The Venezuelan legends And myths are a set of narratives and fantastic facts, with a high supernatural and spiritual component.
These stories have been transmitted from generation to generation, so they are likely to change in content and form.
There are variants of the same stories that fit children's language. In addition their characters are often historical of the place or area where they originate.
Unlike the myth, which deals with the deities, the Legends Are based on human characters.
In places of Venezuela like El Llano and in the Andes are very common the legends referring to personages dated in the colonial era. Specifically set at the time when lighting was scarce.
The majority originates from some tragic event, ending in a public condemnation or directly in a divine intervention.
All carry with them a warning message that prevents those who hear from refraining from doing certain acts.
As a component of folklore, the legend integrates much of the lyrics of many songs, being one of the best known"Florentino and El Diablo"where the story of a coplero that was challenged by the very devil to sing.
His lost character continues his singing until dawn, at which point the devil can not continue and he is defeated. This story is immortalized in the work"Cantaclaro"by Rómulo Gallegos, and in the musical work of Alberto Arvelo Torrealba, which has also been adapted to film and television.
You may also be interested in These legends from Ecuador .
The Venezuelan legends
1- La soda
Undoubtedly this is the most popular legend in Venezuela. Tell the story of Melisa, a beautiful woman married to a good man who was unable to hurt her. Both had a 9-month-old baby.
Melisa used to bathe in the river, discovered by a malicious individual who spied on her very often.
One day Melisa noticed that she was being spied on, and asked the individual why she did it. This one to excuse, lied to him saying that he wanted to warn her that her husband was unfaithful to her own mother. Melisa believed him and ran to her house, and died of jealousy, set the house on fire with her husband and the baby inside.
He then went to his mother's house to claim his infidelity, which told him that this was not true. She attacked her until she was killed, and before she died the other woman exclaimed: I never lied to you and you committed the worst sin, so I condemn you, hovel."
The word Sayona refers to the white attire or bat that the woman uses. The stories tell that it usually appears to menizing women, in the form of a seductive woman, or a common animal.
By seducing them, asking for a cigarette, they change their appearance by a horrid one with sharp teeth, and their victims die horrified or flee in terror.
2- The whistle
The whistle is one of the most popular legends of Venezuelan folklore, set in the plains. It has been the subject of numerous musical creations very widespread in the country. It originates with the story of a young man Dumbbell (Malcriado) that insisted to his father to hunt a deer, since it wanted to eat its viscera.
Thus, one day the father left hunting, but when it took too long, the young man went in search of him. Finding him, and realizing that he had not hunted anything, he killed him and gutted him, taking his guts to the house.
He handed the guts to his mother and she put them to cook. As he passed the hours and noticed that they did not soften, he began to suspect. In interrogating his son, he confessed to the murder. The mother cursed him, his brother sent him to lash and spewed him into the wounds.
It is said that to remember and to narrate its suffering frees the listener of its appearance. This wandering spirit appears on the dark nights of May to walkers who party in the plain with torn clothes and whistling musical notes which.
When it appears, it strikes its victims and terrifies them, sometimes even to death. One of the most popular versions is that of Juan Hilario, which can be counted as a legend of folklore.
3- Juan Hilario
" Do not go to the party they told you, Juan Hilario." Thus begins the popular copla that tells the story of this character who used to go to parties to woo women and drink until dawn.
Juan Hilario was going to the nearby town on a dark night, when he met a friend who warned him of the dangerousness of the night due to the appearance of lightning and rain and who reminded him of the possible appearance of the"whistle".
But Juan Hilario mocked his friend and left. Along the way he began to hear the famous whistle:" Compadre, go home, I'm leaving for the party, I'm not going to get scared ".
And suddenly he began to be beaten. To defend himself, he struck the air, exhausted, and fell to the floor unconscious when his friends heard him and rescued him.
This was how Juan Hilario described the ghostly individual who had attacked him, and when his friend warned him, leaving in the legend the phrase" I told you Juan Hilario, those are not games ..."
María Leónza
Legend has it that Yara, the daughter of a Cacique, was born with beautiful green water eyes. The shaman of the tribe predicted that she should be sacrificed to the great anaconda or would not bring the doom to the people.
His father was unable to do so and hid it in a cave, guarded by guards, from which he could not leave, much less look reflected in the water.
One day a mysterious force numbed the guardians and the girl came out. He approached the lake and saw her reflection being enchanted. The water god Anaconda came out and fell in love with the maiden, taking her for himself.
His father tried to separate them, but the anaconda was angry and caused a great flood that ended the village. Since then she became the protector of waters, nature and love.
With the arrival of the Spaniards, Yara was converted to Catholicism under the name of Maria de la Onza del Prado de Talavera de Nivar, or Maria Lionza.
