LATIN AMÉRICA: Two Folk Spanish Legends; A Christian legend and a Pagan tale to nourish and shape the perception of the Night of Saint John the Baptist.

If you have already read the previous post (If Not Click Here) about how important and great the eve of Saint John the Baptist is in South America and the Caribbean, these two legends are a folkloric complement that is normally told in schools and completely contrast with each other, one being of pagan character, and another of Christian origin.

The first legend THE ENCHANTED LADY represents the prevalence of European pagan myths later brought to Latin America, a simple story of a fairy with multiple versions.

The second legend LOS CABALLOS DEL DIABLO looks more like a story narrated in modern times to force the peasants to visit the church on the eve of San Juan to avoid being tempted or injured by the horses, which adds up to seven as well as the seven capitals sins. 

I.

La Leyenda castellana de la Encantada / The legend of the Enchanted Lady.

A common legend that we are taught in school around the eve of the night of San Juan is the legend of the enchanted one. An old Castilian story that (as well as the ladies in white in Latin America) encompasses a set of different characters and oral traditions and mythological legends narrated in schools both in Spain and in much of Latin America.

Like all legends, it is common that there are multiple variants of it that differ from each region, even so, the legend of the enchanted encompasses a series of medium-mystical elements that never change: there is a maiden with long hair combing her hair, it occurs in the middle of the night of San Juan, and there a mirror.

There are at least 20 different variants of this same story scattered for free all over the internet, it resembles multiple Spanish legends, and the only thing that all these stories have in common is that a beautiful maiden (sometimes with long dark hair and others sometimes redhead), comes out of a cave to comb her long hair on the eve of San Juan (in some versions during the day and in other versions at night).

Although the night of San Juan is a festivity of Christian origin with enormous popularity in Latin America and in which elements of Spanish Catholicism and indigenous cultures of Central and South America are mixed; This legend of Spanish origin continues to have strong pagan roots, related to the influence of the Greek nymphs, or the Mouras of Galicia, as well as other female spirits of the forests or fairies that come out to capture men, the latter is reflected in the fact that in most versions, the nymph/fairy/apparition/maiden is seen by a shepherd, farmer, fisherman, hunter, or priest, but is always a male character.

Although in some of the legends the lady holds a mirror, which represents the moon, femininity, beauty, or a portal to other worlds, in all the legends a cave is mentioned, which represents the entrance to hell or to heaven. world of fairies, and reminds us of the resurrection of the prophet, Orpheus' journey to the underworld in search of his beloved, and the ancient rites of passage or initiation rituals.

Another element that is always repeated in this story is the event that occurs on the eve of Saint John the Baptist, this event adds a veil of magic and mysticism to the festivity, bringing with it the presence of fairies and spirits of the forest to said event. Eve is already heavily charged with legends and charms.

II.

Los Caballucos del Diablu / The Devil's Horses.

The Caballucos del Diablu are mythological beings from the Cantabria region that manifest themselves on the eve of the night of Saint John the Baptist, they appear flying between flames, smoke, and sulfur emanations and thundering in the silence of the night with infernal bellows product of the fury released after a whole year of continence.

Legend has it that there are seven of them and they look like giant dragonflies, as they have long and transparent wings, and they fly through the Cantabrian night skies. Its colors are red, white, blue, black, yellow, green, and orange. They always fly together and the first of them is the red horse, the largest and most robust, his name is Percherón, the chief who leads and directs the others in their search. Those who have seen the horses say that the devil himself rides one and that the rest are ridden by different demons each year.

They are disastrous for the mountaineers since they dedicate themselves to trampling or burning the crops. The horses move along the paths leaving traces of their hooves and the edges and ballasts that their hooves reach are marked as if it were freshly tilled land. Its snort is as strong and cold as the winter wind that makes the leaves fall from the trees. His eyes glow like glowing embers.

According to the myth, these horses from hell were sinful men who lost their souls and were forced to wander around Cantabria for the rest of eternity. The red horse was a man who lent money to peasants and then through dirty tricks seized their properties; the target was a miller who stole many maquilas from his lord's mill; the black was a hermit who deceived people; the yellow was a corrupt judge; blue a bartender; the green a landowner who dishonored many young women and the orange a son who mistreated his parents out of hatred.

It is a tradition in Cantabria, on the morning of San Juan, to go to the mountains to look for the water flowers that are born in the fountains and the four-leaf clovers that sprout that same night. But it is very difficult since during the night the devil's horses have dedicated themselves, because their mission and evil force them, to destroy the water flowers and clovers that they have found to prevent the young men and women from finding them. If even with everything someone lucky finds the water flower, he will find love and happiness with it, while whoever finds one of these rare clovers on such an occasion will be lucky with the four graces of life, one for each leaf:

1. Live a hundred years.
2. Do not suffer pain for the rest of your life.
3. Don't go hungry.
4. Endure with a serene spirit all unease.

The bonfires of San Juan in Cantabria perpetuate the propitiatory and purifying tradition. But the flight of the horses to the glow of the bonfires is a sign of great misfortunes. Not even the blessed Anjanas have power against their gallop and the only way to be safe is to make seven crosses in the air before they approach, but being so fast and in the expectation that it will not work people resort to another Useful procedure, carrying a branch of verbena or St. John's wort, the sacred herb that scares away all evil and that must have been taken at dawn on the night of San Juan the previous year.

When the horses are looking to return home from their laborious search during this eve's season, they have to hide among the trees so as not to be seen by the young men and women who run through the meadows jumping and singing:

"A quín coja la yerbuca

la mañana de San Juan,

no li dañarán culebras

ni caballucos del mal."

Translation

“Whoever gathers the sacred herb

the morning of Saint John,

snakes won't hurt you

nor horses of evil."

About Elhoim Leafar.

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