Brazil is known as a multicultural country. Native people and immigrants from several places have gathered here, resulting in a huge variety of traditions, beliefs, legends and myths that are part of its identity. Digging into the popular stories, we may find many tales that have transcended over a long time, adding small variations depending on the region.
There are fantastic stories about mysterious creatures that protect nature, or others that seek revenge due to an unfair death. Following this article, we will present you some of the most interesting stories of Brazilian folklore.
Curupira
This character is sometimes described as a man or as a woman, but is generally presented as a child who turns out to be the guardian of the forest and its animals. His duty is to stop hunters and loggers who enter the forests from doing their tasks. The Curupira is short, red-haired, and its most remarkable feature is having its feet backward. This creature can mimic both animal and human sounds, and it’s very fast. It is said that it’s so fast that no one can see it, only hear it.
The Curupira misleads hunters and loggers by using tricky sounds and its distinctive tracks (which are very difficult to follow), making the latter to get lost in the forest so they cannot harm animals nor nature. According to some people, it has even killed hunters in order to save animals. Some other stories mention that it kidnaps children who live near the forests and keeps them for a while, teaching them to love nature as well as the desire to take care of it, setting them free when they are 7 so they share what they have learned.
Iara
Iara, or Yara, is a creature that lives in the depths of the Amazon River. It is also known in Portuguese as “a mãe d’água”. In fact, her name comes from an indigenous language and means “the one that lives in the water”. She is something like a mermaid; Featuring a human torso, but a fish tail from the waist to the feet. She is described as a very beautiful woman, with long black hair and light eyes, although there are those who say that her eyes are as dark as her hair.
According to legend, Iara was once a skilled and beautiful human warrior. As she was her father’s favorite, her brothers were jealous, and one day they decided to kill her. However, she proved being better than everyone in combat by defeating her siblings. Terrified by her own actions, she fled to hide from her father, who finally found her and threw her into the river expecting her to drown in order to pay for her crime. The fish of the river felt sorry for her and transformed her into a mermaid.
It’s said that Iara lives in the river since then, and that she attracts men to the water looking for revenge; Hypnotizing them with her voice and causing them to submerge and drown. It is also said that, if a man is saved from drowning, he would develop madness from Iara’s intervention, and that this could only be cured by a shaman.
The headless mule
This character is one of the best known in Brazilian folklore, although it is said that the story was brought by the Spaniards or the Portuguese. It is the story of a mule, described as brown or even gray, which has silver horseshoes and a burning torch instead of a head. They say that it runs wildly through woods and meadows, provoking frightening sounds from the silver on its footsteps, and neighing in such way that it seems to be the cries and sobs of a woman.
According to popular beliefs, before being a mule, it was a woman who had an affair with a priest, hence she was punished for it by being turned into the mentioned creature. After seeing herself transformed into such thing (It can see even though it has no head), it went crazy and ran towards the wild, crushing all the animals and people who crossed its path. Some people say that it is necessary to lie face down and hide their hands if it is spotted, since it can tear out people’s eyes, teeth and nails.
From this legend, different versions were born to take control over young women lives. They were told that if they lose their virginity before marriage, they would turn into a headless mule themselves, or that if they fell in love with a priest they would turn into this creature as punishment.
These three legends may introduce moral lessons according to the era of each story; For example, the respect for nature in the first one, gender equality in the second one, and integrity when having relationships according to old beliefs in the third one. Due to this reason, these tales allow us to learn a little bit more about the society of those times. Whatever message they share, these stories are worth knowing. Are there any similar legends in your country? You can tell us in the comments!