7. CAPITULO I: SITUACIÓN ACTUAL DE LA EMPRESA
7.2. BREVE ANÁLISIS DEL SECTOR SALUD
7.2.2. Ritmo Del Cambio Tecnológico Y Su Incidencia En La Competitividad
usual function is to protect tlie wearer froii, disease and all.
fox’iî’S of the evil eye. It is common to take it by itself
witii hot at or as a ritual bath and directly afterwards
to dust it all over the body, Many pais and r;acs de santo
include it as an important ingredient inside amulets
(particularly breve s or pa tu as : see beloif iSl;^'^, It is also used a great leal af ter fui.aigating tlie house. A s/nall heap is i>laced on tlie open pair;: of the riglit band and it is
then blown into every room to the accompaniment of tlvree oi’ more of the incantations given above (l,2).
1 5 Of, ko d r i gi 1 e s (
1935
^90
} - ^ is a 1; e 1 n i o s t r o u -m e 11 n s p 6 c,preparados poi- ela, eue, trazi les e i amuletcs ao pescoço
ou mesmo no bolço, bastavam para garantir todas as
felicidades ' . (Isabel si<owed « 'e some x)owder- that had been ri’sdo by bei-', i-;hicli, wheo (forn in a.isu 1 ets around
tiie ne cl: or even carried in tlie pocket, were sufficient
t o gu £ir an tee ab solute happi n e s s ),
c.
( i ) Tlie pre'larat ion of Pemba rlo lOxu
Poiaba de '?bcu ( Pomba of Exu ) or noraba ira ta (blaclc noiiiba ) refers to a variety of o grab a. that may only be used foir evil
purposes. Again tlisre are two types, one niarlceted (always
of tlie solid variety) and the otlior home-made. An analysis
of blade marketed r e;nba revealed that it was made up mainly
of kaolin with 5 per cent carbon and 2 per cent liydro^^en,
and a minimal quantity of organic materitil.
The use of the home-made variety is extremely widespread
and iiWmy ills and misfortunes are attri.buted to it. During
preparation it is treated witlr a groat deal of care and respect because it is believed to oe one of the most powerful i/ays of inflicting harm on otliers, and a stray
grain could react against tlie person prepcirin^ it. Everythin'
to do witli the manufacture of pemba jirota must at all times
remain outside the house. The pestle and mortar used to
pound the ingredients into a powder, including the spoon used to transfer the ingredients into bottles must only ever
be used for pe 'hr ;~:rota. Nothing that lia.s touched it can
be used for anything else, nor may anything th t has been
in contact with it be brought into tlie liouse. People who
have used it must eliminate all tri ces of it fro,,, their hands by rubbing their hand s wi t] i a freshly picked leaf, taking' care to leave the leaf in the gutter or a drain (l,2, C, 2, 0, 3, C, 6), After tliis, on entei’ing tlieir houses they must sprinkle sugar
undertake the ritual laio’/n as o desgaoii.o da oorta. This involves th.i'oiving the contents of a glass of water in three
directions just outside tlie front door (l,2). It is a
curious ritual that may be linked to tlie purifying power of water but it is more likely to take the foxmi of an offering of a drink to Exu, the guardian of all entrances, so that he will prevent' any evil force coming into the house
after the occu^^ant has been using pemba !>reta. Offerings
to Exu in order to prevent mishaps occurring are very common and are given before most rituals so as to ensure the srnoot’n
running' of the cerei.mny. They are known as tlie pade de Exu^ ,
translated into Portuguese as des .'ache de Ih:u and this may
be the main idea behind the ritual o des:,acho da xorta. Details concerning the manufacture of black pernba are kept very secret since each individual believes lie has the
all-powerful recipe and is extre.^iely wary of passing it on
to others because of a fear that it may ulti..lately be used
against himself. Moreover, infer...ants arc often embarrassed
when asked to expa.nd on the details concerning black pemba since they feel that they might be giving the impression
that they dabble too much, in 'black* i.e. evil, ritual practices. They are, however, always very carefu 1 to »^)oint out liow
important it is for them to kno;/ tlie workings of 'black' practices so that tlie y can operate against the..: for the
good of t'leir patients. Conversations concerning black on: iba
16 For the pr.de de Cxu see above, 88 note 7.
Street sellers of ac ,rajé (fried maize e r f e ) always make
3 s;.ial.l acara.i n s for ,'Jxu bnfore cooking ti e rest.
