Santa Compaña

The Santa Compaña (Holy Company) is one of the most well known legends in the northwest of Spain, specially in the communities of Galicia and Asturias.

It's also known by the names of "Estadea", "Estantiga", "Rolda", "As da nuite" (The Night Ones), "Pantalla", "Avisóns", "Pantaruxada" and Güestía (the name that this myth has in Asturias).

Description
The Santa Compaña has a lot of different descriptions, however, the most popular and extended image is a procession of the dead or souls in torment that appears at night crossing the path of some concrete parish in barefoot and wearing white cloaks, this procession is formed by two lines and every member has a candle (or a bone in fire according other versions) and all of them walk and walk and emit prayers, funeral songs or ring a little bell. They leave a candle smell in where they pass and all the animals run scared of it's presence.

The procession is leaded by a living person (whose gender depends on whether the patron saint of the parish is male or female) who carries a cross and a cauldron of holy water, this person is forced to walk in front of the Compaña every night and not being able to remember it the next day, that person is also unable to free itself due that he/she is a victim of a curse. The only way this person can free itself is finding another person at night and being able to give him/her the cross and the cauldron, if the living leader doesn't do this soon it's health will be worse night after night until causing it's dead. Some versions also says that the procession is accompanied by an animal (generally, a goat) and that one of the members is a cripple, that member is always at the end of the line.

Not everybody is able to see the procession only the people who is going to die soon (in less than a year) or people who was wrongly baptised with oil of the dead instead of holy water are able to see them. other people can only feel it's presence, and some versions says that people are only able to see the lights of the candles.

The company can appear for some reasons. It can appear for claim the soul of somebody who is going to die soon, to punish a person for a bad action it has done (if this action is really bad this person can be punished by being forced to lead the procession) or to announce to somebody the death of an acquaintance.