Anhangá
Anhangá is a type of spirit present in the cosmovision of several native groups from Brazil. The spirit is believed to torment the soul of the dead, manifested in nature as tempestuous noises, and constantly afflicts the living with torment which feels like beating. It is a guardian of wildlife game in the open field or forest, particularly afflicting hunters with madness and fever, especially if they target females with young, and usually appears in the guise of a white deer with fiery eyes.
↻ synthesized from 2 sources
When
- Attested period
- 1954 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Documented in Cascudo's folklore dictionary (1st ed., 1954) and by João Barbosa Rodrigues (d. 1909).
Relationships
- manifests as
- white deer with fiery eyes, bird, beasts, armadillo, pirarucu fish, mira-anhanga, tatu-anhanga, suaçu-anhanga, tapira-anhanga, tapira-pirarucu, iurará-anhanga, nhambu-anhanga, Suessú anhanga
- serves
- Yurupari
- has aspect
- nhambu-anhanga, Suessú anhanga, mira-anhanga, tatu-anhanga, suaçu-anhanga, tapira-anhanga, tapira-pirarucu, iurará-anhanga
- enemy of
- Anhangupiara, Sukuyu'wera
- syncretized with
- Jurupari
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“António Vieira, described "Añangá" in the Sermon on Incontinences (Unchastity), as a duplicitous entity worshiped by the indigenous folk. In more modern times, Neo-Pentecostal churches...reinterpret Anhangá as an announcement of evil and a demonic manifestation”
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