Hi, I come from Guadeloupe (French West Indies) and we have plenty of myths and superstitions but also common ones. Here we are mostly talking about the "Soukounyan" or "Soukouyant" which is generally a woman who pulls out her skin, hides it at the bottom or into a hole of a tree "un fromager" (not a cheese lol) and turns herself into a fireball to fly into the sky and seek for people walking in the streets late at night or for people who didn't lock their house so it can sneak and suck their blood.
tweety tweet no, African myths that we believe in (I’m an African descent btw) but the origins : The soucouyant is a shapeshifting Caribbean folklore character who appears as a reclusive old woman by day. By night, she strips off her wrinkled skin and puts it in a mortar. In her true form, as a fireball she flies across the dark sky in search of a victim. The soucouyant can enter the home of her victim through any sized hole like cracks, crevices and keyholes. Soucouyants suck people's blood from their arms, legs and soft parts while they sleep leaving blue-black marks on the body in the morning. If the soucouyant draws too much blood, it is believed that the victim will either die and become a soucouyant or perish entirely, leaving her killer to assume her skin. The soucouyant practices black magic. Soucouyants trade their victims' blood for evil powers with Bazil, the demon who resides in the silk cotton tree. To expose a soucouyant, one should heap rice around the house or at the village cross roads as the creature will be obligated to gather every grain, grain by grain (a herculean task to do before dawn) so that she can be caught in the act. To destroy her, coarse salt must be placed in the mortar containing her skin so she perishes, unable to put the skin back on. ( ty Wikipedia but that’s exactly what we believe in )
@@gregorylalande1798 that's intense! Amerindians have a similar believe that those who use blk magic use a spirit who travels like a bright red fire orb. The exact history of this isn't fully known to me. Those who witness this fireball are usually the ones dealing with unusual bad luck and health related with their family or themselves. Not the first time I heard of African and Amerindian sharing very similar superstitions.
This was fun. Till this day if I get home late and feel funny, I turn my back. You're also not supposed to whistle at night. Or something may whistle back. Same with name calling. I was told if someone calls your name at night, you never answer because if it's a spirit, It acts as an invitation for them to enter your home. So instead you just go to whoever you think called you and ask if they did.
Grew up in the American south. Family adhered to the salt being thrown, the purse issue, house being clean prior to New Year's, the jumping eye, the itchy Palm - money leaving if left, money coming if right palm. If I'm not mistaken, the Gullah Geechee of SC practice the baby being passed over the casket. I believe these are variations of African traditions that have been passed down through generations. It's amazing how many are similar and how many of our African traditions have been retained throughout the diaspora.
Me too oh don't forget the one about the sole of your foot itching means you're going on strange ground :-) or for women you're not told hold infants during your monthly cycle because it'll make the baby have a tummy ache. My family is from Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida.
I grew up in Jamaica & my grandmas told me Anancy & Rolling calf stories. I don't remember any of them, but I know that Anancy was very clever & mischieveous. I read somewhere that they're also told in Belize & Suriname....I remember my grandma throwing a bucket of water out the window right AFTER midnight on New Years, Not sure why...LOL Those were the days, Sweet memories!!
100% African beliefs to ( be) put in a larger cosmogonic/social context| really amazing that our Brothers and Sisters managed to preserve all this soul and cultural energy..Bravo! xx Doudou ( Senegal)
Definitely the clean house for New Years but also cooking black eyes peas and greens for good fortune. Never put my purse on the floor, exiting the house the same way you entered, throwing of the salt, itchy palms... I've been brought up believing all of them
It’s funny I’m Black American and I heard several of these superstitions growing up too those African roots and traditions are really still so much a part of our cultures
In the Virgin Islands the "Cow Foot(ed) Woman" has terrorized the youth for generations. Even with all the violence we experience amongst each other, you're better off being shot or stabbed to death rather than being a victim of the Cow Foot Woman/Lady. 😂😂 Keep it up Sis, you're on a righteous mission! Knowledge is Power! One Love from St. Thomas, VI
I grew up and live in East London I was told about some of these growing up being that my Mum was Jamaican, the roling calf I only found out about today through RUclips, I look at one of my baby pictures and it has a open bible next to me when I was sleeping I get it now You're very beautiful by the way and I'm glad you're also very rooted in our culture 🇯🇲
My sister with knowledge, the origin of Calalloo originated with the cleaning out of one's house including their food as well. That's why many items are combined in the pot as practiced by many Caribbean islands as we clean out our refrigerators for New Years. Calalloo = Caribbean Gumbo. Bless up. One Love.
