Folklore: Superstition

“Cadejo”

In Guatemala, when you’re out at night by yourself, it comes out. My mom told me this story. The word is a hybrid of cat and bunny in Spanish. Mom says it’s a creature that comes out at people when you’re by yourself.

It’s white and small if you’re a girl. And it’s black and very big if you’re a guy and you’re by yourself.

Someone saw it, he was so scared that he died, just out of being scared. It doesn’t do anything to you, it’s just there, it stares at you. Actually, wait, never mind what I said. If there’s a drunk lying down on the street, it sits down next to you until you wake up. And sometimes it acts as a guide.

But there’s also this saying that if you’re a woman and a black one comes out, it chases you and barks at you. If it’s a white one to a guy, it means bad luck. It’s known for the sound it makes: it whistles and screams like a human being.

If a person heard the screams and starts looking for the person that he thinks is injured, the whistling goes farther and farther away.

To prevent it from happening, you walk with a little kid and nothing ever happens. I believe little kids are like angels.

In Guatemala, they carry their little kids when they go out. In Guatemala, especially that place, it’s the definition of darkness, literally, freakily kind of dark. We’re talking like “Wow.” I know, I’ve been there. These people believe it’s real. I guess someone saw it and it spread.

Analysis

It’s from Guatemala, from specifically a region, “The Progress,” or “El Progreso” in Spanish. It’s about 70 kilometers south of Guatemala City. The majority of the population there is indigenous, but not me, I have pure Spanish conquistador blood in me.

It’s very rural, not like a city, it’s a village. I’ve heard it there commonly too. If you go for a BBQ or hangout with my family, one or two things usually happen.

You joke around and tell stories about memories in Guatemala or these kind of dark tales. I heard it as a kid from my mom and then I wrote it down for one of my papers in junior college. My dad says he saw it, but I don’t know what’s up. He didn’t make a big deal of it.

I think the people are more inclined to believe things. They’ll say things, supernatural things, especially negative things, and they’re more inclined to believe it. The indigenous people are very witchcraft-oriented.

My Analysis:

This story plays on a fundamental fear of the dark, mixed with mysticism. Black and white are considered universal symbols of death, so to have something in this color cross your path would signify bad luck or coming misfortune.