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El Cagüeiro, El Güije and El Sijú: 3 Cuban myths of great religious weight

Cuban myths

El Cagüeiro, El Güije and El Sijú They are part of the myths of great religious weight in the Cuban countryside. These entities are held responsible for many of the unfortunate events since ancient times.

El Cagüeiro, a transmuting entity of evil.

This is one of the many specters that make up Cuban mythology and theological idiosyncrasy.

It is said of this entity that it is transmutable, a fact that gives it the possibility of adopting the animal form that it wishes or simply adopting the appearance of any object or person, to obtain its objectives and confuse human beings.

This being is associated with the feeling of anguish and persecution that one suffers even when one is sure of not seeing anything disturbing, since it can influence people negatively, even if it is represented in common and harmless objects.

El Güije, the Cuban goblin.

The Güije is the Cuban representation of the so-called goblins. It lives on the edges of lagoons, caves, where there are water sources and the edges of rivers.

This little man represented as a dark being is responsible for casting unfortunate enchantments on humans and animals.

Misdeeds that he performs for pure fun or in exchange for pacts that must be paid with what the procreator of evil wishes.

The Sijú is the spokesman for the night.

The Sijú Platanero is an autochthonous bird of Cuba belonging to the family of nocturnal raptors, a genus that is identified by carrying out most of its activities at night, mainly hunting for prey.

In Cuba there is a belief that the appearance of a Siju during the night is a sign of bad omen, since these birds have been religiously conferred the ability to be the spokesmen of bad news, messages from the afterlife and even preludes to death itself.

This bird roams the banana trees and different crops, but prefers to inhabit the first destination mentioned above.

It is popularly believed that the Sijú knows all the secrets of the night and carefully watches over the houses while their inhabitants rest.

Many people have tried to offer food to these birds and even imprison them, facts that put the animal's existence in danger.

The oldest peasant families considered at the time not to stare at the Sijú, considering this act as an omen that would lead to unfortunate events.

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