On SĂŁo TomĂ© island, Forro vocabulary distinguishes several kinds of supernatural sight: uĂȘ blĂșco for the evil eye, uĂȘ ichĂĄ and uĂȘ glÎço for envy-laden gazes, and uĂȘ lĂ©ve for the ability to see the dead. Records of traditional healing in SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe also preserve named practices such as paga santu, paga dĂȘvĂȘ, djambi, and tchiladĂŽ ventosa, while Angolar material from southern SĂŁo TomĂ© gives ancestors a direct role in some illness and family-ritual narratives. Twenty-nine distinct folk beliefs, ritual interpretations, and omen concepts can be separated from these records without treating them as a complete inventory of the archipelago. Practice varies between families and communities, and material tied to Forro or Angolar settings should not be projected onto every SĂŁo TomĂ©an.
Tchiloli was inscribed on UNESCOâs Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2025. The theatre itself is living heritage rather than a superstition; only the beliefs recorded around supernatural sight, the dead, music, and offerings belong in a superstition-focused collection. Traditional healing also needs careful treatment: named rituals can carry religious and social meaning without providing medical proof of their claimed effects. The World Health Organizationâs 2025â2034 traditional medicine strategy calls for evidence-based, safe use and appropriate integration with health systems, a useful distinction for practices linked with eye disease, child development, pain, or mental distress.
Forro Ideas About the Eye and Invisible Sight
UĂȘ BlĂșco â The Harmful Gaze
In Forro vocabulary recorded on SĂŁo TomĂ©, uĂȘ blĂșco refers to the âbad eyeâ or evil eye. The expression treats a hostile gaze as something capable of carrying harm, rather than merely describing ordinary dislike.
UĂȘ IchĂĄ and UĂȘ GlÎço â Eyes of Envy
Valverde records uĂȘ ichĂĄ, the âfull eye,â and uĂȘ glÎço, the âthick eye,â as Forro expressions connected with envy. They belong to a local family of optical metaphors in which the eye can reveal more than simple physical vision.
UĂȘ LĂ©ve â The Light Eye That Sees the Dead
UĂȘ lĂ©ve, literally a âlight eyeâ in Valverdeâs account, names an alleged ability to see deceased people. It is a SĂŁo TomĂ© folk concept of unusual sight, not a verified visual capacity.
Ghosts, Possession, and the Dead in São Tomé
Ghosts May Act in the Present
Ethnographic work on São Tomé records cosmologies in which the living and the dead are not always treated as completely separate. Some accounts allow ghosts or spirits to intervene in present-day affairs, though interpretations vary even within the same community.
Spirits May Be Perceived in Dreams or Sensations
São Toméan accounts discussed by Rodrigues describe spirits and other spectral presences as sometimes becoming known through dreams, bodily sensations, or other unusual experiences. Such experiences are culturally interpreted; they do not establish that a supernatural being is present.
A Spirit Can âMountâ a Healer
Possession language recorded in SĂŁo TomĂ© includes the idea of being âmountedâ by a spirit. In healing settings, a healer may be understood as temporarily becoming a channel through which spirits or ancestors manifest and communicate.
The Improperly Buried Dead May Remain Restless
In memories connected with plantation life and the 1953 massacre, Rodrigues records the idea that people denied proper funerary treatment may remain unsettled or wandering. This belongs to a particular historical field of memory and should not be treated as a rule shared across the islands.
OcoçÎ as a Tangible Spirit Presence
Rodrigues notes that some spectral entities in São Toméan accounts may be understood as taking a more tangible form, including one called ocoçÎ. The term belongs to local spirit discourse and is better kept in that narrow context than expanded with unsupported details.
Tchiloli Music and Offerings May Attract the Dead
Valverdeâs ethnography of Tchiloli records the dead as being drawn by music, drumming, and food offerings in some interpretations surrounding the performance. This is a spiritual reading associated with Tchiloli, not a definition of the theatre tradition as a whole.
Debts to the Dead, Water Saints, and Angolar Ancestors
NĂ©n KĂ© Mu and Unfulfilled Obligations
Traditional-healing records describe NĂ©n KĂ© Mu as deceased or âdead-godsâ toward whom obligations may be owed. Some illnesses are interpreted within this belief system as consequences of failing to meet such duties.
Paga DĂȘvĂȘ â Paying a Debt to the Dead
Paga dĂȘvĂȘ is recorded as a ritual conducted at river mouths or crossroads, with offerings and prayers intended to settle a debt to the NĂ©n KĂ© Mu. It has been used in folk responses to concerns about a childâs development; developmental problems require professional medical assessment.
Paga Santu â Paying a Water Saint
In paga santu, a âdebtâ is ritually paid to a water saint near a riverbank or beach. Traditional-healing records connect the practice with eye infections. The ritual is a cultural response, not a substitute for medical diagnosis and treatment of an eye condition.
