The Myths and legends of Colombia Are stories about legendary creatures and oral traditions that are passed on to each new generation.
Colombian folklore is a set of beliefs and traditions of a multiplicity of cultures such as those that make up the society of this country.
Patasola
It has strong influences of the Spanish culture that left its legacy in colonial times, African elements brought by the slaves to the new world and a huge legacy of the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples that inhabited the area.
Some of these myths are restricted to small areas of the country, while others are so extensive that they are heard throughout Latin America. The creatures depicted in all these stories are represented at many festivals and carnivals throughout the nation, part of the Cultural wealth from this country.
Examples of this are the parades in the Barranquilla Carnival, the Cali Fair, the Flower Fair in Medellín and a number of other cultural representations that take place in the towns of Colombia.
Many of these myths are part of popular slang and are sometimes used as moral stories to educate children about certain values. There is also a strong belief in the actual existence of many of these creatures, especially in rural areas, where many claim to have seen them in person.
Legends correspond to cosmology according to pre-Columbian societies. In Colombia, there are currently more than 87 tribes with an invaluable oral legacy that has been lost over time.
You may be interested in knowing the oral tradition of other countries. For example, The 20 most outstanding Venezuelan legends and myths or The 20 most outstanding legends and Peruvian myths .
30 myths and legends of Colombia by region
Antioquia Grande
1- The Guando or the barbecue of the Dead
On the eve of the day of all saints or on the day of the deceased, a group of people are usually seen on the roads carrying a dead man on a barbecue made of guaduas.
This vision is often accompanied by cries and cries of souls in pain. This spirit corresponds to that of a very greedy man who died. By accident, his lifeless body went to a river when those who carried it crossed a bridge.
2- The Only Soul
The soul alone is a soul in pity that finds itself paying its faults in the purgatory. Sometimes it can be heard at midnight or early mornings as a murmur of people in procession. This murmur can be accompanied by lights that are the souls walking.
The belief says that these spirits help find treasures and valuables that have been buried. This is why this apparition is usually venerated especially on the day of the souls and Good Friday.
3- The Mother of the River
There are many versions of the image associated with the Mother of the River. The most popular version is that of a beautiful blonde and blue-eyed girl who can be found near the rivers.
Her spirit corresponds to that of a Spanish woman who fell in love and had a child with an Indian. Both were murdered before their eyes because that love was forbidden.
The desperate woman threw herself into the river too and since then her soul likes to attract children with her voice. These unsuspecting and enthralled with their voice are thrown into the river inadvertently looking for it.
Tolima Grande
4- The Mohán
The Mohán or Muán, sometimes also known as Poira, is a creature well known in many regions of Colombia. He is described as an old being, with bright eyes, covered with hair, with long nails and with a layer of moss that covers him completely.
It can be found inside caves in the mountains and on rocks located in rivers and streams. She is a creature who likes to chase beautiful young girls and say she likes the blood of newborn babies.
He is a tobacco smoker, so peasants sometimes leave him offerings on the rocks of the rivers to benefit them with an abundant fishing.
5- The Paw alone
The Pata sola is one of the most widespread myths in Colombia. She is described as a one-legged, inverted footed creature to mislead her followers. It is quite agile and can move at high speed.
It has the capacity to transform depending on the situation. Sometimes it is described as a beautiful woman who attracts the men and then kill them and other times as an old woman with a single breast, wounds and large sharp teeth.
It has an aggressive character and is feared by the hunters of the rural areas. It is believed to be the soul of a woman who was mutilated and now persecutes Christian men.
6- The Llorona
Statue of the weeping lady in the mythological park of Neiva-Huila. Image recovered from: Alcaldia de Neiva.
La llorona is a popular myth not only in Colombia but throughout Latin America, from Mexico to Chile. The peasants describe her as a woman with a bony face, long bellows, filthy garments, and carrying a dead child in her arms.
It is characterized by a long and heartbreaking lament, accompanied sometimes by chilling screams. This spirit corresponds to that of a woman who murdered her own son and now is doomed to mourn for eternity. It can be found on the banks of rivers and among coffee plantations.
7- La Madremonte
The Madremonte or Honeysuckle is recognized as the deity of forests and jungles. This rules on the rains and winds, as well as on all the vegetation.
Being a deity does not have a definite physical form, but sometimes appears to the peasants in different ways. One of the most common is that of an old moss covered and that seems to take root on the marshes.
At other times she is personified as a large woman with hair full of vines and covered by a dress of leaves and vines. It can be found on stones near rivers or in areas covered by very lush trees.
