Known as the protector of flowers, the Legend of Boitatá tells the story of a very important character in Brazilian folklore.
Boitatá is a fantastic creature of Brazilian folklore, one of the oldest and most known by the population.
This monster is said to have the appearance of a gigantic fire snake, with twinkling eyes that resemble two lit headlights. In certain regions this being takes the form of a gigantic bull with only one eye on its forehead.
The ancient peoples of Brazil believed that Boitatá was a genius protecting the forests, as was Curupira. They protect forests from burning, and punish those who destroy or burn down trees.
Index
Boitatá is a Monster with eyes of fire, huge, by day he is almost blind, at night he sees everything.
tell the legend that the Boitatá was a kind of snake and was the only survivor of a great flood that covered the land. To escape he went into a hole and there he stayed in the dark, so his eyes grew. Since then he has been walking through the fields in search of animal remains. Sometimes it takes the form of a snake with flaming eyes the size of its head and chases night travelers.
Sometimes he is seen as a shimmering beam of fire running across the woods. In the Northeast of Brazil it is called “Cumadre Fulôzinha”. For the Indians he is “Mbaê-Tata”, or Coisa de Fogo, and lives at the bottom of the rivers.
It is also said that he is the spirit of bad people or lost souls, and wherever he goes, he sets fire to the fields. Others say it protects the woods from fire.
Science says that there is a phenomenon called wisps, which are the flammable gases that emanate from the swamps, graves and carcasses of large dead animals, and which, seen from a distance, look like large torches in movement.
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In the south; Baitatá, Batatá, Bitata (São Paulo). In the Northeast; Batatão and Biatatá (Bahia). Among the Indians; Mbaê-Tata.
It is a set of myths and legends that people pass on from generation to generation. Many are born from the pure imagination of people, especially those living in the interior regions of Brazil. Many of these stories were created to convey important messages or just to scare people off.
Represented by a fire snake that protects the woods and animals and has the ability to chase and kill those who disrespect nature. It is believed that this myth is of indigenous origin and that it is one of the first in Brazilian folklore.
is of origin Indigenous. In 1560, Father Anchieta already reported the presence of this myth. He said that among the Indians he was the most fearsome haunting. The African blacks, on the other hand, also brought the myth of a being who inhabited the deep waters, and who went out at night to hunt, his name was Biatatá.
It is a myth that undergoes major changes depending on the region. In some regions, for example, he is a kind of genius protecting forests against fire. In others, it is the cause of forest fires. The flood version originated in Rio Grande o Sul.
One version says that his eyes grew to better adapt to the darkness of the cave where he was trapped after the flood, another version says that he, looks for the remains of dead animals and eats only their eyes, absorbing their light and volume, which is why their eyes are so big and incandescent.
BOITATA
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah ohThe Lizard told the Frog
comes noise from there
And the cricket saw
something to crawlfire that runs in the forest
Boitatá
Snake that protects the forest
Boitatáah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah ohthe armadillo whispered
for the maned wolf
that there by the lake
She lives.fire that runs in the forest
Boitatá
Snake that protects the forest
Boitatáah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah oh
ah ah ah ohThe Lizard told the Frog
comes noise from there
And the cricket saw
something to crawlfire that runs in the forest
Boitatá
Snake that protects the forest
Boitatá
fire that runs in the forest
Boitatá
Snake that protects the forest
Boitatá
We can cite many legends nowadays such as Saci Pererê, headless mule, Negrinho do pastoreio, curupira, werewolf, flying saucers, Boto, Boitatá, Iara.
As well as folk games: Hide and seek, three marias, marbles, tops, Pega-Pega and finally some songs; The frog doesn't wash its foot, I threw the stick at the cat, Ciranda-cirandinha.
The culture of Brazil and the world is rich and beautiful and must always be registered so that it stays alive, feeding the imagination of new generations.
Because feeding the imagination is teaching to dream, a citizen without dreams is a citizen with no direction to go on with life”.
There is a record that the first version of the history of “Boitatá” was made by Father José de Anchieta, who called it with the Tupi term Mbaetatá – fire thing.
The idea was of a light that moved in space, from there, “The image of the serpent's undulating march” came. It was this image that became enshrined in the popular imagination. They describe Boitatá as a snake with eyes that look like two lighthouses, transparent leather, which shines on the nights when it appears gliding in the meadows, on the banks of the rivers.
Legend has it that there was an endless period of night in the woods. In addition to the darkness, there was a huge flood caused by torrential rains. Frightened, the animals ran to a higher point in order to protect themselves.
The boiguaçu, (MBoi=serpent, snake / Guaçu=Large) a snake that lived in a dark cave, wakes up with the flood and hungry, she decides to go out in search of food, with the advantage of being the only animal used to seeing in the dark. He decides to eat the part that suits him the most, the animals' eyes. And from eating them so much, it becomes all luminous, full of light from all those eyes. His body transforms into a set of glittering pupils, a ball of fire, a living flash, the boitatá (fire snake). At the same time, its lack of food makes the boiguaçu very weak. She dies and reappears in the luminous winding woods. Anyone who finds this fantastic being in the meadows can go blind, die or even go mad. So, to avoid disaster, men believe they have to stand still, not breathing and with their eyes shut.
The attempt to escape presents risks because the boitatá can imagine the escape of someone who set fire to the woods. In Rio Grande do Sul, it is believed that the “boitatá” is the protector of the forests and meadows. The truth is that the idea of a luminous snake, protector of meadows and fields appears frequently in Brazilian literature.
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