The Commission of the Piratas

The Commission of the Piratas and the Marineros

¡¡Centinela Alerta!!! 
¡¡ Alerta Esta!!

Guard, be alert!
Alert, I am!

The various groups of this Commission of Spirits are as follows.

los Piratas = The Pirates the outlaws, a Pirata or Pirates was the Captain and crew of a ship that attacked other vessels and stole from them.  Pirates where independent and worked for no one but themselves.  They labored for personal gain, and where the common thieves of the seas.  They where independent and did not work under the flag or protection of any country or nation.  El Botin, or the booty was shared with the Captain and his crew. A greater percentage went to the Captain.  Many pirates where unethical and blood thirsty.

Los Corsarios = The Privateers where a group of Pirates who attached and stole under the flag and protection of a King or Queen or a country.  These Pirates where funded and protected by the Country for whom they stole for and their booty was split between the King and the Corsario.  The Corsario split his half between himself and his crew.  Many Corsarios where Caribbean native born, who at first sailed and looted for the Spanish flag, but then witnessing the injustice and cruelty done to their native homes became rogue, outlaws and unprotected Pirates.

Los Filibustero = The Filibuster name of a group of pirates that sailed and infested the Antilles in the 1700s and early 1800s.  This group of Pirates unlike other pirates worked solely on the Caribbean sea, and usually did not stray to far from the coast of the island they where a native of, and only ventured to other surrounding Caribbean islands.  They stole from the King and Country that governed and often oppressed their island and shared their botty with the poor.

Los Bucaneros = The Buccaneers were  American born pirates who resided in Haiti the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. They stole live stock, such as pigs, goats, cows and horses.  They traded skin, hives, meat and live stock with Pirates and privateers for gunpowder, weapons,  and cloth which they smuggled to the United States.

Ranks of Spirits that can be part of this Cuadro Espiritual are.

The Captain = el Capitan

The Lieutenant = el Teniente (Second Mate)

The Master = el Maestro (Third Mate)

The Boatswain  = el Contramastre

The Gunner = el Almero

The Carpenter = el Carpintero

The Quartermaster = el Intendente

The Mates = Los Tripulaciónes

PRAYER OF THE CASTAWAY AND SHIPWRECKED

. Plageria del Naufrago

The following prayer is one of the most loved prayers within Espiritismo, Santerismo and the Sanse Religion, and it is recited frequently, during nightly prayers, in Sesiones, Veladas and Embajadas.

Spanish

Torna tu vista, dios mio, Hacia esta infeliz criatura.

 No me des la sepultura Entre las olas del mar.

Dame la fuerza y valor Para salvar el abismo,

Dame gracia por lo mismo, Que es tan grande tu bondad.

Si yo, cual fragil barquilla, Por misoberbia halagado,

 El mar humano he cruzado, Tan solo tras el placer;

 Dejame, senor, que vuelva A pisar el continente,

Haciendo voto ferviente De ser cristiano con fe.

Si yo con mi torpe falta Me ha mecido entre la bruma

 Desafiando la espuma Que levanta el temporal,

 Te ofresco que en adelante No tendre el atrevimiento

 De ensordeser el lamento De aquel que sufre en el mal.

Y si siguiendo mi rumbo, He tenido hasta el descaro

 De burlarme de aquel faro Que puerto me designo:

 Yo te prometo, dios mio, No burlarme de esa luz

Que brilla sobre la cruz Por el hijo de tu amor.

!Oh tu, padre de mi alma, Que escuchas el afligido,

Y me vez arrepentido De lo que mi vida fue.

 Salvame, dios mio, salvame Y dame, antes que de cuenta,
Para que yo me arrepienta

 El tiempo preciso, Amen.

ENGLISH

Place your vision upon me my Lord,
I a meak and unhappy creature. 

 Do not allow my grave to be within
the waves of the sea.

Give me strength and courage to arise from the depths of this

abyss, and if it is your will, grant me the grace to except the unknown. 

 For your mysteries and goodness are incomparable.

For I am like a fragile boat, and have become arrogant,

 thinking I can cross the sea of men, looking only for pleasures.

I ask you Father to allow me to touch the coastal land

 and renew my vows to be a charitable Christian.

If I in my arrogance have become lost within the waves and the mists. 

 As I try to defy the storm and the rising foam.

I vow that I will not have the audacity to ignore the deafening

cries and lament of those that suffer within the sea.

And if I in continuing my course through life ignored the lighthouse

 that my port designated for me. 

 I vow my God never again to mock the light that shines upon

 the Cross of your beloved Son.

Oh my heavenly Father, you that hear the prayers of the afflicted,

distressed, mournful, desolate, and troubled souls. 

