This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2014) |
The Patasola or "single leg" is one of many legends in Colombian folklore about female monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women. The Patasola appears in the form of a beautiful seductive woman, often in the likeness of a loved one, who lures a man away from his companions deep into the jungle. There, the Patasola reveals her true, hideous appearance as a one-legged creature with ferocious vampire-like lust for human flesh and blood, attacking and devouring the flesh or sucking the blood of her victims.
According to popular belief, she inhabits mountain ranges, virgin forests, and other heavily wooded or jungle-like areas. At the edges of these places and primarily at night, she lures male hunters, loggers, miners, millers, and animal herders. She also interferes with their daily activities, such as blocking shortcuts through the jungle, disorienting hunters, and throwing hunting dogs off the scent of their game. The Patasola is usually regarded as protective of nature and the forest animals and unforgiving when humans enter their domain to alter or destroy them.
The Patasola's most notable feature, from which her name derives, is her one leg which terminates in a cleaved bovine-like hoof and she moves in a plantigrade fashion. Despite only possessing one leg, the Patasola can move swiftly through the jungle. In her natural state, she has a terrifying appearance; she is described as possessing one breast, bulging eyes, catlike fangs, a hooked nose, and big lips.
The Patasola can metamorphose into different shapes and appearances. She commonly takes on the appearance of a beautiful woman to lure men to their death. She then uses her feline-type fangs to suck the blood from her victims. It is also believed that she can transform into other animals, materializing as a large black dog or cow.
According to Javier Ocampo Lopez, when pleased, the Patasola climbs to the top of a tree or mountain and sings the following song:
"I'm more than the siren
I live alone in the world:
and no one can resist me
because I am the Patasola.
On the road, at home,
on the mountain and the river,
in the air and in the clouds
all that exists is mine." [1]
The Patasola's origin story varies, but usually follows the pattern of a scorned, unfaithful, or otherwise bad woman. Some believe that she was a mother who killed her own son and was then banished to the woods as punishment. Others believe that she was a wicked temptress who was cruel to both men and women and for this reason they mutilated her with an axe, chopping off one leg and throwing it into a fire. She then died of her injuries and now haunts the forests and mountain ranges. In a third origin story, she was an unfaithful wife who cheated on her husband with the couple's employer, a patron. Upon discovering her infidelity, the jealous husband murdered both her and the patron. She died but her soul remains in a one-legged body.
There are legendary creatures that bear a resemblance to the Patasola in other Latin American countries, such as the Tunda myth of the Colombian Pacific region which also tells of a vicious woman who sucks the blood of men. However, in this legend, "La Tunda's shape-shifting abilities are far from perfect…for whatever form she assumes will invariably have a wooden leg in the shape of a molinillo (wooden whisk). The monster, however, is very cunning, and is adept at concealing this defect from would-be victims." [2]
There is also "Matlacihua, a phantasm in the beautiful and svelte form of a woman dressed in white. Sometimes called the White Lady or the Bride, she would appear at night and with her seductive songs and irresistible beauty, lure men of bad conduct into the forest, scaring them half to death." [3] Though not described as sucking the blood of her victims, the White Lady supposedly deterred men from seeking amorous relations in the woods, jungles, or mountain ranges.
Some versions of stories about Sayona have her appear to men working in the forest who mention women. She lures them away into the forest in the form of a beautiful woman or loved one so she can reveal her animal-like true self and devour or mangle them, leaving their bodies to be found by their companions.
A hulder is a seductive forest creature found in Scandinavian folklore. Her name derives from a root meaning "covered" or "secret". In Norwegian folklore, she is known as huldra. She is known as the skogsrå "forest spirit" or Tallemaja "pine tree Mary" in Swedish folklore, and ulda in Sámi folklore. Her name suggests that she is originally the same being as the völva divine figure Huld and the German Holda.
