Ghosts!

[MJ]

I have always been fascinated by ghost stories, especially those that fall into the category of non-fiction.

Is there a ghostly tradition in Asturias? Legends not unlike those from the British Isles, where it seems every old castle or home has a green, blue, white, name your color lady haunting it?

I know that Cubans are very much into the ghost stories, and wonder if this is a Cuban thing, or a holdover from the old world.
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Siempre me han fascinado las historias de fantasmas, especialmente las que entran en la categoría de la no ficción.

Hay en Asturias tradición fantasmal? Leyendas parecidas a las de las islas británicas, donde parece que todos los castillos o mansiones tienen señoras verdes, azules, blanca o de cualquier color que se aparecen?

Sé que a los cubanos les gustan mucho las historias de fantasmas y me preguntaba si sería cosa de cubanos, o un remanente del viejo mundo.

[Terechu]

MJ, I don't really think I've ever heard one single ghost story related to any haunted house in Asturias in my life. In fact, we don't even have a word for "haunted" . We only have manor houses and palaces, no castles - never needed any, the Cantabrian mountain ranges protect us from southern invaders and the sea from the northern. In addition it seems that we always got along fine with our neighbours of the East and the West, so there was no need for castles, and ghosts in manor are sooo second rate!
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MJ, yo creo que nunca en mi vida oí una sola historia de fantasmas relacionada con alguna casa en Asturias. De hecho, ni siquiera tenemos traducción para la palabra "haunted" . Sólo tenemos casonas solariegas y palacios, no castillos - nunca los necesitamos, la Cordillera Cantábrica nos protege de los invasores del sur, el mar de los del norte y parece que siempre nos llevamos bien con los vecinos del este y del oeste, así que no hicieron falta castillos...y los fantasmas de las casonas son de tan poca categoría!

[MJ]

Wow, not even a regular haunted house? Like a normal little home or a haunted mountain pass or something like that?After all, it doesn't have to be a manor house or castle to be haunted, right?

[Berodia]

Bueno, en mi pueblo hubo algún que otro caso.

Una vez, en un velatorio, mientras la gente comía y bebía, se empezaron a oír ruidos raros provenientes del desván. La gente cogió miedo y se fueron todos...

Al final, resulto que eran dos paisanos que arrastraban cadenas por miedo a quedarse sin anís y coñá...


También hubo apariciones alrededor del cementerio y la iglesia, de un fantasma...

El cura dijo, que la única forma de que el fantasma no apareciera más, era haciendo ofrendan a Santa María Magdalena, patrona de la iglesia de Berodia. La gente llevaba comida y bebida,...

Ya podéis imaginar como acabo todo...

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Well, there were some cases in my hometown.

Once, during a funeral wake, while people were eating and drinking they started hearing some strange sounds coming from the attic. They got so scared, they all left.
It turns out it was two local men who were dragging chains across the attic floor, because they were afraid they might be left without anisette and cognac...

There were also appearances by a ghost around the graveyard and the church.
The priest said that the ghost would never appear again would be to make an offering to Saint Mary Magdalene, the patron Saint of Berodía's church. So people brought food and drink....
You can imagine how it all ended.

[Art]

Are any of the Asturian folk tales about ghosts? Are the stories about devils or Trasgu sort of like ghost stories?

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¿Hay cuentos populares asturianos que traten de fantasmas? ¿Son las historias sobre diablos o el Trasgu parecidas a las historias de fantasmas?

[Bob]

La güestia seems to represent Asturian ghosts. See, for example, http://www.el-caminoreal.com/mitos/guestia.htm (in Spanish).

[Terechu]

Bob, I don't know if that's very Asturian. I always heard about it being Galician - the "Santa Compaña" is one of those age-old superstitions, whereby you are supposed to die if you come across them on a road at night. They are supposed to announce the death of people and it's a group made up of one living persons and "almas en pena" (lost souls).
On the other hand, I just remembered that the term "âme en peine" is also very French, so maybe it's a Catholic tradition. I have no idea, really.
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Bob, no sé si será muy asturiano. Siempre oí que lo de la Santa Compaña era algo gallego, una de esas supersticiones, según la cual te mueres si ten encuentras de noche con la Santa Compaña por el camino. Se dice que anuncian la muerte de las personas y son un grupo compuesto por vivos y almas en pena.
Pero por otra parte, acabo de recordar que la expresión "âme on peine" también es muy francesa, así que a lo mejor es un tradición católica. La verdad es que no tengo ni idea.

