She appears to her victims cuddling a foetus and attacks pregnant women causing miscarriages, stifles newborns and if her husband was abusive, he dies mysteriously.ĭouen is the spirit of a child damned to roam the earth because the child died and was never baptised. It is said that the screams sound similar to a cat howling or baby crying. The spirit roams the earth in search of her baby and it mourns as loud as a woman in labour. ChurileĬhurile is the spirit of a pregnant woman who died during childbirth.
Here are 13 common folklore tales and characters with a brief note about them that have circulated the twin islands for years. Other methods of keeping away folklore characters are sprinkling rice grains on your step, eating food while on the toilet, bathing in sweet oils for a specific period and sticking a needle in a cactus plant. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is common to ward off spirits with salt, silver, cigarette smoke, holy water, cocoyea broom and verses from the Bible. Most tales end with solutions to get rid of spirits. Paperback edition US$9.99 Protection from folklore characters
