Salomão Gabriel – a man that left ‘saudades’

Osmarina Galvão Costa*

| October 4^th, 2025

[..] when we were young boys, all of us, most of the nephews, wanted to be just like him when we grew up because he truly was an admirable person”. M. Jamsson Ferreira de Oliveira.

Salomão Gabriel da Costa, born in Seringal Sunta during a session of the Vegetal, would be 62 years old today. According to Mestre Pequenina, when it was approximately 10pm on October 4th, 1963, Mestre Gabriel asked which one of the women present could assist in the arrival of yet another caianinho. At this moment, sister Roxinha volunteered and accompanied Mestre Pequenina to the bedroom.

Mestre Pequenina would tell that when she entered the bedroom, she saw a large and beautiful alcove – something she had never seen before. And within this enchantment that she found herself in, the couple’s eighth child was born from a painless birth. After the boy’s birth, Mestre Gabriel said there was one person missing from drinking the Vegetal. He grabbed a spoon, put some Vegetal in it, and went to wear his wife, Mestre Pequenina, and his newborn son were, and said: Salomão, receive the communion of the Vegetal.” And in this moment, he gave the child who had just been born the name Salomão.

For me, it was always very emotional to hear Mestre Pequenina talk about Salomão Gabriel’s birth. When I met him, he was responsible for the house and for the maintenance of the home together with his mother. And what captivated me the most about Salomão was his respect for his parents, Mestre Gabriel and Mestre Pequenina – always caring for his mother with love. In the same way, my attention was called by the love and respect that he had and demonstrated for his eldest brother, Getúlio, and for all his other siblings.

Salomão was a loving and respectful son, who had firmness in everything he did. He was a present husband and companion, and faithful in his love to me and to the family that we built: my two sons, Salomão’s son, and our son – in this way forming our family with four children: Leandro, Cleiton, Leomiro and Soniê.

Today, October 4th, is a joyful day in the heart of our family because of the birth of Salomão Gabriel. And I want to honor and pay homage to his memory from the point of view of our children Leandro, Cleiton, Leomiro and Soniê, and our dear nephews C. Joelson and M. Jamsson Ferreira de Oliveira.

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“Salomão, who met my mother when I was approximately seven years old, was a father and friend in my life. A priceless treasure that he offered my mom, and which was extended to me and my siblings: the União do Vegetal. A significant memory I have is from when I turned 12 years old. He was directing a Session and he gave an oratory from the place of a loving and caring father and dedicated a song to me, “O filho do seu menino virou rapaz” (“Your boy’s son has become a young man”), by Jair Rodrigues, a gesture that symbolized his role as a present father and friend.

>>Mestre Leandro dos Anjos (Representative Mestre of Núcleo São Miguel, Porto Velho-RO, 1st Region);

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“Conselheiro Salomão came into my life when I was very little. He arrived and quickly filled the empty space I had for a father-figure. He has this energy that always made people around him want to be close to him.

The Sessions with him were Always special. He participated a lot and always brought many teachings. I have a feeling of gratitude for the merit of being able to share life with him. I hope to one day have the merit for our family to continue this story. May God and the Mestre bless us!”

>>Cleiton dos Anjos (member of Núcleo São Miguel, Porto Velho-RO, 1st Region);

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“My childhood with my father was a gift from God! From him I learned the treasure of being a good son, a good friend, and a good man that respects and values the principles of being a good member of society.

I was able to witness what my father was: a friend, a father, a counselor, a mestre of martial arts, a serious, hardworking, and gentle man that liked to joke around and play soccer…

He was a man that honored the family, principally his mother and father!”

>>Leomiro Gabriel da Costa (member of N. Mestre Pequenina, Porto Velho-RO, 1st Region);

Salomão Gabriel, “my hero”

“Since I was a child, I grew up hearing my relatives talk about my father, Salomão Gabriel. Among so many stories, one moment stayed etched in my heart: my grandmother, Mestre Pequenina, would call him “my hero”, and had a very great love and care for him. And this is how I learned to see him, as a one-of-a-kind person that impacted the lives of all those around him.