[argayu]

La güestia ye una tradición asturiana. Anque, otra vegada más, conocemos meyor lo de fora que lo de casa...

http://www1.las.es/~jfcastro/guestia.htm

Creo que nun llibru de Xuan Bello, fálase d'otru llibru d'Evaristo de Casariego, con una bona hestoria de pantasmes pala fastera de Tapia.
Esta memoria de mió.....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------La La güestia es una tradición asturiana. Aunque, otra vez más, conocemos mejor lo de fuera que lo de casa...

http://www1.las.es/~jfcastro/guestia.htm

Creo que en un libro de Xuan Bello, se habla de otro libro de Evaristo de Casariego, con una buena historia de fantasmas para la zona de Tapia.
Esta memoria mía.....


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Translation by Bob

La güestia is an Asturian tradition. Even so, once again, we know it better as something in the outdoors rather than in the house....

http://www1.las.es/~jfcastro/guestia.htm

I think that in a book by Xuan Bello he talks about another book by Evaristo de Casariego, with a good history of ghosts in the regionj of Tapia. This is what I remember....

[Carlos]

ALGUNAS LEYENDAS DE LA GÜESTIA

Las historias que coloco a continuación fueron recogidas de la tradición oral por Aurelio del Llano a principios del siglo XX. Sólo hay que achacar a este etnógrafo tres cosas:

a) El empeño en "refinar" el habla de sus informantes. Las palabras de éstos están tan enormemente castellanizadas que resulta difícilmente creible que cualquier aldeano asturiano de los años 1910-1920 se expresara con las palabras que A. del Llano pone en sus bocas, cuando para cualquiera que haya hablado alguna vez con gente de aldea es más que evidente que eso no ocurre ni siquiera hoy en día, transcurrido casi un siglo.

b) El celo excesivo en "depurar" algunos mitos recogidos/propuestos por otros estudiosos de su época. A. del Llano podríamos decir que era "hipercrítico", puesto que un mito que él no hubiera recogido personalmente no lo daba por válido. Es cierto que algunos son dudosos, pero otros que él negaba fueron recogidos más tarde, con lo que quedaba demostrada su existencia, pongo por caso el del "Busgosu" o "Musgosu". Incluso aparecieron otros en época relativamente moderna (años 70), que ni él ni otros contemporáneos suyos descubrieron, por ejemplo "El Pesadiellu" o "La Manona".

c) Las explicaciones un tanto pintorescas que daba de los mitos que sí aceptaba, hoy en día poco tenidas en cuenta.

Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, aquí os coloco algunas historias que hablan de "La Güestia" (lo que en Galicia llaman "La Santa Compaña"), junto con el nombre de los informantes, su edad en aquel momento, el lugar de origen, y el año de recogida. Que las disfruteis.


1 - Que pasan las ánimas

Había en un pueblo un vecino que veía a las ánimas salir del cementerio en procesión y entrar en la casa donde había una persona enferma. Esto era señal de que aquella persona moriría pronto.

Una noche iba el vecino por un prado con su mujer y vio venir en dirección a ellos la procesión de ánimas dirigida por una "mandona". Ésta, al pasar por junto al matrimonio, sopló y tiró a la mujer al suelo. La cual dijo:

-¡Jesús, caí!

Y el marido le replicó:

-¿No te dije que esviaras, que pasaban las ánimas en procesión para casa de Fulano que está enfermo?

Este vecino tenía la facultad de ver las ánimas porque había sido bautizado con óleos de muerto. Y para que se le quitara esta facultad, le dijo el cura que tenía que bautizarse con agua viva.

(Engracia Álvarez, 65 años, Abiegos, concejo de Ponga, 9 de septiembre de 1920)


2 - Que va a pasar la Güestia


En Santo Adriano de Riosa vivía un hombre bastante bien acomodado. Y sucedió que, una vez, iba camino de Panderraiz hablando con su criado y de pronto le dijo:

-Apártate, que va a pasar la Güestia.
-¿Qué va a pasar, si yo no la veo?
-Claro, tú no la ves porque no puedes. ¿Quieres verla?
-Si no me hace nada, sí.
-Apoya tu barba en mi hombro.