Mesa dos Mortos â A Place for Ancestors at the Feast
In Fernando de Macedoâs Angolar drama Cloçon Son, analyzed as drawing on local ritual culture, a mesa dos mortos holds food and drink for ancestors during a family or collective celebration. Participants also pour part of their wine onto the ground before drinking.
Restless Ancestors May Need Prayers
An Angolar healing scene in Cloçon Son has a urine-reading healer interpret illness as something other than a bodily ailment and suggest that unsettled ancestors may need a ceremony or prayers. This is a dramatic representation of local religious motifs, not a medical diagnosis.
Ancestors May Appear During Family Rituals
Macedoâs Angolar drama places ancestral figures near the mesa dos mortos during a family ceremony. Ăboli reads the scene within a wider Angolar pattern of healing, popular belief, religiosity, and ancestor veneration, so it should remain identified as an Angolar dramatic record.
Night Dreams Can Be Read as Ancestor Signs
Within Angolar dramatic material, a troubling dream may be interpreted as an apparition or message connected with the dead. The meaning belongs to a ritual and literary setting; a dream is not evidence that an ancestor is actually communicating.
The Bush Can Link Healing With Spirits of the Past
Ethnographic ideas quoted by Ăboli describe trabalho do mato, or âwork of the bush,â as a healing domain in which spirits and souls of the past can become ritually present. The concept links landscape, memory, and spiritual authority rather than treating plants alone as the explanation.
Stlijons, Djambi, and Ritual Diagnosis
Some Stlijons Are Regarded as Supernaturally Gifted
Ethnopharmacological fieldwork describes stlijons, traditional healers, as respected figures, with some regarded as exceptional people possessing supernatural power. That status reflects a cultural belief about healing authority rather than scientific evidence of supernatural ability.
A Spirit May Mark a Future Stlijon
One recorded path into becoming a healer involves a spirit said to enter a personâs head, sometimes during an intense personal crisis. Other paths involve selection or learning from elders, showing that spirit calling is one reported route rather than a universal initiation rule.
A Patientâs Dreams May Guide a Stlijonâs Reading
Madureira records nocturnal dreams as material that a stlijon may interpret before therapy. In this setting, the dream can help shape a ritual explanation of illness or trouble, although dream interpretation is not a clinical diagnostic method.
Djambi Healing Uses Trance and Possession
Djambi is documented as a healing ceremony involving several healers, offerings, drumming, dance, trance, and possession. Historical descriptions connect it with weakness or severe mental disturbance. Ritual participation does not replace professional medical or mental-health care.
âBad Bloodâ Is Blamed for Swelling and Pain
The tchiladĂŽ ventosa tradition is based partly on the belief that âbad bloodâ can cause swelling and pain and should be drawn out with cupping. Pain and swelling can have many medical causes, so the folk explanation should not replace medical evaluation.
Moon Phase Is Believed to Affect Ventosa Treatment
Madureira records tchiladĂŽ ventosa practitioners consulting a LunĂĄrio showing lunar phases because the phase of the moon is believed to affect the cure. This is a ritual timing belief, not evidence that lunar phase determines treatment outcome.
PiadĂŽ ZĂĄua Reads Illness Through Urine
PiadĂŽ ZĂĄua, translated as a âurine explainer,â is a traditional-healer role in which illness is assessed through sensory inspection of urine, including features such as colour, smell, and sediment. Folk interpretation of urine is not a replacement for laboratory testing or professional care.
FitxicĂȘlo and the Social Fear of Witchcraft
FitxicĂȘlo â A Forro Term for Sorcerer or Witch
FitxicĂȘlo is recorded as a Forro word for a sorcerer or witch. The term carries fear and social stigma in documented SĂŁo TomĂ©an accusations; calling someone fitxicĂȘlo does not establish that the person has supernatural powers.
Witchcraft May Be Blamed for Illness or Misfortune
The São Toméan documentary literature reviewed by Santos and Seibert records a popular belief that witchcraft can cause illness, misfortune, or death. These are cultural attributions used to explain frightening events, not verified causes of disease or loss.
FitchicĂȘlu Power Is Said to Pass Through Families
Madureira records a belief that an ability attributed to a fitchicĂȘlu is hereditary, often described as passing from mother to daughter and sometimes to a son. The statement records a supernatural inheritance belief; it is not a claim about genetics or an actual inherited ability.
Night Waking or Forgetfulness Can Be Misread as Witchcraft
A University of Porto review documents cases in which ordinary behaviours associated with ageing, such as waking during the night or forgetting things, became grounds for witchcraft suspicion. Neither behaviour is evidence of supernatural activity, and such accusations can isolate vulnerable older people.