or 'bloclc. ' I’itual acts of any Icind are always hurried, and
informants do not like to expand too much. One informant
(C,2) insisted on talking about black ijeinba outside in the
yard and not in liis house through fear that so.ne evil might come of it.
Ingredients for pemba yreta tend to include things that ai’e normally associated with uncleanness (e.g. horse
droppings, nicotine) and death (e.g. cemetery dirt),
but it must also contain certain herbs, fruits and animals tliat come directly under the control of Exu, because Exu, when invoked in tlie correct way, can undertake acts of evil against otlier people.
liecipGS I managed to collect are as follows:
(
1.
2)
1
black iriarlreted nemba (solid)
) (hot peppers of the chili type),
P1:n eut a m a 1 a u eta ) j / horse dI'oppings cansancao c o r r o ' . l e i . r a nettle ash salt
toad (dried then powdered) cemetery dirt ( c .2) 2 corredeira louco bran CO n :i n t r i. c ' a > -■ a s t a ]>i..ient. ■ ■ '..ala e ta ants * nest earth ce.-iietery dirt
(c.5)
3
toad human bone humming bi rd (black)(these are stored in alcoliol until Holy k'eek cind bh.en are toasted in a
dish over a f j re all at once, Tlien tliey are reduced to a fine powder in a pestie and inortar %.
(c.5
toad dried noifder (C.6)
and reduced to a fine
17 skin nicotine 18 that accumulates in manganga wasp dragon fly chaiueleon bat toad'3 locust liquid a pipe dung beetle spider crab scorpion lizard
hair of black cat hair of a vixen
dii't froi'i the grave of a sorcerer dust from a nighty.,club
7 Urukiu feathers '
Dust frojii 7 crossroads 7 pinienta.s da Costa 1 human bone 1 live snake All these pot wliich nemba. ingredients are
mu s t af te is-/ ard s toasted in a new earthenwarebe broken and included in the 17
18
19
maiigau; .a ; from the with a sting that A CO nparison .may be
comes under the con
sun (seo above, Q9
which lays its egg and i-'ushes it into
Tu pi inang-a-caba (wasp of high flight produces fever).
drawn here between the dung beetle that trol of Exu wlio brought fire and the
), and th.e Egyptian scarab beetle in dung and tLien rolls it into a ball
the sun. The ancient Egyptians
tie with the god of creation and its
an. The sun-god i/as called ' Coller '
he sun across the slcy. See Nallis
associated tliis bee egg-ball i/itli the s because he rolled t Dudge 1 9 3 0:1 3 5-1 3 6.
A large black bird tViat feeds on carrion; Catha x't e s f 0 0 ten s. C. ( 0 . A . ) .
( C . 1 )
6 A certain lizard 20 lays its egg inside the bark
of .! a s ■■■'. i n d o 1 a rio. '.Mien the egg hatches the bark
splits and the baby lisai'd emerges. The lizard, if
grated during the mont lis of May or June, can be used by itself as pe.iba )reta.
Recipes 1, 2 and 5 contain x>eppers of different
varieties. These, mainly because of the lieat they produce
in the mouth on being eaten, belong to Exu, Peppers must
at all times be treated with a great deal of care because
it is believed tliat if they are bruised or fall to tlie
ground inside the liouse IDxu will become angry and cause
?1
arguments and internal family disputes to lireak out . Plants and insects that sting are cissociatod with Exu
and hence are included among the ingredients. The mud-walls
22