El criado apoyó la barba en el hombro de su amo y vió desfilar una gran procesión de ánimas.

(Pedro Villoria, 71 años, de Felguera, concejo de Riosa, 24 de octubre de 1921)


3 - Luces sobre el agua del mar

Antiguamente, los pescadores de Cudillero no salían a la mar la noche de Todos los Santos ni la del día de La Encarnación.

Pero una vez, la noche de Todos los Santos, salieron dos lanchas a la pesca y al pasar frente a la Concha de Artedo, vieron que, sobre el agua, casi a orilla de tierra, ardían muchas luces.

Los marineros enfilaron las proas de sus lanchas hacia aquellas luminarias y rema que rema, porque allí las olas rompían con mucha fuerza, llegaron allá y vieron llenos de miedo, que las luces eran producidas por huesos que había puesto allí la Güestia.

(Fernanda Torre, 74 años, de Cudillero, 13 de marzo de 1921)


4 - La engañó la luna

A una mujer de Bresnau, concejo de Cangas de Onís, la engañó la luna, pues creyendo que era de día se levantó de la cama y dijo para sí:

-Esta noche sopló el viento muy fuerte y debió de tirarme munches castañes; voy a recogerles antes que me les coman los cerdos de los vecinos.

Se dirigió al castañar y como tardaba en amanecer sentóse encima de una piedra a la puerta de una cabaña.

En esto apareció por allí una procesión de hombres, los cuales, a pesar de la claridad de la luna, llevaban velas encendidas. Fueron pasando por delante de la mujer sin decir nada, hasta que pasó un cojo que iba el último y dijo:

-¡Vaya, a ésta la engañó la luna como a nosotros, que ya vamos de retirada!

(Dorotea Fernández, 50 años, de Llerices, concejo de Cangas de Onís, 9 de Marzo de 1921)


Bien, ahora no me puedo entretener más, pero ya os pondré alguna otra historia.


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translated by Art

[Art: First, I need to define Güestia...since this isn't a word or concept that I nor most Americans know.

My Asturian dictionary says: "Güestia. n. Na mitoloxía asturiana, procesión dálmes en pena que paguen los sos pecaos pel mundu y salen con veles enceses nes manes."

Rough translation: Güestia: noun. In Asturian mythology, a procession of souls who have been sentenced to pay for their sins in the world and who go around with lit candles in their hands.

Any corrections gladly accepted!]


SOME LEGENDS ABOUT THE GÜESTIA


The histories that I place below were gathered from the oral tradition by Aurelio del Llano at the beginning of the 20th century. It is necessary first to note three [reservations] about [the work of] this ethnographer:

a) His insistence on "refining" the speech of his informants. Their words are so greatly hispanicized that it becomes very difficult to believe that any Asturian villager of the years 1910-1920 would express themselves with the words that A. del Llano puts in their mouths. For anyone who has spoken at some length with people of the villages, it is more than evident that this does not happen not even nowadays, even though this is almost a century later.

b) The excessive zeal in "purging" [from status as valid myths] some myths which were collected/proposed by other experts of his day. A. del Llano, we might say, was "hypercritical", since he would not declare a myth valid if he had not gathered it personally. It is true that some of these myths sound doubtful, but others which he denied were gathered later, and their existence [authenticity?] was demonstrated, for example, the cases of the "Busgosu" or "Musgosu". Even other stories were reported in the relatively modern era (the 1970s), which neither he nor his contemporaries had discovered, for example "The Pesadiellu" and "The Manona".

c) The rather picturesque explanations that he gave the myths, that he definitely accepted, nowadays not taken seriously [the explanations?].

Bearing these previous points in mind, here I place some stories that speak about "The Güestia" (which in Galicia they call "The Holy Company"), together with the name of the informants, his/her age in that moment, her/his place of origin, and the year of collection. I hope you enjoy this!


1 - The souls that pass by

There was in a village a neighbor who saw the souls going out of the cemetery in a procession and entering the house where there was a sick person. This was a sign of that that person would die soon.

One night the neighbor was going through a meadow with his wife and he saw coming towards them the procession of souls directed by "bossy/domineering" one. This one, on passing close by the married couple, blew and threw/shot the woman to the ground. [The woman] said:

- Jesus, I fell!

And the husband answered her:

- Didn't I tell you that you would deny [esviaras] that the souls were passing in a procession to So-and-so's house who is sick?

