Duendes

[Do you have any myths or legends you would like to share?]

“I remember hearing a mythical story saying that when you see a small twister [whirlwind?], it’s invisible duendes (dwarfs), playing, holding hands, and running in circles. Every now and then you would see them in abandoned houses, but as soon as you would see them they would run and hide somewhere inside the walls. I heard it when I was 5 or 6 years old, told by my older brothers, and it was to stop me from running inside the twister. 

[Would they do anything besides playing? What would happen if you actually saw one?]

“Some would say that they would give you cookies or money, but only if they liked you or not. If not, they could take you with them and you will never see your parents again! So no one wanted to mess with them.”

[And what would cause them to dislike you? Like if you were a good or bad kid?]

“Mostly if you were disobedient to your parents!” 

Analysis: 

Duendes appear in many different cultures, and vary regionally. In this case, as my informant said, their purpose is to prevent children from going inside small whirlwinds. I think what makes this story different from other children’s legends is that these dudenes can be good (like giving cookies or money) depending on whether or not you were a “good child” or not. This makes me think that it would cause children to go looking for them. However, with the fear that they could take you from your parents, it probably scared off many children from seriously looking for them. I think this is really interesting, because it gives children the opportunity to weigh risk and reward at such a young age.

Nahuales/Nagual: “Shapeshifter”

Language: Spanish

“When I was younger, I remember hearing this story from older adults when I was an elementary student. Nahuales, who are people who have made a deal with the devil in order to become a shapeshifter. They shapeshift into animals or anything of their choosing in order to lure kids and cause harm. The first time I heard it was from a friend who said she heard of someone’s family who returned home to find a turkey standing in the middle of the room. The mother, sensing that something was off, smacked the turkey with a broom to try to get it out of the house, but to no avail, the turkey stayed. The daughter tried to pull the mom away from the turkey, and finally, when she did, the turkey left the house and shape-shifted back into its human form.”

Analysis:

Nauguals seem to serve 2 purposes: to warn children of dangers, and to warn them of the devil. This informant remarks that she heard this originally from older adults, but most commonly told stories between her friends. I think that this goes to show how folklore can range within a single community, dependent on your social groups: as a child, she was able to bond with her friends by telling these stories about this mutual creature they knew and feared, but the adults of her community more so used it as a way to try and keep their children safe.

La Lechuza

Language: Spanish

“La Lechuza is an old woman who people seek out to make deals with. The tale is, if you want to cause harm to someone, you can send the witch to carry out the action. You bring a photograph of your target and a personal item, like a piece of hair or a toothbrush, and the witch will transform into an owl and spy on your target. The owl will then follow the person and curse them. If anyone has unexpected illness or misfortune like losing all their money or job, that is said to be her work as well. If someone dies with no apparent cause or unexplainable illness, that is her work as well. I remember hearing it from some older kids in my neighborhood when I was younger.”

Analysis:

While I was listening to my informant, I got the idea that this type of legend would be used to explain a train of misfortune that someone could face, but when I asked my informant how they viewed this legend, they responded that they recalled that it was mostly used as a cautionary tale for when dispersing property among families or not to cross others. I thought that this was really interesting, as La Lechuza represents both misfortune that’s unexplainable and misfortune that you could receive as “karma”. Unlike other childhood legends I’ve heard, this one seems to follow you into adulthood, rather than just being a children’s warning.

Ratoncito Pérez

Language: Spanish

“I don’t remember the story super well, but it’s kind of like a version of the tooth fairy. The story goes that there once was a mouse that wanted to be a dentist, but couldn’t find any teeth to use. He then saw that children’s teeth would fall out, so he would go to collect them during the night. He felt bad for just stealing the teeth, so he would leave money or candy behind as sort of like a “thank you” for being able to keep the teeth. After that, children would leave their teeth underneath their pillows for the mouse”

Analysis:

I think it’s so cool that there are so many versions of “leaving your teeth for a creature to collect for money” around the world. When I think back on it, I think that losing teeth as a child can be an incredibly traumatic thing, so involving a reward and a mythical creature of some kind definitely makes it a lot easier for younger children to understand. I also think the inclusion of him being a dentist is beneficial, as since children (and even many adults!) fear the dentist so much, having kids feel like they’re “helping them out” may help them overcome some of these fears.

A Personal Ghost Story

Nationality: American

Age: 21

Occupation: Student 

Residence: Sturbridge, MA, USA

Date: 04/05/2025 

Language: English

Description 

When my parents were moved into [the house], they had to have it like, cleansed spiritually. Because they kept hearing like all of these noises, and they would like see things at night, this whole thing. Um, and then. Yeah, they would like, see things. I don’t know, like ghosts or whatever. I remember one night they were telling me that I think they like saw something, and we have a mud room like with, you know, the pantry and all that. And they had, like, come downstairs to get water or something. And there was just like something sitting in the corner. Um, and then, when I was like, probably a teenager, I heard something really loud downstairs. And then I went downstairs to check it, and all of our cabinets were open. With the plates like, have fallen out everywhere. And like, obviously, there are no Earthquakes in Massachusetts. So, like, that was definitely not an earthquake. Um, and then I went back upstairs, and like the second I had gotten into my bed, I heard like footsteps on the staircase. I also used to hear, like, things, call my name a lot that I thought were my parents, and then I’d go out and they’d like dead asleep. I’m so serious, like. This actually happened in my childhood. There’s no indication of like, what kind of ghost it is. I don’t know what kind, but they’ve like, never been aggressive. Like, they’re like spirits. I don’t think they’re like evil ghosts. Although, we also used to hear, like, like, horse clopping around the house at one point, and then my dad bought a metal detector, and we went outside, and we found a bunch of horseshoes that were buried in our yard. And our garage used to be a stable, so I guess that’s like a specific type of ghost. 

Subject’s Opinion

Interviewer: How did you guys find out it was? Did someone tell you it’s haunted?

Subject: Prior to me, they were…there was just so much weird stuff that was going on, that they had to have, like, bring someone over to like, cleanse it.

Interviewer: Who was that person? 

Subject: I don’t know, it was like…some spiritual person that, like, dealt with spirits, and like, I don’t know what you would call them. 

Interviewer: Like a priest or something. 

Subject: No, it wasn’t like religious, it’s um. Oh my God, I need this word. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Interviewer: So do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in these spirits? 

Subject: I don’t know. I feel like I’m like the type of person that’s like…if I don’t believe in them, they’re gonna get me. So especially growing up in the house like I believed in, like the spirits, but I don’t think I believe in like ghosts. Like, I don’t think there’s like evil ghost. I just think there’re some spirits going on. 

Analysis

This personal ghost story is a prime example of why ghost stories manifest and how they inform or alter our behavior. The subject claimed her family home is haunted quite matter-of-factly and went on to state three examples as evidence that validate the existence of paranormal entities, which initially suggested a strong belief in the existence of ghosts. But later, the subject drew a distinction between “ghosts” and “spirits”, but was unable to clearly communicate how she differentiates the two. Based on her explanation, it seems like the subject does not regard the “spirits” in her home as “ghosts” with ill intentions. Further, the subject seems to see ghosts as a more heightened concept than spirits, which made me realize that the very narrative definition of a “haunted” house is being challenged. The subject’s family has made meaning out of the odd events around their house by attributing them to paranormal activity, but rest assured as they believe the spirits are friendly and cannot harm them. This particular way of engaging with the belief of a haunting is unique. As we discussed in lecture, places claimed to be haunted are often associated with guilt and trauma without closure, but the subject’s family has clearly separated themselves from any potential history that could cause them to believe these spirits mean harm.