Ciguapa

A Ciguapa (pronounced see-GWAH-pah) is a mythological creature of Dominican folklore. They are commonly described as having human female form with brown or dark blue skin, backward facing feet, and very long manes of smooth, glossy hair that covers their otherwise naked bodies. They supposedly inhabit the high mountains of the Dominican Republic.

Overview

These creatures have nocturnal habits. Also, due to the position of their feet, one can never quite tell from which direction the beings are moving from by looking at their footprints. Some people believe that they bring death, and it is said that one should not look them in the eye^[1], otherwise the person is at risk of being bewitched permanently. Also, the only vocalization made by ciguapas is said to be a kind of whine or chirping.

Ciguapas are considered to be magical beings, beautiful in appearance to some, yet horrendous to others. All sources agree that they are wild creatures. They are compared in many cases to mermaids: beautiful yet cruel, and far from innocent. Deceitful and ready to capture the wayward traveler, it is said that they are so beautiful as to lure men into the forest, even though following footprints is misleading, to have sex with them only to kill them afterwards. Even today, one can still find inhabitants who confirm having sighted a ciguapa.

Lore states that the only way to capture a ciguapa is by tracking them at night, during a full moon, with a black and white polydactylic dog (called cinqueño dog). [1]

Though many believe that the myth of the ciguapa is of Taino origin, it has been argued that is probably of more recent concoction, being possibly attributed to African beliefs brought to the island by slaves during the colonial period. More to the point, no known Taino artifacts or lore make reference to any creature even remotely similar to it[2]. Also, the legend may have originated from other myths, as distant as the Guaraní Curupí or the Hindu Churel, which was described by Rudyard Kipling in My Own True Ghost Story as having traits amanzingly similar to those of the ciguapa. Nonetheless, the Hindu hypothesis may be far-fetched since there is no way to ascertain how this story got to the Dominican Republic during the nineteenth century, when no cultural exchange whatsoever occurred between these nations.

A Dominican film called "El Mito de la Ciguapa" (The Myth of the Ciguapa) is set to be produced by Xenda Films.

See also

• Sihuanaba

References

1. ^ Liza Phoenix (2007-03-05). "Ciguapa" (in English). lizaphoenix. http://www.lizaphoenix.com/encyclopedia/ciguapa.shtml. Retrieved 2007-10-20. 

External links

• The Phoenixian Book of Creatures
• DICCIONARIO DE MITOS Y LEYENDAS
• La Ciguapa by J.E. Marcano

This article about a legendary creature is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Mythological characters Caribbean mythology Dominican Republic culture Legendary creature stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Chrysochus cobaltinus SMK Ibrahim Look at other dictionaries: ciguapa — (de or. indoamericano) 1 f. *Ave de rapiña nocturna, más pequeña que la lechuza. ≃ Siguapa. 2 (C. Rica; Locuma salicifolium) m. Árbol que produce una especie de zapotillos de carne de color de yema de huevo y semillas parecidas a las del mamey. ⇒ …   Enciclopedia Universal ciguapa — (De or. amer.). 1. m. C. Rica y Cuba. Árbol de la familia de las Sapotáceas, que produce una especie de zapotillos de carne color de yema de huevo y semilla semejante a la del mamey. 2. f. Cuba. Ave de rapiña, nocturna, semejante a la lechuza y… …   Diccionario de la lengua española Ciguapa — La Ciguapa es una criatura mítica femenina, similar a una mujer india, que camina con sus pies vueltos al revés. Emite aullidos similares al canto de la perdiz. Sale de noche, al borde de las corrientes de agua, y puede embrujar a los hombres. De …   Wikipedia Español planta — (Del lat. planta.) ► sustantivo femenino 1 ANATOMÍA Parte inferior del pie, con que se pisa y sobre la que se sostiene el cuerpo. 2 BOTÁNICA Cualquier vegetal o ser orgánico que crece y vive sin mudar de lugar. 3 División de un edificio… …   Enciclopedia Universal Caribbean Region of Colombia — The Caribbean Region or Caribbean Coast Region is a natural region of Colombia mainly composed of eight Departments located contiguous to the Caribbean Sea. [http://www.memo.com.co/fenonino/aprenda/geografia/regiones.html es icon MEMO: Natural… …   Wikipedia Rodrigo Grande — (born February 10, 1974, Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina) is an Argentine film director and screenplay writer.He works in the cinema of Argentina. [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0334824/ Rodrigo Grande] at the Internet Movie Database.]… …   Wikipedia List of monsters — This is a list of monsters, mythical, legendary, and fictional. The list is organized by Region and the mythologies, legends, and literature that came from said region. They are then organized alphabetically. It is by no means complete or… …   Wikipedia Mythic humanoids — are mythic creatures that are human like or half human. Contents 1 Elves, fairies, nymphs, little people, and house spirits 2 Part human 3 Monstrous humanoids and goblins 4 …   Wikipedia Boulevard 27 de febrero — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda El Boulevard 27 de febrero es una vía pública situada en la ciudad de Santo Domingo, República Dominicana. Esta obra fue inaugurada el 29 de marzo de 1999 y tuvo un costo aproximado de $68 millones de pesos… …   Wikipedia Español Cegua — La Cegua (del náhuatl, cihuatl, mujer[1] ) también conocida como Segua o Tzegua, es un personaje de una leyenda típica de Centroamérica, de origen mesoamericano y que habla de un ser espectral con cuerpo de mujer que se suele aparecer con una… …   Wikipedia Español 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”