Sao Paulo.
March 17th, 2003
Big City - Loving Hearts

Sao Paulo is the biggest city in Brazil. It is modern and bursting with all kinds of economic opportunities. The Favelas are outside the city limits so there is not the same tension as there is in Rio.

Our dear friends Patricia and Susan had arranged to pick us up at the airport and whisk us off to Patricia's family home....Recanta Das Borboleta (Place of the Butterflies) for a rest in the country. Caucaiado Alto Sao Paulo is actually still considered part of the Big City but in fact it was a tiny village with it's own town square, surrounded by farms and estates.

The large blue butterflies were magnificently everywhere and impossible tophotograph so I took advantage of the beautiful butterfly murals Patricia's mother had painted on the gates to turn the four of us into butterflies. Her mother is the owner/director of a kindergarten in the city and once a month she brings all the children out to the country house for a weekend. I also took photographic advantage of all the charming constructions sprinkled about the grounds for the children to play on. The grrrls were good sports. Our second day in Butterfly retreat, after Anahata and Patricia hennaed their hair, we went to the village and saw our first statue of Nossa Senhora, the Black Madonna.

Back at the house Patricia and Susan told us as much as they could remember of this Grande Maee (Great Mother) of Brazil. When we heard that Her Basilica was just a couple of hours drive away we determined that we must see Her with our own eyes, and make prayers.

But first we had to return to the city, Patricia teaches several classes of Sacred Circle Dance and we were asked to be the honored guests. The first class she explained were of older people and we quite expected a somewhat geriatric scene. Imagine our surprise when the elderly turned out to be not too much older then us, and every bit as spry.

It was great fun, Patricia led us through several Portuguese folk dances and we shared a rousing session of Tashi Deleg. "Rejoice in Happy Times Together, and Together Bear Adversity".

Those words became quite poignant as that night we watched the only English TV in our entire 2 and a half month visit. Bush giving Saddam the ultimatum. Bush leading our country into war. We were all deeply disturbed. Brazilians in general opposed the war in Iraq. We decided we would visit Nossa Senhora the next morning.

Nossa Senhora , Black Madonna, Great Mother of Brazil

Nossa Senhora means, "Our Lady" and Brazilians feel quite literally that she belongs to them. Whenever we led Anahata's beautiful song/dance "Mother of God, Remember Me" there were many tears and revelations from our dancers, reconciling themselves to their childhood devotions.

Milagre Dos Aparecida - the Mother Appears

In 1717 the fishermen of a small village on the Paraiba River, mid-way between Rio and Sao Paulo, became quite desperate. There had been no fish for a very long time, the people faced starvation. One day as it was getting late, they drew in their nets and noticed a heaviness. Eager for a catch they were deeply disappointed to find the head of a statue in their net. One of the fishermen took it home but nothing much was made of it. You cannot eat wood, they reasoned. The next day, again there were no fish but the last net brought up what appeared to be the body that went with the head. An old lady of the village told the disappointed fishermen, "Don't you see who this is." It is Our Lady (Nossa Senhora) Make offerings and ask for Her help."

All the village participated, They cleaned the statue, put a beautiful piece of cloth about her shoulders and sincerely prayed for assistance. The next day the nets were filled with fish, the people were fed and a legend was born.

For 12 years the statue was kept in very humble quarters. The simple poor of the village brought her their offerings, their problems and their prayers.. As the miracles of intervention continued her fame spread beyond the village. Because the statue was very black she was especially appealing to the slaves that had been brought from Africa and were treated quite inhumanely by the Portuguese settlers. "After all, she is black, like us, " they reasoned.

One of the large land owners of the region had a daughter he was especially fond of. She was blind, and her constant companion was a slave boy. Because of her blindness she did not realize he was black, and the boy was careful not to show their friendship before the father. Whenever they were alone he would tell her stories of Nossa Senhora Aparecida. The young girl longed to visit this Blessed Mother, thinking that perhaps she could heal her blindness but her father would not hear of it. The wealthy patronas of the area hated the Black Madonna because it was obvious that just her appearance in the district had given the slaves a new breath of dignity. The girl prevailed upon her childhood friend to take her. One day he reluctantly led her down the path towards the forest where the statue was kept. The fishermen hid her and every day they moved her to keep her from being destroyed.

The children were barely half way there when the father discovered the girl's disappearance and he came furiously after them. Before he was able to do any harm the girl started crying out to the Mother, pleading to be healed. In that instant she was granted the blessing of sight. The father fell to his knees before his daughter and the girl turned to thank her friend, finding that her companion was black. But she need not worry for his safety. The father was so humbled by the experience that he built the first church that the statue was housed in, a beautiful, very ornate chapel that still stands.

The stories went on, many of them immortalized in paintings housed in one of the rooms of the Basilica. A slave was being dragged to his death for some infraction of his "owner's" rules. As a last wish he was dragged into the chapel. When he appealed to Nossa Senhora for her intervention his chains miraculously fell off of him. These chains are also found on the walls of the basilica.

Another very famous story is of a Patrona trying to ride his horse through the chapel to desecrate it. He found his horses hooves riveted to the stone steps, unable to move forward. The horse shoe and the stone with its imprint is also housed in the Basilica.

The current cathedral is an enormous brick edifice. The lines are sweeping and yet simple. The main chapel is huge and can hold thousands of people. We were extremely lucky to have come on a day when there were no tour busses, no crowds. We wandered the massive halls and rooms seeing barely a handful of people. We were gently led to the area where ropes usually control thousands of devotees who are given just a moment to offer their prayers before the statue. We spent an hour before Her, praying and meditating. I asked Her about the war and I was instantly given the deepest assurance that there was nothing further we could do but pray for peace, live peace in our own life. I could almost hear a melodious voice telling me, "The players are all in place. It will go as it must."

Ah, how I would have loved to hear that the world would live in peace. But that wasn't at all the impression I got. It seemed that the karmic wheels would continue to turn. But it was our job to hold the vision of love and peace.

One of the most fascinating areas in the basilica was the "Hall of Promises". When devotees made prayers for healings or for better circumstances it was the custom to make promises. Some promised to bring Nossa Senhora bouquets of flowers, and sure enough, by the shrine there were buckets ready to receive the flowers of promise. Some people would promise to light candles that were their height. Others would make wax offerings of whatever body "part" they wanted healed. In one of the little stores on the premises there were piles of wax stomachs, spines, kidneys, breasts. I was especially taken by the wax heads. Big ones and small ones. There were also wax babies. In the Hall of Promises many of these wax effigies were hanging from the ceiling. There were glass cases of all kinds of interesting items, musical instruments, angel wings, it went on and on.

A long, foot bridge of almost a kilometer connects the Basilica with the Old Chapel. We were told that usually it was seething with people. The Old Chapel was very old world, very ornate. We were especially moved by a statue of Anne with the child Mary.

We completed our stay in Sao Paulo with two magnificent evenings of dance and a weekend workshop, celebrating the Divine Feminine. With the image of that gracious Black form, that tender Mother's smile before us we danced our peace, our power and our prayers.

May we all be blessed with Peace, Peace, Peace.

Prema and Anahata

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13. Butterfly Retreat
14. Patricia's Class
15. Nossa Senhora
16. Workshops in Sao Paulo