Legends of the Dominican Republic: Horror stories about monsters and mythological creatures have been part of different cultures around the world, some completely different, and others very similar with a few modifications.
Legends of the Dominican Republic:Lake Enriquillo
Lake Enriquillo Today, more than 40 meters below sea level, it has withdrawn like an offended child towards its cradle; He has done it other times, and like these, by forgetting what offends them, it has grown again, like he did a few decades ago destroying crops and dragging everything he found in his path. Along its length, stories of lights that could be seen and when you get closer you find nothing, as well as of souls that wander along its shores, are collected.
A fisherman says that when old Clemente died, there were many who heard the lapping of the waters and saw a mysterious calf go in and out of the water; he also says of the kindness of that man who gave what he had to eat to those who needed it. There is talk of people who can be seen from afar on its shores with white clothes that no one can see up close without them disappearing and that no one sleeps on its banks without having nightmares.
Legends of the Dominican Republic: Bienbienes
The legend of the bienbienes or vienvenirs appears. Since the 18th century, the existence of these beings has been located in some mountains called Bahoruco, where the black maroons who fled from colonial slavery and some Indians who rose up against the Spanish occupation took refuge.
The biembiens are wild beings, made up of clans hidden in the mountains. They live naked and irrationally, and emit growls as their only language. Their appearance is ugly and unpleasant, they have a lean, deformed body and are very short.
They say that they are agile climbers of trees and ravines and that they attack in disorderly groups. Legends say that these little men from the mountains come out at night from their hiding places to provide themselves with food in the conucos, and that like the ciguapa, they leave footprints upside down so that their whereabouts are not discovered.
It is claimed that among the goods there are some who eat human meat obtained by sacrifice. They are called «mondongos» and have yellowish red hair. The legend adds that when someone approaches the territory of the well-wishers, they scare him away with threatening screams and howls…
Legends of the Dominican Republic: B.rujas
The legend of the witches in the Dominican Republic is a heritage from Europe, which still preserves the echoes of old-fashioned medieval beliefs. Our witches are beings of the night, women with an aged and gloomy appearance, with a perverse soul. As in the old tradition, the witches fly on broomsticks, although here they prefer to turn into good-sized birds and flutter over the houses, emitting frightening squawks.
They assure that the witches take off their skin before flying, that they soak it in a jar, and that they then take flight saying Without God or Santa Maria! to access the darkest forces. People say that when they fly, they emit laughter and incomprehensible songs, when they don’t blow a clear fo-fo-fo into the wind, which they also use to scare away those who discover them.
It is believed that witches do not attack the children of their compadres, nor twins. In all rural communities there are stories of witches who were discovered in mid-flight. The process of catching a witch is known as «tumble a witch», and the «tumblers» are people with a certain power, who know the special prayers and rituals for this purpose. They say that when a witch is caught you have to wait for dawn, because when the sun rises the enchantment is broken and the identity of the evil woman can be discovered. They assure that when it rains and it shines, in some hidden place a witch is getting married.
the jupia
Opias were for the Indians the souls of dead men; a kind of feminine spirits of the air that made an incorporeal appearance during the nights. Along with this entity, the operito appears in the indigenous legend, a nocturnal ghost with a human form, which was known because, as it was not the natural spawn of a human uterus, it lacked a navel. Today the indigenous legend is remembered by the peasants in the appearance of the Jupia, a ghostly woman who haunts the dark mountains in the silent and deep nights of the fields…
Legends of the Dominican Republic: The Ciguapa
The ciguapas are strange wild women who live in the mountains and possess magical power. They are dark-skinned, with black, slanted eyes, and soft, lustrous hair, so long that it is the only clothing on their body outdoors. In some regions, the peasants say that they are tiny and have a disproportionate body; others who have long, skinny legs; some claim that they are hairy and a few that they are beautifully feathered.
Perhaps the ciguapas, more than beautiful and surly, are sad, because they have their feet upside down and leave footprints contrary to the course of their destiny… These creatures are essentially nocturnal or prefer the dark areas of the forests; when they go out they do it in search of fruits, fish or birds with which they feed.
Ciguapas have never been heard to speak; They claim that it emits howls and hiccups when they run through the fields, and when they jump or sleep among the branches of the trees. They say that the ciguapas have a hunting heart, and that they go out at night from the mountains in search of some night walker who bewitches, loves and then kills. According to the legends, the ciguapas have bad habits; They leave their dwellings to steal butter and raw meat from the kitchens, although they affirm that they like the corn and other grains that are grown in the conucos.
It is said that a ciguapa is caught on a crescent moon day with a jíbaro and cinqueño dog. However, it is added that it is preferable to leave them alone, because the pain they feel in captivity is so great that in the end they die of grief. If you see a ciguapa, never look it in the eye so that it does not bewitch you with its can.