Caribbean
8- The Cayman Man
The myth that a fisherman had a special fascination for spying on the young women who came to bathe on the banks of the river. This man got the help of an indigenous Guajira who gave him an ointment that allowed him to become a caiman to see all the women he wanted.
One day the ointment ran out and he had enough left to transform his body so that his head remained human. It is said that he died of sadness when he was rejected by all.
9- Francisco El Hombre
Francisco was a man who went home after several days of partying. On his way, on his donkey, he opened his accordion and began to sing several melodies. Suddenly he noticed the sound of another accordion that seemed to compete with his own.
In searching for the source of the sound, Francis noticed that it was Satan who sat on a tree and emitted those notes. At that moment, the world was completely dark and only the eyes of the same demon shone.
Francisco with enough courage opened his own accordion and began to sing a melody that brought the light and stars back to the sky. As he was a man of faith he began to cry out to God to help him and the frightened demon went out into the mountains, where he never returned.
It is said that since then the four evils that afflicted the region went: yellow fever, niguas, buba and Indians that attacked people. For each of these evils, a new type of music emerged, such as merengue, son, puya and paseo.
10- La Candileja
The candle is described as an apparition in the shape of a fireball with red tentacles of fire as well. She likes to persecute drunk and irresponsible men or children who do not behave properly.
It is said that this spirit corresponds to that of an old woman who welcomed her grandchildren in everything and was therefore condemned to wander eternally in this way.
Cundinamarca and Boyacá
Legends
11- Bochica and the Tequendama jump
This legend tells how for several weeks it rained all over the savannah until the crops were ruined and the houses flooded. The Zipa, who was the regent of all the cacicazgos of the zone, decided then to resort to the god Bochica to by aid.
He descended in a rainbow like an old man with a long white beard, wearing a robe and sandals and supported by a cane. Many people accompanied Bochica to a place where the waters were crowded in a mountain of rocks.
Bochica, with his cane, disintegrated those rocks and the water could flow down the mountain. This is how the spectacular waterfall today known as the Salto del Tequendama was formed.
12- Guatavita and the Legend of El Dorado
The cacique Guatavita was a powerful muisca commander who, on one occasion, discovered his wife committing adultery. This one ordered to kill the lover and his wife to eat the heart of the same one. The desperate cacica fled to a lagoon and there she submerged to become a present goddess in the place.
The Muiscas began to offer him pieces of gold and the chiefs bathed in gold used to bathe in their waters. This is how the legend of El Dorado arose and many Spanish commanders undertook unsuccessful expeditions in search of all the gold of the lagoon.
13- Origin of the muiscas
Source of José Horacio Betancur in honor of the Bachue in Medellín.
The Muiscas believed that at one point in the world there was nothing except for a woman named Bachué who emerged from the lagoon of Iguaque with a child in her hands. These began to inhabit the land and once the child grew, these began to have children
This is how the Muiscas began to be born and to multiply. One day Bachué and her husband, already aged, decided to begin their return to the lagoon where they emerged, this time turned into snakes.
Myths
14- The paws
The paws is a small creature with huge, hairy feet. It is said that it is covered with litter and mosses. It is rather shy and elusive, but it helps lost travelers in the forest leaving footprints on the road.
15- La Mancarita
The Mancarita is a myth, at times, similar to the one of the Patasola. This creature is described as a disheveled woman with a very hairy body and a single breast in her chest. Usually imitate the cries of children and women in order to attract men and abduct them.
16- The hairy hand
Overview of the Candelaria Desert in Boyacá
In the desert of Candelaria in Boyacá, sometimes a hand twice the size of the hand of a normal person, very hairy and with long nails, appears.
This has the peculiarity that it is not added to a body, but walks independently. The hairy hand often drag children from their beds and cause them wounds that can cause them to bleed and die.
17- The iron mule
It is said that the streets of colonial Bogota used to hear the galloping of a mule that, in its wake, raised sparks from the ground. This was attributed to the ghost of the mule of Don Álvaro Sánchez.
One day, however, the corpse of a witch in whose hoof-like feet had horseshoes like those of the mule was found. Since then, no such sound has been heard in the streets.
18- The hat
The hat is a sinister character who always wore black and was wearing a big hat on his head. He was always riding a black horse at night which made him confused with the darkness.
This figure appeared and disappeared from the villages without warning. He pursued drunks and goblins always late at night in solitary places.
Santanderes
19- The Bruges of Burgama
Statue of Leonelda in Ocaña. Image retrieved from tayrona.org.
Near what today is Ocaña, lived five women called: Leonelda Hernandez, Maria Antonia Mandona, Maria Perez, Maria de Mora and Maria del Carmen. These were dedicated to witchcraft and were loved by the local buffalo.
