Legend of the headless father

According to the Salvadoran version, the Headless Father is the soul of a priest
who died in sin, without being able to confess, the product of a loving relationship
he had and now forces him to wander wandering as a soul in pain in eternity.

Some also say that the headless father was a priest who died in a revolt with
several oppressed peasants and was subsequently beheaded by the authorities of
his time.

Legend has it that he goes out through the doors of the churches every day Friday
of the year at night, especially where there is no moon. In places, such as in San
Salvador, where there is more than one church, you walk among them; In the
villages where there is only one church, he goes out to walk the streets and then
later goes back through the main door, even if it is closed.

Some who have seen him say that he also goes up to the church bell tower and
mysteriously disappears there.

His appearance is that of a tall man, but he has no head, only the body. He goes
with a dark cassock and a rosary in his hand, walking the streets, like a soul in
sorrow, like a wandering ghost, saying nothing.

Some people who walk through the streets of El Salvador late at night say that they
have seen it, and that when they are approached they feel a paralyzing cold ice,
they remain paralyzed and mute for a long time without being able to say a word of
what What happened to them. For some it is an event that has given them a lesson
not to be upset or in bad steps.

It is believed that what the headless father does is to seek his head, since he goes
without it, and he does so mainly in the churches of the cities or towns of El
Salvador. They also say that it usually appears more often in churches where
priests have died in strange circumstances.
 The Siguanaba

The Sihuanaba, commonly called the Siguanaba is a Salvadoran legend very

popular in the country, perhaps the best known of all. Here you will know what it is.
The legend of the Siguanaba says that a woman, originally named Sihuehuet
(Beautiful Woman), had an affair with the son of the god Tlaloc, from which she
was pregnant.
She was a bad mother because she left only her son, the Cipitío, to be with her
lover. The boy ate ash and was very bellied so careless that he was for his mother.
When Tlaloc discovered what was happening, he cursed Sihuehuet. He said: "Now
you will be called Sihuanaba (Horrible Woman)". She would be beautiful at first
sight, but when men approached her, she would turn around and become a very
horrible woman. She was forced to roam the countryside, appearing to men
traveling alone at night.
They say that she is seen at night in the rivers and streams of El Salvador,
washing clothes and always looking for her son, the Cipitio to which eternal youth
was granted by the god Tlaloc as a reward for his suffering.
According to what the legend tells, all the night owls are prone to find it. However,
he persecutes with more insistence the men in love, the Don Juanes who flaunt
their love conquests. To these, the Siguanaba appears to them in any pool of water
late at night.
They see her bathing with a golden guacal and combing her hair with a comb of
the same metal, her beautiful body is shown through the nightgown. The man who
looks at her goes crazy for her and can't resist approaching her. Then, the
Siguanaba calls him, and he takes him to embark him. He shows his face horrible
when he has already earned it and has it nearby.
In order not to lose his soul, man must bite a cross or a medal and entrust himself
to God. Other people say that to scare her, she must be told these words:
"Goodbye, Comadre María, dry chicken feet" and with that she runs away.
 The legend of El Cadejo
It is very popular in El Salvador, although it is also known in Central America,
Mexico and a part of South America.
This legend comes from the times of our indigenous ancestors, who believed that
dogs helped humans in their passage to the next life when they died. In the
country, avocado dogs are very dear animals, because they take good care of their
masters' houses, in addition to feeding on almost anything.
With the arrival of the Spaniards and Christianity to our lands the legend was
modified to show the difference between good and evil.
Legend has it that El Cadejo is actually a spirit or ghost represented in the form of
a dog that has twinkling red eyes like burning coals.
There are two types of Cadejos:
The White Cadejo representing good and
The Black Cadejo representing evil.
God, in his eagerness to protect us decided to create a good spirit, which was
represented by a white dog. However, when Satan saw this, he also decided to
send a black dog to the earth to fight against the target and thus defeat God.
The Black Cadejo, which represents evil, usually appears to those people who
roam the villages late at night or to those who perform immoral acts or have a bad
conscience.
He persecutes his victims for a while to scare them and then hypnotizes them with
his huge red eyes, similar to burning coals, when he catches them he steals their
soul leaving them as fools for the rest of their lives, this is called in Him Salvador
that a person has been "played by a bad spirit."
On the other hand the White Cadejo has blue eyes and represents a spirit of light
that protects all the faithful believers and does not allow The Black Cadejo to steal
the soul of newborns or young children, mainly those who live far from the villages.
It is said that the Black Cadejo can be easily driven away from the places or homes
where it appears, for this it is necessary to burn incense, commonly known as
Sahumerio in El Salvador.
The next time you go out at night anywhere in El Salvador and go alone on the
street be careful, do not stop looking back, because maybe you could be following
a white or black dog ..
 The fair judge of the night
The Just Judge of the night is one of the best-known legends of El Salvador that
has been passed down from generation to generation to alert those who usually go
out at night.
According to ancient accounts, the fair judge of the night is a character like a ghost
who usually appears to those who tend to walk through rural areas late at night.
Those who have seen him say that he is a man with a hat, dressed entirely in black
riding on a horse of the same color and in his hand he holds a rein or a loop to
punish those who are in his way.
His height is quite tall and some mention that he has no head, that instead there is
only a column of smoke. He is a wandering man and in places where the wind
moves violently the branches of the trees.
People who have been surprised by his presence, claim to return warned to their
homes, because the Just Judge of the Night states that the night belongs only to
him.
In addition, it is said that on more than one occasion, showing himself as a
watchman of order, he has scourged any unsuspecting man by way of reprimand
for not paying attention to his orders not to go out at night.
The Just Judge of the Night belongs to the folklore of El Salvador, and its origin
seems to date back to the time of the Spanish colonization, when it was necessary
to maintain tranquility at night and chase away the dangers of it.
The territory where he wandered making his abrupt appearances was limited to the
then small newly independent nation of Spain, El Salvador; his spirit appeared only
to rural areas; the encounter of the stumbles of people during the nights, described
him as a ghost of few words, only asked and asked, if he considered it convenient.
Indeed, it was a judge, by his own discretion, he gave justice in his own way, he
took care of those decent inhabitants and honest workers, of disturbances of the
lazy, lazy, drones, vicious, criminals, in order to take over the evil spirit.

As a "fair judge." taught right and left after analyzing the night transgression, the
punishment: tip lashes. Villagers were subject to their rules, forced to be obeyed
and respected.