Viclore

Introduction: What’s in a name?

Rougarou, Roogaroo, Lougarou, Lougawou, Loup Garou, Ligahoo. A creature of many names, and of many different tales. Whilst I will be changing which name I use to refer to the creature depending on how it is denoted within the source material, I will generally be referring to the same creature throughout this article.

There are differing descriptions of the beast, but generally it is said to be wolf-like. The name has evolved from the original French “Loup-garou,” where “loup” means wolf, and “garou” refers to the transformation of a man into an animal¹. In essence, a French werewolf. The legend followed French colonists into the New World, where the resultant Cajun dialect led to the name change in New Louisianna². Similar adaptations of the name can be seen in other previous French colonies.

The French origins

In medieval France, it was said that you would turn into a Loup-garou if you did not follow the rules of Lent for 7 consecutive years. If you disobeyed your parents, the Loup-garou would steal you away in the night. In general, it is said that a lot of crimes would be blamed upon the presence of a Loup-garou³.

In Louisiana

As the name evolved to the Rougarou, so too did the modus operandi. Rather than becoming a Rougarou if you do not observe Lent, the Rougarou will hunt down those who do not observe it. Integrating with other Louisiana folk practice, one can be cursed to become a Rougarou for 101 days by a local witch or Voodoo priestess⁴. Don’t fancy waiting out your 101 days? You can end the curse early by transferring it to another human.

An interesting point in the Louisiana Rougarou lore is that there is information on how to protect oneself from the creature. The Rougarou is said to be unable to count past 12. As such, leaving a collection of 13 items by your doors will confound the beast until the sun comes up and it must flee⁵. Others say that the best protection is to simply not think about it- if you believe in the Rougarou, then you can be turned into one⁶. Yet others say that it is a familial curse, passed down from generation to generation⁷.

In addition to the generic folklore around the Rougarou within Louisiana, I came across a Facebook post by a Robert E Lee LeViness about his family’s history with the Rougarou. I am including it here in its completion:

When I was about 12 years old—around 1990—I had already grown up with the eerie tale of the rougarou. It was more than just a story; it was a warning passed down by our grandparents. They told it to us like this:
Long ago, a treater—a gifted healer who used a blend of kitchen magic, prayers, and simple household items—was banished by the people she once helped. After curing a man of his ailment, he spread rumors that she had made pacts with Satan. Cast out and betrayed, she cursed him, condemning him to wander forever as a creature neither fully man nor fully beast. Yet, she wasn’t completely heartless. She left a way out—a loophole.
A rougarou could break the curse, but only by passing it on. In human form, all they had to do was ask a stranger if they wanted a job. If the stranger agreed and shook hands without first asking what the job was, then the curse would transfer, leaving the former rougarou free to die as a human. If not, the creature was immortal unless slain in its beastly form by pure silver. The tale was a chilling reminder: never accept a job from a stranger without knowing the task.
Now, here’s where it gets strange.
In the early ’90s, my uncle came home after fishing in the nearby swamp, talking about a wolf he’d freed from a trap. He vividly described its paw, caught and bleeding, and how he felt compelled to release it. Not even a day later, a stranger approached him, handed him $20, and walked away. My uncle noticed something odd: the man’s wrist looked as though it had recently been caught in a trap.
To this day, I remember that story like it happened yesterday. Was it just coincidence—or something more?⁸

This tale has some seemingly unique points to it. I have never before seen mentions of the curse being passed via offering someone a job. The writer explicitly points out the moral of not taking a job without knowing what it involves- perhaps this story was created to pass on this message? The motif of freeing the animal then receiving a financial reward could also exist to encourage people to be kind as it may lead to them being rewarded.

The Ligahoo of Trinidad and Tobago

In Trinidad and Tobago, the names Ligahoo and Loup Garou are more commonly used. Here he is said to be a shape shifter with origins in the Obeahman (broad term for African diasporic religious, spell-casting and healing traditions in the Caribbean⁹).

Unfortunately, things get a bit muddy. Within The Caribbean, Central Africa, Haiti, and the West Indies there is a creature known as the Loogaroo¹⁰. According to the referenced source, it can also be referred to as the Ligaroo, or Loup-Garou. If one examines the folklore of the Soucouyant, you might find that the descriptions of the two creatures are identical¹¹. The creature is a female vampiric-witch who gained her abilities by selling her soul to the devil. During the day she takes the appearance of a feeble old woman, but by night she sheds her skin and transforms into a “corpse candle”¹². She will enter homes through tiny openings such as keyholes¹³ and drain the blood of her victims, sometimes offering parts of them to the devil to maintain her powers.

