Matinta Perera is a character from Brazilian folklore, more precisely from the North Region of the country.
Legend[]
Matinta-Perera is an old witch who at night turns into an ominous bird (more specifically a striped cuckoo) that perches on the walls and roofs of houses and starts to whistle, and only stops when the resident, already very enraged by the strident whistling, promises her something to stop (usually tobacco, but it could also be coffee, cachaça or fish). Thus, the morning stops and flies, and the next day it goes to the disturbed resident's house to collect the agreed amount. If the promised is denied, a disgrace happens in the house of the one who made the unfulfilled promise.
Some of the elderly people say that Matinta-Perera is the result of a curse, whose destiny of transformation would be hereditary, that is, it would pass from mother to daughter. If there is no heir to pass the curse on, the current owner must hide in the forest and wait for some woman to pass, and then Matinta-Perera must approach her and ask that she be the new bearer of the curse. If the girl responds positively, she becomes the new Matinta-Perera that night.
There are those who say that there is a way to arrest Matinta and the materials are simple: scissors, a common key, a blessed rosary and a virgin broom. The key must be buried and the scissors placed on top of the place, the rosary is placed on top of the scissors. Every morning that passes by there will be trapped, but after she is released, the place must be swept with the broom so that the curse does not spread. There is also another version that says that she cannot hear the name of any god while she is transformed, otherwise the spell ends, since, being a witch, she does not have a religion.
Modern Depictions[]
Music[]
- She appears in a play from Waldemar Henrique's "Lendas Amazônicas".
- Matinta is described in the lyrics of the song "Matinta", by the Brazilian band Armahda.
- She is mentioned in Tom Jobim's "Águas de Março".
Television[]
- In the Juro que vi episode "Matinta Perera", Matinta Perera appears accidentally kidnapping a little girl who got into her bag looking for a doll. In a subversion, Matinta is being uncharacteristically kind and understanding to the girl.
- In the 2nd season of the Brazilian Netflix series "Invisible City", Matinta Perê was portrayed as a woman who could grant any wish in exchange for anything she wanted. In the first episode, Luna went in search of Matinta to rescue her father, Eric, and as soon as she found him, she is kidnapped by Matinta Perê since Luna was what Matinta wanted in exchange for finding Eric.
Gallery[]
