Pomba Gira

Figure in Brazilian mythology

Pombagira
A representation of Pomba Gira
Pombagira are human spirits that are in a degree next to Exu and act mainly in the heart and in the mind of those who are in a way to allow it to be imprisoned in their own torments. Pombagira isn’t consort of Exu, she is another group of human spirit that suffered its fall, redeemed and works in the darkness of light in the pursuit of its evolution in the aid of the human beings incarnate.
Venerated in	Umbanda, Quimbanda
Patronage	Love, Freedom, Empowerment, Feminine energy, desire, fire.

Pombajira 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, Pombajira is often associated with the number seven, crossroads, graveyards, spirit possession, and witchcraft.

Tradition

While Exu represents male sexuality, fertility and strength, Pombajira personifies female sexuality, beauty and desire.^[3] She is depicted as a beautiful woman who is insatiable. Pombajira 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]

Pombajira is noted for her connection with both transgender women and effeminate male worshippers and is reputed to possess both.^[5] ^[6] Some representations of Pombajira 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

Pombajira manifests in the following forms:

Dama da Noite (Lady of the Night)
Maria Mulambo da Lixeira (Filthy Mary of the Trash Can)
Maria Mulambo das Sete Catacumbas (Filthy Mary of the Seven Tombs)
Maria Mulambo das Cavaleiras de Vassoura da Meia-Noixe (Filthy Mary of the Midnight Broom-Riders)
Maria Padilha (Mary Padilla)
Maria Quitéria (Warrior Mary), unrelated to Maria Quitéria
Pombajira Cigana (Gypsy Pombajira)
Pombajira do Ouro (Pombagira of the Gold)
Pombajira das Almas (Pombajira of Souls)
Pombajira das Cobras (Pombajira of Snakes)
Pombajira das Sete Encruzilhadas (Pombajira of the Seven Crossroads)
Pombajira dos Sete Cruzeiros da Calunga (Pombajira of the Seven Crosses of Kalunga)
Pombajira da Praia (Pombajira of the Beach)
Pombajira Mirongueira (Enchantress Pombajira)
Pombajira Mocinha ou Menina (Young Girl Pombajira)
Pombajira Rainha (Queen Pombajira)
Pombajira Sete Calungas (Pombajira Seven Kalungas)
Rainha do Cemitério (Queen of the Graveyard)
Rainha Sete Encruzilhadas (Queen of the Seven Crossroads)
Rosa Caveira (Skull Rose)
Pombajira Rainha do Inferno (Pombajira Queen of Hell)
Pombajira Sete Saias (Pombajira Seven skirts)
Pombajira do Dedo que Pega Meleca (Pombajira with Long Acrylic Nails for Picking Boogers)
Pombajira do Cabaré (Night Club Pombagira)
Pombajira Sete Saias (Pombajira Seven Skirts)
Pombajira Baioneta Razveneta (Pombajira Ravenous Bayonet)
Pirata Peituda Pombajira, Perdição & Noж Sete Abelhas Adoentadas (Big-booger Pirate Pombajira, Lost & Dissolved into Seven Sick Bees)
Pombajira das Rosas (Pombajira of the roses)
Pombajira das Sete Rosas (Pombajira 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. pomba gira spirits represent the freedom and power of the feminine energy in the human beings.
^ 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. S2CID 162196759.
^ Hayes, Kelly E. (2009). "The Dark Side of the Feminine: Pomba Gira Spirits in Brazil". In Chima Korieh (ed.). Gendering global transformations: gender, culture, race, and identity. Routledge Research in Gender and Society. Vol. 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". Studia Religiologica. 51 (4). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego: 247–263. doi:10.4467/20844077SR.18.018.10102. S2CID 186778354.
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. 16. Paris: École pratique des hautes études: 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. 48 (1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press: 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.