THE 38 MOST OUTSTANDING MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF COLOMBIA - CULTURE VOCABULARY

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.

It has strong influences from the Spanish culture that left its legacy in colonial times, African elements brought by slaves to the New World and a huge legacy of the pre-Columbian indigenous peoples that inhabited the area.

Patasola

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 of these stories are depicted in many festivals and carnivals across the nation, part of the rich culture of this country.

Examples of this are the parades at the Barranquilla Carnival, La Feria de Cali, the Flower Fair in Medellín and countless 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 on 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.

The 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 with the passage of time.

List of Colombian myths and legends according to region

Antioquia Grande

1- El Guando or The barbecue of the Dead

On the eve of All Saints' Day or the Day of the Dead, a group of people is usually seen on the roads carrying a dead person on a barbecue made of guaduas.

This vision is usually accompanied by screams and lamentations of the souls in pain. This spirit corresponds to that of a very greedy man who died. By accident, his lifeless body fell into a river when those who carried him crossed a bridge.

2- The Anima Alone

The Anima alone is a soul in pain that is paying its faults in purgatory. Sometimes it can be heard at midnight or early morning 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. That 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 Madre del Río. The most popular version is that of a beautiful blonde and blue-eyed young woman who can be found near rivers.

Her spirit corresponds to that of a Spanish woman who fell in love and had a child with an indigenous person. Both were murdered in front of her eyes because that love was prohibited.

The desperate woman threw herself into the river as well and since then her soul likes to attract children with her voice. These unsuspecting and enraptured with her voice jump into the river unnoticed looking for her.

Tolima Grande

4- The Mohán

The Mohán or Muán, sometimes also known as Poira, is a fairly well-known creature in many regions of Colombia. He is described as an old being, with bright eyes, covered in hair, with long nails and a layer of moss that completely covers him.

It can be found inside caves in mountains and on rocks located in rivers and streams. It is a creature that likes to chase beautiful young women and they say it has a taste for the blood of newborn children.

He is a tobacco smoker, so peasants sometimes leave him offerings on the stones of the rivers so that he can benefit them with abundant fishing.

5- The leg alone

The single leg is one of the most widespread myths in Colombia. It is described as a creature with a single leg in the shape of a hoof and inverted to mislead those who pursue it with its footprints. It is quite agile and can move at high speed.

It has the ability to transform depending on the situation. Sometimes she is described as a beautiful woman who attracts men and then kills them, and other times as an old woman with a single breast, hair, and large sharp fangs.

It has an aggressive character and is feared by hunters in rural areas. It is believed to be the soul of a woman who was mutilated and now persecutes Christian men.

6- La llorona

Statue of the weeping woman in the mythological park of Neiva-Huila. Image recovered from: Mayor's Office of Neiva.

La llorona is a very 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 hair, dirty clothes, and carrying a dead child in her arms.

It is characterized by a long and heartbreaking wail, sometimes accompanied by chilling screams. This spirit corresponds to that of a woman who murdered her own son and is now condemned to mourn for eternity. It can be found on the riverbanks and among the coffee plantations.

7- The Madremonte

The Madremonte or Madreselva is recognized as the deity of the forests and jungles. It governs the rains and winds, as well as all vegetation.

Being a deity, it does not have a defined physical form, but it sometimes appears to peasants in different ways. One of the most common is that of an old moss-covered one that seems to take root over the swamps.

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 leafy trees.

The Caribbean Region

8- The Cayman Man

The myth tells 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 enlisted the help of a Guajira indigenous woman who gave him an ointment that allowed him to transform into an alligator so that he could see as many women as he wanted.

One day the ointment ran out and he only had enough left to transform his body so his head remained human. It is said that he died of sadness when he was rejected by everyone.

9- Francisco The Man

Francisco was a man who was going home after several days of partying. On his way, on his donkey, he opened his accordion and began to sing various melodies. Suddenly he noticed the sound of another accordion that seemed to compete with his own.

When looking for the source of the sound, Francisco noticed that it was Satan sitting on a tree emitting those notes. At that moment, the world went completely dark and only the eyes of the demon himself shone.

Francisco with enough courage opened his own accordion and began to sing a melody that brought the light and the stars back to the sky. As he was a man of faith, he began to cry out to God for help and the terrified demon left for the mountains, where he never returned.