5- The crazy caraballo light
It is said that a woman from the time of the war of independence lost her two sons, who" They went behind the man on horseback" In clear allusion to Simon Bolivar.
It was immortalized in literature by the poet Andrés Eloy Blanco. Enraged by the loss, her soul wanders the moors in search of her lost children.
6- Doctor Knoche
Its name was Gottfried August Knoche, of German origin, who investigated the way to preserve the corpses of the decomposition.
He lived in La Guaira in 1840 and bought an hacienda in Galipán, on the hill of Avila, where he built a hacienda called Buena Vista.
On this hacienda he continued his mummification experiments, performing it on his deceased relatives, dead soldiers not reclaimed from the federal war, animals, etc.
His fame spread throughout the area, and important personalities of the time came to him to perform the process at the time of his death.
The hacienda thus became a mausoleum full of mummies in perfect conservation. Dr. Knoche's formula allowed this process without the need to remove the viscera from the corpses, only with an injection of a secret formula.
When he died, he left a dose for himself and another for his nurse. After this the hacienda was abandoned and looted and now only plastic dolls replace the famous mummies.
7- La llorona
The legend is about a young woman who used to scream desperately:" My son my son ". It is said that it attacks everyone who encounters it.
Two versions are known about its origin. The first relates that it was a young woman, who had loves with a soldier, who left her, leaving her pregnant. Desperate for her baby's cries, not knowing what to do, she killed him with her hands. Once this was done, he began to scream loudly, drawing the attention of family and neighbors.
The relatives and neighbors saw the horror, cursed and she ran running lost in the plain, turning into terror, stealing children alone, especially at Easter time.
Another version relates that it was a young woman, who killed her children every time they were born.
She confessed her sins to a priest and he told her that the next time she gave birth, before she killed her son, she would breastfeed him. But then this act created in her a deep repentance and since then she wanders on the plain looking desperate to her children.
8- The mule woman
In this story an old lady came around in the year 1815 to a restaurant in Caracas, where her daughter worked.
The daughter denied the food and threw it away. The lady found an individual, who presented her with a coin bearing the San Andrés cross on the seal. The man told him to come back, pay with the coin and say" Stay with the returned to buy malojo "
The lady did so and then the daughter was transformed from the waist up into a mule. In front of everyone present, he began to kick and fled. From that day the woman appears praying in the church of the Mercedes covering itself with a white mantle.
9- The crazy of Ejido
At the time of the war of independence, in 1812, a young woman named Marta lived in the then Villa de Ejido, in the state of Mérida, who was deeply in love with a young man named Lorenzo, who had inherited her father hacienda and many goods.
He wanted to go to Mérida with his mother and Marta, but she could not because her mother was ill. He insisted on Lorenzo not to travel since he did not want to be alone. He said he had duties to fulfill.
On March 26th the great earthquake occurred and many buildings collapsed in Merida. The people asked for mercy to God and terrified, the survivors were grouped in the squares. Marta learned what had happened and rushed off to Merida.
When he arrived, he got Lorenzo's mother, his gaze lost in dismay, on the ruins under which his son's body was.
Her reaction was to be petrified at the horror of the loss of her beloved. From that day every Holy Week is seen traveling the streets of Merida followed by a group of children.
10- The Chained by Michelena
It is the story of Jose, a young and amorous womanizer, who had his girlfriend named Maria Eugenia, but at the same time he was with other girls of the town.
María Eugenia's father found out and was fed up with the gossip that ran all over the town, chased the young man and killed him with sticks.
Shortly afterwards, he ordered the body to be dumped without being buried. Later, at night, passing by the place where he had committed his crime, he came across a ghostly figure who told him he would have to pay for what he did. Frightened, at home, he collapsed, freaking out and dying soon after.
The days near the anniversary of José's death continue to appear, dragging chains and wearing black robes through the streets of the town.
11- The bore alone
In Venezuela the soul is known only as the spirit of a woman fighter in the war of independence, who died in a battle. It is a wandering soul benefactor but that terrifies to those who have acted badly.
12- Juan Machete
This is the story of Juan Francisco Ortiz , Nicknamed"Juan Machete"because he always carried a machete in his belt.
John had a farm and one night he wanted to make a pact with the devil, asking him for many riches.
From that day on their pastures began to be very fertile and their cows gave birth to two calves. One day a black male, very large in white helmets appeared among his cattle and thought that it was an animal escaped from another farm.
But Juan Machete, after getting rich by buying lots of cattle and multiplying it, all began to disappear.
Legend has it that Juan Machete also disappeared and that his treasures were buried in the savannah.
