Beyond Halloween: Unmasking Brazil’s Mysterious Sací Day Celebrations on October 31st

An emblematic figure from Brazilian folklore is a symbol of popular culture appreciation, but remains artistically underexplored.

Laura Maria, The Time

October 31st is known around the world as Halloween or Hallowe’en. The festival has Irish roots, became popular in the United States, and is now celebrated in various countries, including Brazil. But here is another figure – a very Tupiniquim, by the way – who stands out on this date: Saci.

This Thursday (31), the day of this emblematic character of Brazilian folklore is celebrated. The date was made official in 2013 after the presentation of the Federal Law Project No. 2,762, of 2003and the idea of ​​creating the ephemeris came from a group of popular culture enthusiasts, with the aim of appreciating “folk figures that refer to Brazilian traditions.”

Oh Saci-Pererê is a mythological being that lives in the forests. He is a black boy, has one leg, wears a red hat, smokes a pipe and always appears inside whirlpools. He is known for being mischievous and playful and likes to play tricks on people, such as scaring animals, exchanging salt for sugar, stealing eggs from chickens and braiding horses’ manes.

However, he doesn’t just live for mischief. Saci is also seen as the guardian of the forest and a deep expert of herbs and medicinal plants”, says author Paula Furtado.

She is the author of a series of books that introduce folklore figures to children, through riddles, tongue twisters, stories and games told by the Mauricio de Souza gang.

“Saci-Pererê is one of the best-known figures of Brazilian folklore. Its origin dates back to native traditions, where it was portrayed as a mischievous curumim (boy) with two legs. With the arrival of enslaved Africans, there were changes to the figure of Saci, starting to be represented as a black boy with one leg, wearing a red hat”, he explains.

Saci was popularized by “Sítio do Picapau Amarelo”, a work by Monteiro Lobato, which had five versions for television. The actor Isaac Dahora Saci played in the most recent one, which was shown on TV Globo between 2001 and 2007. In his opinion, the character is very representative of Brazilian culture.

“Saci is made of different contributions. His cap would be a reference to the enslaved Romans who had achieved freedom; the color of Saci represents the people of Africa; and its name comes from the Tupi Guarani Yaci-Yaterê. In other words, he is a character who brings together the three basic cultures of our people: African, European and indigenous”, he emphasizes.

Dahora says that even years after it aired, he is still known for his role as a farm boy. “Many people write to me saying that I was part of their childhood. Saci is a great joy in my life, a very important job, where I was able to create bonds with people I am still in touch with today”, he said.

The actor was 12 years old when he auditioned to play the role of the mischievous little boy. “I recorded between the ages of 13 and 18. ‘Sítio’ was a continuation of my childhood. I was a very urban child, but the recordings made me have new experiences, like riding a horse and jumping from tree to tree”, he remembers.

Saci Representations

In addition to “Sítio do Picapau Amarelo”, Saci appears in other artistic productions, such as “A Turma do Pererê”, a series of comics by Ziraldo first published in 1959, and “Cidade Invisível”, a Netflix series with two seasons, which premiered in 2021.

Specializing in storytelling, author Paula Furtado says she realizes that folklore figures are still underused in artistic productions. “This represents an opportunity for more contemporary artists to explore these stories and characters that are part of our cultural identity”, he notes.

Film professor at Estácio do Rio and doctoral candidate in arts at UERJ, actor Izak Dahora states that Saci and other figures from Brazilian folklore are still little explored because of the way Brazilian identity has been constructed.

“We have a past of cultural colonization that prevents us from seeing the value of our own origins as a point of interest, leading us to believe that national productions are inferior. And this takes time to deconstruct, because we have a very strong culture of eating what comes from outside. There is no problem with that, as long as we also have the sensitivity to look at the things we produce ourselves”, he notes.

Hence, the relevance of celebrating dates like this Thursday. “The importance of celebrating Saki Day goes beyond celebrating character. It is an opportunity to save and appreciate our cultural roots, reinforcing the importance of folklore as part of national identity. By celebrating Saci, we teach new generations about the cultural richness of Brazil and show that our traditions have as much value as foreign influences. This celebration is also a way to strengthen Brazil’s cultural identity, promoting a vision of citizenship that connects children to their roots and their stories”, says Paula.

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