The folklore of Puerto Rico is distinctly syncretic, as it has been fed by the archipelago's constant influx of new social groups during thousands of years. It has been historically influenced by the groups that inhabited it during the Pre-Columbian era, the demographic and religious impact of the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the introduction of African slaves for the plantation economy, the daily life in a trade route including piracy or smugglers and, ultimately, the incorporation into the United States frameworkOrganic Act of 1900 (Foraker Act) and Jones Act of 1917, establishing the legal framework and integration into the United States., that followed the Spanish-American War. In the last century, a multitude of homegrown aspects have begun differentiating local folklore further away from its historical influences, fueling a new subset of myths and legends that act as a defiance of its political reality and the reflection of modern concerns. History Early cultural syncretism (1500-1599)
The European colonization began in full force after Juan Ponce de León arrived in 1508 and went into full effect when the native Taíno population rebelled against the foreign presence in the archipelago. Despite their relatively short interaction, the Taínos had a notable influence on Spanish culture, incorporating more words into the Castilian language than any other external influence. Daily customs were adopted by the colonizing settlers, including barbecue and the cultivation of corn and other New World plants. Despite the imposition of Catholicism being one of the European main goals, some of the Taíno religious beliefs also managed to become incorporated into the customs of the settlers.
The native beliefs included dour or spooky elements that were easy to adapt into this emerging folklore. For example, ghost stories were an important part of the Taíno ontological system and were most notably represented by the Hupia, guava-eating spirits that wandered the roads at night and were only differentiated from the living due to their lack of a bellybutton. This is said to have been a task to preserve the balance between the word of the dead and the living, while the fruit's name and its role in the story is a homage to Maquetaurie Guayaba, their bat-like god of the dead who ruled over the underworld realm known as Coaiba. The guava was also used to produce a black-colored pigment, associated with death. The Spanish co-opted this imagery for the legend of Los Ahorcados, the ghosts of hanged people that dangled from roadside trees late at night.
Among the first adoptions that took place was that of the güiro and maracas, Taíno instruments used for religious rituals, by the European settlers who mixed them with Spanish instruments. In rural areas, the use of nasal signing originally used by the natives survived and was incorporated in the emerging genre of folk music. The Catholic Church provided the populace with instruments and formed musicians, which were used in service. The military organized the first bands. Several of the legends that trace back to this time, such as the tragic love tale of Guanina and the supposed drowning of a Spaniard named Diego Salcedo, concern the clash of both worlds and the effects that colonization had on the natives. Some of the characters in these tales are adaptations of actual historical figures, such as Cristóbal de Sotomayor. Others present more abstract concepts that intend to sell the moral of the story, such as the ideation that the rustling of the ceiba tree's leaves is the enduring whispers of those involved in forbidden relationships.
The import of African slaves once the native population began to decline brought with it religious beliefs and practices from numerous parts of the continent. Mostly localized near the coast, the settlements built by those that were freed contributed to the continuation of musical and dance traditions brought from their homelands. Their dancing, musical instruments and were, almost unchanged in their use at the plantations. However, the imposition of religion led to widespread religious syncretism. The slaves began associating certain aspects of their traditional gods with Catholic saints, covertly idolizing them in rituals that were purportedly Christian in nature.
As was the case with the Taino before them, the cultural clash between these slaves and the Europeans inspired legends. One such tale has its origins on the norther region of Arecibo and deals with the rebellion of a maroon named Carabalí. This former slave is said to have attacked the colonial settlement with a group of men, who operated from the jungle nearby, until they were eventually captured. Carabalí escaped jail on a foggy and rainy day and took refuge in Cueva de los Muertos, near the neighboring municipality of Utuado, while fleeing dogs set upon him by the Spanish authorities. The next morning, the dogs cornered him in the cave, where he tried defending himself with a machete before being downed. According to tradition, since then Cueva de los Muertos is said to be haunted by the spirits of the slaves, who emerge in an attempt to curse their former owners at night. The story also has a heavy Catholic element behind its superstition, since the reason that this happened is said to be that their souls cannot find peace is due dying in sin.
Buccaneers, corsairs, smugglers, saints and the Devil (1600-1800)
During this timeframe, legends were heavily influenced by Catholic beliefs. One of Puerto Rico's most famous legends, the Garita del Diablo (or “Devil’s sentry box”), dates back to the 17th century after the Fortín del Espigón was completed in 1634. According to another tradition, the first Marian apparition recorded in Puerto Rico was Our Lady of Hormigueros, who is claimed to have saved a man from a charging bull during the 17th century.
