A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
The account quoted in Bernardo Pereira de Sá Filho's history dissertation describes soldiers, bohemians and other night wanderers encountering a thin woman in a long white dress. She asks for a cigarette. When asked her name, her slow, cavernous answer supplies the recurring phrase Não se pode, also rendered Num-se-pode. With a cigarette in her mouth, she stretches upward until she can light it at the street lamp. The contrast between an ordinary request and an impossible change in height places the apparition within the city's nighttime encounters.
Her story also has a contemporary artistic life. In February 2025, Piauí's cultural announcement documented dancers and researchers Luzia Amélia and Kacio Santo launching Num-se-Pod Cast. They identify the legend as a starting point for discussing cultural enchantment, race, gender and marginalized narratives, with dance central to their approach. Luzia describes strengthening Black and peripheral Teresina communities through art and their own protagonism. That stated creative purpose is separately attributed to these artists; it does not make their podcast a new collected version of the lamp-lighting episode.
Origins & earliest records
Sá Filho's directly inspected 2006 dissertation, printed page 39, quotes Ibiapina 1997 for the nocturnal apparition. The older cited text was not independently inspected. The street-lamp setting situates the story's urban imagery but cannot establish a first oral date. The 2025 podcast documents a later, consciously named artistic appropriation.
Records & interpretation
The dissertation's full quoted episode and bibliographic title pages were read. It is a secondary transmission of Ibiapina, distinct from surrounding court records and interviews that concern real people. The official 4 February 2025 announcement verifies the artists and their stated project; podcast episodes were not watched and contribute no uninspected plot details.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Cartografias do prazer: boemia e prostituição em Teresina (1930–1970)
UFPI history dissertation, printed p. 39; quoted Ibiapina 1997 apparition account, not a new firsthand encounter.
- 02
Num-se-Pod Cast
Creative discussion project verified through the Piauí government's launch announcement; episodes not inspected.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- ResearchSá Filho 2006: Num-se-pode episode, p. 39Research access: 2026-10-05
- CommunityPiauí cultural announcement: Num-se-Pod Cast, 4 February 2025Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.