This neighbor had the faculty/ability to see the souls because he had been baptized by oils of death [possibly the oil of Extreme Unction?]. And in order for him to be freed from this faculty, the priest told him that he had to be baptized by living water.

(Engracia Álvarez, 65 years, Abiego, county of Ponga, on September 9, 1920)



2 - That the Güestia is going to pass by

In Saint Adriano de Riosa there lived a relatively well-off man. And it happened that, once, walking on the way to Panderraiz's he was speaking with his servant and suddenly he said to him:

-Move aside, the Güestia is going to pass by.
- What is going to happen, if I do not see them?
- Obviously, you can't see them because you cannot. Do you want to see them?
- If it doesn't do anything to me, yes.
- Lean your chin on my shoulder.

The servant rested his chin on the shoulder of his owner and saw a great procession of souls parading by.

(Pedro Villoria, 71 years, of Felguera, county of Riosa, on October 24, 1921)



3 - You shine on the water of the sea

In olden times, the fishermen of Cudillero didn't go out to the sea either the night of All Saints [Halloween] or the day of The Incarnation.

But once, on the night of All the Saints, two launches went out to fish and on having passed opposite la Concha de Artedo, saw that, on the water, almost to the shore of the land, many lights were burning.

The sailors directed the bows of their launches towards those lights. Rowing as hard as they could, because the waves were breaking with a lot of force, they arrived there and saw--to their great fright--that the lights were produced by bones that the Güestia had put there.

(Fernanda Toasts, 74 years, of Cudillero, March 13, 1921)



4 - The woman tricked by the moon

A woman of Bresnau, in the county of Cangas de Onís, was tricked by the moon, since believing that it was already day she got up out of the bed and said to herself:

- this [last] night a very strong wind blew and it must have thrown many chestnuts down for me; I am going to gather them for myself before my neighbors' hogs eat them.

She went to the chestnut grove and since daylight was late in dawning, she sat herself down on a stone at the doorway of a cabin.

From this [cabin] a procession of men appeared, who, in spite of the clarity of the moon, were carrying lit candles. They were passing before the woman without saying anything, until a lame man who was the last passed by and said:

- Well, what a surprise! The moon tricked this one [woman] just like us--we who are now leaving this retreat [safe place]!

(Dorotea Fernandez, 50 years, of Llerices, county of Cangas de Onís, On March 9, 1921)


Well, now I cannot delay any more, but now I you will post some other stories.

[Carlos]

MAS HISTORIAS DE LA GÜESTIA

5 - Allí viene el viático

Una costurera de la parroquia de Libardón, concejo de Colunga, iba todos los días a coser al Eslabayo. Y cuando regresaba, al oscurecer, su amo la acompañaba hasta cierto sitio y desde allí daba la vuelta.

Una noche, la costurera vio que por la ería y en dirección a ella avanzaban muchas luces.

-Allí viene el viático -dijo la costurera-, voy a correr para abrirle la portilla y arrodillarme detrás de ella mientras pasa.

Según lo pensó lo hizo, pero su asombro fue grande cuando vio que no conocía a ninguna de las personas que formaban la procesión, ni entendió una palabra de lo que iban rezando. Una de ellas al pasar le dio una vela encendida y le quedó otra en la mano a pesar de no traer más que una.

Pasó la procesión y la costurera vio que lo que le habían dado era un hueso y no una vela. Esto le produjo tanto miedo que enfermó y murió al poco tiempo.

(María Toyos, 42 años, Maestra Nacional, de Libardón, concejo de Colunga, 3 de enero de 1920)

6 - Allí sale la Güestia

Entraban todas las noches los jabalíes a comer maiz en una finca llamada El Caballón de Repelau, sita en el monte frente a Covadonga.

Su dueña, María Puente Grande, vecina de Llerices, determinó ir una noche a la finca en compañía de unos rapaces a encender fogatas para ahuyentar los jabalíes.

Y cuando las estaban encendiendo vieron salir por detrás de las casas de los canónigos de Covadonga muchas luces, y dijo uno de los rapaces:

-¡Allí sale la Güestia!

Se dirigió hacia La Riera y por el camino encontró a dos vecinos de Llerices. Uno de ellos logró escapar, pero su compañero fue golpeado por la Güestia con sacos que contenían arena, por lo cual murió a los pocos días.

