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“Every summer, we used to visit grandma house in Morocco. At night, my cousins and I loved all the mystical stories that she used to tells us. One in particular was the mystical legend of Aïcha Kandicha Jinia. She appeared to her victims as a beautiful woman with very long hair that flowed behind. She had an enchanting voice that give her magical power to lures who ever come cross her to their doom. One day, in Atlas mountain a group of men was walking at night when she appeared to them. They were lured by her beauty. When they approached her, they realized her feet were not human but animal feet.  They were so petrified, looking at her goat feet that some went mad to death and others run away and survived. My grandma told us only the  men with a pure Heart survived and their soul were free from being possessed and haunted by her. As much we were fascinated by the story, we were all scared by the name of Aïcha Kandicha. 😂”

Analysis:

The tale of Aicha Kandicha Jinia is similar to the tale of La Llorona. This is because La Llorona is usually also an otherworldly woman luring men to their demise because of her beauty. I believe this story is fit to be a tale in order to be suitable for kids but scary enough to have them not trust a stranger for their safety. I also read in other sources that sometimes they depict her having a snake tail for legs. Goats are the most common animals in the Atlas mountains though, which is probably why that is the chosen variation of her depiction. This is a case of polygenesis, meaning that the folklore has independent origins. This is because the supposed origin point of La Llorona was the aftermath of Spanish colonization, which happened in North America. However, there could be a possibility of a similar archetype story from Spain to Morocco, since they are neighboring countries. My mom is an example of a passive bearer as she didn’t tell me this story. It is a story very much related to the Atlas mountains for her, and that’s not where I grew up (a city in the states). I believe it is also a tale of the countryside or rural areas. Perhaps it is even demonizing the women there, or more specifically the Amazigh women, as they (the indigenous people of Morocco) have been alienated from urban and Islamic life for the most part. After further research though, apparently she was a person who resisted Portuguese occupation in the 16th century by luring the soldiers and having her accomplices kill them. She was thus given the name “La Contessa”, which sounds the same as Kandicha. She was heartbroken after the death of her fiancé in the hands of the Portuguese, so she vowed to kill any soldier she saw. Thus, the tale has evolved to killing any man she sees, in which her spirit lingers there for eternity to haunt people.