Saci (Brazilian folklore)

The Saci (pr. sah-SEE) is arguably the most popular character of Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged elf, with holes through the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap which enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes. Considered an annoying prankster in most parts of the country, and a potentially dangerous and malicious creature in others, he will nevertheless grant wishes to anyone who manages to steal his magic cap.

There are actually three types of Saci: the best-known Saci Pererê is black as coal, the Saci Trique is mulatto and more benign, and the Saci Saçurá has red eyes. All Saci are born into bamboo buds.

Saci Pererê is also the name of a Brazilian cocktail consisting of 1/4 cup of cachaça and 3 tablespoons of honey, which is said to be good for the common cold.

Powers, weaknesses, and habits

An incorrigible prankster, the Saci will not cause major harm, but there is no little harm that he won't do. He will hide children's toys, set farm animals loose, tease old dogs, and curse chicken eggs preventing them from hatching. In a kitchen, the Saci would spill all salt, sour the milk, burn bean stew, and drop flies into the soup. If a popcorn kernel fails to pop, it is because the Saci cursed it. Given half a chance, he will dull the seamstress's needles, hide her thimbles, and tangle her sewing threads. If he sees a nail lying on the ground, he will turn it with the point up. In short, anything that goes wrong — in the house, or outside it — may be confidently blamed 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 itself into a Matitaperê, an elusive bird whose melancholic song seems to come from nowhere. A Saci will not cross water streams, lest it will lose all his powers — a fact that will be undoubtedly found useful to people who find themselves being pursued by one. If that happens, the victim should drop ropes full of knots; the Saci will then be compelled to stop and undo the knots, thus allowing his victim to escape. One can also try to appease him by leaving behind some cachaça, or some tobacco for his pipe.

He is fond of juggling lit charcoal 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 he puffs on his pipe.

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 [1]. With care, the captured Saci can be coached 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 may become either a trustworthy guardian and friend, or a devious and terrible enemy, in which case the master is compelled to return his freedom.

Origins of the legend

While some claim that the Saci myth originated in Europe, in the 13th century, it probably derives from the Yaci-Yaterê of Tupi-Guarani mythology, a magic one-legged child with fire-red hair who would spell-bind people and break the forests' silence with his loud shouts and whistles.

This indigenous character was appropriated and transformed in the 18th century by the African slaves who had been brought in large numbers to Brazil. Slaves would tell Saci stories to amuse and frighten the children of the farm, black and white. In this process the creature became black, his red hair metamorphosed into a red cap, and — like the African elders who told the tales — he came to be always smoking his clay-and-reed pipe. His name mutated into various forms, such as Saci Taperê and Sá Pereira (a common Portuguese name), and eventually Saci Pererê.

His red cap may have been inspired on the Phrygian cap which was at one time worn by Portuguese peasants. The Saci-Pererê concept shows some syncretism with Christian elements: he bolts away when faced with crosses or other religious icons, leaving behind a sulphurous smell — both classical attributes of the Devil.

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 Aladdin from the Arabian Nights. Any connection between the two legends is not to be dismissed, since many of the slaves at those times were Muslims and thus presumably familiar with the Arabian tales. Moreover, the occupation of Portugal by the Muslim Moors, between the years 711 and 1492, provides another possible path for Arabian influence on the Saci legend.

The Saci in art and entertainment

The character remains quite popular even in present-day urban culture, thanks mainly to the immensely popular children's book O Saci by Monteiro Lobato (1932).

In the 1960s, the one-legged gnome — by now "domesticated" into a prankish but inoffensive and lovable creature — was chosen by premier Brazilian cartoonist Ziraldo as the leading character of his comics magazine, O Saci Pererê. This original publication, the first of its genre to feature entirely "national" characters, was unfortunately short-lived, but paved the way for other more successful Brazilian cartoonists like Angeli, Laerte, and Mauricio de Sousa.

Saci was chosen as the mascot by Sport Club Internacional, of Porto Alegre.

Tom Jobim's song Águas de Março mentions the "Matita Pereira," another name for the Saci (or the bird associated with it). [2]

See also

• Candomblé
• Indigenous peoples of Brazil

External links

• How Pedrinho captured the Saci, from Monteiro Lobato's O Saci (in Portuguese)
• The ANCSaci - National Saci Breeders' Association site (A spoof site, in Portuguese)
• SOSACI
• Picture of Saci
• Saci Animated Gif
• The Ziraldo's version of Saci