The Coyote Woman

The history of the coyote woman (figure 1) is a bit confusing. Some people say she was a maid who became a coyote woman at night. Others believe she was a single mother who at night became the coyote woman to get food for her children. She was experiencing a terribly serious crisis and didn’t possess any money.

Figure 1. The coyote woman. ¹

What everyone admits is this woman was engaged in witchcraft, and all her victims emptied their souls in a magical huacal.

Mr. Juan, a man from El Carrizal, says that one night when he was walking in the forest, he found a huacal with a thick liquid. He didn’t perceive it in the beginning and took it home.

A couple of nights later, during a blood moon, the viscous liquid transformed into the coyote woman! And from that day, there was a new woman in his town that looked extremely beautiful, but at night she became the coyote woman and performed witchcraft frequently.

That woman needed to return every early morning to drink from the huacal to transform herself again into her human form, where she emptied her soul. However, one night Mr. Juan decided to hide the huacal forever, when the woman returned, she couldn’t find it and got trapped in her coyote’s body.

Mr. Juan also said some of his neighbors asked the coyote woman when they had left their homes alone, to take care of their animals and belongings. She understood well because as the woman she was, she knows well the concerns of the inhabitants, and protects their properties with her witchcraft.

Inspired by Leyendas de El Salvador’s version.

Credits:
Location: El Carrizal, El Salvador

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