The Loogaroo may be seen travelling through the night as a floating ball of fire¹⁴. An early 20th century text says that at the time visitors would be called out from their lodgings late at night by servants to witness these loogaroos, although the writer suggests that they are in fact just distant lanterns¹⁵. This writer also pointed out that there is a strong belief that the loogaroo will harm animals in the night, before stating the fact that the local vampire bats will seek to feed on farmyard animals, meaning it is important to block all gaps in a stable to prevent them from entering¹⁶. Whilst the writer did not explicitly make the connection, perhaps this could have spawned the legend of the Loogaroo entering through small cracks and keyholes to steal the blood of her victims.

If one can discover the Ligahoo or Soucouyant’s hide, they may rub it with salt to cause it to shrink. This will prevent the creature from returning to her human form. Scattering rice or sand on the ground will also compel a Soucouyant to stop in order to count the grains; if she continues to do this when the sun rises, she will be destroyed¹⁷. This, incidentally, is a commonly held belief around vampires. One might scatter seeds outside their house or drape fishing nets full of holes to prevent vampires from entering¹⁸. Sound familiar? The Louisiana Rougarou was said to also be confounded by placing items around your doorway for it to count.

Accompanying the apparent naming confusion, there are differing tracts of folklore surrounding the Ligahoo/Loup Garou. In both of the stories below, the creature is referred to as male. For this reason I am assuming that the stories are about a Loup Garou type creature rather than a Soucouyant type.

In one tale, the Ligahoo is a man who was once a slave. After emancipation he became the local magic man, providing charms and bush medicine for a fee. He could change his form to that of a vicious beast, or sometimes to that of a coffin being carried through the streets by a naked greased up man¹⁹.

In another tale, he is the Science Man. He reads from the Teetalbay [note: unfortunately I couldn’t find online information about this book] and other forbidden books²⁰. Through the Science Man one might make a deal with the devil- though keen in mind that one day the devil will come to collect your soul as payment.

It is said that if you wish to see a Ligahoo and not be seen by it in turn, you should place some dog yampee (mucus from the corner of the eye²¹) in your eye and look out of a keyhole at midnight²². As this ritual calls for a person to stand in a doorway at night, it can be tied to another piece of advice: never stand in a doorway after dark in such a way that you would prevent a person from passing you- there may be a ghost which wants to get past, and it would be forced to touch you if you block its way²³.

As with the Rougarou of New Orleans, the curse of the Ligahoo is said to be passed down through familial lines in Trinidad and Tobago²⁴. That said, whilst the Ligahoo is a shapeshifter, it does not appear to have overt ties with wolves or dogs as it does in other countries. Perhaps this is in part due to confusion caused by the similarity of creature names within the local folklore.

Haiti

In Haiti, Loup Garous and powerful sorcerers who can shapeshift into dogs, horses, trees, and other animals or objects²⁵. It is said that a person who is a Loup Garou is compelled to give the Bocor (a Haitian voodoo practitioner or sorcerer²⁶) one human victim each year. If there is any delay in the payment of this debt, the debtor will lose their own life.

In one folk tale collected from Haiti, a man believed that his wife had become a Loup Garou. After the man pretended to be asleep, his wife bathed herself with the contents of a mysterious bottle before slipping off her human skin to become a Loup Garou. Once she left the house, the man spiced the skin with salt, red peppers, and lemons. When the Loup Garou returned at 3am she was unable to enter her human skin, and was found dead and skinless in the morning²⁷. This contains stark similarities to the legend of the Soucouyant, suggesting that the connection between the two creatures can again be found here.

In a different legend, Loup Garous appear to be both prolific and organised. Once upon a time a female merchant met a sickly beggar alongside the road, and told him that she wished to return home that night. The beggar told her that this would not be safe as the night did not belong to the living, but offered to give her the authorisation to pass safely through it. He gave her a goblet as a token, which during the story she was prompted to show to crowds of 100s of people. As it turns out the man she had met was the chief of the Loup Garous²⁸. This theme of Loup Garous as packs of bandits can be seen in other Haitian folk tales, often augmented with one of the bandits taking the form of an animal to lure their victim²⁹.

It seems that strong religious convictions can protect you from the Loup Garou. In one such tale, a woman who had been captured by a group of Loup Garou bandits was saved by Saint James as she was his faithful servant³⁰. The folklorist who recorded this story noted that there is a Saint James Loa in Vodún practices whom this likely refers to, rather than the Catholic Saint James³¹.

