Feast of the miraculous soul: simbolismo de um ritual de aflição

Abstract

This was a common ritual which existed in the countryside of Maranhão for forty years until the death of its organizer. It boasted fires, recitals, candles, cachaça (Brazilian alcoholic drink made from rice), and tambor (drum) dances and takes place in front of the tomb of the Miraculous Soul. Its reveals the syncretism with beliefs of popular Catholicism, folklore and with the power of souls. Turner (1972) showed how the rituals preserved models of collective behavior and store information about society. The rituals of affliction help those who believe that they have been affected by illness, unhappiness, ancestral spirits, magicians or wizards. This party in Rosario can be considered a ritual of affliction performed to appease an ancestral spirit and reestablish social order and collaboration. According to Bourdieu (1974) its organizer was a prophet or a businessman who was independent of both wealth and salvation. With his death the party has not taken place since nobody else has taken up the challenge with the same devotion and charisma.