Author Archives: gmvelasq

La Descarnada – L

This is a legend called “La descarnada”. This is legend that is told throughout El Salvador, and is passed on through oral tradition. In the case of L, they told me they grew up hearing this tale, and it was like many legends, meant to scare people, especially kids.

Context: L is a family member, who I asked to elaborate on “la descarnada” a Salvadoran legend.

Story: EN ESPANOL

“La leyenda que hace muchos, muchos años, en un canton all por las montanas de El Salvador, vivía una mujer joven y hermosa. Ella atraía a todo el pueblo, todos los hombres se querían acostar con ella, y tenerla suya. Esta señora, parecía normal, pero en realidad, tenia un secreto. Ella se enamoro con un joven del canton, y con su belleza, estaba mas que segura que el se iba a enamorar, y que se casaría con el. Una noche, un grupo de hombres se toparon con la esta joven, y la atacaron brutalmente. La despedazaron, y la dejaron herida, donde finalmente murió. Desde esa noche, el espíritu de la señora permanece, llena de venganza, y de rabia contra el mundo viviente. Desde entonces, se dice que ‘La Descarnada’ acecha a los desprevenidos que se aventuran en el bosque durante la noche. Algunos dicen que puede aparecer como una sombra oscura, mientras que otros afirman haberla visto como una figura desfigurada y aterradora. Ella busca a los jovenes mas guapos, y los atrae, pero al fin se venga de su injusta muerte, y los mata.”

TRANSLATED “Story: “The legend that many, many years ago, in a canton all in the mountains of El Salvador, lived a young and beautiful woman. She attracted the entire town, all the men wanted to sleep with her, and have her theirs. This lady seemed normal, but in reality, she had a secret. She fell in love with a young man from the canton, and with her beauty, she was more than sure that he was going to fall in love, and that she would marry him. One night, a A group of men came across this young woman, and brutally attacked her. They tore her to pieces, and left her injured, where she finally died. Since that night, the lady’s spirit remains, full of revenge, and rage against the living world. Since then, ‘La Descarnada’ is said to stalk the unsuspecting who venture into the woods at night. Some say she can appear as a dark shadow, while others claim to have seen her as a disfigured and terrifying figure. She seeks out the most handsome young men, and attracts them, but in the end he takes revenge for their unjust death, and kills them.”

Analysis/YOUR interpretation: The story of la descarnada is a fairly copy and paste example of a horror tale. It follows the story of a woman, who was once a beautiful young woman, but once she suffered an unfortunate fate, went on to torment the world. She usually targets handsome men, in order to get revenge for her loss of beauty, and abrupt death. This is a fairly simple story toundestand, and according to L, it is told with the purpose of scaring. Popular among the youth, “la descarnada” is said to lurk at night, and young men are told to be cautious whenever they may go to places that are desolate at night. It seems that there is a pattern between many Salvadoran tales and legends, and a female character. Oftntimes, beauty is used as a lure, only to be completely negated by the authentic form of the entity. This tale could very well be a more modern adaptation of prehispanic, indigenous storytelling. It may be a result of the hybridization that occurred throughout Latin America, and more specifically in El Salvador. L said that this tale is an oral tradition that is passed on generationally, a prime example of oral narrative.

El Cipitio

This Legends is commonly known in the Central American Country of El Salvador. It is a bit of an urban legend, or horror story, especially popular among the lower class, in the “cantones” or slums. These are usually told to kids, and are passed down orally.

Context: This story was told to me by R, a family member of mine/ He grew up in El Salvador, and spend the majority of his life there. I am hearing his variation of the story, and although there are slight regional variations, they usually are very similar. This specific version is from the Sonsonate region.

Story:  EN ESPANOL

“El Cipitio se te aprecia como un niño de aspecto infantil, de unos 10 años de edad. Era bajito con una gran panza, y que lleva un gran sombrero. Solo los niños pueden verlo. El tiene la habilidad de viajar de un lugar a otro, teleportando, porque tiene poderes mágicos y se dice que disfruta comer ceniza o guineos majonchos.El Cipitío es bien travieso y juguetón. A el le gusta aparecerse en casas con hornillas de leña para comer ceniza, o lanzar piropos a las mujeres que se bañan en los ríos. Se cree que el papa del Ciptio es Dios Sol”

TRANSLATED STORY

“Cipitio appears to you as a childish-looking boy, about 10 years old. He was short with a big belly, and he wore a big hat. Only children can see him. He has the ability to travel from one place to another, teleporting, because he has magical powers and it is said that he enjoys eating ash or big bananas. Cipitío is very naughty and playful. He likes to appear in houses with wood stoves to eat ash, or compliment the women he meets. They bathe in the rivers. It is believed that the Pope of Cyptio is the Sun God.”

Analysis/YOUR interpretation: El Cipitio is an urban legend about a boyish looking humanoid, that appears only to children. He is very popular throughout EL Salvador, and is tale told by many in the country. He typically is seen doing various devious acts and overall mcsihhvious behavior.

