Pomba Gira

Pombagira
Pombagira
	A representation of Pomba Gira
Consort of Eshu, Mistress of Witchcraft,
Venerated in	Umbanda, Quimbanda
Patronage	Love, desire, fire, witchcraft, revenge, black magic

Pomba Gira is the name of an Afro-Brazilian spirit evoked by practitioners of Umbanda and Quimbanda in Brazil.^[1]^[2] She is the consort of Exu, who is the messenger of the Orixas in Candomblé. Known by many names, or avatars, Pomba Gira is often associated with the number seven, crossroads, graveyards, spirit possession, and witchcraft.

Tradition[]

While Exu represents male sexuality, fertility and strength, Pomba Gira personifies female sexuality, beauty and desire.^[3] She is depicted as a beautiful woman who is insatiable. Pomba Gira is venerated with great respect and care because of her reputation for possessing great wrath. She is often invoked by those who seek aid in matters of the heart and love.^[4]

Pomba Gira is noted for her connection with both transgender women and effeminate male worshippers and is reputed to possess both.^[5] ^[6] Some representations of Pomba Gira display the characteristics of being promiscuous, talkative and vulgar. However she has many avatars, and will be more or less inclined towards that behavior depending on how she manifests herself.

Avatars[]

Pomba Gira manifests in the following forms:

Dama da Noite (Lady of the Night)
Maria Mulambo da Lixeira “(Mary wretched of the trash can)”
Maria Mulambo das Sete Catacumbas “(Mary wretched of the Seven Tombs)”
Maria Padilha (Mary Padilla - First of the Marys)
Maria Quitéria “(The word “Quitéria, means war. So it would be “War Mary”)”
Pomba Gira Cigana (Gypsy Pomba Gira)
Pomba Gira do Ouro " (Pombagira of the Gold)"
Pomba Gira das Almas (Pomba Gira of the Souls)
Pomba Gira das Cobras (Pomba Gira of Snakes)
Pomba Gira das Sete Encruzilhadas (Pomba Gira of the Seven Crossroads)
Pomba Gira dos 7 Cruzeiros da Calunga (Pomba Gira of the Seven Crosses of Kalunga)
Pomba Gira da Praia (Pomba Gira of the Beach)
Pomba Gira Mirongueira (Enchantress Pomba Gira)
Pomba Gira Mocinha ou Menina(Young Girl Pomba Gira)
Pomba Gira Rainha (Queen Pomba Gira)
Pomba Gira Sete Calungas (Pomba Gira Seven Kalungas)
Rainha do Cemitério (Queen of the Graveyard)
Rainha Sete Encruzilhadas (Queen Seven Crossroads)
Rosa Caveira (literally Rose Skull)
Pomba Gira Rainha do Inferno “(Pomba Gira Queen of Hell)”
Pomba Gira 7 Saias “(Pomba Gira Seven skirts)”
Pomba Gira do Cabaré "(Night Club Pombagira)"
Pomba Gira Sete Saias "(Pomba Gira Seven Skirts)"
Pomba Gira das Rosas "(Pomba Gira of the roses)"
Pomba Gira das Sete Rosas (Pomba Gira of the Seven Roses)"

References[]

^ Ashcraft-Eason, Lillian; Martin, Darnise C.; Olademo, Oyeronke (2010). Women and new and Africana religions. Women and religion in the world. ABC-CLIO. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-275-99156-2. Said to be the spirits of the "people of the street" (povo da rua): prostitutes, conmen, and others forced by circumstance to live by their wits, exu and pomba gira spirits represent marginalized social types.
^ Hayes, Kelly E. (August 2008). "Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales: Gender, Power, and Pomba Gira in Brazil". History of Religions. 48 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1086/592152.
^ Hayes, Kelly E. (2009). "The Dark Side of the Feminine: Pomba Gira Spirits in Brazil". In Chima Jacob Korieh (ed.). Gendering global transformations: gender, culture, race, and identity. Routledge Research in Gender and Society. 16. Taylor & Francis US. pp. 119–132. ISBN 978-0-415-96325-1. Indeed, her profile is familiar to any inhabitant of the Western world, for Pomba Gira is the archetypal femme fatale, that seductive yet perilous siren depicted in pulp fiction and film noir. Possibly evil, definitely dangerous, she is the embodiment of a transgressive femininity that is at once beguiling and deadly: the dark side of the feminine.
^ Chestnut, Andrew (2007). "Latin America's Free Market of Faith". In Steigenga, Timothy J.; Cleary, Edward L. (eds.). Conversion of a continent: contemporary religious change in Latin America. Rutgers University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8135-4202-7. A married woman, for example, who suspects an acquaintance of having an affair with her husband might ask Pomba Gira to harm the other woman so that she is no longer the object of her husband's affection.
^ Hayes, Kelly E. 2008. Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales: Gender, Power, and Pomba Gira in Brazil. History of Religions. 48 (1): 1-21.
^ Conner, Randy P.; Sparks, David Hatfield (2004). Queering creole spiritual traditions: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender participation in African-inspired traditions in the Americas. Haworth gay & lesbian studies. Psychology Press. pp. 81–84. ISBN 978-1-56023-351-0.

