The Devil dancing the Charleston in a quinceañera
Two Mexican folk stories and their lessons for women
You have probably heard of La Llorona, a Mexican tale about a woman who was dating a guy, had kids, and then the man decided he would marry someone else. The woman felt overwhelmed by this news and lost it, drowning her kids in the river. Then she drowned herself in the same river because she felt too guilty about killing her kids, and now she roams the earth every night looking for her kids, crying “Ay mis hijos!” (Oh no, my kids💀). I believe La Llorona (which can be translated as “The Cryer”), is one of Mexico’s most cherished exports, at the same level as El Chupacabras (I will cover this story in the future), low-priced avocados and Alejandro González Iñárritu. But today, I wanted to bring to you two lesser-known Mexican folklore stories that originated in Jalisco, the state I was born in. These are two tales that (shockingly 😑) were trying to teach women very misguided lessons on how to live their life.
The Legend of the Charro Negro
Cultural note, a charro is a horseman that practices charreria, a traditional sport of livestock herding (think Mexican Rodeo). For context, and for you to envision how the main character of this story looked like, here is a video of a charro lineup.
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This tale introduces a man who was poor, and who always complained about it. He wanted to have the kind of money that would give him power and respect, but no matter how hard worked on his land, he did not manage to build the wealth he aspired to (we feel you Mr. Charro). To make matters worse, his parents died. Drowned with grief he made a pact with the devil trading his soul for the richness he desired.
Now, you cannot just get a bank transfer, checks, or gift cards from the devil, so the legend claims that after making that pact, his land began to yield the best produce both in quality and volume. He grew his business and eventually became the richest man in town. His life was so good that he decided that he really did not want to give his soul to the devil and live an eternity in hell, so he tried to hide and avoid being held accountable for his part of the deal. The devil found him, and as an extra punishment for trying to void their contract, the devil made him roam the earth with his beloved horse, dressed in a fashionable black charro outfit, finding greedy souls that would make the same pact with the devil.
It is said that if at night you hear the sound of a horse approaching very slowly, you should hide since it might be Charro Negro looking to offer you a sweet deal of joining him in hell in exchange for wealth, and since the Charro Negro is very handsome, you might fall for his trickeries. So, what is the lesson for women that I wrote about in the introduction of this article? Most versions of this story point out that young, beautiful ladies should be extra aware of the Charro Negro since he preferred them as victims. These versions say that if the Charro Negro offers you a ride home on his horse, you should firmly say no, but in order not to hurt his feelings and trigger his transformation to an entity of the underworld, you should instead let him walk you home and politely say goodbye. Apparently, fragile masculinity follows men into the afterlife.
The Devil goes out for a Dance
This legend takes place in Poncitlán, a town in the southeast of Jalisco. Let’s take our minds and souls to another place, and envision ourselves here:
This story takes place in the 1950’s, a time in which the inhabitants of the city used to spend their afternoons praying and going to sleep early so they could wake up energized and do their fishing and agricultural-related activities. At this particular time, the town was buzzing because one of the first Quinceañera parties was going to be celebrated in town, and arrangements were made for musicians to play Charleston music (this music was very popular in Mexico at that time - also, how random).
The Quinceañera started with a great afternoon feast, and by midnight everyone was hitting the dancefloor. Then, suddenly, a dashing young foreigner in an all-black outfit joined the celebration. Just like a Hallmark Christmas movie, people thought this was a big-shot guest from the city, and naturally all of the young women felt instantly attracted to this guy; however, no one dared to make the first move. That is until Raquel, an extroverted and self-confident woman who sneaked out and did not ask her mom for permission to attend the party of the century, invited him to dance. Everyone looked at them, green with envy - that is, until the musicians started to point out that this guest had goat hooves as feet, a clear indication that this was the devil itself (obvi). People freaked out and started running away screaming in panic, and our dashing guest evaporated in thin air, leaving behind a scent of sulfur: another sign that he was from the underworld. Raquel fell ill after the party, and though the tale does not specify the nature of her sickness, she died a couple of weeks later. Everyone concluded that her death was a punishment and a consequence of both sneaking out of her house and dancing with the devil. So here you have it, just don’t forget to tell your mom when you are going out to dance the Charleston, and you should be fine.