Federico Stories

On November 3 rd , 1658, there was a massive eruption in the San Salvador Volcano. The residents of the surroundings didn't expect it. The volcano had been inactive for centuries. Even the local Amerindians were shocked by such a catastrophic event. They thought this would be the end of their lives. What nobody knew is that at the top of the volcano, a battle was happening. Saint Jerome and the devil were fighting. The devil wanted to erase every Christian, living in the surroundings and Saint Jerome wanted to protect them. Saint Jerome had been chosen as their protector. After several hours, Saint Jerome stopped the devil, but at a great cost. The large majority of the most Christian town was gone for good. The lava covered the entire town. Saint Jerome from heaven guided the residents of the destroyed town to a new location. They called it, Nejapa which in Nawatl means, "River of Ashes." In this place, they started a new life, and they called this eruption, 'El Play...

At the end of the last century, the corncob of corn (figure 1) was not burned in El Salvador. Salvadorans believed that the corncob of corn was the skeleton of corn and the elders said that the devil stored corn and sorghum so that our Lord’s children would die. Figure 1. The Corncob. Our Lord was disappointed by the devil’s actions and tried to think of a strategy on how to fight him, but he couldn’t find a good one. After a couple of days, he spoke with a yellow ant and a mouse. He asked them if they had any idea how to handle it. They told him this was easy, they would make a tunnel under the earth and in this way, the yellow ant took out the sorghum and the mouse the corn. After this event, sorghum became the favorite grain of yellow for ants and corn for the mice. In this way, the Salvadoran ancestors discovered corn and sorghum. Inspired by Salvador Hernández’s version collected by Ennis Arely Arevalo Girón, Lissette Amelia Gutierrez Paz, and Karen Liseth Manc...

It was a normal day on 7 June 1917. Everything seemed fine in the surroundings of the San Salvador volcano. A regular day with people walking or riding their horses to jobs. In those days, cars did not exist in El Salvador, and people needed to wake up really early if they wanted to reach any particular destination. However, at 6:55 PM a powerful earthquake took El Salvador by surprise. It was so powerful that it was felt in several cities including Armenia, Ateos, Sacacoyo, and San Julián all of them in the south of the volcano. People started to panic and run for their lives. Half an hour later, at 7:30 PM, a new earthquake in a new section shook El Salvador again. This one affected Apopa, Nejapa, Quezaltepeque, San Juan Opico, Santa Tecla, and San Salvador. No one knew what was happening, some people believed it was the end of time. The Second Coming of Jesus Christ or maybe a punishment from the Almighty! People all around these cities were trying to save their lives. The...

A long time ago, a statue of San Sebastián was brought from Morroñoso Hill in Morazán. It was a nice statue, and the citizens decided to make a tiny chapel for him. The next morning, the citizens visited the tiny chapel, but they were shocked because the statue was not there. The statue had moved by itself to another place where there were some rocks. No one understood how this had happened, but they brought back the statue to the tiny chapel. However, again, the next morning, the statue had moved back to the rocks. And the same phenomenon repeated for several weeks. No one had any idea what was happening or who was moving the statue. Some people believe a joker was playing with the statue. After several weeks, some priests agreed that this was a clear sign that Saint Sebastian wanted to stay in that rocky place. There was no joker behind. Therefore, they decided to build a new temple there. The people were glad, and the statue never moved again. Nowadays, the statue and the church ar...

Long ago, a siren from some faraway lands mysteriously reached the Olomega Lagoon. In those days, the lagoon was inhabited mainly by hard-working fishermen from the Lenca tribe. The siren started to swim in the lagoon until it reached the largest island called Olomegón. She decided that this would become her new kingdom (figure 1). A place that she would rule with her melodic voice. Figure 1. The Siren. Over the years, the inhabitants started to listen to a lovely voice singing inside the lake. One that captivated everyone and could be heard at night mainly. One night, a very brave fisherman decided to chase that song. He could not believe what he was listening to. He fell in love. He started to paddle his canoe, trying to find that melodic voice. Several minutes later, he discovered the voice was coming from Olomegón Island. He started to walk around it, and on its summit, he discovered who was singing. He saw the most alluring woman he had ever seen. Her beauty and voice were extrem...

