In Search of Superman

Emilio Alberto Restrepo Baena

He never resigned to their condition as normal, taxable at the mercy of the will of fate. He has always tried to manipulate luck, strength, power, disease, using all means at its disposal, divine or human, magical or rational, lawful or unlawful that allow to make available the forces of nature.

It is noteworthy that in our community since we are aware, if someone owns a secret that makes it different, powerful and invulnerable. It is always a powerful reference and feeds the oral tradition of our culture.

Moving on, we remember the burly guy, winner of all fights, invincible in physical confrontation. It is the owner of "Ara stone?, Blunt charm that guarantees extraordinary strength. The lucky it was provided, stealing the altar of the church baptismal font or a small marble chip surreptitiously acquired a Friday or a day of Corpus Christi. After opening on the palm side of the wrist of his dominant arm a cross-shaped incision, no anesthesia and there is the small object embedded, suturing himself with a long hair virgin or nun, or body child. This ensured a deadly punch his fist, a crushing and decisive blow with his arm that coz of beast, fierce and destructive concrete softness in the tip. Were people who ended up with rowdy bars, smashed jaws, always winning the men's heads-up game of touch with another at a table. Many distortions and damage caused to the rest of us convinced us that they had "fined hand?, That the law tattooed with a forbidden sign, which could not even push someone under penalty of going immediately to prison.

Were fear, envy and admiration of all the weak and wimpy that looked threatening from our side of weaklings.

Another strategy to be of a similar amulet was "turkey stone?. It consisted of, who knows how to catch a male turkey, tie a guava tree or araucaria, refusing all food and drink for several days after which, the black avechucho defeated, unworthy, bent, throwing up your stomach the coveted stone. This gave the executioner a similar physical power to the holder of the revered "Ara stone?, Modern Hercules, destructor and overwhelming titan.

In the wilds or montuno, it was important to "counter? for snakes. To provide it, it was necessary to lurk in the fountains, in pools, on large stones from the banks of streams, to predict the routine of snakes when harassed by thirst came to drink at certain fixed times. Before doing so, they deposited a pebble extracted from her womb, and went into the water relaxed, then the applicant would take the ball and ran upstream of the river, to avoid being hit by the trailing cheated, and die in a raging Rattlesnake attack. If the intruder came victorious people had for life with an effective antidote against these animals, which, by smell alone, shunned him in fear. If anyone stood our hero only had to invoke the magic words to be respected, "Snake Runner / that will not let me go / see that I have against / of the coral snake..? These characters, thanks to such a precious amulet, were the best hunters of tiger and tapir, the most successful colonists, sawyers mount boldest, the most effective for healing of bites in the jungle.

Another way to get the respect of the snakes was to prepare a potion of fat elephant, horse's hoof scraping, hull cow and deer horns, were applied in the farmer's boots before entering the thicket, and so, reptiles repelled the walker afraid, afraid you were ancestral to these quadrupeds.

The culmination of magical power, not only physical strength, but for the economic power and political, to seduce women and to master the art of the game, was to achieve an effective pact with the devil. The most expeditious way to achieve this was to go on Good Friday at midnight, with a black cat alive, stolen the day before, to the deepest, darkest nearest forest. There since that evening had prepared a big pot, better if it was stolen from a rectory, a convent or a vestry, with boiling water to simmer hazelnut wood, or pews. The cat was put into the pot alive. When was completely rolled back, put his hand started with the assurance that they would burn, and began to remove bone by bone by invoking Satan and wondering aloud whether the bone was indicated or not. When I could take that would serve as a talisman, a voice from the grave in the midst of a strong smell of sulfur would answer yes, that was. Electric shock began with thunder and lightning and the applicant had to run like a madman, downhill, without stopping to think or care lacerating branches or chasms.

If he was caught by the horde of demons that haunted him, went straight to hell in the midst of terrible scourges and uttering distressing cries of pain and terror. If I could reach the goal, usually the cemetery on the outskirts of the village, after hitting one by one the three crosses unlike the person had previously placed, was considered successful for life and had absolute power to damn bone achieve all their aims in life. When dying, he was entitled to occupy a privileged place in the dark realm of Beelzebub.

To increase the size of the male member, a potion that was fashionable in Appendix rubbed virile stallion aspiring quite small. It was the combination of young donkey helmet with rhino horn scrape with bull testicles caste, all mixed or infused with fat old cock. Who does not enlarge the size, at least you will increase the power or extending the role of endurance in the arts of love.

If someone was full of warts on his body, the solution was carefully counting, find as many of them in white pebbles from the river, put them in a bag made of dead habit or a monk and an act of faith in the dominant hand throw over the opposite shoulder without looking back. This was so upset cure for evil. The unfortunate he found the bag at random, immediately filled with repugnant heading.

In the villages the best to banish witches and goblins were those with the cord of St. Francis, who was wearing the friars bond as a belt. If anyone had the gift, if you knew the prayers had been adequate and that stealing from a monk (so great feat) that loop, no matter how clever it was sorcerer who resisted his power. If he persisted in his efforts, the worst indignity was being gagged by the "cord San Francisco?, For what were in the house of the victim who was stalked, gagged, naked, shivering with cold and humiliation, exposed his tricks to public ridicule. Usually had to leave the hamlet never to return.

To catch the man wanted, unsightly women and victims of the indifferent slights Tenorio, apply to the form of food or drink in all sorts of concoctions that crazy about love and surrender to his feet. Among many, many, the most hackneyed was the "juagadura of panties? containing an extract of "water of the three gorges?, infallible when forcible conquest. It was taken from what was left after washing in water without soap, underwear without taking it during the full moon of the woman concerned and had the menstruation.

Besides that, it was used all kinds of perfumes, prayers, potions, photos with bright or nailed pin to break the will of the male elusive.

In our peoples is also quite common to find the character that has the power of healing through prayer, capacity transmitted directly by someone who has the gift, likewise, some contain profuse bleeding just pass your hand over the bleeding area and sketch secret prayer, or compose fractures or sprains of people or animals. On the contrary, there are people who "look hateful?, That just looking at a wound, infected, a variant of this aspect are the people who have the ability, acquired by virtue of spells or being envious and angry, of worsen sick patients or healthy children or young, well-married mother. They are applying the "evil eye?, Fearsome specimens of fauna parochialism. There is also the rabid dogs who dominates with his powerful gaze, who easily tamed and who dominates spirited horses to "stupefy? animals that attack with fury to the neighbors. All these people have acquired these powers and mysterious secret deals that give them the ability to manipulate nature.

Not content with being a human being at the mercy of fate that everyday life throws at you, always looking for ways to appropriate the resources, whatever the cost to alter the designs of fate.