have now fumigated.

It is very common in Brazil during spoken prayers

that accompany fumigation to associate tlie ingredients

in the censer wi th what one is trying to achieve by liioans of repeated similes^ but this is usually the case only v/hen

fumigating to attract good. E . g . :

(l,2 and Dassim)

h

Assim como este acucar e doce^ eu na frente dos ineus inimigos hei de

adofar, Assim como esta

alfazema cheira^ eu na frente deles liei de

cheirar. Cora os %;oderes

de Deus e da Virge.a l.ariei Amen.

Just as this sugar

is sweetj I before

my enemies will

sweeten. Just as tliis

lavender smells sweet, I before them will

smell sweet, V/ith the power

of God and the Virgin Ilary. Amen,

CHAP TE] c VI

AITUAL BATES

A,

General points regardin-■: tlie use of -/ater as a cleansing agent The idea that ritual pollution can be removed by water is widespread and was certainly common to the three

principal cultures that came together in Brazil. Hater

was considered to be akin to fire in that it was not only a purifier that could wash away all forms of uncleanness, but also a fertilising' agent tiiat had the essential quality of being able to accomplis]! a transformation from one

state to another. At the very basis of purification is

tlie notion of fertility because purification implies that some form of transformation is taking place:

The pjienomenon of birth carries with it the ideas of the ceremonially unclean; lience the numerous precautions and taboos to bo observed until the mother's Churching, that is, her first appearance

at church. Under the same trend of ideas both

mother and ciiild are believed to be particularly

exposed to the attacic of demons; hence the precaution of having a burning candle by the bedside, fire

being a well-known apotronaion,,,,,The practice of putting new-born children on the fire, , , , and tlie corresponding rite in w'licli water is credited v/itîi having tJie beneficent effects attributed to fire in

the previous one,,,are but other forms taken on by t.he same set of primitive notions.

Nor can one accept as t’le only possible one tdie usual interpretation of tlie baptismal rite as

signifying a ceremonial cleaning. The idea of

purification no doubt existed in fairly remote

times. Yet equally old is tlie conception of water

as tiie fertilising e l e m e n t ( h r a p p o 1st ed.

The custom of washing the .ciGW.-oorn aiuong the Tui^i tribes is based upon the same idea as baptism in the

early Christian Church in that the new-born child is con­ sidered to be ceremonially unclean and must be purified

in order to survive, A Tupinamba woman out of preference

gave birt’n to her child close to water, usually on the banks of a r i v e r a n d as soon as the child was born, her husband washed it well and then proceeded with otlier

rituals connected with protecting the child from evil or

p

ensuring his future potential as a h u n t e r A similar

3 h

ritual is performed today amoii;_^ the Guayaki and the Nambicuara ,

Water in this instance transfori.is the cîiild, taking it out of tlie state of impurity that accompanied the birth to a

sacred state ivliich ensures its ability to develop its

relationships with the gods. The ritual bath not only forms

part of every ritual that is undertaken during the major stages of a person's life (birth, puberty, initiation, marriage etc, ) but is taken on a day-to-day basis, among many différant tribes and tribe members may take between

seven and ten a day^.

1 iienezes 1957îd4, This eus to. n is based not so much on

the notio.n tliat the river's flow, according to the princi: les of ^sympathetic magic', would ease the birth of the ciiild, but on the idea tliat all men are connected wi th pa.ra,.iise iiy means of rivers v/hicii are looked upon

as being umbili cal cords. The human mo tlie r assumes the

role of the earth ixother by giving birth on the banks of

a river. On this point see keichel Dolmatoff 1971:57*

2 de Léry 1972:210.

3 Metraux & Baidus 1946:442,

4 Oberg 1953:102,

the south of the State of Bahia, make a point of having a ritual bath before eating food and directly after

entering a friend's house (P,l), and karsten mentions how the Jibaro warrior must be ceremonially washed on Jiis

7

return from battle , Such examples of ritual bathing

among the Indian population of Brazil are legion and the

custom is clearly based on the notion that the bather achieves an exceptional state of purity which must be

maintained by taking other baths periodically. Similar

ideas concerning ritual purity are found elsewhere too, harper isolates three main stages in îlavik Brahmin

pollution rules i/hereby the middle stage is t]ie noraial everyday position and the highest and lowest stages mark

the pure and impure states respectively. The highest

position of purity can only be achieved by a rite of bathing and it is only wlien in thd.s position that the Brahmin can adequately worship his gods^.

This is also the case in the African religions of

Brazil where no ritual act, however small, can be undertaken wit iiout the i; ar ties concerned having bathed themselves

shortly beforeJiand, The Africans undoubtedly took a lot

of their ideas concerning batliing from Islam and brouglit

6 Fundapao .. n c .i.onal do I ndio, a Government j.ndian

J-ro te c t ion J/ounda tion.