My family is from the South (Carolina's, Alabama, Lousiana) and we have a lot of the same superstitions. Itchy palm .. Right you will gain money, left you will lose . Salt thrown over the shoulder, New Years cleaning right down to your body. You shouldn't have dirty hair, same hairstyle...etc. You also never start the New Year with an empty pocket, even as kids the adults would put money in our pockets before midnight. Dreams about fish and mice meant pregnancy in the family. Never stop at a crossroad, no pocketbooks on the floor or you'll be broke. No hats on the bed. That was like a big no no! Dreams about snakes meant you had an enemy but if you did dream about one, you couldn't be scared of it or run from it , rather face it head on. A sudden chill in the room means the devil walked by so you had to cross yourself for protection. If you tell your dream it wont come true if you keep it a secret it will . Two people shouldn't be doing one persons hair at the same time. The youngest one may die and you should always burn any hair collected in a comb .If you throw it away birds build a nest with it and give you headache or someone will use it to curse you . Babies are passed over a casket of a mother, grandmother, close aunt. Not just the child of that person but all the kids at the funeral. Kids of the deceased never wear black at the funeral, but white. You never quiet a noisy baby at a funeral. That is the spirit of the deceased talking to them and it will make them mad. It went on and on .. trust me lol. My family came from some of the most superstitious places in the US lol
Wow thank you So much for sharing!! This is amazing. One of my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou is, “we are more alike my friends than we are i alike”. It’s amazing how, though we are from different parts of the globe, Black people are still united by our African ancestry despite the heartaches and pains that we have historically gone through. It’s truly beautiful. We are a resilient people. Thank you for sharing this. It’s wonderful to see how beautifully United we are in our blackness yet different in our different cultures 💗 much love!
Bahamians call Duppy "Seret" A strange way to say spirits. And our stories are based on bookie and barabie .... Grew up on those stories. Also if a person dies with their eyes open they're coming back to collect a loved one closest to them. I love your content. Amazing work.
Your culture is so interesting, rich and lovely We have the dreams interpretation In my country Algeria too If you see something in a dream that means the opposite will happen
This video hits home I traced my ancestry and I was lead to this video my family is from the Carr plantation I am creole and a lot of these things you say I feel do you every see your ancestors in 3 bloodlines at once?
They have the bush dai dai similar la diabelese they were known to mainly be in the the mining areas called the "Bush" where they lure men deep into the forest till they far away to get them
Love your videos by the way. I love the fact that you touch on all things Caribbean at the same time educating some young and old.. would love more consistent videos but I know we all have lives outside of the internet and also great quality like you've been giving us takes time.
So interesting 😁👌 I've heard Jamaican superstitions when you dream of fish someone is pregnant. 🐠🐠🐟🐟 And when you dream of snakes you've got an enemy🐍🐍🐍 And if your right foot itches it means you're gonna travel 🏃 And if your left foot itches you're gonna walk over a grave 💀
I'm Dominican. We have el Cuco. Also if a pregnant woman asks for your food, you give her some. If you don't you'll get a sty. If a pregnant woman looks at your food and you dont give her some, you also get a sty. If someone compliments you, and they don't say "Dios te bendiga", they are cursing you. This one Dominican woman kept complimenting my dress without saying it. As I was leaving the church, the sleeve caught on the door handle and ripped. Dress ruined.