(Eusebio Fernández, 89 años, y su hija Dorotea, de 50, de Llerices, concejo de Cangas de Onís, 9 de marzo de 1921)

7 - Andar de día

Una vez, venía un hombre de la braña de Rebellón, en Teverga, y al llegar al pico de La Campa encontróse con la Güestia. Y conforme iban pasando, cada uno de los que la formaban le decía al mismo tiempo que le daba una bofetada:

Andar de día
que la noche es mía.

Unos, llevaban árboles; otros, portillas; otros, mojones. El último que pasó cogió al hombre por un brazo, le apartó a un lado y le dijo:

-Has de vivir bien; yo soy tu padrino; vamos a restituir los árboles y las portillas que hemos robado, y los que fueron metiendo poco a poco los mojones de sus fincas por las tierras colindantes, van a colocarlos a su verdadero sitio. ¡Ea! Me voy; por haberme detenido contigo, hasta mañana a estas horas no alcanzo a los otros.

(Generosa García, 55 años, de Villanueva de Teverga, 24 de marzo de 1921)


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Translated by Art


MORE STORIES OF THE GÜESTIA

5 - Here comes the viaticum

[Art: viático = viaticum, or Holy Communion given to someone in danger of death, or a travel allowance -- both contain the same idea]

A seamstress from the village of Libardón, in the county of Colunga, went every day to sew in Eslabayo. And when she returned, at dusk, her master [the person she worked for] accompanied her up to certain place and from there turned back.

One night, the seamstress saw that, across the wastelands and in the direction she was heading, there were many lights.

- There goes the viático/viaticum - said the seamstress, - I am going to run to open the door for it and kneel down behind them while they pass by.

Just as she planned, she did. But she was very surprised when she saw that she did not know any of the people who were in the procession and that she didn't even understand a word of what they were praying/saying. One of them [in the procession] on passing by her gave her a burning candle and yet still had another in his/her hand in spite of not bringing more than one.

The procession passed and the seamstress saw that what they had given her was a bone and not a candle. This produced in her so much fear that she fell ill and died not long after.

(Maria Toyos, 42 years, Statel Teacher, from Libardón, Colunga county, on January 3, 1920)

6 - There go the Güestia

Every night the wild boars came to eat corn on an estate called El Caballón de Repelau [Repelau's Ridge], situated on the hill across from Covadonga.

One night its owner, Maria Puente Grande, who lived in Llerices, decided to go to the estate with a few young men to burn bonfires to scare away the wild boars.

And while they were igniting the fires they saw many lights coming from behind the houses of Covadonga's clergy, and one of the boys said:

- There goes the Güestia!

They went towards Riera and along the way met two residents of Llerices. One of them managed to escape, but his companion was beaten by the Güestia with sacks containing sand, from which he died within a few days.

(Eusebio Fernandez, 89 years, and his daughter 50-year-old Dorotea, from Llerices, Cangas de Onís county, on March 9, 1921)

7 - Walking by day

Once, a man from Rebellón's high summer pasture, in Teverga, was walking, and on having come to the peak of La Campa met up with the Güestia. And as they were passing, each of those forming the Güestia said to the man as they gave him a slap:

Walk by day
For the night is mine.

Some of them were carrying trees; others gates; others milestones [property boundary markers]. The last one that passed caught the man by the arm, pulled him aside and said to him:

- You have to live well; I am your godfather; we are going to return the trees and the gates that we have stolen, and those who were moving little by little the boundary markers of their estates onto their neighbors' lands are going to place them in their real places. Yikes! I've got to go; for having stopped with you, I won't catch up with the others until tomorrow at the same time.

(Generous García, 55 years, from Villanueva de Teverga, March 24, 1921)

[Mouguias]