Long ago, a red-headed coral snake (figure 1) appeared in a pond in the canton of El Cajón de Huizúcar in La Libertad. No Indian had ever seen a snake like this one in their lives. The snake was very skilled. It lived between rocks and a small waterfall not so far from the pond. Its eyes could paralyze anyone who saw it directly. It constantly chased anyone who dared to bathe in its pond, paralyzing it. Then, the snake left the person paralyzed among some rocks as if nothing had happened. Perhaps someone could save this human by luck, or other animals would enjoy it. No one should date to enter its domains. Figure 1. The coral snake. Nowadays, strong storms have transformed the snake’s pond into a creek. This created new abundant small caves in the surroundings where the snake hides, waiting for its next prey. Be careful if you ever visit its pond.

Many years ago, when La Nahuaterique (a small village in Honduras) was part of El Salvador, there used to live an old and peculiar sorcerer. This village was well known for its Lenca population. The sorcerer was grumpy and unfriendly; barely anyone had ever spoken with him over his long time living there. His face was a complete mystery because he always wore a mask in the shape of an owl (figure 1). He used to live in a tiny cave where barely any light entered. From time to time, the people could see a campfire, but no one was sure if it was real. Figure 1. The Sorcerer.   ¹ Some people believe he was a shapeshifter who transformed himself into other animals, mainly owls. Others had the impression he was one of the few sorcerers who were not fully cursed by the shaman centuries ago. One of those who could revert to his human form at his own will, but to retain his secret identity, he always wore that mask. While a few people believed he had an odd business of selling ointmen...

In the 1900s, in the San Pablo canton in Cuscatlan, many women made amazing hand-made comals (kinds of large pans made from clay). They were the best in entire El Salvador, and everyone wanted to know their secrets. These women used to sell their comals in some unique baskets every Sunday at noon around the municipality. Many people, especially the pupusa makers (las pupuseras in Spanish) , jumped to them when they heard those women saying: "Comals! Comals! 2 for 0.15 cents! Comals of all sizes! Do you want a comal?" Everyone ran and approached them because they wanted one.  Over the years, in the 1920s, a man decided that he deserved to know these women’s secrets. He went to spy on them. He found that the women were making the comals in an odd cave next to a forest (figure 1) every Saturday. He had never seen that cave in his life. He descended around 120 stairs until he reached the secret place where the women made their mystical comals. Figure 1. Dwarf’s Cave....

Long ago, a young man called Serapio used to live next to a borehole in Santa Elena, Honduras. He was the richest man there and possessed uncountable goods that graved everyone’s attention. Everyone said that one day he appeared with a table, the next one with a bed, later with a new mattress, and many more things every day. Who knew what the next thing on his list would be! Serapio was a very peculiar person. Every night he came to the town with his black mule (figure 1), and they did some unusual business with chosen people. Only a few people were aware of what these businesses were, but as soon as they concluded, they vanished, and, suddenly, they were in El Salvador. No one could understand how it was possible to move from Honduras to El Salvador in less than 5 minutes! Figure 1. The young and the black mule.   ¹ Over the years, everyone was more and more concerned; his wealth and goods were unmeasurable! Hence, a couple of them investigated his trick and they d...

Many years ago, in Culuco, Nahualism was widespread. This was an ancient art that allowed people to shapeshift into animals. Its local sorcerers were experts on it. However, one day, they committed a serious offense against the Catholic Church. One that really enraged it. In those days, the inhabitants of Culuco were terrified by almost every animal. No one was sure if an animal was an animal, or it was one of the sorcerers! Some assured, they could transform into any animal you could imagine, dogs, cats, cows, etc. Their powers were unmeasurable. At any moment, any animal could revert back to its human form and frighten them to death. Many people often fainted and lost their belongings after these experiences. However, one Thursday during the winter solstice of 1855, an important priest decided to go there and organize a special mass. He organized it in a beautiful church inside the cave (figure 1). He started his mass, but strangely no parishioners arrived. He was shocked bec...