I'm Amerindian from the United States not the Caribbean but we have similar superstition. No eating in the dark because this is time for spirits to move freely. No whistling at the night as it will call a spirit to you. We have a creature talked about similar to the cow foot as well here. Also we're not supposed to walk over someones legs but if we do walk back over the way we came and walk around why idk.. also no barefeet outside during the four days after a death in the community.
Does the burning of the hair come from the carrib? My mom is from south carolina and knows most not all of the trini dad and Tobago superstitions i found online including the purse on the floor. Where do trinidad and Tobago people originally come from aren't they from s. america but where??? My mom knows the cleaning house for new years. i am trying to figure out if their superstitions are exclusive to Trinidad and Tobago bc how would my mom know??
Jumpie sounds like zombie which originates from Nzambe, which means "god" in some congolese languages. La diablesse is french for she-devil! In Burundi, central Africa we have the "jumping eye" thing, we call it "igicuro", if it's a palpitation in the backfoot, someone is taking a trip we call it "umugendo".
Here is another one, if you're baking a cake and it comes out cracked or bust open. It's said that someone must be pregnant. This one comes from Belize in the Caribbean.
I heard of u bite your tounge, someone is talking about you and you have to bite the bottom end of your shirt to make them bite theirs back I was also told to never sweep outside of the door of else the whole neighborhood will know your secret If you enter the house from the front door u cannot leave from the back and then reenter from the front of else you'll ” tie the house up”
When i worked in a Jamaican restaurant i broke a wine glass. I thought my boss would be angry. He said it's ok my yout we need to let go some of the destruction. I'm not making this up
Hey guys! Thanks for watching! Where are you from and what are some of the superstitions you heard growing up?
Hi, I come from Guadeloupe (French West Indies) and we have plenty of myths and superstitions but also common ones. Here we are mostly talking about the "Soukounyan" or "Soukouyant" which is generally a woman who pulls out her skin, hides it at the bottom or into a hole of a tree "un fromager" (not a cheese lol) and turns herself into a fireball to fly into the sky and seek for people walking in the streets late at night or for people who didn't lock their house so it can sneak and suck their blood.
@@gregorylalande1798 is that an Amerindian superstition or European? Do you know the origins of the creature?
tweety tweet no, African myths that we believe in (I’m an African descent btw) but the origins : The soucouyant is a shapeshifting Caribbean folklore character who appears as a reclusive old woman by day. By night, she strips off her wrinkled skin and puts it in a mortar. In her true form, as a fireball she flies across the dark sky in search of a victim. The soucouyant can enter the home of her victim through any sized hole like cracks, crevices and keyholes.
Soucouyants suck people's blood from their arms, legs and soft parts while they sleep leaving blue-black marks on the body in the morning. If the soucouyant draws too much blood, it is believed that the victim will either die and become a soucouyant or perish entirely, leaving her killer to assume her skin. The soucouyant practices black magic. Soucouyants trade their victims' blood for evil powers with Bazil, the demon who resides in the silk cotton tree.
To expose a soucouyant, one should heap rice around the house or at the village cross roads as the creature will be obligated to gather every grain, grain by grain (a herculean task to do before dawn) so that she can be caught in the act. To destroy her, coarse salt must be placed in the mortar containing her skin so she perishes, unable to put the skin back on. ( ty Wikipedia but that’s exactly what we believe in )
@@gregorylalande1798 that's intense! Amerindians have a similar believe that those who use blk magic use a spirit who travels like a bright red fire orb. The exact history of this isn't fully known to me. Those who witness this fireball are usually the ones dealing with unusual bad luck and health related with their family or themselves. Not the first time I heard of African and Amerindian sharing very similar superstitions.
tweety tweet same. At last, I have to thank you for your video. Now I know more about others Caribbean islands myths. 😌❤️❤️❤️
Here's another one: if someone dreams of fish it always means someone in the family is pregnant. Lol i swear this one is true!
Nicole Robertson it’s real. My Mum’s prediction record is near 100% in The Bahamas!
Yessss my grandmas dreams are on point every time 😂 🇱🇨
This seems to be a thing in Korean folklore too!
YESS🇭🇹
Or could be various fruits as well..
