Hayes Kelly E. Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black Magic in Brazil

Berkeley and Los Angeles, United States: University of California Press, 2011. — 309 p.Holy Harlots examines the intersections of social marginality, morality, and magic in contemporary Brazil by analyzing the beliefs and religious practices related to the Afro-Brazilian spirit entity Pomba Gira. Said to be the disembodied spirit of an unruly harlot, Pomba Gira is a controversial figure in Brazil. Devotees maintain that Pomba Gira possesses an intimate knowledge of human affairs and the mystical power to intervene in the human world. Others view this entity more ambivalently. Kelly E. Hayes provides an intimate and engaging account of the intricate relationship between Pomba Gira and one of her devotees, Nazaré da Silva. Combining Nazaré’s spiritual biography with analysis of the gender politics and violence that shapes life on the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, Hayes highlights Pomba Gira’s role in the rivalries, relationships, and struggles of everyday life in urban Brazil.Wicked Women and Femmes Fatales
Pomba Gira and the Religious Imagination
Life on the Margins
Sexuality, Morality, and the Logic of Gender
Becoming a Zelador
Spiritual Defenders and Protectors
Maria Molambo's Revenge
If God is All Good, Then Only the Devil Can Combat Evil
Balancing Human and Spirit Worlds