Healing rites
Benzedeira blessing
Portuguese blessing by a benzedeira, a woman who prays over a person with a sprig of rue or a cross.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
In rural Portugal, and in Brazil, a benzedeira is a woman, usually older, who blesses people, children and animals. She makes the sign of the cross, says Catholic prayers and may use a sprig of rosemary or rue. People come to her for troubles they ascribe to the evil eye, envy or fright.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Sprig of rue or rosemaryPlantHeld over the person.
- PrayersWordLearned from an elder.
- Sign of the crossGestureMade over the head.
- Bread or oilObjectSometimes used in the blessing.
- Kitchen or homeSpaceWhere the blessing happens.
- Plant
- Word
- Gesture
- Object
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The person comes with their trouble and sits down. Step 2: Speak The benzedeira asks about the problem and begins a prayer. Step 3: Circle She makes the sign of the cross with a sprig over the head and body. Step 4: Read The way the sprig wilts is read as a sign of the eye. Step 5: Close A final prayer is said and a small gift is left.
A Catholic frame
The prayers address God, Mary and the saints, and the benzedeira holds that she works through them. The Church has tolerated and criticised her at various times. She does not charge a fee in the traditional form, and gifts are accepted.
Skill and learning
The prayers are learned from an elder, often in secret and sometimes only on a particular night of the year. The tradition has weakened with urban life but is documented by scholars in northern Portugal.
Not medicine
A blessing is treated as a spiritual comfort. The benzedeira does not replace a doctor and she often sends a person to one.
What it is for
- Blessing
- Lifting the evil eye
- Comfort in fear
Who does it
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Folk healer: calliopejen, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Evil eye: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cunning folk: Midnightblueowl at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source