This was fun. Till this day if I get home late and feel funny, I turn my back. You're also not supposed to whistle at night. Or something may whistle back. Same with name calling. I was told if someone calls your name at night, you never answer because if it's a spirit, It acts as an invitation for them to enter your home. So instead you just go to whoever you think called you and ask if they did.
nuff duppy inna my yaad den. Everytime i hear i answer because they teach in Sunday school that it might be God calling you.
Grew up in the American south. Family adhered to the salt being thrown, the purse issue, house being clean prior to New Year's, the jumping eye, the itchy Palm - money leaving if left, money coming if right palm. If I'm not mistaken, the Gullah Geechee of SC practice the baby being passed over the casket. I believe these are variations of African traditions that have been passed down through generations. It's amazing how many are similar and how many of our African traditions have been retained throughout the diaspora.
Me too oh don't forget the one about the sole of your foot itching means you're going on strange ground :-) or for women you're not told hold infants during your monthly cycle because it'll make the baby have a tummy ache. My family is from Georgia, the Carolinas, and Florida.
Lola Rosa We are a strong people with West African roots, it's evident.
One blood, One Love my sister!
Bless up!
One love!
I grew up in Jamaica & my grandmas told me Anancy & Rolling calf stories. I don't remember any of them, but I know that Anancy was very clever & mischieveous. I read somewhere that they're also told in Belize & Suriname....I remember my grandma throwing a bucket of water out the window right AFTER midnight on New Years, Not sure why...LOL Those were the days, Sweet memories!!
When my dad died, they passed my sister and I over his casket. His mother was Vincentian and his father Grenadian. He and I were/are 🇹🇹!
In The Bahamas, itchy palms means money will soon come your way and a twitching right eye means you will see someone you’ve not seen in a while.
same in jamaica
This was a wonderfully informative video! I loved how thorough it was! Thank you for sharing our culture with the world!
lol when she bust out the patois, okay sis! ❤️🇯🇲
100% African beliefs to ( be) put in a larger cosmogonic/social context| really amazing that our Brothers and Sisters managed to preserve all this soul and cultural energy..Bravo! xx Doudou ( Senegal)
Definitely the clean house for New Years but also cooking black eyes peas and greens for good fortune. Never put my purse on the floor, exiting the house the same way you entered, throwing of the salt, itchy palms... I've been brought up believing all of them
I just started following you and I love the information you share.
Also I like the jewelry you are wearing.
The "la diablesse" is prunounced la -jah-bless
u must be lucian
@@missleandra9648 same thing i said 🤣
@@missleandra9648 we in trinidad pronounce it that way too
It’s funny I’m Black American and I heard several of these superstitions growing up too those African roots and traditions are really still so much a part of our cultures
Around the Christmas,. We clean the yard and paint the 🏠. house. THANK YOU FOR THE VID.
In the Virgin Islands the "Cow Foot(ed) Woman" has terrorized the youth for generations.
Even with all the violence we experience amongst each other, you're better off being shot or stabbed to death rather than being a victim of the Cow Foot Woman/Lady. 😂😂
Keep it up Sis, you're on a righteous mission!
Knowledge is Power!
One Love from St. Thomas, VI
dandaddavi I know that storyyyy
Yess! Her name is La Diables in Carriacou
I grew up and live in East London I was told about some of these growing up being that my Mum was Jamaican, the roling calf I only found out about today through RUclips, I look at one of my baby pictures and it has a open bible next to me when I was sleeping I get it now
You're very beautiful by the way and I'm glad you're also very rooted in our culture 🇯🇲
Hi Lyndsay I want to know about Caribbean stories very interested & I 💖 anything Caribbean
Too bad you stopped uploading. What an amazing channel
I love your channel, I'm a vincentian btw
The itchy Palm one is also one in west Africa
My sister with knowledge, the origin of Calalloo originated with the cleaning out of one's house including their food as well.
That's why many items are combined in the pot as practiced by many Caribbean islands as we clean out our refrigerators for New Years.
Calalloo = Caribbean Gumbo.