Bibliography[]

Blanchette, Thadeus; da Silva, Ana Paula; De Lisio, Amanda (2018). ""Pomba Gira Keeps an Eye on Us": The Presence of the Orixás in Rio de Janeiro Brothels" (PDF). Studia Religiologica. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. 51 (4): 247–263. doi:10.4467/20844077SR.18.018.10102. S2CID 186778354. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-15.
de Carvalho, José Jorge (2004). "Violence and chaos in Afro-Brazilian religious experience/La violence et le chaos dans les religions afro-brésiliennes". Systèmes de pensée en Afrique noire. Paris: École pratique des hautes études. 16: 111–148. doi:10.4000/span.1186. ISSN 2268-1558. S2CID 18182440.
Hayes, Kelly E. (May 2011). "Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales" (PDF). Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality, and Black Magic in Brazil. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 3–37. doi:10.1525/california/9780520262645.001.0001. ISBN 9780520262645. S2CID 190938693.
Hayes, Kelly E. (August 2008). Copp, Paul; Wedemeyer, Christian K. (eds.). "Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales: Gender, Power, and Pomba Gira in Brazil". History of Religions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 48 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1086/592152. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR 00182710. LCCN 64001081. OCLC 299661763. S2CID 162196759.
Oleszkiewicz-Peralba, Małgorzata (2015). "Pombagira, the Holy Streetwalker". Fierce Feminine Divinities of Eurasia and Latin America: Baba Yaga, Kālī, Pombagira, and Santa Muerte. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 69–101. doi:10.1057/9781137535009_4. ISBN 978-1-137-54354-7. S2CID 156238189.

External links[]

Media related to Pomba Gira at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Ashcraft-Eason, Lillian; Martin, Darnise C.; Olademo, Oyeronke (2010). Women and new and Africana religions. Women and religion in the world. ABC-CLIO. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-275-99156-2. Said to be the spirits of the "people of the street" (povo da rua): prostitutes, conmen, and others forced by circumstance to live by their wits, exu and pomba gira spirits represent marginalized social types.

[2] Hayes, Kelly E. (August 2008). "Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales: Gender, Power, and Pomba Gira in Brazil". History of Religions. 48 (1): 1–21. doi:10.1086/592152.

[3] Hayes, Kelly E. (2009). "The Dark Side of the Feminine: Pomba Gira Spirits in Brazil". In Chima Jacob Korieh (ed.). Gendering global transformations: gender, culture, race, and identity. Routledge Research in Gender and Society. 16. Taylor & Francis US. pp. 119–132. ISBN 978-0-415-96325-1. Indeed, her profile is familiar to any inhabitant of the Western world, for Pomba Gira is the archetypal femme fatale, that seductive yet perilous siren depicted in pulp fiction and film noir. Possibly evil, definitely dangerous, she is the embodiment of a transgressive femininity that is at once beguiling and deadly: the dark side of the feminine.

[4] Chestnut, Andrew (2007). "Latin America's Free Market of Faith". In Steigenga, Timothy J.; Cleary, Edward L. (eds.). Conversion of a continent: contemporary religious change in Latin America. Rutgers University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8135-4202-7. A married woman, for example, who suspects an acquaintance of having an affair with her husband might ask Pomba Gira to harm the other woman so that she is no longer the object of her husband's affection.

[5] Hayes, Kelly E. 2008. Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales: Gender, Power, and Pomba Gira in Brazil. History of Religions. 48 (1): 1-21.

[6] Conner, Randy P.; Sparks, David Hatfield (2004). Queering creole spiritual traditions: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender participation in African-inspired traditions in the Americas. Haworth gay & lesbian studies. Psychology Press. pp. 81–84. ISBN 978-1-56023-351-0.

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