The ecclesiastical authorities decided to hang Hernandez, the most beautiful of the five, but the Indians rebelled and managed to save. The witch hung the Spanish captain and stabbed his soldiers. The hill where this story happened is known today as the Cerro de la Galca.
20- The goblins
Goblins are spirits that torment the peasants, particularly the beautiful young women who have a lover. Their pranks can be simple, even sometimes they can become aggressive against people.
They can cause nightmares and call the young women who sleepwalk. Families sometimes have to flee away from the site to get rid of the goblin who harasses them.
Llanos
21- The Ball of Fire
It is said that in the eastern plains of Colombia there is a curse that punishes the compadres and the comadres who fall in love. It is said that a rain of sparks can fall on them, consuming the place where they are until they become a fireball that does not seem to go out.
22- The whistle
The whistle is a spirit doomed to wander for having killed their parents. In life, he was tied up with a"mandador de musco", leaving the dogs to bite him and his wounds full of chili. Today it can be heard as a whistle that confuses the listener because when you listen to it is that it is close.
Nariño and Cauca Grande
23- The Widow
The widow is an apparition in the form of an old woman dressed in black who seems to move very fast. It can be seen on the streets or inside the houses and is usually associated as a bad omen. When the peasants see it, they know that something bad or serious is about to happen.
24- The headless priest
This myth, very popular throughout Latin America, has its own version in Colombia. It is said that at night there appears a priest walking dressed in his cassock, but without a head. In times of colony a priest was beheaded for his bad habits and since then condemned to wander as a spirit.
25- La Tunda
La Tunda is a character described as a woman of horrendous appearance, with one foot in the form of a root and the other as small as a baby. It is said that this creature goes looking for children who have not been baptized, drunk men or infidels and young men who kidnap to take them to the mountains.
26- The goblin
The elves in this region are beings who wear a large hat. They are usually linked with nature and protect the forest and its creatures from harm.
They like to knot horse manes until no one is able to untangle them. To scare them away, a new tiple is placed in a corner of the house for him to wear and never return.
27- The Indian of water
The water Indian is a character described as long hair that covers his face, with large eyes that seem to come out of their basins and a deep red. It is the guardian of the fauna of the rivers and lakes, which protects it from any fisherman.
It is said that when it detects a fishing rod, it proceeds to break the hook and to entangle the thread. Also, it can cause rivers to grow and cause floods to destroy the peasants' homes.
28- The girl of the letter
The girl in the letter is an apparition of a little girl who is said to have been raped and murdered on the day of her first communion. The spirit shows itself dressed in white and with the face covered by a veil. The walkers asks them to help them deliver a letter and the unwary to receive it notice that the girl disappears.
Amazon
29- Creation
According to the Ticuna indigenous people, at the beginning in the world only Yuche existed, who lived in the jungle accompanied by all the fauna of the place. It is said that he lived in a paradise with a cabin near a stream and a lake.
One day Yuche dived into the water to bathe and noticed in his reflection that he had begun to grow old. On his way back to the cabin, he felt his knee hurt and he began to sink into a deep sleep.
When he awoke, he noticed that a man and a woman sprouted from his knee. These began to grow as the Yuche died slowly. The couple lived in the same place for a long time until they had many children and then left.
The Ticunas hope someday to find this paradise and many say it is near the site where the river Yavarí.
30- The red bufeo
The Amazonian pink dolphin or bufeo is a species to which magical properties are attributed to it. It is said that, at times, strange characters appeared at parties that charmed young women and abducted them to put them in the woods.
The community, concerned, decided to give masato to one of these characters and when he was already drunk they decided to investigate. When the hat was dropped, it was transformed into a streak, the shoes into spoons and the belt into a good one.
When he woke up, the creature dived back into the river, but half of his body up was a dolphin's and down below he was still human.
In the indigenous tradition, many parts of this animal are converted into talismans to attract luck in fishing and hunting. They can also be used for witchcraft purposes and cause harm to people.
References
- López, Javier Ocampo. Myths and Legends of Antioch the Great. Bogotá: 958-14-0353-1, 2001.
- Popular Colombian Legends. Bogotá: Plaza & Janes, 1996. 958-14-0267-5.
- Aim, Silvia. Four Time Horses. Bogotá: GM Editores, 1998.
- Ministry of Culture of Colombia. National System of Cultural Information. [Online [Cited on: March 27, 2017.] sinic.gov.co.
- [Links] Tales and Legends of Colombia. Bogotá: Editorial Norma, 1999.