Bless up. One Love.
My family is from the South (Carolina's, Alabama, Lousiana) and we have a lot of the same superstitions. Itchy palm .. Right you will gain money, left you will lose . Salt thrown over the shoulder, New Years cleaning right down to your body. You shouldn't have dirty hair, same hairstyle...etc. You also never start the New Year with an empty pocket, even as kids the adults would put money in our pockets before midnight. Dreams about fish and mice meant pregnancy in the family. Never stop at a crossroad, no pocketbooks on the floor or you'll be broke. No hats on the bed. That was like a big no no! Dreams about snakes meant you had an enemy but if you did dream about one, you couldn't be scared of it or run from it , rather face it head on. A sudden chill in the room means the devil walked by so you had to cross yourself for protection. If you tell your dream it wont come true if you keep it a secret it will . Two people shouldn't be doing one persons hair at the same time. The youngest one may die and you should always burn any hair collected in a comb .If you throw it away birds build a nest with it and give you headache or someone will use it to curse you . Babies are passed over a casket of a mother, grandmother, close aunt. Not just the child of that person but all the kids at the funeral. Kids of the deceased never wear black at the funeral, but white. You never quiet a noisy baby at a funeral. That is the spirit of the deceased talking to them and it will make them mad. It went on and on .. trust me lol. My family came from some of the most superstitious places in the US lol
Wow thank you So much for sharing!! This is amazing. One of my favorite quotes from Maya Angelou is, “we are more alike my friends than we are i alike”. It’s amazing how, though we are from different parts of the globe, Black people are still united by our African ancestry despite the heartaches and pains that we have historically gone through. It’s truly beautiful. We are a resilient people. Thank you for sharing this. It’s wonderful to see how beautifully United we are in our blackness yet different in our different cultures 💗 much love!
My grandmother always had us cleaning the house on New Years Eve! Thanks for bringing back good memories with these =)
I've learnt a lot from you. keep up the good works.
I love your jewellery. We do the window doors every year but my family JA. All the story time stories came flooding back
LOL My Grandmother used to do the brush tap and I had no clue why.
Bahamians call Duppy "Seret" A strange way to say spirits. And our stories are based on bookie and barabie .... Grew up on those stories. Also if a person dies with their eyes open they're coming back to collect a loved one closest to them. I love your content. Amazing work.
Your culture is so interesting, rich and lovely
We have the dreams interpretation In my country Algeria too
If you see something in a dream that means the opposite will happen
You look more Argentinian then African
And the culture in the Caribbean comes from Africa.
Wow very interesting. I was raised with black superstitions but my husband speaks of the duppy
Love your videos! Thank you!!!
I am born and raised in London England parents are Caribbean I heard if some one dreams of fish someone pregnant and If your palm itches it mean money
woman hood that's a black American superstition
This video hits home I traced my ancestry and I was lead to this video my family is from the Carr plantation I am creole and a lot of these things you say I feel do you every see your ancestors in 3 bloodlines at once?
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Upload more videos like this! 🙌🏾
Brilliant work! Keep it up!
Thank you very much for watching! I greatly appreciate it!
They have the bush dai dai similar la diabelese they were known to mainly be in the the mining areas called the "Bush" where they lure men deep into the forest till they far away to get them
Love your videos by the way. I love the fact that you touch on all things Caribbean at the same time educating some young and old.. would love more consistent videos but I know we all have lives outside of the internet and also great quality like you've been giving us takes time.
Interesting a lot of these superstitions are mentioned throughout the south in north America. Such similarities.
So interesting 😁👌
I've heard Jamaican superstitions when you dream of fish someone is pregnant. 🐠🐠🐟🐟
And when you dream of snakes you've got an enemy🐍🐍🐍
And if your right foot itches it means you're gonna travel 🏃
And if your left foot itches you're gonna walk over a grave 💀
Did you cite these superstitions and folklore from a website and can you be kind to cite them?
I'm Dominican. We have el Cuco.
Also if a pregnant woman asks for your food, you give her some. If you don't you'll get a sty. If a pregnant woman looks at your food and you dont give her some, you also get a sty.
