The Xtabay
In the Yucatán, people say a woman combs her long hair under the ceiba trees at night, waiting for men to come closer.
What was reported
The Xtabay is a figure of Yucatec Maya folklore. In the best-known version, there were two women in a village: Xkeban, kind to everyone but looked down on, and Utz-Colel, admired but cold. When Xkeban died, her grave smelled of flowers and the sweet xtabentún flower grew on it; when Utz-Colel died, her grave smelled foul.
Utz-Colel, jealous, came back as the Xtabay, a beautiful woman who waits under ceiba trees combing her hair with a cactus spine. She lures men who are out late into the forest, and they aren't seen again.
Explanations offered
The story mixes Maya beliefs about the sacred ceiba tree with moral lessons from colonial times. Like La Diablesse in the Caribbean, she is a warning to men walking home late, and the tale is still told across the peninsula.
- When
- Told for generations
- Where
- Valladolid, Yucatán, Mexico
- Witnesses
- Maya folklore of the Yucatán
- 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.
More from Yucatán