Text:

The informant’s tia, aunt, is very Christian, very devoted, and one day, went to live in Queretaro, Mexico to teach at a Christian school. The community was extremely Christian as well but outside of the gated community was the regular town. Whenever people from the Christian community would be driving from the town back to the gated community, large rocks would be in their path on the road at night. Thus, whenever they would get out to move the rocks, they would hear laughter like the stereotypical witch laugh but obviously, no one was around. Then they would see fireballs in the sky, kind of like shooting stars, but bright red and yellow balls just floating around in the skies. There would be graffiti on the walls of the gated community which display a message such as “Leave” and anti-Christian messages. Evil would happen to these people and when his aunt experienced seeing the fireballs, she did not want to give it much thought and relied on her faith.

Context:
The informant thought it was bizarre as rocks in the road are dangerous because someone could be waiting to hurt you. It was something to really worry about but the fireballs were not really something he fully believed in. It is a frightening thought to believe that witches do exist and that they can do evil to people. However, the informant clarified that there was never any physical incarnation of the witch and thus they could not fully believe the legend as reality.

Interpretation:
The connection between fireballs and witches seems quite strange to me. I am not sure where the link comes from but it seems that many believe they are witches. This might relate to the overall notion among many groups that witches are capable of shapeshifting into animals. In many movies and cartoons that contain witch characters, they are able to transform into rodents, cats, and reptiles and I have additionally heard of witches transforming into owls in Mexico. This story also seems to relate to religion as the target of witches according to the informant’s aunt was a Christian community and her faith was what protected her from the evil that witches could do. However, the messages left as graffiti most likely do not come from the witches and perhaps more likely from the town. This could be a potential culprit for some things that occur in the gated community.