It is said that since then the four diseases that afflicted the region have left: yellow fever, chiggers, buba and the Indians that attacked people. For each of these ills, a new type of music emerged, such as the merengue, the son, the puya and the paseo.

10- La Candileja

The footlight is described as a fireball-shaped apparition with red tentacles of fire as well. She likes to chase drunk and irresponsible men or children who don't behave properly.

It is said that this spirit corresponds to that of an old woman who acolyzed her grandchildren in everything and was therefore condemned to wander eternally in this way.

11- The Siguanaba

In the middle of the mountains of Colombia, the late-night men who return home on their horse are presented on the road by a woman of extraordinary beauty. She asks you please to let her ride and bring her closer to the town.

Men are generally unfaithful or unfaithful (they are not married in the church). If they agree to ride her on her nag, at one point along the way they may discover how that beautiful woman suddenly turns into a horrible being with long, witch-like nails. This one, without mercy, will kill the man in the middle of the night.

If you manage to escape from it, the man will lose his strength for days, will have severe fatigue and fever and will also develop black lice on his head.

Cundinamarca and Boyacá

12- Bochica and the Tequendama waterfall

This Muisca legend tells how for several weeks it rained throughout the savannah until the crops were ruined and the houses flooded. The Zipa, who was the ruler of all the chiefdoms in the area, then decided to turn to the god Bochica for help.

He descended in a rainbow like an old man with a long white beard, wearing a tunic and sandals and supported by a cane. Many people accompanied Bochica to a place where the waters gathered on 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 Salto del Tequendama was formed.

13- Guatavita and the Legend of El Dorado

The Guatavita cacique was a powerful Muisca commander who, on one occasion, discovered his wife committing adultery. He ordered to kill the lover and his wife to eat his heart. The desperate cacica fled to a lagoon and there she submerged to become a goddess present on the site.

The Muiscas began to offer him pieces of gold and the caciques bathed in gold used to bathe in its waters. This is how the legend of El Dorado emerged and many Spanish commanders undertook unsuccessful expeditions in search of all the gold in the lagoon.

14- Origin of the Muiscas

Fountain 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 Iguaque lagoon with a child in her hands. These began to inhabit the earth and once the child grew up, they began to have children

This is how the Muiscas began to be born and multiply. One day, Bachué and her husband, already aged, decided to begin their return to the lagoon from which they emerged, this time turned into snakes.

15- The legs

The Paws is a small creature with huge, hairy feet. It is said to be covered in leaf litter and mosses. He is quite shy and elusive, but he helps travelers lost in the forest by leaving footprints on the way.

16- La Mancarita

La Mancarita is a myth, sometimes similar to that of Patasola. This creature is described as a disheveled woman, with a very hairy body and a single breast on her chest. She usually imitates the cries of children and women in order to attract and abduct men.

17- The hairy hand

Panoramic of the Candelaria desert in Boyacá

In the Candelaria desert in Boyacá, sometimes a hand twice the size of a normal person's hand appears, very hairy and with long nails.

This has the peculiarity that it is not added to a body, but rather that it walks independently. The hairy hand tends to drag children out of their beds and cause injuries that can cause them to bleed out and die.

18- The shod mule

It is said that the streets of colonial Bogotá used to hear the galloping of a mule that raised sparks from the ground as it passed. This was attributed to the ghost of Don Álvaro Sánchez's mule.

However, one day the corpse of a witch was found on whose feet, which looked like hooves, had horseshoes like those of a mule. Since then, no such sound has been heard on the streets.

19- The hat

The hat is a sinister character who always dressed in black and wore a large hat on his head. He always rode a black horse at night, which caused it to be confused with the darkness.

This figure appeared and disappeared from the villages without giving notice. She always chased drunkards and rogues late at night in lonely places.

20- The old woman with the black flag

Near the municipality of Guaitarilla, in Nariño there is a rural area where the wind usually blows wildly. It is so strong that the villagers take refuge in their homes, as storms can become unbearable and dangerous.

But not everyone is safe. There are several who say they have seen an old woman waving a black flag near a rock almost when there is no daylight left and the gale is at its most unleashed.

Some believe that by waving that flag, the wind accelerates and causes damage to houses and fields, causing fear among villagers and animals.

Santanderes

21- The Witches of Burgama

Leonelda statue in Ocaña. Image recovered from tayrona.org.

