The Good and The Bad Cadejo

Most of you might have heard about some twins who transformed into the Cadejos because of their bad behavior and uncountable mischief. However, these Cadejos are mostly seen in the rural areas while the good and the bad ones are from the urban side, and their story comes from the pre-colonial era. Do you want to hear it? Are you sure? Because it’s a scary story, are you sure? So, let’s dive deep into it.

It was the year 400 BCE when the first inhabitants of Quelepa, a settlement of the Lenca people, were moving to a new land, a place that was beautiful and relatively close to a volcano. Plus, it was next to an impressive river full of fresh water. In this settlement, a couple had a difficult birth of fraternal twins, the first ones in centuries. The town rejoiced because a new pair of twins had come, and there were massive celebrations, even the Shaman and their King came and blessed them.

Some years passed, and these twins grew up. One had beautiful red hair, and yellow eyes, and his skin was lighter while his brother had darker skin, black eyes, and curly dark brown hair.

The first brother was called, “the Blonde” because of his lighter skin and calm voice. On the other hand, his brother was the well-known “the Black” and he was extremely proud of being the Black one. He was arrogant, fort, highly intelligent, fast, and extremely skillful in everything that he wanted to achieve. The Blonde was calmer and submissive. He tended to follow his big Bro in all his misadventures.

The town respected these twins because of their knowledge and skills.  Most people praised them, and their family was really proud of them. No one suspected that one of them was the wicked Cadejo that was scaring the farmers every night.

The Black loved to frighten his neighbors because they were very religious. They constantly prayed to their gods because they were afraid of El Niño or La Niña, two climatic phenomena, which had murdered thousands of people in the past. These phenomena were the main reason why they relocated to Quelepa.

Every night he wore a costume made from eucalyptus leaves, which were painted with ashes and looked like a massive black pooch. Later, he hid in the scrubland of the mountains near the town.

In those days, people tended to go at night to collect sugarcane, cocoa, and other herbs because the weather was cooler, and the Black had discovered that. Like a mischievous boy, the Black waited for each compatriot who passed by, and at that moment, he jumped. He pretended to be a spirit from beyond who came back to the Earth and took him to the underworld.

Meanwhile, the Black was doing his show. His brother was whistling from a not-so-far place, creating a greater fear in all people around him.  His big Bro had dominated his soul and was afraid of failing him. Even though he was against his Bro’s wishes, he kept whistling every night, helping him frighten more compatriots.

The Black laughed and said every night “Haha haha haha, what a bunch of ignorant people. If they knew I am the Cadejo, they would know that there is nothing like spirits.” He felt powerful and realized because of his knowledge and skills; he was the Black, the only and real Cadejo.

The town started to believe that some spirits were coming from the San Miguel Volcano. Everyone was afraid to go there at night and investigate what was happening. However, you know something, you shouldn’t play with these things, should you? Because the spirits are spirits, and you must leave them in peace.

Years passed, and his hometown and the nearest ones were really afraid of the Volcano’s Black spirit. All the people were frightened of going out after 6:00 PM because the spirit was going to catch them. This reason pushed the Black to search for new regions close by.

One night when the Black and the Blonde were in a new location to frighten new inhabitants, the Black heard that someone was coming and told his Bro: “Blonde. When I do this, you should start whist …” And at that moment, someone was next to them and said: “Good evening, guys.”

“Good evening,” they replied. They were perplexed because none of them noticed how he knew they were there. Or how did he arrive so fast?

“Could you tell us why you are so late? I think I’ve never seen you before in our place.” asked the Black.

“I’m coming from a faraway place. Maybe I’ve been walking for a couple of days, and I think I’m lost. However, I’d like to collect some herbs for special work that I need to do when I come back.” He replied. “How about you?” He asked them.

“We were collecting some eucalyptus leaves for a potion for our sick grandma,” lied the Blonde, who was shaking and very nervous.

“It seems that you have collected a lot, haven’t you? Because I can appreciate that your brother has a package of them,” the old man replied.

“Kind of. We would like to get more.” Said the Black.