Cats, Widowhood, or Living Alone Can Trigger Suspicion
The same review records arbitrary suspicions directed at some older women for owning a cat, being widowed, having no children, or living alone. These circumstances have no supernatural meaning; their importance lies in documenting how a belief can turn into social stigma.
Forro and Angolar Meanings Should Not Be Merged
Many of the clearest named beliefs are geographically and linguistically situated. UĂȘ blĂșco, uĂȘ lĂ©ve, and fitxicĂȘlo appear in Forro-focused material on SĂŁo TomĂ© island, while Ăboliâs study of Cloçon Son concerns Angolar culture and a drama set in Angolares in the south of SĂŁo TomĂ©. The strongest published records for these named beliefs therefore centre on SĂŁo TomĂ© island; they should not automatically be assigned to PrĂncipe.
Spelling also varies between publications. Forms such as fitxicĂȘlo and fitchicĂȘlu appear in different scholarly records for closely related witchcraft terminology. Keeping the spelling used by each record is safer than forcing every term into one standardized form.
Tchiloli Is Living Heritage, Not a Superstition
UNESCO inscribed Tchiloli on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2025. Valverdeâs earlier ethnography examines spiritual meanings attached to sight, death, music, and offerings around the performance. Those beliefs are part of the ethnographic record, but reducing Tchiloli itself to âmagicâ would misrepresent a living theatre tradition with artistic, social, and historical meanings.
Witchcraft Accusations Are Social Stigma, Not Evidence
The Africana Studia review is explicit about the harm produced by witchcraft accusations, especially for older women. Night waking, forgetfulness, cat ownership, widowhood, childlessness, or living alone are not tests for supernatural ability. The same review describes bĂłcadu, an annual Ash Wednesday family gathering held at the home of the oldest family member, as a tradition that reinforces family solidarity and respect for elders. The contrast matters: respect for age can coexist with fear-driven stigma, and the stigma should not be treated as proof that the accusation is true.
đ Roots of Belief
- Paulo Valverde, âCarlos Magno e as artes da morte: estudo sobre o Tchiloli da ilha de SĂŁo TomĂ©â â EtnogrĂĄfica â Documents Forro optical terms including uĂȘ blĂșco, uĂȘ ichĂĄ, uĂȘ glÎço, and uĂȘ lĂ©ve, and analyzes beliefs involving the dead, music, drumming, and offerings around Tchiloli. (EtnogrĂĄfica is a peer-reviewed anthropology journal.)
- Maria do CĂ©u de Madureira, âPlantas Medicinais e Medicina Tradicional de S. TomĂ© e PrĂncipeâ â Iscte Repository â Records stlijon training and authority, NĂ©n KĂ© Mu, paga santu, paga dĂȘvĂȘ, djambi, fitchicĂȘlu inheritance beliefs, tchiladĂŽ ventosa, lunar timing, and PiadĂŽ ZĂĄua. (Iscteâs institutional repository preserves academic work from a university research environment.)
- Luciana Ăboli, âO sentido do sagrado e os rituais de cura no drama Cloçon son, de Fernando de Macedoâ â NavegaçÔes â Analyzes Angolar healing, possession, ancestor veneration, the mesa dos mortos, ritual use of urine, and the relationship between bush work and spirits of the past in Fernando de Macedoâs drama. (NavegaçÔes is an academic journal hosted by PUCRS.)
- VaniclĂ©ia Silva Santos and Gerhard Seibert, âDocumentĂĄrio FitxicĂȘlu. Crenças, Estigma e Ostracismoâ â Africana Studia â Explains the Forro term fitxicĂȘlo and documents witchcraft accusations connected with illness, misfortune, ageing behaviours, cat ownership, widowhood, and social isolation, as well as the bĂłcadu gathering. (Africana Studia is published by the University of Portoâs Centre of African Studies.)
- InĂȘs Nascimento Rodrigues, âDescolonizar a fantasmagoria. Uma reflexĂŁo a partir do âMassacre de 1953â em SĂŁo TomĂ© e PrĂncipeâ â Revista CrĂtica de CiĂȘncias Sociais â Examines SĂŁo TomĂ©an understandings of ghosts, spirit possession, dreams and sensations, tangible spirit forms such as ocoçÎ, and restless dead within memories surrounding colonial violence. (The journal is an academic publication hosted on OpenEdition.)
- UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage â Tchiloli, Living Theatre of SĂŁo TomĂ© and PrĂncipe in the Quest of Justice â Confirms Tchiloliâs 2025 inscription on the Representative List and its status as living cultural heritage rather than a superstition category in itself. (UNESCO is the United Nations agency responsible for the international Intangible Cultural Heritage system.)
- World Health Organization, âGlobal Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025â2034â â Sets out principles for strengthening evidence, safety, regulation, and appropriate integration of traditional and complementary medicine into health systems. (WHO is the United Nations specialized agency for international public health.)