Golden Mother: origin, meaning, summary of the legend

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A mother of gold is a character from Brazilian folklore very popular in regions where gold mining took place, especially São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Bahia and Mato Grosso. The origin of the legend may be related to the so-called will-o'-the-wisp, a phenomenon that occurs in nature and emits light. The Golden Mother is described in different ways throughout Brazil, but the most common forms are as a beautiful woman, a ball of fire or a shooting star. Since the 19th century, several folklorists have written about the legend of the Mother of Gold.

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Summary about the Golden Mother

The legend of the Mother of Gold is part of Brazilian folklore, which is still told today, especially in rural areas of the country.
Because it is a legend, there are several versions about the Golden Mother. Their appearance also varies greatly.
The Golden Mother is directly associated with two natural phenomena, the entry of meteors into the atmosphere and the so-called will-o'-the-wisp.

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Some authors argue that the origin of the Mãe de Ouro is European, others argue that it has its origin in indigenous myths.

How is the Golden Mother represented?

A Mãe de Ouro is a legend of Brazilian folklore popular in several regions of Brazil, especially in regions with a rich past. related to gold mining. Because it is a legend, with more than two centuries of existence, several versions exist about the appearance of the Golden Mother, but usually she isrepresented as a beautiful woman, dressed in white and with golden hair. She can also manifest as a fireball, which appears for a short time, or even as a shooting star.

In research carried out in Sao Paulo, Augusto Meyer pointed out that the Golden Mother é described in different ways in the state, and can be represented like a little bird, lizard, like a beautiful woman or a beam of light. In Brotas, the testimonies collected in the research point to Mãe de Ouro as a golden lizard. In the valley of the São Francisco River, in Minas Gerais, the Mãe de Ouro can appear like a shooting star or like an enchanted serpent, similar to boitatá.

The majority of researchers point out the influence of indigenous culture in the legend of the Golden Mother. In the theogony of several indigenous peoples, the presence of a kind of mother creator, as in Mãe d’Água, Pacha Mama, Mama Killa, Mãe Terra, among others. Augusto Meyer argues that the legend of the Mãe de Ouro has Andean origins and, through the Peabirú path, reached the center of Brazil.

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What is the role of the Golden Mother?

In the versions of the mining areas, the Golden Mother shows prospectors where the gold veins are located, in addition to protecting these men in the mining work. She indicated the location of gold with a fireball near the location or simply leading miners to the vein.

In indigenous versions, the Mãe de Ouro does just the opposite., it deceives prospectors, taking them to places far from the gold, preventing them from finding the deposits. She he would be a kind of curupira, which protects the gold underground and the forest and waters above it.

Slaves working in mining. Painting by Carlos Julião, from 1770, probably the origin period of the legend of Mãe de Ouro.

In some places in Brazil Legend has it that she also protects women.who are beaten by their husbands, luring the aggressor to a cave, seducing him with the gold, and then causing the cave to collapse, burying the aggressor husband in the depths of the Earth.

Versions of the legend of the Golden Mother

A most told versionnarrates that a slave, who was always punished by his owner, desperately looked for gold in the forest, to avoid being punished again. When approaching a mountain he spotted the Golden Mother, who pointed out to him a spot on the hillside where he should dig for gold. She imposed a condition on the man, he must not tell anyone about the place.

When digging, he found a lot of gold and took it to his owner, who was surprised and demanded that the slave tell where he mined. The slave refused to tell and was often whipped by the lord, not resisting and telling him the location of the gold mine. The boss rushed to the spot and started extracting the gold. Days later he had opened a mine on the site. As a punishment to the slave owner, the Mother of Gold caused the collapse of the mine roof and her death.

In another version, popular in caiçara communities in São Paulo, a fisherman hooked a basket full of gold at the mouth of a river after the Golden Mother appears in the place like a shooting star. He took the gold to his house and made a promise that he and all of his future generations would adopt a child as a way of thanking the Golden Mother.

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What is the origin of the legend of the Golden Mother?

The origin of the legend of the Golden Mother is uncertain, but probably occurred in the 18th century in the mining regions of Brazil. The legend is closely linked to the period and these locations. It is directly related to slavery, its violence and gold mining. in the Colonial Period.

Several folklorists wrote about the Golden Mother, among them Alberto Coelho da Cunha, Nitheroy Ribeiro, Veiga Miranda, Alceu Maynard Araújo, Ruth Guimarães, Luis da Câmara Cascudo, Theobaldo Miranda Santos, Lucília Garcez e Souza Ram. The first writings are from the second half of the 19th century..

The Legend of the Golden Mother may be related to the call of the will-o'-the-wisp. It is a natural phenomenon that occurs in places with decomposing organic material, mainly in swamps and lakes, but it can occur anywhere.

Wisp photographed over a lake. The legend of the Golden Mother may be related to this phenomenon.

Decomposition creates and releases chemical elements that, in contact with oxygen in the atmosphere, cause the emission of photons. The phenomenon lasts a few seconds and can occur in the form of a column. A legend of indigenous origin do Boitatá is also related to the will-o-the-wisp.