At that moment, a thunder struck a tree near them and split it in two. The Blonde said: “Black! Let’s go back home. It seems it’s going to rain.”

“Don’t be si …” before the Black finished his sentence, a strong thunderstorm had started.

The old man said: “Guys, I saw a cave not so far from here. Let’s go and stay there for the night.”

They ran towards the cave, and they didn’t think at all if that idea was good or not. They just wanted to get rid of the rain.

As soon as they arrived, the old man said: “guys, we need to collect some firewood for a campfire,” I have some food in my bag. Can you collect some?

The twins went out, and the Blonde said: “Black, did you notice something strange with this man?”

“What?” Said the Black in an unpleasant tone because it was wet, and he hated to collect firewood at night.

“I don’t remember he had a bag with him when we met him for the first time.” Said the Blonde.

“Come on! You should have lost your mind, of course, he had it.” Answered the Black in a bad tone because he didn’t care if he had it or not.

The twins couldn’t collect enough firewood. However, when they came back to the cave, there was a huge campfire.

“How did you do it so fast? Where did you get the firewood?” asked the Black.

“Well, you know in front of the cave there was enough firewood,” said the old man.

The Blonde started to shake. He didn’t remember any firewood, wood, or sticks in front of the cave. He whispered to his brother: “Big Bro, I don’t recall I had seen any firewood in front of the cave, do you?”

“Did you lose your mind? We were just clueless,” said the Black in an angry tone.

The Blonde was sure that something was not right in this place and especially with this man. The old man invited them to eat cuajada and corn coffee that he had brought from where he was from.

While they were eating, the Blonde couldn’t get rid of the idea that he hadn’t seen any firewood or that bag. He glared at the old man and later the fire and later the man until the old man asked: “Am I handsome? Or what do you want? Because I’m feeling really annoyed that you don’t stop glaring at me.”

The Blonde was more frightened than before. He thought the old man was only looking at the campfire, but somehow, he noticed he was seeing him.

“Has the cat got your tongue?” Said the old man.

After several tries, Blonde said: “I have a question, what were you doing there when we find you?”

“I already told you I came here from a faraway place to collect some herbs to do a job.” Said the old man.

“A job? What kind of work? Here you won’t be able to get any special herbs. We have only common herbs like chichipince or cat’s claw, and they are everywhere.” Answered the Black, who was carefully hearing their conversation.

“You are very curious guys, let me be honest with you. I work with what people feel but cannot see often. You can say, I’m a Shaman from the northern part of this land.” Said the old man.

The Blonde started to breathe quite fast and abnormally because he remembered that he hadn't seen the bag before and it’s even worse the firewood.

“Black, we must go back, we must go back” He started to say to his brother, his brother just pushed him and asked the Shaman: “So, are you a real Shaman? You can do magic tricks, cannot you?”

“Well, yeah, I am a Shaman, but you know there are some things we are better off not knowing.” The Shaman answered and continued glaring at the campfire.

“What? What is so secret that we cannot know? Spill the beans. You brought us here at least we should know,” said the Black in a dominant position.

The Blonde tried to persuade his Bro that they should leave this place and move from there. This didn’t look right at all, but the Black’s pride was hurt when the Shaman disagreed with sharing anything. For hours, they discussed and argued, maybe it was midnight or later when they went to sleep.

The next day, the Black man woke up with as much energy and new ideas as he had ever felt before. Finally, he would be able to scare the entire town, not only the town but the entire region! The old man revealed to them how they could really transform into some beasts at night with the help of a special potion made from certain herbs and a bit of magic that they never heard of before.

The Black hadn’t noticed that the Shaman left them alone until his brother woke up and asked: “Where is the Shaman?” the Black answered: “He must have left during the sunrise, but who cares Blonde. Now, I am going to be invincible! Haha haha!”

They walked back home, and when they arrived, their parents were agitated because they had disappeared for days or weeks, no one knew exactly. Her mom asked them: “Where have you been?”

The Black told them partially the truth because he didn’t want anyone to know of his new powers, and his brother had a weak soul that he only bowed his head down.