This is a form of regional legend, that circulated among primary impoverished regions of the country. While a very normal topic in El Salvador, the tales usually simulate throughout the slums that border forests and the wooded areas. According to R, there are some theories as to its origin. Perhaps the largest and most believed one is that el Cipitio is some result of hybridization. That is he is actually the colonial interpretation of pre hispanic indigenous deity. His connection to the Nahuatl sun god, and the colonial attire he is depicted as wearing in his artistic depictions point to this, and make it clear that el Cipitio has some sort of connection to the colonial period. There have been many adaptations of this tale that have been dispersed in authors literature, movies and art, but they all stem from this narrative oral tradition.

El Cadejo

This story is told by M. The basis is a legend from Central America, but the story told was from his personal experience and encounter with the character. 

Context: M is a family member of mine. He is very close in my life. Growing up, he would always tell me about his interactions and encounters with various being growing up in El Salvador. This generated more curiosity within me, and I was fascinated by the fact that these characters were real. I don’t know how to feel about it now that i’m older…

Story: EN ESPANOL

” Tenia como unos 8 anos. Mi mama Juanita me mando a comprar pan una noche. Recuerdo que era una noche oscura, estábamos atravesando un sendero allá en las montañas. De repente, sentí una presencia extraña, como si algo estuviera siguiéndonos en la oscuridad.De allí, apareció de entre las sombras, un gran chucho (DOG), de pelaje oscuro y ojos rojos brillantes como focos. Era el Cadejo. Un gran chucho demoniaco Me quedé paralizado por un momento. El Cadejo me miraba fijamente, como si pudiera leer mis pensamientos. Sentí un escalofrío recorrer mi espalda mientras se acercaba lentamente. Pero algo en su mirada me tranquilizó, como si no viniera con intenciones malas.Entonces, el Cadejo empezó a ladrar. Casi como si estuviera hablando o tratando de comunicarse conmigo. Me quede congelada, muerto del miedo. Como si nada hubiese pasado, el Cadejo corrió, y se escondió en la oscuridad, y se desapareció. Andaba sonámbulo, y por eso lo sentí mas feo, como que me despertó del sueno. Menos mal quede traumado”

TRANSLATED STORY

”I was about 8 years old. My mother Juanita sent me to buy bread one night. I remember it was a dark night, we were crossing a path there in the mountains. Suddenly, I felt a strange presence, as if something was following us in the darkness. From there, a large dog (DOG) appeared from the shadows, with dark fur and bright red eyes like spotlights. It was Cadejo. A big demonic mutt I froze for a moment. Cadejo looked at me intently, as if he could read my thoughts. I felt a chill run down my spine as he slowly approached. But something in his look calmed me, as if he didn’t come with bad intentions. Then, Cadejo started barking. Almost like he was talking or trying to communicate with me. I froze, scared to death. As if nothing had happened, Cadejo ran, hid in the darkness, and disappeared. I was sleepwalking, and that’s why it felt even worse, like it woke me up from sleep. Thank goodness I was traumatized.”

Analysis/YOUR interpretation: 

El cadejo is described to be a big black dog, with bright red eyes. M described them as lightbulbs, shining in the distance. Throughout Central America, there have been tales of this demon dog making its appearance in the dead of night, and scaring people beyond compare. This legend seems to also be a type of myth. It could be plausible that M, and the many who claim to see him ran into an actual dog, who simply made its way, and scared them. Once again, this tale is an example of Narrative, A legend, but also could be myth, as it may or may not be loosely based on a true occurrence. It cold very well be some sort of exaggeration that is interpreted as this demon dog we know as the cadejo. Overall, there is a very strong culture of story telling in El Salvador that reinforces this theory. In the case of M, he claims to have encountered it, and agrees that the tale is common consensus among many Central Americans

O’s Salvadoran Civil War Legend.

This story was originally told in Spanish, therefore, I included the transcript in Spanish, as to preserve the story as best I can.

Context: O was a church member in my congregation. I managed to interview him recently, right before his unexpected passing. He grew up in El Salvador and lived through the Salvadoran Civil War, which inspired him to immigrate to the US in the 80s. The civil war was between the US backed Salvadoran military and the Rogue FMLN guerrilla fighters.