 You see that I have become repentant of the life I once leed. 

Save me my Lord before it is to late, for

 I repent and have strayed from the life I once lived.

Amen

In all my years working La Mesa I can say I cant ever recall anyone bringing down a Pirata or Carsario from the Commision of Pirates.  One major reason for thos is because their souls have returned to the mysteries of the vast ocean, and nightmarish stories circulate in Seance circles through out the Caribbean on how powerful and dangerous these spirits are, that those who are not under their protection risk an untimely death if invoked from their slumber.  The mysteries of the Ocean are to vast for any one individual to take upon, and only one who has this spirit as a Centinela should dare invoke them; and even then they can be very unpredictable.

When we think to name the real Pirates of the Caribbean, we think of names such as Captain Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, Black Bart, el Diabolito, Anne Bonny and Mary Read to name a few.  People have asked me why is this Court of Pirates Spirits venerated or respected within Mesa Blanca or Espiritismo Cruzado, since many pirates are known for their lawless behavior, thievery and as blood thirsty ruthless killers.  While in part this is true, but also through out history there have been Pirates who where loved and respected and known as heroes of the people, even literature and mythology tells the heroic tales of fictional Pirates such as Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and recently Captain Jack Sparrow, who have been loved      revered and venerated as heroes by children and those with a child like heart all over the world. Puerto Rico is no exception to this rule, and the two Pirates I am going to mention were not fictional character but actual historic figures that lived and sailed the Caribbean seas.  Much of their historical lives have been shrouded in mystery and folk legends and fictional tales have been told to the children of the island of the adventures and exploits of these two pirates.

Capitan Miguel Henríquez

1680 until 1743

Captain Miguel Henriquez also spelled Miguel Enriquez a Mulatto (half black half white) was famous for being one of the Wealthiest Men in the New World at the time, and defeated the English on Vieguez and Culebra Island and reclaimed it for the thrown of Spain and the island of Puerto Rico.  He was such a famous Corsario that he was dubbed the Captain of the Seas and Land.  Although he was well respected he died a  pauper in a Catholic Convent after being stripped of his title and loosing his wealth, after going rogue against the Spanish government for their mistreatment of Puerto Rican Criollos.   But of all the famous native born Pirates of the Caribbean none was as famous and loved as the Puerto Rican Criollo el Pirata Roberto Cofresi.  His history has been so shrouded with historical facts, myths and legends and he has become one of the most interesting spirits respected within Puerto Rican Espiritismo and Sanse Religion. 

el Pirata Roberto Cofresí

June 17, 1791 –March 29, 1825

 

Roberto Cofresí  Ramírez de Arellano was born and raised in the coastal town of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico.  At a young age Roberto fantasized of a life at sea after hearing the stories and legends told by local fishermen seamen and sailors.  At around the age of 21 he purchased a small vessel that he dubbed El Mosquito, and in 1818 at the age of 27 he organized a crew of mates which consisted of 10 of his closest hometown friends and family members and set out to sea as Pirates.  He remained a Pirate for another 8 years until his capture persecution and death.  In Puerto Rico he was dubbed, El Pirata Cofresi and became a local hero similar to Robin Hood, as he often attacked American, French and English ships and shared his booty with the poor.  He was greatly loved by the people that many hid him and his crew from American and later Spanish authorities. 

Many myths, legends, and folk lore surrounds el Pirata Cofresi, it was believed by many that he sold his soul to the Devil in order to have superhuman and magical abilities.  Some of his magical abilities was to make his ship disappear out of thin air when escaping his enemies, others say that he was a womanizer and his charm over women rivaled that of Don Juan el Burlador de Sevilla, "Trickster Womanizer of Seville Spain" and the Italian Casanova, while still other legends say that he had the strength to defeat anyone who would dare challenge him.  Other legends tell on how the pirate refuge Island of La Mona, off the western coast of Puerto Rico was a favorite hideout for Cofresi and his mates and the island is believed to be haunted by Cofresi and his crew.  But the most interesting stories have to do with the hidden treasure of el Pirata Cofresi.  Some legends say that Cofresi hid his treasure in either La Mona island, Monito or Desecheo Island. While others argue that his lost buried treasure is on Coffin Island " Caja de Muertos" of the Southern coast of Ponce, Puerto Rico, while still others argue that he hid his treasure in one of the caves of his hometown of Cabo Rojo such as la cueva de Playa Buye one of his hide outs or the Cueva del Pirata Cofresí.  

What is interesting to note is that many locals of Cabo Rojo believe to have seen the Ghost of Cofresi walking the streets on the nights of the Full Moon drinking his rum and chanting old Spanish hymns.

