The Story of an Amazing Festivity in Depths of Ecuador

“In my name they will cast out devils; they will have the gift of tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and be unharmed should they drink deadly poison...” Mark 16,17-18

Religious processions in Ecuador are prodigious events. In the province of Manabí, on the Pacific coast of Ecuador, there is one such festival that is unique. It is the procession of San Pedro and San Pablo’s Government. It is a celebration of the faithful who have commended themselves to these two saints so the saints will protect them. The first protects them from drought, and second from snakes.

To obtain the saint’s favour, the local people organize the best government on earth, where there is no discrimination by race and no borders, both of which are regarded as creations for gullible people. According to anthropologist Yeanneth Yépez, these religious beliefs are one place where the profane emanates from the sacred. “For the devout, any favor conceded by the saint is elevated to the category of miracle, joyful occasion worthy of thanks giving and favorable for celebration and enjoyment.” In her book, Ecuador’s Popular Culture, there is a section about Manabí. She writes: “The religious festivity turns into an event that spreads its symbolic power into the town’s forms of social, political and economic organization.”

From the hills, covered with ceiba trees, the procession was coming down carrying the saints in their arms, as if they were children with long beards and cloaks of plaster, lost in the humidity of Río Canoa.

On the left came the President of the White, with his delegation bringing Saint Paul and his keys, and showing white banderoles – symbols of Water and Peace. On the right was the President of the Black (followed by the multi-colored presidential band) and its delegation of First Ladies, ministers, consultants, secretaries and scribes, walking with red banners and a snake in the middle, to obtain protection from Saint Paul.

The wooden saint, obviously, was happy, because he was the most powerful. In case somebody doubted it, the Black President had raised his menacing sword made of timber.

Hidden between the ceiba trees and among the thickets, the snakes had come out to see what was the reason for all this shouting. They knew that at this time of the year, from June to September, they couldn’t go out peacefully in the whole province of Manabí, as the celebration of the two saints would make them lose their heads, if such a term could be applied to snakes! But in the canton of Saint Vincent, where Rio Canoa is located, the opening speeches had not boded well. It looked as if the request, or promise, made by Macario Moreira, wasn’t going to be fulfilled. The reason behind it was that his wife, Isabel Cedeño, didn’t believe that the saint could free him from this evil.

Illustration by José Villareal 

That is why they were walking behind the procession of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Government (as the whole celebration was called), which conferred to the heads of this state three years of power that did not exclusively deal with preparing the festivities – including the appointment of the cabinet members – but gave them a great deal of prestige in the eyes of the community, which, on the other hand, hadn’t got a clue about the color of the beard of the current President, in a misty country called Ecuador.

A short while ago there took place a duel with wooden swords between the president of the White and the president of the Black, in an imaginary country that doesn’t mind the color of the skin, even less the social classes, because all are invited to the celebrations in the so-called Palace. It lived up to its name despite being made of canes and piles, precisely to prevent the snakes from getting in. On both sides of this fantasy army some soldiers with wide-brimmed hats and machetes wore snakes around their neck to frighten away the unwary. It was the outcome of this ancient festivity that gave the White the opportunity to hand over the power to the Black, who received this hospitality with a rejoicing that put the world upside down; but after all that is the aim of that celebration.

Whoever lost the battle had to cover the expenses of the banquet, and there even existed an improvised jail for people who overstepped the mark in this particular event, as it was also a way to thank this prodigal earth for its favours. Among the fruits of this earth came the magnificent dishes based on maize and the hornados (little pigs cooked in a casserole), fattened up expressly for the occasion, as well as the sweets: bocaditos de almidón (canapés made of corn starch), alfajores (macaroons), tongadas (éclairs), huevo mollo (yolk beaten with sugar), and troliches de manjar (small round cakes with caramel custard). All were wrapped up in tissue paper like the bright and colorful ribbons hung around the Palace. And there were the perpetual sponsors, watching the arriving procession from the window.

The delegation of the White Government chanted:

Here goes Daddy Saint Paul

With his battalion,

To start the celebration

in his beautiful hall.

The delegation of the Black Government replied:

Saint Peter and Saint Paul

In our arms are found

To start the celebration

In his beautiful hall.

A short while ago the saints were brought from some open land to be displayed in the middle of the enclosure and honoured among the floating banderoles. Saint Peter was in charge of the Keys to the Skies, to let the rain flow. When, being so busy, he forgot about it in time of drought, the dwellers of Río Canoa reminded him by getting his body wet, and that same day the saint would lavish rain on them. For his part, Saint Paul was the patron protecting the people from the bites of the horrific snakes, which hid themselves in the furrows.

It was exactly this protection that Macario Moreira’s promise was about. Among the wonders of his dreams he would see reptiles, but lately he was sure to meet them all at every bend in the road, with their sharp fangs in quest of his body. To sum up: Macario Moreira, of wide-brimmed hat and machete, was terrified of snakes. For that reason he had promised Saint Paul he would go to every village, a snake around his neck, to announce the upcoming festivities and to thank the Saint for his favours in the hope that the saint would free him from this phobia. He had shaking legs just to imagine himself in that situation.

But Isabel Cedeño had only laughed about the whole affair, and had even dared to say that it was only an excuse for the ball, knowing, however, that the saint didn’t approve of any such snub. The afternoon had not yet arrived, when, while walking in the weeds, one of these vipers bit her smooth calf. Fortunately it wasn’t a poisonous specie, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to see the sunset. With a face full of remorse and a bandage round her nicely-shaped leg, she told Macario that they would go that same night to the ball, where the presidents of the White and the Black would preside over the fandango, surrounded by smells of gunpowder, due to the fireworks, and by a band of musicians that would play until daybreak.

Of course they had left the saints to rest in their urns, perfumed with wild flowers, and both Governments – without the need of any law or procedure – decreed the banning of sadness.

Then the coordinator of the celebration, Juan Nieto, with very formal manners, introduced the diverse dignitaries, including the brand new beauty queen, to the center of this imaginary and borderless country whose rulers had assumed the responsibility of putting the world in a complete mess, be it only for one night.

In the middle of the colored bulbs and the crescendo of music Macario Moreira could be seen dancing with Isabel Cedeño. The ravages of her bite seemed to have miraculously disappeared. That is because even in that matter, Saint Paul, with his sword and all, took care of his faithful. This was especially true in this period of harvest from land and of the marvels from the sea, as the pious fishermen of Manabí would carry their own saints in their crafts.

Then the party is over. Once again the world is in order, with its ruling borders and colors of skin. That is why the serpents are taking this opportunity to go out and rest a bit from that period in which, in some way, they took part, even if it was only on flags. Once again the farming seasons have followed each other and, as hard as it is to think that the time is flying so fast, the saints want to hear that their inactivity in their urns has come to a halt.

And look, now at Macario Moreira, with a snake round the neck, while his mate plays the drum, going to proclaim the gifts to the believers who don’t want any surprises in the hills of Río Canoa.

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The writer Juan Carlos Morales Mejía is the director of the project Fiestas Fantasticas de Ecuador for Pegasus publishing house. He has written about this amazing Ecuadorian festivity as part of this project, with illustrations by José Villarreal. His work is sponsored in part by the municipality of San Vicente, where this celebration takes place.