I had contact with the Loira do Banheiro myth when I was a schoolboy at a Christian school in Brasilia. I remember I could barely go near the womens toilet, that was very close to the schools library (a place I always loved!). I used to take a longer way, going up a floor and then going down the stairs to walk from my classroom to the library, just to keep away from the women’s toilet.

In terms of being polite to the supernatural beings, I know a lot of people that “ask for permission” before walking into any patch of woodland or overgrown area. They don’t say who they are asking permission to. Maybe to the jungle, or Mother Nature… or maybe the Curupira. Maybe to all of them.

The second part of this lusophone series is already up, here:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/10/23/brazilian-myths-and-haunts-on-the-lusosphere-part-2/

I hope you like it too.

Best,
D.D.

At the university we had the Mechuda, a secretary who hung herself back when the building was an office-warehouse. This one I did “meet”: on those days when we had rehearsals and we had the keys to the building, and no-one else was around she would bang on doors, slam them, move chairs in other classrooms and ring the doorbell insistently, and when one looked outside the window at the door to see who was there, it was obviously empty. All you had to do to make sure she didn’t bother you was ask loudly for permission to come in as you opened the door. Quite a stickler on politeness!