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Costa Rican creepy tales:

the phantom cart




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Published on Tuesday, October 22, 2024

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff




Many countries, including Costa Rica, celebrate Halloween this month, providing an excellent chance to learn more about the country's spooky tales, which are part of its cultural traditions.


Costa Rica has all sorts of well-known myths to keep the religious and the drunks in line. Expats love these tales, particularly during the heebie-jeebies month.


The tale of "La Carrera sin Bueyes," or the cart carried by no oxen, is a Costa Rican classic.


Elías Zeledón-Cartín's book "Leyendas Costarricenses," or Costa Rican Tales, has a compilation of fables that sheds light on the Carreta tradition.


The myth talks about a ghost in the shape of an ordinary ox cart that is pulled around the streets by invisible oxen at night. The phantom ox cart has no rider either.


The cart materializes without oxen or a rider in the middle of the darkest night, with no moonlight, near the houses of criminals or crooked persons who have lately passed away.


The ghost ox cart serves as a signal to the people that they must embrace a better life.


One version of the tale is about a wagon transporting the corpses of persons who were traveling alone on lonely roads and died when they encountered the ghost. The person's spirit was trapped in the cart wagon eternally.


Another version of the story talks about a Spanish man called Bad Pedro who landed in the Americas on a boat during the reign of conqueror Christopher Columbus. He was infamous for his brutality toward the land's indigenous inhabitants.






"Bad Pedro" once attempted to enter the local church with his oxen cart on the San Isidro Labrador feast, a particular day on which animals are revered. The town's father condemned him for neglecting to honor the church. The father cursed him to ride endlessly on his oxen cart.



A third version of the tale depicts a farmer residing in San José's Escazú Canton. He was able to steal good timber shipped from Europe to build the town's first church.  The farmer utilized wood to build his house and an oxen cart. But he had no idea that Saint Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters, had witnessed him taking the wood.



Saint Joseph determined never to absolve the thief of that crime. The farmer died a few days later, condemned to travel in his cart eternally.



There are many variations in the narrative. According to historians, the origins of the gosh cart mythology may have been influenced by occurrences from the 1800s.



One probable historical occurrence that might explain the genesis of the tale is the usage of carts to transport the corpses of victims of the first cholera epidemic, which was caused by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae and killed thousands of people between 1817 and 1837.



Another possible origin of the tale dates back to 1856 when the governor of San José City devised a plan to clear the pipes of contaminated water during the cholera epidemic. 



To avoid a scandal over polluted water pouring into the Virilla River, the governor ordered that the cleaning be done at night. Workers dressed in dark clothes and covered their carts with black blankets to blend in with the darkness.



Therefore, in the middle of the night, residents could only hear the cartwheel sound and not see the carts, drivers, or even the animals pulling the wagons.



For those interested in learning more about Costa Rican folklore, Elías Zeledón-Cartín's book is available for purchase on the National University editorial website for around $6.



Have a Pura Vida Halloween!



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What spooky tales have you heard in Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com


 








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