A conversation I have been having led me to do some research into a mythical creature called surem.
This is From Being in Dreaming, Florinda Donner
Those are the Bacatete Mountains," she said, pointing to the mountains to the left of us,
barely outlined against the semidarkness of the dawn sky.
"Is that where we are going?" I asked.
"Not this time," she said, sliding down into her seat again.
A cryptic smile played around her lips as she half turned toward me.
"Perhaps one day you'll have a chance to visit those mountains," she mused, closing her
eyes.
"The Bacatetes are inhabited by creatures of another world; of another time."
"Creatures of another world, of another time?" I echoed her in mock seriousness. "Who
or what are they?"
"Creatures," she said vaguely. "Creatures that don't belong to our time, to our world."
"Now, now, Delia. Are you trying to scare me?" I couldn't help laughing as I turned to
glance at her.
Even in the dark, her face shone. She looked extraordinarily young, the skin molded
without wrinkles over curving cheeks, chin, and nose.
"No. I'm not trying to scare you," she said matter-of-factly, tucking a strand of hair
behind her ear. "I'm simply telling you what is common knowledge around here."
"Interesting. And what kind of creatures are they?" I inquired, biting my lip to suppress
my giggles. "And have you seen them?"
Of course I've seen them," she said indulgently. "I wouldn't be talking about them if I
hadn't."
She smiled sweetly, without a trace of resentment. "They are beings that populated the
earth at another time and now have retreated to isolated spots."
At first I couldn't help laughing out loud at her gullibility.
And then, seeing how serious and how convinced she was that these creatures indeed
existed, I decided that rather than make fun of her I should accept her credulousness.
After all, she was taking me to a healer, and I didn't want to antagonize her with my
rational probes.
"Are those creatures the ghosts of the Yaqui warriors who lost their lives in battle?" I
asked.
She shook her head negatively, then, as if afraid someone might overhear, she leaned
closer and whispered in my ear, "It's a well-known fact that those mountains are inhabited
by enchanted creatures: birds that speak, bushes that sing, stones that dance.
"Creatures that can take any form at will."
She sat back and regarded me expectantly. "The Yaquis call these beings surem.
They believe that the surem are ancient Yaquis who refused to be baptized by the first
Jesuits who came to Christianize the Indians."
She patted my arm affectionately. "Watch out. They say that the surem like blond
women."
She cackled with delight. "Maybe that's what your nightmare was all about. A surem
trying to steal you."
"You don't really believe what you're saying, do you?" I asked derisively, unable to keep
my annoyance in check.
"No. I've just made up that the surem like blonds," she said soothingly. "They don't like
blonds at all."
Although I didn't turn to glance at her, I could feel her smile and the humorous twinkle in
her eyes.
It irked me to no end. I thought her to be either very candid, very coy, or, even worse,
very mad.
"You don't believe that creatures from another world really exist, do you?"
