Soon after the Spanish conquered the Aztec empire in the 16th century, Spanish monks (hermitaños) tried to inculcate Christian beliefs through the use of religious plays, frequently using masks. One of the plays transported from Spain was the popular Pastorela, or Shepherd's play. The story tells of a group of shepherds who hear of the birth of Jesus and go to see the Christ child. They are thwarted in their journey by devils, who see the birth of Christ as the immanent end of their control of mankind, and they are aided by a Christian monk. The devils are finally defeated by St. Michael. In Mexico, as in Spain, this play is performed during the period between Christmas Eve (December 24th) and the day of Epiphany (January 6th). Though versions of this imported play are performed all over Mexico, the Purepecha Native American people of Michoacan have evolved a particularly lively variant, weaving in other festival and mask traditons, adding new text and dances, elaborating the masks of the devils with indigenous motifs, and collapsing time frames so that he shepards are replace by latter day ranchers and by comic "feos" (ugly folk), who dance indiscriminately with the devils and with the monks. While the play with full text is rarely performed now, a capsule version, stressing the struggle between the powers of the devil and the Catholic faith and ending with a communal dance involving devils, angels and all those caught in between, is celebrated in many towns, moving from chapel to chapel and from home to home of the participants. Of particular interest is the inclusion of the pre-Columbian tradition of the Viejitos to make a bridge between the "old' and "new' faiths, as well as the Blackmen, who, based on domestic slaves owned by Spanish overloards, now serve frequently as guardians of the Christ child and, in some villages, accompany the image of the Christchild into the chapel for the Christmas season. While masks at the start of this century were crudely fashioned, and simple versions of the masks can still be found, carvers such as Juan Horta Castillo, who has won several national awards for his artistry, now create finely carved versions for use in the many local variants of the Pastorela.