Near what is now Ocaña, lived five women named: Leonelda Hernandez, María Antonia Mandona, María Pérez, María de Mora and María del Carmen. These were dedicated to witchcraft and were loved by the indigenous búrburas of the area.

The ecclesiastical authorities decided to hang Hernandez, the most beautiful of the five, but the Indians rebelled and managed to save her. The witch hanged the Spanish captain and stabbed her soldiers. The hill where this story happened is known today as the Cerro de la Horca.

22- The goblins

The elves are spirits that torment the peasants, in particular the beautiful young women who have a lover. Their antics can be simple, they can even turn aggressive against people at times.

They can cause nightmares and call young women who come sleepwalkers. Sometimes families have to flee away from the site in terror to get rid of the goblin that harasses them.

23- Princess Zulia

Zulia was the daughter of a cacique with leadership in the tribes on the banks of Zulasquilla. This was a very brave man who fought until her death the arrival of the conquerors to her region, who easily razed the population to take over the gold mines.

Zulia, courageous like her father, fled and allied with other indigenous tribes until she achieved an army of more than 2,000 men. Her trusted man was Guaymaral, with whom she fell in love and they had a strong sentimental bond.

Together they defeated the conquerors, who fled. However, they came back reinforced and killed Zulia, which fought to the end for its people. In his honor, many towns, regions or rivers bear his name.

Plains

24- The Fireball

It is said that in the eastern plains of Colombia there is a curse that punishes compadres and comadres who fall in love. It is said that a shower of sparks can fall on them, consuming the place where they are until they are turned into a ball of fire that does not seem to go out.

25- The whistle

The wigeon is a spirit condemned to wander for having killed its parents. In life, he was tied with a "neck warden", left to 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 it is heard far away, it is close.

Nariño and Cauca Grande

26- 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 generally associated as a bad omen. When the farmers see it, they know that something bad or serious is about to happen.

27- The headless priest

This myth, quite popular throughout Latin America, has its own version in Colombia. It is said that at night a priest appears walking dressed in his cassock, but without a head. In colonial times a priest was beheaded for his bad habits and since then condemned to wander as a spirit.

28- The Tunda

La Tunda is a character described as a hideous-looking woman, with one foot in the shape of a root and the other small like that of a baby. It is said that this creature is looking for children who have not been baptized, drunk or unfaithful men and young people that it kidnaps to take them to the mountains.

29- The goblin

The goblins in this region are beings that wear a large hat. They are usually tied to nature and protect the forest and its creatures from being hurt.

They like to knot the manes of horses until no one is able to untangle them. To scare them away, a new tiple is placed in a corner of the house so that it can use it and never return.

30- The Indian of water

The water Indian is a character described as having long hair that covers his face, with large eyes that seem to come out of their sockets and of an intense red color. It is the guardian of the fauna of rivers and lakes, which it protects from any fisherman.

It is said that when it detects a fishing rod, it proceeds to break the hook and tangle the line. Also, it can make rivers rise and cause floods to destroy peasant houses.

31- The girl with 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 manifests itself dressed in white and with its face covered by a veil. She asks the walkers to help them deliver a letter and the unwary upon receiving it notice that the girl disappears.

Amazon

32- Creation

According to the Ticuna indigenous people, at the beginning in the world there was only Yuche, 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 plunged into the water to bathe and noticed in her reflection that she had begun to age. On her way back to the cabin, she noticed that her knee ached and she began to fall into a deep sleep.

Upon awakening, he noticed that a man and a woman sprouted from his knee. These began to grow as the Yuche slowly died. The couple lived in the same place for a long time until they had many children and then abandoned it.

The Ticunas hope to one day find this paradise and many say that it is near the place where the Yavarí River empties.

33- The Colorado Bufeo

The pink dolphin of the Amazon or bufeo is a species to which magical properties are attributed. It is said that strange characters sometimes appeared at parties that enchanted young women and abducted them into the forest.

The community, concerned, decided to give one of these characters masato and when he was already drunk they decided to investigate. When his hat fell, it transformed into a stripe, the shoes into spoons and the belt into a boa.

When it woke up, the creature plunged back into the river, but half its body upward was that of a dolphin and downward it was still human.

In indigenous tradition, many of the parts of this animal are turned into talismans to attract luck in fishing and hunting. They can also be used for witchcraft purposes and cause harm to people.