If someone compliments you, and they don't say "Dios te bendiga", they are cursing you. This one Dominican woman kept complimenting my dress without saying it. As I was leaving the church, the sleeve caught on the door handle and ripped. Dress ruined.
In Saint Lucia give a woman what she craves or if she scratches then the child will have a birthmark in the shape of what she craves.
The purse thing is also Haitian mostly actually.
Thank You
Anasi and dum dum lol every West Indian reading book had a parable about either or in st.vincent the lady with the cow foot is called jablez
Yes lawd you on it gyal
I'm Amerindian from the United States not the Caribbean but we have similar superstition. No eating in the dark because this is time for spirits to move freely. No whistling at the night as it will call a spirit to you. We have a creature talked about similar to the cow foot as well here. Also we're not supposed to walk over someones legs but if we do walk back over the way we came and walk around why idk.. also no barefeet outside during the four days after a death in the community.
Really appreciate your channel
Where have you been all my life!? Lol
Scratching the RIGHT hand you get money. LEFT hand you giving out money.
Very beautiful
During a visit to Jamaica I was told that if you get your hair cut and a bird takes the cuttings to build a nest, then you will go crazy.
Ladjablès are found in Saint Lucia and Dominica.
Also my mom said before i walk in the house walk in backwards so duppy don't follow me
Does the burning of the hair come from the carrib? My mom is from south carolina and knows most not all of the trini dad and Tobago superstitions i found online including the purse on the floor. Where do trinidad and Tobago people originally come from aren't they from s. america but where??? My mom knows the cleaning house for new years. i am trying to figure out if their superstitions are exclusive to Trinidad and Tobago bc how would my mom know??
I heard burn shed hair instead of throwing it away or birds will use it for their nest and you'll go mad.
Big Bwoy story is good too. lol
I like the superstition about the crickets 😁 I like there sounds and I feel they bring good luck 🍀
Hey gorgeous, hit up our playlist, today's! As you enjoy look around the page! We know it will find truth! God blessing beautiful day
When is your next video? :D Keep it up!
Next video will be up on Tuesday at around 1:00 pm!!
When I eat late at night, I have nightmares. So, I don’t do that anymore. 😊
I want to share our traditional Haitian wedding culture
Jumpie sounds like zombie which originates from Nzambe, which means "god" in some congolese languages. La diablesse is french for she-devil! In Burundi, central Africa we have the "jumping eye" thing, we call it "igicuro", if it's a palpitation in the backfoot, someone is taking a trip we call it "umugendo".
Beautiful queen
My oldest brother's name is antonio and no one calls him that me call him antone
Here is another one, if you're baking a cake and it comes out cracked or bust open. It's said that someone must be pregnant. This one comes from Belize in the Caribbean.
Even back then they thought that crosses were cursed
In St. Lucia La diablesse is pronounced Lajabless.
I heard of u bite your tounge, someone is talking about you and you have to bite the bottom end of your shirt to make them bite theirs back
I was also told to never sweep outside of the door of else the whole neighborhood will know your secret
If you enter the house from the front door u cannot leave from the back and then reenter from the front of else you'll ” tie the house up”
I'm from Dominica
Wah country u from
When i worked in a Jamaican restaurant i broke a wine glass. I thought my boss would be angry. He said it's ok my yout we need to let go some of the destruction. I'm not making this up
What is an example of a nickname that they'd give a baby upon birth?
No lie it rained at my wedding😏😒😒
Why do they hit the brush 3 times
🇬🇾🇬🇾
If a lizard lands on a man then his woman is pregnant.
Are you Jamaican?
Yes, parents both born and raised there.
it shows lol..it can't hide
@@lyndsayarcher wag wan miyote! I always enjoy your videos lol I’m Ethiopian-Eritrean so we have rich, golden roots 🖤✊🏽
No
You're ancestors are indigenous to the islands 100%
Nef Speaks and africa.....
U beautiful 😀
Please! Bag on the floor = losing money is International.