According to popular tradition, Dry Body is the spirit of someone who has received a curse for having committed an unpardonable sin in life.
The legend is known in Minas Gerais, Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo and in the northeast of Brazil, but with some differences. In Paraná, for example, Corpo-seco is the spirit of a man who has not fulfilled a promise made to Nossa Senhora Aparecida.
Despite the differences from region to region, the legends - transmitted orally through the generations - serve as a teaching. Through the feeling of fear of doing wrong things, such as disrespecting people and not keeping their promises, the idea was to inhibit certain behaviors.
Legend of the dry-body
When a man commits a sin that has no chance of being forgiven, after he dies his spirit is not accepted by God or the devil. The earth itself rejects that body, as if it were disgusted with that sinner. Thus, its dry body - only in skin and bone - leaves the place where it is buried and wanders through the night.
When telling the legend, the ancients intended to warn of what happened to a child who abused his parents, or the reverse. The same happened with anyone who mistreated a priest, because as it was broadcast, priests had to be respected by everyone.
Just as people talked about the dry appearance of a sinner's body after death, the opposite was also mentioned, since the bodies of people who had been very good were preserved.
Legend of Corpo-seco in Paraná
In Cambira, a municipality in the state of Paraná, the population knows the legend of Corpo-seco, which dates back to the 1950s.
According to the inhabitants of Cambira, Corpo-seco was a man who had promised to walk to the city of Aparecida do Norte if he became rich.
Turns out the man, a German immigrant known as Ervin Schindler, got rich. He founded the Ubatuba farm, which became one of the largest coffee producers in his region, and as promised, he went to the city of Aparecida do Norte, but by plane instead of walking.
In another version, the man would have died during the journey. Today, according to the population, at the place where the man was buried, truck drivers who pass by are surprised by someone knocking on the window, asking for a ride to Aparecida do Norte.
But when they reach the place where Corpo-seco had the accident, the man who had asked for a ride disappears from the truck.
Read too:
Legends and characters from Brazilian folklore
Myths and legends from Brazil and the world
Bibliographic references
CASCUDO, Luís da Câmara. Geography of Brazilian Myths. 1. ed. digital. São Paulo: Global, 2012.
RODRIGUES, João Paulo Pacheco. Beliefs and perception of subjects: the Dry Body in the city of Cambira (PR).
