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Holy Harlots
a
Roger Sansi
a
Department of Anthropology, Goldsmiths' College, University of
London, London, United Kingdom
Version of record first published: 14 Dec 2012.

To cite this article: Roger Sansi (2013): Holy Harlots, Visual Anthropology: Published in cooperation
with the Commission on Visual Anthropology, 26:1, 69-70

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08949468.2013.733666

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 Visual Anthropology, 26: 6970, 2013
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0894-9468 print=1545-5920 online
DOI: 10.1080/08949468.2013.733666

MEDIA REVIEWS
Holy Harlots
Hayes, Kelly E. Holy Harlots: Femininity, Sexuality and Black
Magic in Brazil. Berkeley: University of California Press,
2011; xiii293 pp., illus. With a DVD in Portuguese, with
English subtitles; color, 64 mins. Pbk. US $25.75.
Downloaded by [ROGER SANSI] at 09:04 14 December 2012

Kelly Hayes Holy Harlots offers a detailed introduction to the world of

Pomba-Gira, a kind of spirit in Afro-Brazilian religions. Built around the
biographical narrative of a spirit medium, Nazare, and her relationship to her
Pomba-Gira spirits, in particular Maria Molambo, the book unfolds the complex
and ambiguous world of Macumba, or Black Magic, in the so infamous favelas
of Rio de Janeiro. Hayes writing is very sensible, bringing down to earth her
spectacular topicsorcery, sex and spirit possession in the violent, drug-infested
slums of Rioto a tale of the difficulties of everyday life for people on the
periphery, embodied in the figure of Nazare. The main virtue of this book is pre-
cisely its addressing the darker but also more intimate side of Afro-Brazilian
religions; what often is left out of the narrative in many scholarly writings in this
field, partially because of issues of political correctness: that is, sorcery.
Pomba-Giras are Holy harlots, the spirits of prostitutes and sorcerers. They
are also described as the female counterparts of Exu, trickster spirits identified
with hustlers and ultimately with the Devil. In such terms these spirits are ident-
ified with the dark side of Afro-Brazilian religions, Black Magic or Macumba.
Hayes objective is neither to confirm nor to dispel this stigma but simply to
describe this Black Magic in the everyday life of those who practice it, as
embodiments of deeply human desires [25] in everyday life.
This focus on the everyday life of sorcery starts by providing a general, histori-
cal context of Afro-Brazilian religions, the story of these spirits; then going on to
the particular setting of the cults she attended in the favelas of Rio. Hayes
ventures to say that perhaps the success of these cults is related to the violence,
poverty and uncertainty of daily life in the favelas [92]. It is a hypothesis that
should probably be tested against the background of the certified growing suc-
cess of evangelical churches, which build their reputation precisely on fighting
back sorcery.
From the setting Hayes moves to family and gender relations, which are prob-
ably the focus of much discourse around the Pomba-Giras, women of a free and
wild sexuality that defies male domination. The focus on a specific biography
of Nazare and her relationship with her husband works very wellin spite of

69
 70 Media Reviews

looking outrageous it is actually quite typical. After introducing her initial

encounter with the spirit, Hayes describes how Nazare became a zeladora (priest-
ess) and how her relationship with the spirit determined the rest of her life. In the
last two chapters, Hayes shows in practice (through her ethnography) the
everyday life of the spirits: how they work, or in other terms how they perform
limpezas, trabalhos and despachos, cleanings, spells and offerings, to help people
fight back spiritual enemies and restore their well-being.
In her last chapter Hayes offers a final discussion of the relationship between
zeladores, clients and followers, as well as between different spirit mediums. The
ambiguity of these relationships is described very perceptively. Hayes follows
her subjects in what she calls the subterranean dynamics of spirit possession
or, in other terms, how each event of spirit possession is not just a representation
but part of a larger narrative of everyday life. The amorous encounter between
the spirits of Tranca Rua and Maria Molambo, resolving at another plane the
Downloaded by [ROGER SANSI] at 09:04 14 December 2012

otherwise purely ritual relationship between the people possessed by these spir-
its, is a good example of that. Perhaps the spirits do not only reflect or represent
but also affect? Does spirit possession work as an escape-valve for desires that
could not otherwise be expressed, or could it also be seen as actualization of these
desires? What if the person is not only represented but also performed through
spirit possession? Hayes does not seem to go so far, but her powerful ethnogra-
phy certainly allows for some further reflection.
The book includes a 64-minute documentary film. This film is autonomous
from the book, but also about Pomba-Gira spirits. It is based not only or mostly
on Nazare but also on other interviews, mainly with another zeladora. However, if
seen after a reading, some characters and events of the book are clearly recogniz-
able in the film, and it does help one understand them better. For those who are
not familiar with Afro-Brazilian religions the film is invaluable to demonstrate
what spirit possession, spirits and shrines look like. The film also contains
detailed descriptions of ritual procedures, something not that common in films
or texts about these religions. However, Hayes does not really engage with issues
worthy of some consideration, such as visibility, the occult and spectacle in these
religionsperhaps because she seems to have been granted access to most
shrines and rituals, access that is not always forthcoming in other regions or
forms of Afro-Brazilian religion.

Roger Sansi
Department of Anthropology
Goldsmiths College
University of London
London, United Kingdom
ans01rsr@gold.ac.uk