The Managuas

The Maya and the Kekchi called this genie “Mam,” and the Pipil tribe named it “Man-Agua” (Man-water).

During a stormy night in the 500s, a powerful thunder struck the Earth. The Pipil leader left his home to see what was happening. He was already worried because this had been one of the most powerful and long storms in his life. The tribe was losing their cornfields (their main source of food) because of the unstoppable storms. It had been months since the last time any had seen the sun.

When he left his house and walked around, he was afraid because he had seen for the first time a white woman (figure 1). The woman was as magnificent as no other, and it seemed that the storm had lowered her to the Earth. Suddenly, she rose again to the clouds, where she had come from, and was unseen for a while.

Figure 1. A Managua in the eye of a storm. ¹

Over the following weeks, many Indians described the same white woman or women appearing across their area. The woman always showed up in the eye of the storms, when a lightning bolt had struck the Earth. They were sure she transported herself in the air. Specifically, in the clouds, when the storms fell, they started to believe she had come only to destroy their cornfields.

The Managuas became a symbol of great fear across all their people. The rumors of these magnificent, powerful, and terrifying white women expanded by the power of word of mouth all across Central America. Everyone had a massive fear and respect for them.

Many of them believed they came only to multiply the damage in their areas because of the powers to control the storms and hurricanes. Some of them tried to change their descriptions to old dwarfs with big heads and massive faces, but this story didn’t prevail.

Only in one region of El Salvador, slightly different stories have continued until today. In Guazapa, the elders said that the Managuas were actually wicked and roguish angels, who were under the orders of the owners or goblins of the lagoons. Although some of them disagreed because they were the lagoons’ owners because of their supernatural powers. The only common part of their stories is that you could see them only during the eye of the storms destroying their cornfields.

These days, some people believe that this legend inspired the origin of Nicaragua’s capital name, Managua. But who knows, maybe there is something else that we haven’t discovered yet!

Inspired by Leyendas de El Salvador’s version.

Credits:
¹ Susanlu4esm.
Location: El Salvador

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