The constant attacks by pirates, buccaneers and privateers from rival nations fed a different type of folklore. Military victories over the likes of Francis Drake and Boudewijn Hendricksz, (known locally as El Drake and Balduino Enrico, respectively) were elevated, romanticized and passed on through the generation. The reputation of El Morro and other forts that littered the coasts of Old San Juan were greatly mythicized, both due their consecutive victories in naval engagements as their ability to endure an invasion led by George Clifford, who was able to temporarily seize the rest of the city. To this day, it is celebrated as the sole Spanish fort in the Caribbean that did not suffer a military loss and only falling into enemy hands once.
The legend of La Rogativa, based on a religious procession that took place during a blockade of San Juan Bay led by Ralph Abercrombie is also popular, as the British are depicted as mistaking the torches carried by those gathering for the arrival of reinforcements and fled. At a local level, figures such as Captain Antonio de los Reyes Correa in Arecibo and the whole populace of Cabo Rojo were incorporated into popular culture and celebrated by locals for successfully repelling foreign invaders. These tales were celebrated along the Catholic saints in town festivals.
Other stories involving pirates are not military in nature, most often dealing with purported buried treasures, such as a tale associating Portuguese corsair José Joaquim Almeida with the island of Caja de Muertos. In 1699, William Kidd stayed at Isla de Mona for ten days while the Quedagh Merchant was loaded with about 100,000 sterling pounds worth of cargo, gold and silver. Ever since, legends of his purported buried treasures on that island have been a cultural mainstay.
A legend surrounding the construction of the Capilla del Cristo goes back to a horse race that took place on Calle del Cristo in Old San Juan during the 18th century. A jockey, often referred as Baltazar Montañez, rode his horse over the edge at the end of the road. The chapel was built at the end of the street where the race took place. According to tradition, divine intervention saved the rider from dying along his horse. Festivities commemorating this event became a tradition among the Catholic populace of the walled city, who would gather around the chapel. Local folklore was not immune to influence from regional influence, with foreign legends such as elves that enjoyed treading the mane of horses during the night and La Llorona finding their way to Puerto Rico.
The 19th Century: The last pirate, uprisings and identity
Spiritist literature was covertly introduced to Puerto Rico during the 19th century, with the first spiritist centers appearing sometime during the 1870s or early in the following decade, with some sources placing Mayagüez's Centro Unión as having been founded in 1875 and being followed by Luz del Progreso soon afterwards. Mayagüez served as the epicenter of the movement in Puerto Rico. Soon, the prospect of introducing spiritist education at schools was supported by Iberian representative Manuel Corchado y Juarbe. After the Spanish-American War which stripped the Catholic Church of most of its administrative powers, spiritists expected growth.
The unexpected success that a young aristocrat from Cabo Rojo named Roberto Cofresí had as a plunderer a century after the end of the Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean catapulted him into legend. In life, he led an island-wide criminal enterprise and was said to share his loot with the populace as a way to keep the authorities at bay. By 1825, Cofresí was being hunted by several maritime powers including Spain, Gran Colombia, United States, Denmark, and the United Kingdom for the impact that his piracy was having on the regional trade routes. His disruption was sufficient to motive the creation of a rare alliance between the Spanish and Colombians, whose international relations had been strained since the start of the Spanish American wars of independence. Cofresí's luck eventually ran out and he was captured and publicly executed at Old San Juan.
Despite this, the romantic ideas about his figure that began appearing during his life took on a life of their own. The first legends about Cofresí painted him in good light, as a Robin Hood-type figure. Perhaps influenced in part by his own offer of 4,000 piece of eight to a prison guard shortly before his death, legends of a lost pirate treasure became widespread in places such as Cabo Rojo and Mona Island. However, not all legends surrounding Cofresí are positive, as another category deal with his supposed deal with the Devil, hauntings, ghost ship sightings and traps. As the Puerto Rican independence movement grew, tales of his supposed role as a privateer for Simon Bolívar became popular urban legends.
According to tradition, the Sana Muerto River acquired its name when a pallbearer slipped during a funeral procession that took place during the 1820s. It began at the rural Hato Yeguadilla and was supposed to end at the Ciales town church. The accident forced the casket's door and flipped the dead body into the water. Instead of being carried downstream, the deceased is said to have awoken and stood up, with those in the procession fleeing the scene leaving behind a very confused, but alive, peasant man. The curative powers attributed to the river by this tale became known widespread, still being sought after by those desperate enough to believe it.
Espiritismo, the ghosts of the walled city and beyond (1870-1898)