Cuyagua, The Saint With Two Faces: Cuyagua Part II

The Feast of St John the Baptist begins two or three weeks after Corpus Christi, on June 23rd. According to biblical tradition, St John lived in the desert, renouncing the pleasures of this world. But the people of Cuyagua think of him as a flamboyantly dressed young man, with a passion for making merry. Although men provide drum music and join in the dancing, the celebration of St John's Feast is a predominantly female affair in Cuyagua, based on a large body of women's songs. The Saint with Two Faces introduces some of the leading women followers of St John, both at work cleaning the beach for tourists, and at home with their children. A group of these women describe their beliefs about St John and the way in which they organise his Feast. But these preliminary scenes also serve to establish the themes that will underlie the Feast itself - an extraordinary conjunction of the sacred and the profane, of celebration and mourning.