Orinoquia region

The Orinoquia region of Colombia is made up of the departments of Arauca, Vichada, Casanare, Meta and Vichada.

34- The Pixie

This legendary character was rescued from the llaneras legends of Arauca and Casanare by the writer Silvia Aponte. The legend refers to a boy or pixie, dressed in shorts and a wide-brimmed hat, who rides on a pig or pig.

Legend has it that the Tuy whistles to call his little dog, which follows him everywhere: Tuy, tuy, tuy.

Also, when the pig he rides is lost, the annoying pixie usually enters the pens to look for it. In his presence, the pigs are agitated and squeal when they are whipped by him with his golden cane so that hers comes out.

It is then that the peasants must go out to put order in the pigpen and scare away the pixie, who flees "like a soul carried by the devil" mounted on his pig, while calling his little dog that marches next to him: You, you, you.

35- Florentino and the Devil

The legend of Florentino y El Diablo is deeply rooted in the Colombian and Venezuelan plains. Florentino was considered the best rider and copier on the plain.

It is said that one moonlit night, while Florentino was riding alone through the immensity of the savannah on his way to a town to attend a joropo, he noticed that he was being followed by a man dressed in black.

Arriving in town and ready to sing, the mysterious man challenged him to counterpoint. Then the coplero accepted the challenge, but soon after he verified that his opponent was nothing more and nothing less than the Devil himself.

If Florentino lost, the Devil would steal his soul. Both copleros were counterpointing all night. And between song and song, Florentino showed off his ability to improvise and managed to defeat the Devil, who had no alternative but to retire before sunrise.

36- Juan Machete

Juan Francisco Ortiz made a pact with the Devil to become the richest and most powerful man on the plain, because he was a very ambitious man.

The Devil agreed but asked him in return to hand over his wife and young children.

Juan soon managed to obtain more land, money and livestock. But one morning when he got up, he was struck by seeing in one of the pens a large black bull with white hooves that he had never seen before.

For some time he tried to remove the mysterious bull from his lands but not possible. For a long time his fortune increased and increased more and more. However, one day as if by magic the cattle began to disappear, as well as her fortune.

Regretful for the pact with the Devil, Juan buried the rest of the money he had left and without further ado he disappeared into the savannah.

It is said that he is sometimes seen loitering there and vomiting fire.

37- The Breaker

El Rompellanos is a character whose real name is Eduardo Fernández. He is an old guerrilla fighter from the 1950s who fought in Arauca and Casanare.

In the plain they say that he was a generous man, who helped the most humble by robbing the richest landowners.

After availing himself of the amnesty decree signed by the government in 1953, he went to Arauca, where he was drinking for three days in a row.

On the night of September 22 of that year, when he was seen accompanied by two officials from the SIR (current secret service DAS), Eduardo was assassinated.

His body was left lying in the street, in the inclement rain all night. They say that the rainwater purified his soul and from that moment he became the benefactor of the humble and most needy.

38- La Sayona

It is also known by the name of La Llorona. It is about a beautiful woman who was deceived by a suitor, who invented a false story of an alleged romance between her mother and her own husband to win her affection.

Blinded by jealousy, the woman killed her mother with a dagger and fled after setting fire to her house. She did not remember that her son was inside the palm house, so she returned to try to rescue her but it was too late. The child between a heartrending cry also died consumed by the fire.

Since then, he has been seen on the roads scaring lying and drunken men, whom he seduces with his beauty and charms, but then he transforms and shows them his fangs to devour them.

Themes of interest

Legends of Peru.

Venezuelan legends.

Mexican legends.

Legends of Guatemala.

Argentine legends.

Ecuadorian legends.

References

López, Javier Ocampo. Myths and Legends of Antioquia la Grande. Bogotá: 958-14-0353-1, 2001.
Colombian Popular Legends. Bogotá: Plaza & Janes, 1996. 958-14-0267-5.
Get ready, Silvia. Four Horses of Time. Bogotá: GM Editores, 1998.
Ministry of Culture of Colombia. National System of Cultural Information. sinic.gov.co.
Diaz, Jose Luis. Tales and Legends of Colombia. Bogotá: Editorial Norma, 1999.

THE 38 MOST OUTSTANDING MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF COLOMBIA - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024