The Ilopango elders always speak of a supernatural beast called the Mulus. They are afraid of it and its powers, and they refer to the General Cemetery as the Valley of the Crosses. Many of them assured they were near to being devoured by the Mulus when they walked close to the cemetery at night. The Mulus is a creature from the world of wrath, with a shape almost identical to a wolf but of a larger size. It is a very frightening and contemptuous beast that you can only see in cemeteries at night. Every midnight appears when a person is buried and checks their tombs to see if they were murdered or wicked people during their time on Earth. When it finds those tombs, digs them, and devours their corpses (figure 1). Also, while it’s eating, it makes the noise that is known as “MULUS!” Figure 1. The Mulus. Some gravediggers said a few people saw the Mulus, for the first time in a cemetery in Rosario, La Paz in the 1900s. For them, the Mulus represents a neutral being that is i...

Some elders from Dolores say that many moons ago, some people found a Virgin of Dolores’s statue (figure 1) in the Plains of San Cristóbal next to the banks of the Sisicua River. Where they found it, the people called this town, Puebla Nueva of Titihuapa or La Puebla Nueva. They considered this statue, a miracle, and a message from God. That’s why they built a small temple to honor her presence. Figure 1. The Virgin of Dolores.  ¹ Years later, the priest of the town those days requested the inhabitants to move the statue from La Puebla because he said that the Virgin didn’t like where she was.  This suggestion motivated the town to move the statue from the banks of the river to the place it occupies from 1781 to today,  Our Lady of Sorrows Parish . However, there is a second version and the most accepted one, especially by the Catholic Church. Some people accidentally found a statue of the Virgin of Dolores. They discovered it not so far from the current lo...

Many moons ago, there was a Pipil Princess called Agüijuyo. She was very beautiful and fell in love with a Pipil Prince entitled Zunca. Both princes were young with a splendid future ahead, and the area where they lived was the kingdom of the Pipil people. Agüijuyo hoped that Zunca would correspond to her love, but some wicked people gossiped unspeakable things of her to the prince to the extent he rejected her. The princess, seeing herself despised by the young prince, made a promise to lock herself up in a cave and never see the light again. In this way, she would fulfill her promise and be untempted to speak to anyone or see the light one more time. And so, she did till the day of her death. Zunca eventually recognized his mistake. He merely listened to the uncountable lies of wicked and ill-intentioned people. However, Agüijuyo fulfilled her promise and did not receive the young prince when he looked for her. Agüijuyo was devastated and closed herself in tears. Zunca, with ...

Her legend started during the time of the civil war of El Salvador in the 1980s. Many guerrilla fighters passed through the banks of the Toad River at night, specifically, in the area where the passage of the river splits La Guacamaya and El Zapotal in Morazán. In this area, they inevitably encountered a mysterious woman (figure 1). Figure 1. The mysterious woman of the Toad River.  ¹ Many people claimed to have perceived this woman. They described her as medium height with enormous breasts, broad hips, long hair, an odd look whose laughs turned out to be deafeningly loud; therefore, they heard her from afar. However, everyone agreed her appearances were quick, lasting only a few minutes or seconds, they could barely perceive her. Those who saw her also said she dressed only in underwear and bathed in the pools of the river at night. Plus, she had the habit of running to hide in the undergrowth. As the days passed, the few fighters who ventured to spend the nigh...