Story:

” En el tiempo de la guerra contrataban a los jóvenes y a los niños pobres del vecindario para contratarlos en la guerrilla. estos eran los niños más vulnerables los que más corrían riesgo de ser contratados y mandado a la guerra punto esta época era bien peligrosa extremadamente violenta y cada día más y más niños y jóvenes fallecían como resultado de las balaceras. en nuestro cantón,  surgió una leyenda de un señor que se metía a las escuelas secundarias y primarias a secuestrar a los niños y mandarlos a la guerra. esta leyenda se popularizó después de muchas desapariciones de jóvenes y niños que desaparecían al azar. muchas madres temían la seguridad de sus hijos y no los dejaban salir y a la escuela. en nuestro cantón era bien común ver a los guerrilleros entrar y salir con sus armas y con sus compañeros uniformado.  como estábamos en lados, de fmln,  teníamos una odio total a los militares y a los soldados. los escuadrones de la muerte comúnmente rodeaban nuestro cantón invadían a los pueblos con gente indígena y niños jóvenes. era un guerrillero quien la gente pensaba que era el responsable de toda la desapariciones punto al fin nunca se descubrió quién estaba alrededor ni detrás de estas ocurrencias. muchos niños desaparecieron y se presumía que estaban muertos hoy en día tengo muchos compañeros que nunca los volví a ver después de los 18 o 19 años hasta ahora no sabemos lo que pasó con ellos ni Cuál fue su destino en esa época tan difícil.”

Analysis/YOUR interpretation:

O’s story discusses the Salvadoran Civil War and the many disappearances that happened in his village. He mentions that he grew up on the guerrilla side, an FMLN (socialist guerrilla)  occupied section of the country. As is known, the Salvadoran Civil War was a bloody battle between the US backed military and rogue guerrilla fighters. The military was known to go into the impoverished indigenous villages where many vulnerable youths were, and recruit young men to enlist in the army. They would brainwash the, imposing their nationalistic points of view onto them. The Civil War originated from a division between the dominating high class who monopolized Salvadoran agriculture,  and the Farm Workers who maintained it alive.

In his story, O mentioned that there was a legend told in his village that one particular man would go into their village and kidnap kids who would never be seen again. It was presumed that these kids were drafted into the military, killed and never seen again. O saw many disappearances in his time during the war. The trauma from this era still haunts him to this day until the day of his death. There are still friends that he had that one day disappeared never to be seen again. This appears to be some sort of urban legend that originates from a very traumatic point in history for El Salvador. In the case of O’s, a truly did affect his life and whether or not there was somebody behind the disappearances has nothing to do with the validity of the emotional trauma. At the end of the day he did experience as many losses in this time, and the war was simply a catalyst for these Unfortunate Events to occur.

Salvadoran Joke – “Mato Tunco Tu Tata”

Context: This folklore is in the form of a Joke that is very common in El Salvador. It is used throughout the country, and seems to be unique to the Central American country,

Explanation of Folklore: I interviewed F about a joke that is commonly told in El Salvador. The joke goes as follows. One asks, “Mato tunco tu tata?” (Did your father kill a pig?) where one then answers yes, then the response is a follow up question “Le tuviste miedo al machete?” (were you scared of the machete?) and then the other person answers no. Finally the joke teller flinches at them as if they were to hit them with a machete, which usually provokes some sort of scared reaction from the other person.

According to F, this joke is super common among the Salvadoran people of all ages. It is also a very old Joke that is commonly known.

Analysis: The Premise of the joke is to prank the other person by following a storyline of a father killing a pig. The Jokester implies that the father used a machete to slaughter a pig, and that the other person was scared of it, which is why they flinch, emulating a machete swing.

F informed me that this joke is old enough that it is very popular among the older generations. It is a joke that has made its way through different generations and still remains relevant. F said that the joke is so popular in the country, that the mainstream media and popular culture in El Salvador have incorporated the joke in marketing, commercials, and even restaurant names. The Joke uses uniquely Salvadoran slang. The word “Tunco” is Salvadoran slang for Pig. It also uses “Tata” Salvadoran slang for father. This joke is uniquely Salvadoran, and is very connected to the countries own cultural identity and expression. F was not sure when the Joke came to be, he only informed me that it was very old, and that generations of his family and country had kept it going

Personal Analysis: This is a Joke I grew up hearing all of the time. I have distinct memories of my grandfather telling it to me, as well as my mom and dad. One of the reasons it stuck out to me is due to its unapologetically Salvadoran perspective. The use of colloquial slang makes it an ode to cultural expression, and that is very fascinating. Due to the specificity of origin, there do not appear to be any regional variations and Oicotypes. In terms of origin, I theorized that this might be a post colonial joke due to its specific choice of language.

Both “tunco” and “tata” are uniquely Salvadoran words, that are based off of the indigenous Nahuatl language. This pre hispanic language was melded with Spanish to produce much of the Salvadoran slang used today. This leads me to believe that the joke has origins in a post colonial El Salvador. Additionally, the mention of a pig implies a post colonial environment as well. Pigs are not native to El Salvador, and were introduced by the Spaniards. Once again these context clues can be utilized to help bring these theories of origin to play.

Folklore as humor is very common, and can be observed all over the world. It is a clear example of humanistic oral folklore that is passed on through word of mouth. In the case of this Joke, it is interesting to see how specific to El Salvador it is, since there are no other accounts of this joke anywhere else in Latin America. It is fascinating to see how this joke stayed within the confines of the Country, and how relevant it remains to this day.