For days, the Black planned his new show, but this time, he had to hide in the bushes again. Now, he would do it at a special event in the City Center, and he would scare everyone as he had never done it before.

Everyone in their town was surprised that the Cadejo had stopped appearing for weeks. No one knew what happened to it, but the town was glad as they hadn’t been since the twins were born. Finally, it vanished or moved to another place!

When the day, came the Black transformed into a massive pooch and was able to whistle like his brother used to do for him without his help. In the midst of the celebration, he showed up and started to scare everyone. People were freighted and running around because a huge beast was there. The Cadejo was back, but this time he looked more powerful than ever. He had new hooves in each leg, and his eyes were like red embers.

For hours, and hours people were afraid until the Blonde took courage, drank the rest of his brother's potion and transformed into a similar Cadejo. However, he was white and had blue eyes. He went to the City Center and confronted his brother for the final showdown.

The Black didn’t know who the newcomer was. There was another Cadejo similar to him but in a different color. They looked at each other for a moment and began to fight and whistle for hours. Somehow the Blonde was able to speak with a louder whistle that only his twin understood and said: “Black, what is happening with you? Let’s finish this once and for all.”

“Are you nuts? Now, I have everything that I always wanted.” Answered the Black. Hence their fight continued. After many hours, both of them were too tired and tried to come back to their house. No one was out. It was early in the morning, maybe 3 or 5 in the morning, when they arrived. However, they were unable to enter his home. Something was getting them out of there.

Therefore, they knocked on the door, and her mom started to yell: “Devils! Devils! What are these beasts? We need hot peppers to protect our house! Olin, make a campfire!”

The Black and The Blonde thought the potion should have expired because they didn’t look at each other as pooches anymore.

Her mom continued yelling: “They look like pooches, but they aren’t. Their paws are hooves! And they become big and small, in the blink of an eye! Also, their eyes are embers, and they cannot bark because they whistle as if they were far away (figure 1), but we have them in front of the house. Call, the Shaman!”

Figure 1. The Cadejos at night. ¹

The entire city came to the twins' house because they wanted to know what was going on. All the people were surprised when they saw the beasts in front of the house, but they did not move, just looking and whistling.

Both of them were frightened because they didn’t understand. For a brief moment, the Blacked looked at someone on the other side of their house. It was Shaman they met a few nights ago.

“Hey, guys, what is going on?” he asked.

“Well, you know the potion should have expired. We followed your advice, but it seems that our parents cannot see or hear us.” Said the Black.

“Really?” Said the Shaman.

“Wait a moment! This was not a potion for transforming us, for a brief moment as you said! You tricked us!” Said the Black.

“Did your parents never tell you, curiosity killed the cat? I told you many times why I was here, but you forced me to tell you, my secrets. Now you have your wish, and you will be able to frighten as many people as you want forever! You look like what your parents said, a pair of pooches, which are not, but they have embers in their eyes …,” Said the Shaman.

“Please help us. Take this from us!” Said the Blonde, begging the Shaman.

“Even if I wanted my dear friend, I cannot. This was a choice that you took, and you were feeble to face your brother before this happened. Plus, as I told both of you many times, there are some things we are better off not knowing, and you will never forget that you should not play with spirits.” Said the Shaman.

“This is all your fault, Black!” Yelled the Blonde. The Black just ignored him and complained: “You didn’t stop me when you could!” And they started to argue.

“Stop,” said the Shaman, and continued “From now, every night, you are going to take care of all unfaithful men or women,” he commanded to the Black. Next, he turned to the Blonde and told him: “and you, you are going to prevent your brother's abuses, protecting all good people.”

“In addition, if any of you thought you would escape, this is not going to happen. An unknown force is going to force you to frighten or protect and accompany them for a while.” The Shaman said.

After these last words, the Shaman vanished in front of them, but while that he laughed one more time. They never saw him again because he was the only one who knew they had become these animals. What would they do? They stayed like that and their parents, and their hometown who praised them never saw them again.

Nowadays, these two Cadejos are seen every night in the urban areas of El Salvador. Take care of your actions, because if you go alone, you could be the next one chased!

Credits:

¹ El Salvador Trips