Walking With El Salvador

Día de los Santos - All Saints Day is a Christian holiday, celebrated in a variety of ways depending on theological, geographical and cultural tradition.  In our Lutheran Church community in El Salvador, this is the day on which legends are brought to life. Perhaps not your typical All Saints Day Lutheran Church photo.  This is an image of The Screaming Bride - one of the legends illustrated by live actors in the Festival of the Calabiuza  (photo used with permission from a friend) Here's a bit of old school history:  The description of a feast day in commemoration of multiple saints or martyrs can be found in writings from the early times of the church (prior to 400 C.E.).  In the late 700's C.E., Pope Gregory III is said to have dedicated a chapel in honor of all saints and martyrs on the date of November 1st, and by the 800's C.E. the Festival of All Saints is widely recognized and celebrated on this date. In medieval England, the Feast of All Saints (also kn...

Tales of mysterious encounters with a headless priest in the dark of night are not uncommonly told among the Salvadoran people.  After the time of the Spanish invasion, when conquerors wielding swords or carrying Bibles established their power, there emerged a legend of an imaginary priest who wanders in the streets and pathways as a lost soul. He appears to those who are out walking in the evening. He is searching for his head.  He, or perhaps his head, lets out screams into the night. Those who see him feel cold and are sometimes paralyzed with fear and cannot speak for days. The story of the Priest with no Head is well-known and frequently told in Tonacatepeque.  Some say the ghost of El Padre sin Cabeza (the headless priest) is real. Some say the story was invented by the church in order to scare indigenous people into becoming Christians. Some who study traditional, Salvadoran tales say this legend was created by enemies of the church.   A painting of ...

Many of the post-colonial legends from Tonacatepeque were created in order to teach lessons such as: don't go out at night alone, don't be unfaithful to your beloved, you can't hide misbehaviors from the church (or God), bad choices have consequences, etc. Some of the stories, like this one, share a little bit about history, a little bit about nature, and a little bit of humor. This is just one of several "buried treasure" tales which one might be told. Photograph taken at a temporary exhibit in the gallery at Parque Cuscatlán The Legend of the Grandmother's Jug In the olden days, it was customary to use a botija as a safe place in which to keep documents or treasures.  The botija  is like a traditional water jug (maybe shaped like an urn), but we could think of it as a pot, a jar, or any kind of container in which one could keep something. It was the custom of the generations which came before us, to keep any extra money not immediately needed in something l...

We walked toward the edge of town. "What's the story about that old church?" I asked. The building looked nearly abandoned. "That is the Iglesia Catolica El Calvario.  They are working on the church, I think, but they still meet. This neighborhood is called El Calvario. When we walk to the edge of town, we say we are going to El Calvario . It's an expression we use because we say at the edge of every town, it is called El Calvario.  'We will meet you at Calvary' means we will meet you at the edge of town." There is a story from this neighborhood of Tonacatepeque, El Calvario. Like many of the legends from Tonaca, this one is meant to cause the listeners to think about their behavior. Thanks to Sonia and the women's group in Tonaca as well as author José María Melgar Callejas for this story. The Legend of the Flirty Parro t    In the outer corridor of a house in El Calvario, there was a bird cage, and inside the cage, there was a guest - a parrot ...

On an ordinary evening in Tonaca, in an ordinary and dimly lit room, the rhythmic words of an ordinary  story-teller may be heard - ordinary words weaving themselves together in an extraordinary tale. Tonacatepeque is known for its tales.  In multi-generation households, the elders still spin their stories into the imaginations of their grandchildren.  Although many families may not be sitting around lit candles and sharing spooky stories well into the evening, the town's cultural center works with the local schools, community radio station and the mayor's office to keep Tonaca's traditions alive. October begins with the Day of the Child, and in Tonaca, ends with the festival of la Calaviusa*. It seems the perfect month for sharing a few mysterious tales.  Stories passed on through oral tradition often have many versions, because each story teller incorporates not only what they have heard over the years, but also what they themselves have experienced.   Af...

"Are you tired?  I'm sure you are; there are so many people!  It is full, very full because of the date today,"  the cab driver said, smiling over his shoulder as we wove our way through the crowd.  I had not thought about crowds at the airport.  It was true, big family groups were lined up to welcome their people home.  We had been the only extranjeros in the migration line. In El Salvador, November 2nd is El Día de los Difuntos Fieles , known in the US as All Souls Day or the Day of the Faithful Departed.  In El Salvador, All Souls Day is an official holiday.  Traditionally, families gather to remember their dear departed ones, often gathering in the cemeteries or places where the loved ones are remembered. In the Salvadoran village of Tonacatepeque, elaborate customs surrounding All Souls Day are preserved by the Cultural House and town leaders, and are passed on from one generation to another.   The tradit...

This story is told in the region of Tonacatepeque, El Salvador.  It comes from the time before the land which is now El Salvador was colonized by Europeans and is drawn from a combination of cultures and sources. The first American people had been created and formed some time ago.  They wandered in the forests of their chieftains, gathering their foods from the plains among the hills. They fed themselves with roots, fruits, stalks and tender buds, which were pleasing to the palate.  However, this alone was not enough to feed everyone, so Ometecuhtli (God of Life) thought he should create something that could sustain the people.  He ordered Tonacatecuhtli (God of Sustenance, at the center of all things) to give the people the means to find a new food. So, Tonacatecuhtli materialized and took the form of a priest.  He began to preach to the people the about the creation of a new type of food that would sustain them.  The people gathered very close to th...

On the twelfth day of Christmas, all across the globe, Christians celebrate the first day of Epiphany.  Epiphany means revelation.  The story of God revealing little Jesus as the King of Kings to the world outside of land of Bethlehem is recorded in the Bible, in the Book of Matthew.  We are told that magi from the east interpreted the appearance of a new star in the sky as a sign of the birth of a king.  Following the star, the magi eventually end up at a house, where Mary is with the little child Jesus.  The foreign visitors bow down to worship the child and present gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Theologians reflect on the meaning of this revelation -Jesus who was born in humble circumstances is identified as the King of the Jews, sent not only for the salvation of the chosen people of Israel, but for all the world beyond. In a mix of theological symbolism and legend, "magi" became three "wise men" named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, who...

Claim your saintly identity with each step on your path. The Grandfather whispered these words in my ear during the passing of the peace. The Grandfather was reiterating the message of the Bishop's sermon - what we believe is what the Apostle Paul writes in his letters: sainthood comes in baptism. We belong to God's kingdom now, and we live full, fruitful lives when we live in God's way right now. Some day we will be laid out dead in a church and people will remember us, but we don't wait until that moment to claim our sainthood. Today we celebrated All Saints Day in the Salvadoran Lutheran Church. Today we remembered our loved ones, the saints who have gone beyond this short life into the long life of eternity. Today we honored the saints who lived inspirational lives of faith and who, like the Lutheran pastors Francisco and Jesusita, lost their lives because of their Godly work. Día de los Muertos celebration with Aztec dancers (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) D...