It is said that if one appears naked in the right place, and the soul of Juan Machete appears, one can negotiate with him a great treasure. However, many who have tried it flee in terror to see the soul vomiting fire.
13- The well of the priest
Located in the Vargas state, it is a very deep tourist well. It is said that it owes its name to a priest of the region used to bathe in its waters, in female company.
One day being alone, he was swallowed up by the waters and his body was never found. Since then, his spirit appears on the surface asking for help.
14- The bogie
It dates back to the colonial period, during the Black Death, which swept towns and cities and where the corpses were piled in carts to carry them to mass graves.
Many of these individuals were still alive and disoriented and left the wandering graves without knowing what to do.
The ghost carriage was that chariot but lit in flames and piloted by the devil, who took away all who lived in sin. It is also said that seeing the carriage was an omen of calamities.
15- The fireball
It is a ball of fire that moves around like a wheel. When you look at it, you see a spectral figure resembling a skeleton.
From its origin it is said that it was the soul of a bishop who committed sin, or of two mothers who cursed each other; A woman who was a bad daughter or wandering souls.
In any case it is said that if you pray, you get closer to burn, you must be insulted to move away.
16- The bride of the Guaira
In the 50's when the Caracas La Guaira highway did not yet exist, a young woman named María José Cárdenas was very much in love with her boyfriend.
Dressed as a bride and ready to go to the altar, she went to take a taxi to Caracas for the wedding. The cab broke down and Maria decided to ask some travelers to help her.
Someone stopped and offered to take her, but being drunk, they had an accident in a curve and the two died.
Since then, the drivers who at night appear on the road are told to take her. If you take her, when you pass by the place of the accident, she says:" I killed myself here ", Disappearing.
Drunk drivers lose control and suffer accidents. It is also said that if the driver is sober, he leaves some flowers where he was sitting.
On the other hand if you are denied take it, it appears later asking "Why do not you take me? ", Producing in most cases serious accidents.
17- The dwarf of the cathedral
In the colonial city of Caracas, an individual walked on his way to the house of his lover late at night.
By the cold and to calm the nerves of the solitude of that place this one was taking rum. Suddenly he felt someone following him but it was a ragged dog before which he made fun of her presence.
Passing through the cathedral, he spotted a very small dwarf seated, dressed in the colonial style. He greeted him and asked for the favor of lighting a cigarette.
Not to be rude, he agreed and remembered the warning of his grandparents:" Do not fire the dwarf's cigar ". The dwarf smiled with sharp tusks and began to grow larger than the cathedral.
Terrified and paralyzed, he watched as that being told him from above. " Thanks for the fire, my friend. Do you want to go to a place where there is real fire ?"
18- The Horcon
The horcon is a tragic story of love and jealousy, in which a young man who gets a job on a farm, meets and falls in love with the foreman's daughter, marrying after her and having a beautiful son.
However, on suspicion of the infidelity of his beloved, he says goodbye to her, making her believe that she has left to actually hide inside the hacienda.
When discovered with another, the protagonist kills the couple and buries them in the vicinity of a nearby tree.
19- The Lost Hachador
More than a hundred years ago, in the forests of Barinas, a hachador left on a holy Friday to cut wood for his own coffin.
God punished him by flashing him instantly, lifting his ax, making him a wandering soul in the savannah, looking bald, with bright eyes, woolen chest, and ironed hands like a frog. Usually, he always carries the ax high to attack anyone who hunts for ambition.
Their presence manifests itself mainly in Lent, in the silent nights of strong breeze that moved the vegetation.
20- The cart of death
Unlike the rest of the legends, it does not refer to any particular character or spirit.
It is about the appearance of a Caracas carriage without horses or rider to guide it, stumbles in the streets, leaving behind dark tones, carrying a heap of human remains.
References
- Annex: Legends of Michelena. Retrieved from: en.wikipedia.org.
- Stories of Venezuelan Terror. Retrieved from:
- The legend of the Sayona. Recovered from: halloween.com.es.
- The Legend of Juan Hilario. Recovered from: entretenimiento.elpensante.com.
- The legend of Dr Knoche and his family mausoleum. Recovered from: desdelaplaza.com.
- The Legend of Juan Machete. Retrieved from: banrepcultural.org.
- La Llorona. Retrieved from: en.wikipedia.org.
- Venezuelan legends that will leave you with goosebumps. Retrieved from: correodelorinoco.gob.ve.
- Venezuelan legends. Recovered from teresaysusteresadas.bligoo.com.
- María Lionza. Retrieved from: en.wikipedia.org.
- Well of the Cure, a river full of mysteries. Recovered from: viajandoconsol.blogspot.com.
- . The hidden face of Venezuela, the myths that still make us tremble. Recovered from: loquedeberiaser.blogspot.com.