Category:Jamaican folklore

From Jamaica Wiki

Every generation passes the Jamaican legends, tales, customs and believes to the next. This is how Jamaican folklore has formed. Jamaican folklore is rich and colourful due to the mix of people and cultures that lived on the island. It has elements of the Caribbean tradition, as well as some European and African elements.

Recently Jamaican writers have been trying to collect and put into writings as many tales and stories from the Jamaican folklore as possible.

Jamaican folklore has several unique elements that appear in many of the tales, legends and customs. The ‘Duppies’ are one of them. They are spirits of the dead. Jamaican people believe that 'Duppies' haunt the living people. 'Duppies' spirits can be bad or good. The good spirits are believed to be the ancestral spirits while the bad spirits are believed to be spirits of any dead person who want to do harm.

Jamaican people believe that a 'Duppie' is around when a dog howls at night or when there is a spider's web across the face, especially at night.

A great part of the Jamaican folklore is about these spirits. They persist in most of the sayings, legends and proverbs.

One of the scariest 'Duppies' is the Rollin Calf, also known as the Roaring Calf. It is a creature with red eyes that can take the form of any animal – it can be a dog, a goat, a horse. If the Rolling Calf is in the form of a cat that Jamaican people believe it is most dangerous.

Rolling Calf creatures are in fact devil spirits, this is what Jamaican folklore says. They roam at nights and during the days are in the form of 'Duppies'. Rolling Calfs are only visible to people who are able to see spirits.

Another significant element of the Jamaican folklore is the River Mumma or River Maiden. It is like to the story of the mermaid and many people are sure that both stories have the same origin.

Birds also persist in the folklore of Jamaica. Usually they symbolize death. Jamaican people believe that the owl that cries in the night near someone’s house will bring death to someone living in that house. The scavenger is also one of the birds in the Jamaican folklore that is a sign of death.

The lizard is another animal with strong symbolic effect in the Jamaican folklore. It is usually associated with obeah. The animal's ability to change its colour is associated with deception. Jamaican people also believe that if a lizard jumps over a woman that is a sign that she is pregnant.

Frogs are part of the Jamaican myths and legends as well. Their presence in the old stories dates back from the Tainos times. Frogs are mainly associated with women fertility and rain. There is a Taino myth that tells an interesting story: women who left their children alone hungry will have their children turn into frogs if they reach out for their mothers for food.