Headless Mule

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The Headless Mule ((Portuguese) Mula sem Cabeça) is one of the most popular characters of the Brazilian myth, a folktale that runs strongest in the states of Goiás, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, but which is told throughout the entire country.

1 Origins
2 Appearance
3 Curse
4 Breaking the curse
5 References
6 External Links

[edit] Origins

This is a very ancient myth, with possible mediaeval Portuguese origin that was circulating since the colonial era. Although the myth is generally found in Brazil, surrounding Hispanic countries also have similar variations of it.

According to the legend, the Headless Mule is actually a woman that has been cursed by God for sinning; more specifically, the mule is a woman who has had a love affair with a priest. For her sin she will endure a lifetime of troubles, transforming into this horrible beast every thursday after dark and only regaining human form at friday's sunrise. Another version of the myth has the headless woman as the ghost of a priest's deceased concubine.

[edit] Appearance

The mule's appearance varies greatly from region to region, ranging from a black mule with a white cross on its chest, to the most common: a headless brown mule with a gout of fire spitting forth from the neck. In all cases, however, the mule is a priest's lover, save in the rare versions where the priest is the cursed one - in that case, the priest himself is headless and he rides a normal horse, much like the headless horseman in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Despite being headless, the mule still neighs (usually very loud) and has a bridle tied to its non-existing mouth. It has silver (or iron) horseshoes that produce a hideous trotting, louder than any horse is capable of producing. Sometimes it moans like a crying woman but will not behave in a human fashion.

[edit] Curse

Besides being transformed into a beastly unnatural creature, the accursed woman will be bound to perform a series of acts related to her sin.

First she will have to gallop over the territory of seven parishes each night (just as the Brazilian version of the werewolf). Sometimes it is believed that she must begin and end her night at the parish where the priest to whom she is related is currently attached, thus making public his sin.

[edit] Breaking the curse

There are various ways to break the curse. The two most popular ones being either taking its bridle or spilling its blood (no matter how little, even using a needle to pinch it). If either operation is accomplished the mule will transform into a beautiful naked woman and will remain so (i.e. a woman) while her savior still lives in the same parish where she was saved. This "salvation", however, is only partial, as the woman's soul is still accursed: she will return to her trials if her savior dies or leaves the parish and she is still bound to hell because her sin cannot be forgiven by God.

To be permanently rid of the headless mule one can kill or excommunicate the woman (or both, in either order). Excommunication is only effective if carried on before the woman's second transformation. When the popular belief has it that the mule is the ghost of a deceased woman, there is no means known to get rid of the problem (though sometimes it is stated that the mule will not come back after the priest dies or will accompany him when he moves to another parish).