Saci is a popular character in Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged black boy who wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear. He has holes in his hands and smokes a pipe.
The red cap is the secret of saci`s powers, and anyone who manages to steal it will have the creature as a servant.
Capturing a saci is however a hard trick. One must wait for a day with dust devils, for those are created by his dance. A sieve (with two canes crossed on its back side) shall be thrown upon him. If the saci gets entrapped, he will try to escape into anything dark, so a dark glass bottle can be used to imprison him. The bottle must be closed with a cross-marked cork.
A free saci does no big harm, but won`t hesitate to do play any trick on anyone. He uses to curse eggs, hide things, ruin a cook`s work. Anything that goes wrong in a house may be blamed to the saci.
Sacis enjoy also freeing horses in the night and riding them, while sucking their blood.
They fear holy water, crosses and other christian symbols.