Art
Perhaps an English-speaker will find it easier to understand "güestia" by comparing with an English word which has the same root: "host". Indeed, some variants call it "estantigua", meaning "ancient host".
Terechu, the Galician version of this myth is called "Santa Compana", never "Guestia" as far as I know.
As to typical Asturian tales of ghosts, it wonders me that no one has mentioned the "güercu", [read "werkoo"] yet. This word comes from latin "orcus", yeah, the same one as in Tolkien`s "orcs".
The güercu is an omen, it is the ghost of a living person. It is a very widely spread belief. The tales are all the same, more or less:
A meets B in an unlikely place (say, in the middle of a field away from the village). A greets B, but B doesn`t answer, and goes on his or her way. Then A gets to the village and meets B again: "What are you doing here?" - "What do you mean?" B replies. "I haven`t moved from here in hours". Then, in a few days, B dies.
It is a funny coincidence, since yesterday I was talking to Berto Pena, the folklorist, and he told me he has found some tales about ghosts who take the shape of black dogs. There is even an interesting tale about a man, from Western Asturias, who got killed during the French invasion (early XIX century) and then haunted the area as a black dog.
There are also many tales about people who try to solve as ghosts the wrongs that they commited while alive. The most common tale tells of men who have altered the limits of their fields and then try as ghosts to put them back to their original position. Constantino Cabal, in the XIXth century, recorded the story of a greedy woman who came back as a butterfly, and bothered her daughter to be more generous with beggars.
Have you visited http://www.geocities.com/mouguias/Capitulu2.htm ? Look at the picture. I tried to depict in it the appearance of a king of the ancient Asturi. Note the antennae sword, the skulls of beheaded enemies hanging from the pony, the torc around his neck and the golden wreath in his brow. All the details have been taken as accuratedly as possible from archeology and ancient sources.
PS-Has anyone talked in Asturianus about Asturian werewolves? Perhaps you might find it an interesting topic.

[Bob]

I'll start a separate thread in this area of the forum about Asturian werewolves.
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=872

Bob Martinez

[Art]

What interested me about Carlos' stories was that they are about groups of ghosts. I don't know if we have a lot of stories like that here in the US.

Mouguias' stories seem to be more about individual ghosts. What struck me about them is the notion that a ghost could be trying to right their wrongs. Ours seem more intent on sticking around (not accepting death) and bothering the people who remain.

That's an interesting image of the Asturi king, Mouguias. I didn't realize that the torc was worn that way (I had it turned around).

---------------

Lo que me interesó de la historias de Carlos es que se trata los grupos de fantasmas. No sé si tenemos muchas historias así aquí en EU.

Las historias de Mouguias parecen ser más sobre fantasmas individuales.
Lo que me sorprendió de ellos es el idea que un fantasma podría intentar a corregir sus males. Los nuestros tienen más la intención de quedarse (no aceptando de la muerte) y molestar la gente que quedan.

Es una imagen interesante del rei asturi, Mouguias. No comprendí que el torc fue llevado así (yo tenía girado).

[Terechu]

Aunque en todos los casos se trate de "espíritus" y "almas", cualitativamente no es lo mismo el fantasma ("Geist" = espíritu en alemán, "ghost" en anglo-sajón) de las culturas protestantes que se limita a vagar en el éter y aparecerse en casonas antiguas hasta que alguién le libera de su castigo por algún delito pasado y puede descansar en paz, no es exactamente lo mismo que que las hispánicas Santa Compaña y güestia, que son vivos que acompañan a un "alma en pena" y andan de noche por les caleyes en pandilla, en busca de alguien para anunciarle la muerte.
Güestia, es parecida a la palabra "Geist", pero viene de "hueste" = grupo de seguidores; ("hostis" en latín). Aunque quién sabe, a lo mejor Geist también viene de hostis? Por qué no? También fueron parte del Imperio Romano.

Y luego están los muertos vivientes del Caribe, los zombis...
Y los muertos vivientes del Real Madrid....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even though it's all about "spirits" and "restless souls", the ghosts of the Protestant cultures ("Geist" in German) which haunt the living in old houses and castles as a punishment for some past wrongdoing and wait to be released and allowed to rest in peace, and are not exactly the same as the Hispanic Santa Compaña or Güestia, which are a bunch of living meanies, following an "alma en pena", sneaking around at night in groups looking for people to announce them their death.
Güestia, although very similar to "Geist" comes from "Hueste" = group of followers, "hostis" in Latin). But who knows, maybe Geist comes from hostis as well. Why not? They were part of the Roman Empire, too.

And then there's the living dead of the Caribbean, the zombies....
And the living dead of the Real Madrid...

[Bob]

Carlos,

Thanks very much for your interesting articles on la güestia. I learned about la güestia only a few years ago, but I thought the candles were usually described as burning (human) bones. Is this correct? Whether it is or not, I still like the image it conjures up.

Bob