La Ciguapa: The Woman with Backwards Feet
An artist's depiction of La Siguapa: The woman with backwards feet. Image: Artisticord
La Ciguapa is the story of a feral woman with long dark hair and backwards feet, known to prey upon unsuspecting farmers and adventurers who dare to venture into the woods alone.
The Legend of La Ciguapa
La Ciguapa is a legendary creature of Dominican folklore that has been passed down through generations and remains a popular bedtime tale for many children to this day. The legend is so deeply ingrained in the cultural fabric of the country that even in rural areas, it is often believed to be true.
One of the most terrifying versions of the La Ciguapa legend tells of a demon that dwells within deep caves and entices lonely men with her irresistible beauty and sensuality.
Once ensnared by her hypnotic gaze, the victim is led back to her dwelling where they are either devoured to the bone or trapped forever to satisfy her carnal desires.
Survivors of encounters with the Ciguapa have reported an eerie stillness in the surrounding area, as if all birds, insects, and land animals had been frightened away.
This is followed by soft whispers and howls that seem to flow with the gentle breeze, echoing through the canopies and drawing the listener in from all around.
Finally, the creature reveals itself: a fair maiden standing no taller than a meter, yet with a graceful harmony in all her muscles and limbs.
She has large, dark, and mesmerizing almond-shaped eyes, and hair as black as midnight, but with a luster that glows in the moonlight, thick and long, and draped on her body all the way down to her ankles.
She is given away as a monster by her feet. They are turned inward at the ankle and face the wrong way.
The backward-facing feet of the Ciguapas are not unique to Dominican folklore and have a long history in ghost stories from other parts of the world.
For instance, in Hindu mythology, Bhoots (male) and Churels (female) are ghosts that can assume human form but are only identifiable by their backwards-facing feet.
Similar tales can be found in many other cultures, where forest-dwelling creatures or ghostly entities are described with unusual physical features, such as rotating heads or other anomalies that serve to reveal their non-human nature. These tales of creatures with peculiar attributes are a common feature of folklore across the globe.
The Original Tale of La Ciguapa by Francisco Javier Angulo Guridi
In 1866, Francisco Javier Angulo Guridi, a playwright, author, and journalist, published a short story titled "La Ciguapa." The story recounts a tragic tale involving the legendary creature, the Ciguapa. This is the first record of the legend in writing.
In this story, a man is traveling along the Palo Quemado road. The man encounters a farmer named Jacinto who warns him of a deadly creature that can kill without physical contact. Intrigued and unnerved by this warning, the man inquires further, prompting the farmer, to tell the story of the creature: the Ciguapa.
Jacinto, an orphan, had been traveling the land for some time until he met Andres, a man who owned farmland between a mountain and a river. Jacinto proposed that he would work for Andres in exchange for a place to stay, and Andres agreed. When Jacinto was introduced to Andres' family, he quickly formed a connection with one of his daughters, Marcelina.
For the next three months, Jacinto and Marcelina were inseparable and spent every moment together. One day, while they were out walking in the woods, they sat down by their favorite tree to talk. It was then that the nervous Jacinto confessed his love for Marcelina, fearing that she might not feel the same way.
Marcelina, however, reassured him that she loved him too, and the young couple began discussing their future while sitting by the tree. As Jacinto spoke of their love, Marcelina suddenly felt a wave of fear washing over her, but Jacinto vowed to protect her from any harm.
The couple's intimate moment was abruptly disrupted by a pair of high-pitched screams; one reverberating through the mountains and forests, and the other emanating from Marcelina who had just laid eyes on the creature responsible for the first scream. With a cry of "My God! La Ciguapa!" she collapsed in a faint.
Jacinto swiftly scooped her up and hurried her back to her father's cabin. Over the following days, Marcelina's condition fluctuated between deep sleep, delirium, uncontrollable weeping, and seizures. In a rare moment of clarity, she gazed up at Jacinto and uttered, "We were going to be happy..."
After three agonizing days, Jacinto buried Marcelina beneath their cherished tree. Recounting his story to the narrator, Jacinto describes the Ciguapa as a species that existed on the island long before it was discovered.
They are exceptionally beautiful, with "the golden skin of a true Indian, black and slanted eyes, soft, lustrous, and abundant hair...rolling down to the very calf." Their beauty has a mesmerizing effect on anyone who sets eyes on them.
Have you ever seen La Ciguapa? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed the story of La Ciguapa you might also be interested in the story of La Siguanaba: the lady with a horse face, or the mysterious Nasnas.