There was something that made him stand out: the gift of martial arts. He was an expert in martial arts and combat techniques, but his skill went beyond physical strength; he possessed discipline, loyalty, and personality – qualities that inspired those who spent time with him. He also could easily transmit the teachings, prepare the Vegetal, and was a teacher to many, leaving his mark in the lives of those who had the opportunity to learn with him. These same people talk about how he had mastery in all that he did, but also spiritual richness, and that he certainly would have arrived to the high places within the União.

Even with the little time I got to share with him, I feel that his essence is a part of me. And sometimes in a gesture, a thought, or even in a moment of silence, I feel his presence with me.

>>Soniê Gabriel da Costa (Instructive Body of N. Mestre Pequenina, Porto Velho-RO, 1st Region);

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“…a remarkable, admirable personal”

“I had the opportunity to share life with Conselheiro Salomão Gabriel for many years. He had many good qualities and was admired in many ways. I admired him for his capacity in martial arts (it was the first thing that called my attention about him), and also for his talent in preparing the Vegetal, directing Sessions, and the knowledge that he had. I learned many things from him.

He was a remarkable, admirable and caring person. He had a strong personality and was not always well understood or well interpreted. He had the capacity to recognize his attitudes, his mistakes and, on his walk, I saw him make changes to his way of being that were for the better. Sometimes I imagine how much he would be helping the União do Vegetal if he were still alive today.”

>>Conselheiro Joelson Ferreira de Oliveira (Núcleo Convite aos Encantos – Formosa-GO, 8th Region);

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“…I always relive those past moments”

“To speak of Uncle Salomão is to relive the past. But I always relive those past moments because I still remember him to this day. I talk about him almost every day. He was the person that taught me martial arts, he taught me the art of capoeira, of boxing, and today I teach these martial arts. Therefore, I am always talking about his teachings and about his story. He helped many people and did so without fanfare, without advertising. Many times, people didn’t even know it. Many people only found out about some of the good he did after he passed away.

Even that lady who helped during his birth, Ms. Roxinha, was a person that he always helped with food, with money, with a basket of staple goods (cesta básica). He never let her lack anything. He had special care for Ms. Roxinha.

I learned many things from him: somethings about the União, the teachings of Mestre Gabriel, about Preparing Vegetal. I also learned the conduct of how a man should behave and position himself: for a man to have firmness with his word, to know his place, to know how to enter and leave places. He had a very great intelligence, a very fine skill in relation to the preparation of the Vegetal. And his words were always well-equilibrated within the Salon of the Vegetal.

I remember that when we were young boys, all of us, most of the nephews, wanted to be just like him when we grew up because he truly was an admirable person.

When he passed away, there was a huge void for us. But I feel that to this day I carry a little bit of him within me: his presence, his strength, his teachings. To this day I teach the art of capoeira that I learned from him, and I preserve this legacy. This is the way I found to keep him alive for me and to hold on to one of the greatest friendships I’ve ever had.

>>M. Jamsson Ferreira de Oliveira, Assistant Central Mestre of the 8th Region.

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“…a star that shined”

Salomão Gabriel arrived to the Body of Counsel on November 1st, 1988, in Núcleo Mestre Iagora (Porto Velho-RO), and passed away in 1999, at the age of 35, leaving our family and friends with good memories of time and friendship shared. As a child, his photograph Illustrated the report titled: “LSD of the Amazon”, published in 1971 in O Cruzeiro magazine (main image at the start of this Blog post). For our son Soniê, “his passage on Earth is like that of a star that shone briefly and left too son, leaving recollections and memories for those who knew him well”.

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*Osmarina Galvão Costa is the widow of Conselheiro Salomão Gabriel and is a member of the Body of Counsel of Núcleo Mestre Pequenina (Porto Velho-RO, 1st Region).

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Editor’s Note: In 2009, then Pré-Núcleo Conselheiro Salomão Gabriel was inaugerated in João Pessoa – Paraíba. According to the current Representative Mestre of Núcleo Salomão Gabriel, Mestre Clóvis Neto, at the request of Mestre Pequenina, “Núcleo Conselheiro Salomão Gabriel was created in the 10th Region as a way of honoring Mestre Pequenina’s “great hero”. All of us who are a part of Núcleo Conselheiro Salomão Gabriel feel honored to be part of this Great União do Vegetal paying homage to one of the beloved children of Mestre Pequenina and of our Great Mestre Gabriel.”