Brazilian folklore is the collection of various popular displays of Brazilian culture, in the form of legends, myths, games, typical foods, dances, and other practices that are passed on from generation to generation. One of the classic and best-known legends of Brazilian folklore is the story of the headless mule.
The headless mule is a creature similar to a black or brown horse, but in place of its head, it has flames of a fire that never goes out. According to the fable, the headless mule is actually a woman who was bewitched by falling in love with a priest. The spell conveys that this woman becomes the headless mule on Thursdays and goes out to endlessly walk through the forest. Any animal or person that gets in her way is stomped on by the paws of such a creature. Legend has it that, on the third crowing of a rooster, the woman returns to her original body but with the same wounds she got when she was the headless mule. For the spell to end for good, someone has to pierce the animal and draw at least a drop of its blood. The trance could also end if the priest or lover cursed the woman 7 times before celebrating the church.
The story of the headless mule, like other legends, is used to spread messages to its readers. Using a woman who was punished simply for lovemaking with the priest, the tale had the intent of terrorizing women who want to have a romantic relationship with someone who is a part of the church. There are other versions of the myth as well. For example, one says that a woman who slept with her boyfriend before getting married would become the headless mule, thus encouraging women to maintain the old habit of waiting until marriage.
Despite being believed by numerous people, the legend of the headless mule was not originally created in Brazil. It was brought by the Portuguese and Spanish around the 16th century after being created in the Iberian Peninsula. Even so, this legend became very well known around here and spread through several generations. Due to this spread of the tale, there are similar versions of the myth in Hispanic countries, but the name of the creature varies: in some places, an alike legend is known as Muladona.
Furthermore, the hidden spirituality of some common practices that reflect in the collective conscience of people familiarized with a distorted view of Catholicism may be personified by the headless mule. It displays the irrational urges and suppressed actions that are out of place in a Christian society. There may even be a link between Western European witchcraft and the Brazilian headless mule.
Being represented as an animal suggests a negative perception of the character, which symbolizes the most primal aspects of the human mind; for instance, the desire, whose reproductive element is customarily linked with the horse, a sign of romantic vigor and ferocious deeds. The loss of a head may be interpreted as an analogy for the absence of reason or as proof that the curse entailed the soul’s perdition. In either situation, the body is left in the control of strong passions, abrupt impulses, and self-centered passions without the head to provide direction.
EAC PRESS 