But it wasn’t my father standing there; it was the encantado Velho Nagô, an old acquaintance of the people of Água Negra. He was the master of my father’s body and spirit, the giver of blessings and cures to the needy and to the land itself. And it was Velho Nagô, according to my father, who had assigned the role of midwife to Salustiana Nicolau. When a woman was in labor, the hands and even the mind of comadre Salu would be guided by Velho Nagô’s power. At least, that’s how my father explained it when a stranger once asked him.