Accounts also state that during a drunken stupor of rum he confessed to some the whereabouts of his treasure, he told a person that he hid his treasure at the base of a Ceiba tree where the roots touched the sea and that it could only be seen on the nights of the Full Moon.  Cofresi locked the treasure with a chain and cast a spell over it to keep it hidden.  The magical spell consisted of his treasure being hidden in the waters and is guarded by a school of fish that swim around it, furiously shaking the dirt around the treasure chest to keep it hidden.  One legend tells the tale of how an American female archaeologist became so obsessed with finding Cofresi's lost treasure that she scouted all the possible locations and whereabouts of his lost treasure.  One cloudy night she sat under a Ceiba tree

for rest when all of a sudden the clouds parted and the rays of the Full moon shown on the waters below.  There the woman saw the treasure chest of Cofresi surrounded by the swimming school of fish.  She quickly jumped into the water to try and pull the chest out, and at that very moment the clouds engulfed the moon and the school of fish transformed into man eating sharks and in a frenzy tore the woman apart sending her soul straight to Davy Jone's locker.

In 1824 in a fierce battle with Captain John Slout of U.S. naval ship the Grampus, Cofresi and his crew of 11 to 16 men where captured and where turned over to the Spanish government.  The Spanish incarcerated him and his crew in the Fort of el Castillo de San Felipe del Morro in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  He and his crew spent their final months jailed in the fort and on March 29, 1825 he was excuted by a firing squad.   Some legends say that he was skinned alive and his body was dragged by horse all around the Walled city, then was burried at the only entrance and exist of el Cementerio Antiguo de San Juan, Santa Maria Magdalena Cemetary so that all who entered and excited the cemetery would walk over his final resting place.  His final resting place was never marked, but historians believe he is actually buried on one of the mounds or hills behind the cemetery or infront of the entrance of the Fort.

According to legend, before Cofresi was killed he placed the " Maldicion del Mal de Ojo" Curse of the evil eye on Captain John Slout and the Ship Grampus, and in 1848 the ship with all its crew where lost at sea, never to be found.

Till this day el Pirata Roberto Cofresí is viewed as a national hero, the Puerto Rican Robin Hood and a statue was erected in his honor at Boqueron beach in Cabo Rojo.  He was also loved and respected in the neighboring island of the Dominican Republic, and his hide out on the island today is known as Playa Cofresi.

Commission of the Marineros

Spiritist accounts of Cofresi's apparitions include accounts claiming that when summoned in Veladas or Sesiones Espirituales, "La Fuerza de Cofresi" or the strength of Cofresí's spirit is so excessive and overpowering to the point of killing the Casilla host he possesses.  For this reason it is rare that any Espiritismo or Sanse circle dare bother him or any Pirate for that matter from their slumber.  Usually spirits of Marineros "Sailors" are invoked.  The Patron Saint and protector of all sea lovers is Saint Peter and the their guardian Virgin is Nuestra Señora Virgen del Mar or Stella Maris. Our Lady of the Sea, the Star of the Ocean.

SALVE ESTRELLA DEL MAR

 Ave Maris Stella

Salve, Estrella del mar, Madre, que diste luz a Dios, quedando perpetuamente virgen,
Feliz puerta del cielo. Pues recibiste aquel Ave de los labios de Gabriel, cimiéntanos en la paz, Trocando el nombre de Eva.

Suelta las prisiones a los reos; da lumbre a los ciegos, ahuyenta nuestros males, recábanos todos los bienes.

Muestra que eres Madre. Reciba por tu mediación nuestras plegarias el que, nacido por nosotros, se dignó ser tuyo.

Virgen singular, sobre todas, suave, haz que, libres de culpas, seamos suaves y castos.
Danos una vida pura, prepara una senda segura, para que, viendo a Jesús, eternamente nos gocemos.

Gloria sea a Dios Padre, Loor a Cristo Altísimo Y al Espíritu Santo: A los Tres un solo honor. Amén.

Hail Star of the Sea

Hail, thou Star of the ocean, Portal of the sky.  Ever Virgin Mother Of the Lord most high.
Oh by Gabriel's Ave, Uttered long ago, Eva's name reversing, Stablish peace below.
Break the captive's fetters. Light on blindness pour. All our ills expelling, Every bliss implore.
Show thyself a Mother; Offer Him our sighs, Who for us Incarnate Did not thee despise.
Virgin of all virgins! To thy shelter take us, Gentlest of the gentle! Chaste and gentle make us.
Still as on we journey, Help our weak endeavor; Till with thee and Jesus We rejoice forever.
Through the highest heaven, To the Almighty Three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One in the same, glory be. Amen.