The Silver City Museum invites the community to a presentation and book signing for Enchanted Legends & Lores of New Mexico and Hidden History of Spanish New Mexico, both by Ray John de Aragón. Mr. Aragón will give a presentation on Saturday, October 27, 2012 at 2 pm at the Silver City Museum, located at 312 West Broadway in downtown Silver City. The books will be available for sale at the presentation.
Beginning in the seventeenth century, townsfolk and rural dwellers in the remote Spanish colonial city of Santa Fe maintained a provocative interest in mysterious and miraculous visions. This preoccupation with the afterlife, occult forces and unearthly beings existing outside the natural world led to early witch trials, stories about saintly apparitions and strange encounters with spirits and haunted places. New Mexican author Ray John de Aragón explores the time-honored tradition of frightening folklore in the Land of Enchantment in Enchanted Legends & Lores of New Mexico, an intriguing collection of tales that crosses cultures in the dark corners of the southwestern night.
New Mexico's Spanish legacy has informed the cultural traditions of one of the last states to join the union for more than four hundred years, or before the alluring capital of Santa Fé was founded in 1610. The fame the region gained from artist Georgia O'Keefe, writers Lew Wallace and D.H. Lawrence and pistolero Billy the Kid has made New Mexico an international tourist destination. But the Spanish annals also have enriched the Land of Enchantment with the factual stories of a superhero knight, the greatest queen in history, a saintly gent whose coffin periodically rises from the depths of the earth and a mysterious ancient map. Join author Ray John de Aragón as he reveals hidden treasure full of suspense in Hidden History of Spanish New Mexico.
Ray John de Aragón was born on January 19, 1946, in Las Vegas, New Mexico. His great-grandmother Dona Catalina Mondragon de Valdez, who was a curandera, a medicine woman, delivered him. He grew up with the culture, traditions, heritage and the history of Spanish New Mexico, which dates back to the settlement of the territory by Spanish colonists in 1598. His background is steeped in the folkloric mystery and intrigue that was passed down in his family for generations. His upbringing included listening to centuries-old stories of ghosts, witches and holy spirits that traverse the dark hours of the night. Because of his past history, Ray John de Aragón traveled as a storyteller, thrilling audiences with tales of terror and suspense. Ray John's first university degrees were in education. His advanced degrees are in American studies with an emphasis on the Spanish history, customs and language of New Mexico. He is an internationally recognized author with several published books. He is also a recognized visual artist and santero, a maker of religious images.
The Silver City Museum creates opportunities for residents and visitors to explore, understand and celebrate the rich and diverse cultural heritage of southwestern New Mexico by collecting, preserving, researching and interpreting the region's unique history. For more information about the Museum and its programs, please contact Museum staff at (575) 538-5921 or