Long ago, one of the most powerful Arbolarios (a genie from the storms) stole a lagoon from the north of Central America. No one was sure from where, how, and when he had stolen it. The locals merely noted an odd being flying with an eggshell over them. Several minutes passed, and when the Arbolario was flying around the Tecapa Volcano, he lost his balance, and the eggshell fell down aside. Hence the lagoon that was born nearby is tilted as the Alegria Lagoon. Many years later, the same Arbolario tried to steal Lake Güija. But this time, it was impossible because he was not strong enough and wholly gave up. Nowadays, everyone assures you; that you can only see the Arbolarios when the storms roar and emit sparks. At that moment, you will perceive a pair of baroque eyes. These eyes are from evil genies (figure 1) best known as the Arbolarios. Most probably, they are planning their next big crime. Only one thing is certain; they're going to destroy something in their way. Furthe...

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 ...

Many moons ago, the Cipitio ultimately encountered a girl who wasn’t frightened of him. Her name is Tenancín. This little girl became his girlfriend because she perceived something in the Cipitio that no one had ever seen. She discovered he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just mischievous and liked to crack jokes.  Plus, giving flowers to all the pretty girls in El Salvador, just to make them smile. People in the villages from San Vicente describe Tenancin as a very small and pretty girl with brown eyes and long hair, who is constantly smiling (figure 1). Figure 1. Tenancín.  ¹ One day, Tenáncin was cutting flowers for her grandmother’s birthday. She explored the forest, La Joya. However, she forgot how to come back and started to scream and run lousily, through the forest, when she reached the corolla where the Cipitio was sleeping. She noted it and was confused in the beginning because she always thought the Cipitio was only a legend. Legends used to discourage the gi...

Long ago, when the Spaniards arrived in El Salvador, they went to a place called “Ucelucla,” which in indigenous language means “The Place of Tigers.” The inhabitants say the Spaniards founded a town there and built a church so that the villagers could congregate. The people who lived here were incredibly happy and positive; however, the gossip says that one day during a mass, the church suddenly sank completely into the earth. Many people inquired why this had happened. Some believe the cause of the disaster was the church was very close to the sea. Due to this, the land of this place was very loose, and as the church weighed heavily, the land had ceded to, and the structure was sinking. After they lost their church, the people decided to move since many attacks started by pirates from Meanguera Island who ruined everything in their path and stole all their treasures. Somehow the loss of their church created much fear in their lives. They believe the church gave them some protecti...

The history of the coyote woman (figure 1) is a bit confusing. Some people say she was a maid who became a coyote woman at night. Others believe she was a single mother who at night became the coyote woman to get food for her children. She was experiencing a terribly serious crisis and didn’t possess any money. Figure 1. The coyote woman.   ¹ What everyone admits is this woman was engaged in witchcraft, and all her victims emptied their souls in a magical huacal. Mr. Juan, a man from El Carrizal, says that one night when he was walking in the forest, he found a huacal with a thick liquid. He didn’t perceive it in the beginning and took it home. A couple of nights later, during a blood moon, the viscous liquid transformed into the coyote woman! And from that day, there was a new woman in his town that looked extremely beautiful, but at night she became the coyote woman and performed witchcraft frequently. That woman needed to return every early morning to drink from th...

The Cukinca cave (figure 1) is where place many paranormal events have happened over the last 200 years in El Salvador. The gossip said by dropping three water drops in a row, in a specific pool, they can hear a sound like “Cu-kin-ka.” And this is where the story begins! Figure 1. The Cukinca Cave One Indian man decided to test this cave and dropped the three water drops using a banana leaf. Suddenly, he noticed a pile of well-ordered stones at the bottom of the pool. He tried to disarm them for a while. He did all that he could and left the pool. However, when he turned around, the stones were piled up again, as if nothing had happened. And this phenomenon has been repeated over the years multiple times. Years later, a man decided to drill and dry the pool for unknown reasons. After he had dug a narrow ditch, he left the pool. After he had dug a narrow ditch and left the pool, he died the same night due to severe fever, and the pool was restored to its original state. Ov...