You know, for such a small city, Old San Juan does have many ghost stories. Many of these stories deal with those who once roamed these historic ways, like the much rumored visits of Doña Felisa Rincón de Gautier, (San Juan’s first woman mayor), to her old house near San Juan’s cathedral that now serves as a Museum. Or how about the many different sightings of soldiers, prisoners, and slaves that have occurred in El Morro Fort during the guided tours? Maybe you’ve even heard of the spirit that roams the shores of the San Juan Bay, who walk past people and they never see its face.

Many of these stories are as old as the city itself, and through generations the handing down of these stories meet  with the modern world and take new forms and involve new players. Some however spring up anew from modern minds who try and make sense with the modern world and the remnants of those who’ve past. One of these is the famed “Tomb of the Witch” located on the  southeast quadrant of the Santa Maria  Magdalena de Pazzis cemetery.

This tomb has inspired many tales from people who try to decipher the symbols that are engraved on it. The surface is a work of art in itself, the elements of nature all come together to form Gaea, the earth mother, and within her the Egyptian ankh (symbol for eternity), the chalice (symbol for the divine feminine) and the Coptic ankh (symbol of eternal love) form the basis for all the speculations of who is buried here.

Many believe Reba Stewart was a witch that lived in Old San Juan, and while they may not be completely wrong, she was so much more.

Reba Stewart was a gifted artist who fell in love with Puerto Rico. A child prodigy, she was born in Hudson Michigan, and eventually relocated to Boston, Massachusetts to attend The School of the  Museum of  Fine Arts. She loved to travel and learn the many traditional arts of the places she visited. She was a regular visitor to Mexico and on 1958 she was granted the Bartlett Traveling Scholarship and was on her way to Japan to study the art of Japanese woodcutting.

In 1968 she started teaching at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, and started making regular trips to Puerto Rico. Her love for the island was expressed in the drawings, paintings, woodcarvings and mobiles that she created often from driftwood that would come on shore next to the cemetery where she now rests. Her art now sits in private collections along with museums such as The Fogg Museum at Harvard(Cambridge),  The Museum of Fine Art in Boston(Boston,MA), and The Wellesley College (Wellesley,MA).

Reba Stewart

Was Reba Stewart a witch? Not likely. Although her tomb demonstrates a clear appreciation for the pagan symbols expressing the divine and the creative energies, they could be there also as a sign of her love for other cultures and their arts. But the creative energies that fueled her life embed her tomb with the mystical energies depicted on her grave. Thus just for being there, she has become a myth, who has put a spell on us.

*Tomb pictures taken by Toxic Lunch. Profile picture taken from Reba Stewart’s bio on MIT here