Tanicu is the god of scarcity. Ragged, unkempt, and thin, he is the semiotic gathering of misery. He is not clearly seen; he prowls the neighborhood, he is felt, he is heard. In the month of October, when nothing has yet been harvested from the August and September crops, and when the last provisions have been exhausted or are nearing their end, Tanicu is celebrated on the first Sunday of October in the town of Salavina in Santiago del Estero.