the spin-dance of an invisible Saci. One can capture him by throwing into the dust devil a rosary made of separately blessed prayer beads, or by pouncing on it with a sieve.[3] With care, the captured Saci can be coaxed to enter a dark glass bottle, where he can be imprisoned by a cork with a cross marked on it. He can also be enslaved by stealing his cap, which is the source of his power. However, depending on the treatment he gets from his master, an enslaved Saci who regains his freedom may become either a trustworthy guardian and friend, or a devious and terrible enemy.

Origins of the legend

Saci-pererê

While some[

Old Tupi
.

This indigenous character was appropriated and transformed in the 18th century by the

Portuguese
name), and eventually Saci Pererê.

His red cap may have been inspired on the

Trasgo, a mythical Portuguese creature with the exact same powers as the Saci.[4] The Saci-Pererê concept shows some syncretism with Christian elements: he bolts away when faced with crosses, leaving behind a sulphurous smell – classical attributes of the devil
in Christian folklore.

The concepts of imprisoning a supernatural being in a bottle by a magically marked cork, and of forcing him to grant wishes in return of his liberty, have obvious parallels in the story of

Muslims and thus presumably familiar with the Arabian tales. Moreover, the occupation of parts of the Portuguese territory (namely in the south) by the Muslim Moors
, between the years 711 and 1249, provides another possible path for Arabian influence on the Saci legend.

In popular culture

In science

A novel species of

dinosauromorph, discovered in 2001 at Agudo (southern Brazil), was named Sacisaurus because the fossil skeleton was missing one leg.[10]

The names of the Brazilian satellites SACI-1 and SACI-2 were backronyms on the character's name, as well as four retrotransposons in the DNA of the fluke Schistosoma mansoni were named Saci-1, Saci-2, Saci-3, and Perere, for their ability to jump around in the parasite's genome [11]

Since the Saci's one-legged physique reminds us of people with a

Solidarity, Support, Communication and Information) was created at the University of São Paulo with the purpose of stimulating these four efforts towards the social and medical rehabilitation of physically disabled people.[12]

As a mascot

Despite being a one-legged creature, the character is believed to be very agile and powerful, always defeating his enemies. As so, it's a mascot of some sport clubs in Brazil such as

Sport Club Internacional and Social Futebol Clube
.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Saci Pererê | Dana Social" (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  2. ^ ARAÚJO, Alceu Maynard. Folclore nacional, São Paulo, Ed. Melhoramentos, 1964, v.1, p.419 (in Portuguese)
  3. ^ "SÍTIO DO PICAPAU AMARELO – 2ª VERSÃO". lobato.globo.com.
  4. ^ "Algunas trastadas del Diablu". Fusion Asturias (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  5. ^ Andriolli Costa (2018-01-27). "O Saci que chegou ao Japão". Colecionador de Sacis (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  6. ^ "sosaci.org". www.sosaci.org.
  7. ^ CVG (15 May 2012). "Max Payne 3 gameplay: Captain BaseBall Bat Boy! All the episodes". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ GamesRadar (15 May 2012). "Max Payne 3 EasterEggs - Classic Max Payne 1 skin and Captain Baseball Bat Boy". Archived from the original on 2021-12-22 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Max Payne 3 Easter Eggs - Original Max Payne 1 skin and Captain Baseball Bat Boy".
  10. ^ Ferigolo, J. and Langer, M.C. (2006), A Late Triassic dinosauriform from south Brazil and the origin of the ornithischian predentary bone, Historical Biology: A Journal of Paleobiology, p. 1-11. (in English)
  11. PMID 14990715
    .
  12. ^ Rede SACI: Solidariedade, Apoio, Comunicação e Informação - Índice » A SACI Archived 2009-04-18 at the Wayback Machine

External links

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