The Cegua, La Sihuehuet or Siguanaba, Cigua or Siguanaba is a supernatural character from Central American folklore, though it can also be heard in Mexico. It is a shapeshifting spirit that typically takes the form of an attractive, long haired woman seen from behind. She lures men away into danger before revealing her face to be that of a horse or, alternatively, a skull.
The Chullachaki or Chullachaqui, also known as the Shapishico, is a mythical forest creature of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazonian jungle.
La Sayona is a legend from Venezuela, represented by the vengeful spirit of a woman that shows up only to men that have love affairs out of their marriages. The name "Sayona" refers to the cloth the ghost wears which is a long white dress similar to a medieval undergarment.
Deer Woman, sometimes known as the Deer Lady, is a spirit in Native American mythology whose associations and qualities vary, depending on situation and relationships. Generally, however, to men who have harmed women and children, she is vengeful and murderous and known to lure these men to their deaths. She appears as either a beautiful young woman with deer feet or as a deer.
Brazilian mythology is the subset of Brazilian folklore with cultural elements of diverse origin found in Brazil, comprising folk tales, traditions, characters and beliefs regarding places, people, and entities. The category was originally restricted to indigenous elements, but has been extended to include:
"Deer Woman" is the seventh episode of the first season of Masters of Horror. Directed by John Landis, the episode originally aired in North America on December 9, 2005.
Pedro Penduko is a Filipino fictional comic book character created by National Artist for Literature Francisco V. Coching. The character, who is styled as a folk hero, debuted in the magazine Liwayway in 1954.
The Tunda is a myth of the Pacific coastal region of Colombia and Ecuador, and particularly in the Afro-Colombian community of the Chocó department, about a shapeshifting entity resembling a human woman that lures people into the forests and keeps them there.
Iara, also spelled Uiara, Yara or Hiara or Mãe das Águas, is a figure from Brazilian mythology based on Tupi and Guaraní mythology. The word derives from Old Tupi yîara = y ("water") + îara. Depending on the oral tradition and the context of the story, she can be seen either as a water nymph, a siren, or a beautiful mermaid that lives in the Amazon River.
Colombian folklore are beliefs, customs and cultural traditions in Colombia.
Mythic humanoids are legendary, folkloric, or mythological creatures that are part human, or that resemble humans through appearance or character. Each culture has different mythical creatures that come from many different origins, and many of these creatures are humanoids. They are often able to talk and in many stories they guide the hero on their journey.
Legends of vampires have existed for millennia; cultures such as the Mesopotamians, Hebrews, ancient Greeks, and Romans had tales of demonic entities and blood-drinking spirits which are considered precursors to modern vampires. Despite the occurrence of vampire-like creatures in these ancient civilizations, the folklore for the entity known today as the vampire originates almost exclusively from early 18th-century Central Europe, particularly Transylvania as verbal traditions of many ethnic groups of the region were recorded and published. In most cases, vampires are revenants of evil beings, suicide victims, or witches, but can also be created by a malevolent spirit possessing a corpse or a living person being bitten by a vampire themselves. Belief in such legends became so rife that in some areas it caused mass hysteria and even public executions of people believed to be vampires.
In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or cremation ceremonies are important, such vengeful spirits may also be considered as unhappy ghosts of individuals who have not been given a proper funeral.
The Skogsrå, Skogsfrun, Skogssnuvan, Skogsnymfen, Råndan or Huldran, is a mythical female creature of the forest in Swedish folklore.
In Belizean and Honduran folklore, the Sisimito is a bipedal upright gorilla-like creature that possesses a head much like a human, with long hair or fur covering its body. It is also referred to as "the Mexican Bigfoot", though it is also known in the neighboring countries of Guatemala and Nicaragua.
La Muelona, is a character from Colombian mythology, present in the folkloric legends of the populations located in the Andean region of Colombia.
Buso is a generic term for demons or evil spirits in the folklore of the Bagobo peoples. They typically prey upon flesh and send diseases to kill unsuspecting humans. Shrines and offerings would be made to the buso in an attempt to deter them from attacking. They are sometimes associated with tebang and burkan, the ghosts of evil souls.