The goat is making noises this evening and I fear it may not make it through the next few days. I don’t know if goats baa or bleat, and frankly life is too short for me to even think about exploring this kind of detail, but there was a sound coming from the goat tonight that made me question its immediate future.
The problem for this goat, as I see it, is that it lives in the garden of a house near us which is used as a place of worship by followers of Umbanda Terra Luz. This may be a faith or this may be a cult. I don’t know. My interest in this kind of thing normally goes no further than finding out who has the best parties.
Umbanda seems to be many things. Some groups are linked to ancient South American voodoo practices. Others say they have relinquished all that and no blood is spilled in the celebration of their faith. But most seem to agree that a goat and black cockerel are central to ceremonies which celebrate events like a full moon.
Which is where the bad news comes in for the goat. It shares the garden with a black cockerel. And tomorrow night the moon is full.
Great writing -you’ve got me hooked! What happened next? Where is this neighbourhood? Is the goat OK?
I am based in Liverpool, UK, and am perusing the net for a possible place for an early escape from the built-up, regulated, overcrowdedness of England. Today’s project is investigating the Silver Coast; i had no idea voodoo and animal sacrifice were a feature of the place.
Please post the next instalment soon.
Delia x
Thank you for your comments. Sorry but I cannot say for sure what happened to the animals in the dark of that night. A few days later the Umbanda people had packed their drums and gone, along with the animals and the two sleek BMWs that I guess come along with the robes when you take on cult leadership. Sadly things are less exotic now. The people who moved in have four dogs and a renault 4 with exhaust issues but show no intention of staging full moon sacrifices so I guess the yappping will continue. Normally life here is very quiet but laid back and a great place to bring up children or just chill. The down side is there is no money to be made locally so to live here you really need a business of your own or income from outside the country. We came four years ago after a few years in the Algarve and regret nothing apart from missing Friday nights down the pub. If you need any specific information about places you are looking at please let me know.
Good luck with your search,
Connal