ABSTRACT
Popular Catholic traditions in Brazil are typically organized around the devotion of a particular saint. Many of the popular saints linked to such traditions in Southeast Brazil are said to have been musicians when they walked the earth. They are remembered, therefore, through the performance of musics they are thought to have been involved in, which generally have participatory formats, engaging devotees in lively collectives of musicking and dancing. Through their joint actions, the participants construct a setting marked by feelings of belonging and social harmony. In effect, they ‘enchant’ through collective singing and dance divine ideals into the world, where they can be experienced as a subjunctive social reality. This chapter will present three distinct popular Catholic traditions to show how the spheres they enchant articulate with the specificities of their devotees’ historical and contemporary experiences in Southeast Brazil.
