El Cipitío (Legend)

One of the most famous legends that have been known throughout history in El Salvador is the legend of “Cipitío”. Well, in this occasion we want to present this myth and tell you what it’s  about, as well as natives grandparents, had done before in the evenings, to scare us.

According to the salvadoran mythology, the Cipitío (also known as Cipitillo) was the son of Sihuanaba, a terrible mother, who initially was called “Sihuehuet” (which means beautiful woman).

The legend tells that this woman betrayed the Dios Sol, with Dios Lucero and became pregnant by him, so the God Tláloc condemned both (Mother and baby). The Mother was sentenced to be a wandering spirit and the child will never grow up, (His physical appearance will be always of ten years old boy, even if a long time passes)

“The Sihuanaba myth” is also another popular legend in El Salvador. Lots of people have seen her wanders along the rivers searching for unfaithful men, showing herself as a pretty woman, but later becomes in an ugly and scary spirit who can even drive the men to the madness.

The Cipitío was cursed to remain as a little boy forever, even with the passing of the centuries. The legends say that some years ago when our grandparents were younger, it was common to find footprints of a little child in the ashes of the furnace firing, somebody might think that it is a prank, but… maybe it is not, the Cipitío really loves to wallow through in ashes, and later eat it.

The Cipitío is characterized for being small and paunchy, also he has a huge hat on his head. Some people had told that he has estranges backwards feet, so if you try to follow him, you will probably lose him in the beginning of the way, because he has magical powers that help him to transported to one place to another.

However, he is an inoffensive spirit, which does not hurt to anybody, but if Cipitío gets upset,  he will annoy you with his jokes and his mocking laughter, because his spirit is naturally mocking. He usually hides in the bushes, on the banks of rivers and creeks to wait for pretty girls who came to take a bath there, then he offers typical compliments and throw them flowers (in occasions  small rocks), although the women cannot see him, only the little children can.

They say that when the Cipitío chases the girls it is extremely hard to get rid of him, the solution to keep him away is weird because you must eat sitting on a toilet until you have finished. This is because the Cipitío hates disgusting habits, so he run away.

This spirit is a famous character from Salvadoran mythology, for this reason, his legend has been told from generation to generation. Sometimes, people, add some more details to the myth, but the essence of the legend remains the same.