Maria Padilha and European Witchcraft

Maria Padilha was the lover of Pedro , the Cruel , king of Castella in the XIV century . She was declared queen after her death and is buried with the king . She was the inspiration for the opera Maria Padilha by Donizetti and also for the novel Carmen by Prosper Merimee . She was captudered by the Inquisition in 1361 and probably died by the plague in the dungeons . She is an icone of transgression and sensuality and started to be invoked by women to sort out troubles with their lovers after her death . On the Inquisitorial processes her name appeared as the main deity invoked with other demons by witches in several trials in the Iberian Peninsula .. She became very popular in Spain and Portugal among the witches who used to work love spells asking for her help on their dealings . It's interesting to note that burning at stake wasn't the common penalty against witchcraft in Portugal , the deportation to other lands was the main penalty for women ( Degredo it's called ) , men used to be put to work at galleys .. Because of the Degredo many witches were deported to Brazil where they continued their worship to Maria Padilha , later the dearest and beautiful "demoness" as the church passed to call her was incorporated to the african religious cults and until nowadays she is worshippped by Iberian witches , by the practioners of Umbanda (which is the name of the Brazilian sincretic religion which mix Catholicism , Candomble and European witchcraft) and even by the purist practioners of Candomble where she's the only European deity (African religion continuosly kept alive by slave's descendents) . She was named the most important Pombagira in Brazil which is a female Exu , a spirit of someone who died but is so powerful that continue helping to sort out people's problems , licit or ilicit . I personally have Maria Padilha in a very high position at my altars , Queen Maria Padilha as she is tenderly called by her worshippers was a transgressor who lived her life breaking rules and only because of it was "demonised" .

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