Dona Cacilda – Mãe de Santo
“I’ve heard my share of stories during my time. We’ll get to the end of this one just the same.”
For thirty years Dona Cacilda has led her Umbanda terreiro as its mãe de santo, and half the neighborhood has come through her door for advice, a blessing, or a remedy for a fever. Her goddaughter talked her onto the boat party, where she spent the night telling the crew stories older than the boat. Since then she has fetched the ceremonial oxê from her terreiro, the double axe of Xangô, orixá of justice. The dead tend to overlook an old woman in white. That has been their mistake. The young ones stay close to her, and not only because of the axe.
