Author Ray John de Aragon has collected various folkloric stories from all regions of New Mexico throughout its changing history, most of them foreboding or cautionary tales of witches and specters. Stories rooted in the folklore of Native American culture, the Spanish colonial era, Mexican period, and the Wild West and epic-ranching years of New Mexico's past have been gathered by the author from all corners of the state. He frames them with historical context, old traditions, and other information to explain how they were promulgated among the peoples of specific times and places.

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 Fe 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 Aragon as he reveals hidden treasure full of suspense and intrigue.

Miguel Antonio Otero served as the first Hispanic governor of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico, from 1897 to 1906. He was appointed to the office by President William McKinley. Long after his retirement from politics, Governor Otero wrote and published his memoirs in three volumes, a major contribution to New Mexico history. But he also published a biography in 1936 titled "The Real Billy the Kid." His aim in that book, he proclaimed, was to write the Kid's story "without embellishment, based entirely on actual fact." Otero had known the outlaw briefly and also had known the man who killed Billy in 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett. The author recalled Garrett saying he regretted having to slay Billy. Or, as he bluntly put it, "it was simply the case of who got in the first shot. I happened to be the lucky one." By all accounts, Billy the Kid was much adored by New Mexico's Hispanic population. Otero asserts that the Kid was considerate of the old, the young and the poor. And he was loyal to his friends. Further, Martin Chaves of Santa Fe stated: "Billy was a perfect gentleman with a noble heart. He never killed a native citizen of New Mexico in all his career, and he had plenty of courage." Otero was especially admiring of Billy because as a boy in Silver City, "he had loved his mother devotedly." Such praise must be viewed in the context of the times. Other people, of course, saw Billy as an arch-villain. Miguel A. Otero rightly distinguished himself as a political leader in New Mexico where he raised a family and lived out his life as a champion of the people, but he is also highly recognized for his career as an author. He published his legendary My Life on the Frontier, 1864-1882" in 1935, followed by "The Real Billy the Kid: With New Light on the Lincoln County War" in 1936, "My Life on the Frontier, 1882-1897" in 1939, and "My Nine Years as Governor of New Mexico Territory, 1897-1906" in 1940.

In 1903 Pedro Sanchez published his "Memorias, or Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martinez." This rare book, written in Spanish, is hailed by historians and others as an important and unique contribution to the literary history of New Mexico and the American Southwest. Sanchez was a student of this famous folk hero priest and the book beautifully illustrates the respect and admiration the people held for Padre Martinez. The priest is shown as dedicated to the Church and the people who looked up to him as a champion of social justice, equal rights, the downtrodden and the oppressed. Pedro Sanchez himself, as a product of Padre Martinez's coeducational school in Taos, New Mexico, credits his mentor for his success in his career and life as did many of his other students. This Spanish and English edition features an introduction by Myra Ellen Jenkins, Ph.D., a former New Mexico state historian. Ray John de Aragon, a leading scholar on Padre Martinez and the authority on his life and work, translated the original Spanish text of the Sanchez book into English. De Aragon has a Masters in American Studies and has been a keynote speaker at public and historical conferences on Padre Martinez whom he has researched extensively. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is the author of "Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy," "The Legend of La Llorona," and "Brothers of the Light, The Penitentes of New Mexico," all from Sunstone Press.

The folklore of Spanish America is full of exciting accounts of a wandering, shrieking, tormented spirit called La Llorona, the "Wailing Woman." Her eerie spine-chilling cry was said to be an omen of death. This is the first serious account of the frightening tale that has fascinated people for generations. Ray John de Aragon, an expert on Spanish folklore, traditions and myths, traveled throughout the villages and byways of New Mexico searching out the roots of this very popular Spanish phantom. What he found was that every person he listened to had a different version. They sometimes placed her in their own towns as having been a local girl who had lived, loved, and then died a tragic death. She then arose, according to hearsay, and now she searches throughout the countryside for the children she lost in a watery grave. Some villagers even took him to a nearby river or arroyo to show him where La Llorona and her children drowned, but they always cautioned, "Don't come here late at night because she will appear to you crying, and she will follow you as you try to get away." The author then took the threads of the stories he heard and has woven them in a full length study of this famous ghost. Noted folklorist Pedro Ribera Ortega called this book in a review, "The tragic mythic love/ghost story laid out to scare even the bravest of readers." Ray John de Aragon has a Masters in American Studies and has been a keynote speaker at public and historical conferences. He is the recipient of numerous awards and is the author of "Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy," "The Penitentes of New Mexico," and "Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martinez," all from Sunstone Press.

This is the first major study by a Hispano from New Mexico with intergenerational ties to the Penitentes--the deeply religious group called Hermanos de la Luz, Brothers of the Light. It also ties the santero folk art of New Mexico, the Penitente Brotherhood, and the Penitente religious hymns, alabados, together. De Aragon asserts that one cannot truly function without all three and herein lies the devotional beauty that has been passed down for generations in Spanish folk tradition. Ray John de Aragon is an internationally recognized santero and writer. He has received numerous awards and is credited with producing imges meant primarily for religious veneration like the original New Mexico santeros of he nineteenth century. He has always strived for authentic detail in sculpting wooden figures that most closely resemble the spiritual and folk quality of the originals. His attention to true religious detail centered on the Passion sufferings of Christ is evident in this book. He is the is the author of "Padre Martinez and Bishop Lamy," "The Legend of La Llorona," and "Recollections of the Life of the Priest Don Antonio Jose Martinez," all from Sunstone Press.

Willa Cather, in the historical novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop," depicts Padre Antonio Jose Martinez as an unscrupulous backward rogue priest and Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy as a civilizing, heroic and monumental figure. Countering Cather's assessment and portrayal of these two larger-than-life Southwestern folk heroes, Ray John de Aragon attempts to set the historical record straight. Padre Martinez (1793-1867) is viewed as a genius who was ahead of his time. Recognized as a champion of the poor, defender of the Native Americans and proponent of human rights, it was inevitable that he would clash with Lamy. Bishop Lamy (1814-1888), who also had his followers, emerges as someone whose understanding of native New Mexican cultures was lacking, but one whose intentions were to do good as a missionary in a strange and foreign land. Ray John de Aragon has written extensively on the history of New Mexico and the traditions and culture of northern New Mexico. He is recognized as a master santero with works in numerous private and public collections. His efforts at promoting and preserving the Spanish Colonial heritage of the American Southwest have gained regional and national attention. He has been featured in many publications and a PBS documentary. He holds a Masters in American Studies with emphasis on the Hispanic culture, heritage, history and traditions of New Mexico, and he has lectured and taught in this area at the university level.