THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF SANTIAGO

THE TRANSMOGRIFICATION OF SANTIAGO

By Enrique R. Lamadrid

Photographs by Miguel Gandert

 One of the most dramatic transformations of Santiago takes place on july 25th in the village of Jesús María, twelve kilometers north of Aguascalientes city, the first stop on the Camino Real south of Zacatecas.

 Unlike the historically costumed  Moros y Cristianos of Zacatecas, those of the village of Jesús María de los Dolores all wear wooden masks except Santiago himself and the only female character in the play—Toci, the wife of the Aztec sun god Huitzilopochtli. With masks and indigenous characters, this morisma is profoundly Mesoamerican in character.

 The grey-faced, turbaned Moros are mounted on horses and enjoy a military advantage over the white-faced Cristianos, who wear extravagant straw hats decorated with colored tassels.

 The Rey de los cristianos or Christian king wears a large elaborate mask with a long carved beard. His soldiers are called Chicahuales, a term of Nahuatl origin meaning strong and determined. They are dressed in huarache sandals and white pajamas, emblematic of their indigenous origins, despite their masked transformation into white or mestizo Christians.

 In stark contrast to the almost endless parlamentos or scripted speeches of Zacatecas, there is no dialogue at all, only a series of escaramuzas or skirmishes, ringing with the sounds of the steel machetes of the Moros clashing with the hardwood swords of the Chicahuales. Not a word is spoken by the characters, but everyone in the crowd, including children, already knows the narrative, which they gladly share with visitors:

 Seated on his throne in Heaven, God notices the wars and pitched battles that are taking place below on the earth. The Rey Cristiano has been grievously wounded and is near death in a coma. Disturbed with the mayhem, God calls Santiago to his side and orders him to descend to earth to make peace.

 Santiago appears to the Rey Cristiano in a dream and tells him the plan. He will come to earth to heal him and help him prevail in the battle.

 The warrior saint comes down to earth on his white horse and defeats the moros, one by one. They lie on the ground either dead or agonizing.

Santiago returns to heaven and is scolded by God, who tells him:

 - I wanted peace on earth, not death and destruction. I need the moros alive.

 He then announces to Santiago:

 – Now I am giving you the power that only I and my son Jesus have: the power to resurrect the dead. Now go and bring them back to life.

 Santiago descends to earth again and rides his white horse three times over the bodies of the moros. On the fourth time, he touches each one, and they come back to life one by one.

 The rest of the celebration is a joyful Juego de Moros y Cristianos at its best. The Moros ride back and forth for an additional hour by the line of Chicahuales, clashing swords, not in combat, but in jubilation.

 The next day the spectacle is repeated, but a new character appears, a female named Toci, the wife of Huitzilopochtli, who rides among the Chicahuales and dispenses food from her basket to keep them strong.

 The most significant aspect of this fiesta is the transformation of Saint James himself, from Santiago Matamoros, the merciless Moorkiller, to Santiago Redentor, the redeemer.

 In most areas of Latin America, the transformation is never this overt and explicit, and never so boldly dramatized. In one afternoon, Santiago is transformed from the most formidable enemy of the natives, into their redeemer and protector.

 

Santiago, from Moorslayer to Redeemer – Jesús María, Aguascalientes, Mexico by MIGUEL GANDERT

Los Chicahuales, Soldiers of Santiago – Jesús María, Aguascalientes, Mexico by MIGUEL GANDERT

ENRIQUE R. LAMADRID’s research on the contexts and corridors of traditional Nuevomexicano culture has led him up and down the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and into its watersheds with photographer and colleague Miguel Gandert.  Lamadrid co-curated the permanent exhibit at El Camino Real International Heritage Center. At UNM he teaches folklore, literature, and cultural history and is chair of the Department of Spanish & Portuguese.

MIGUEL GANDERT, a native of La Espanola, Nuevo México is a fine art and documentary photographer and Professor of Communication and Journalism at UNM, where he received an M.A. in photography. Gandert, who continues to photograph in black and white, sees documentary work as both a form of art with a strong capacity for expression, as well as a way of telling stories and understanding complex cultural relationships.