The Soucouyant
In Caribbean folklore, a figure sheds her skin at night and flies over the rooftops as a ball of fire.
What was reported
In the folklore of Trinidad, Dominica and other islands, the soucouyant is said to look like an ordinary old woman by day. At night she sheds her skin, hides it in a mortar, and flies through the sky as a ball of fire, entering houses through cracks and keyholes.
To catch her, people say, you scatter rice at the door, because she must stop to count every grain, or find her skin and rub salt into it so she can't put it back on.
Explanations offered
The soucouyant combines West African and European beliefs carried to the Caribbean. Folklorists note that such stories sometimes fell unfairly on real women who lived alone, which is why they're best kept as stories. She appears often in Caribbean literature and Carnival.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Trinidad, Trinidad and Tobago
- Witnesses
- Caribbean tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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