In Haiti, the Loup Garou has strong connections to Vodou. The traditional French beliefs around becoming a Loup Garou by not attending church diligently have fallen away, with people instead seeming to acquire the curse via Vodou practices. In an interview with a Haitian man who practices Vodou principles to heal the children sickened by a Lougarou, it is said that people are commonly cursed with becoming a Lougarou just to “be mean”³². In his telling it seems that the Lougarou is also more strongly related to winged creatures (especially a turkey) rather than a wolf.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find information on how a Haitian person might cure them-self of the curse of the Loup Garou. Assumedly that means that the only true cure would be the death of the victim.

French Canadian

The French Canadian Loup-Garou more closely resembles the classical French one. The creature is a cursed person who turns into an animal, most commonly a dog or wolf. Once again, one becomes a Loup-Garou by not being a good Christian³³. The curse lasts for 101 days, during which the victim is forced to wander the countryside in animal form. A French Canadian Loup-Garou will be transformed into a wolf at the first stroke of midnight, and will resume their normal human form at the first streak of daylight³⁴.

This legend does come with a cure; it is said that the spell might be broken if the afflicted individual is identified as such by someone who then draws its blood. This will break the curse and return the victim to their human form. If this should occur, neither party should speak of the incident for fear of an unnamed reprisal³⁵. The French Canadian Loup-Garou appears to be unique in how simply the condition may be cured.

Rougarou as a metaphor for change

It has long been noted that the metamorphosis of the werewolf makes an excellent metaphor for anxiety around change³⁶. Perhaps this is why the legend of the Rougarou has become a popular subject within the folk stories of people in areas with strong histories of colonisation. It has been suggested that there was historically a strong urge for people born in these colonies to “go native” and cast off the civilised world of the colony; Rougarou legends could exist as a metaphor for a man leaving civilisation behind to become “a savage”, or as a form of cautionary tale against the practice³⁷.

Conclusions

The Rougarou provides an interesting example of how a folk belief may change as it is carried across oceans to new lands. It is possible that the Rougarou was such as prime target for these adaptations because of its potential for expressing anxiety around the cultural changes associated with colonisation. With the case of the Ligahoo/Loogaroo/Loup Garou/Soucouyant, one can also see how these travelling beliefs may become intermingled with the local folk beliefs, evolving into something new altogether.

References

1. He creeps, he crawls, he conquers by Jaime Lugibihl https://thenichollsworth.com/103454/uncategorized/he-creeps-he-crawls-he-conquers/ ↩︎
2. History of the Rougarou: Louisiana’s Werewolf by Frank Kerner https://pelicanstateofmind.com/louisiana-love/history-rougarou-louisiana-werewolf/ ↩︎
3. Ibid ↩︎
4. Ibid ↩︎
5. Ibid ↩︎
6. He creeps, he crawls, he conquers by Jaime Lugibihl https://thenichollsworth.com/103454/uncategorized/he-creeps-he-crawls-he-conquers/ ↩︎
7. Ibid ↩︎
8. Robert E Lee LeViness on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/281886105961506/posts/1827380384745396 ↩︎
9. Obeah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obeah ↩︎
10. Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology By Theresa Bane https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=6pYZDgAAQBAJ ↩︎
11. Soucouyant of Caribbean Folklore by J.A. Hernandez https://www.jahernandez.com/posts/soucouyant-of-caribbean-folklore ↩︎
12. Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology By Theresa Bane https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=6pYZDgAAQBAJ  ↩︎
13. Soucouyant of Caribbean Folklore by J.A. Hernandez https://www.jahernandez.com/posts/soucouyant-of-caribbean-folklore ↩︎
14. The Vampire: His Kith and Kin by Montague Summers https://www.google.co.nz/books/edition/The_Vampire/gyJ-AAAAMAAJ ↩︎
15. Ibid ↩︎
16. Ibid ↩︎
17. Soucouyant of Caribbean Folklore by J.A. Hernandez https://www.jahernandez.com/posts/soucouyant-of-caribbean-folklore ↩︎
18. Booseum: Vampires! on Carnegie Museum of Natural History https://carnegiemnh.org/booseum-vampires/ ↩︎
19. Trinidad’s Folklore and Legends https://caribbeanhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2011/08/trinidads-folklore-and-legends.html?m=0 ↩︎
20. Ibid ↩︎
21. Yampee on The Caribbean Dictionary https://wiwords.com/words/yampee ↩︎
22. The Ligahoo or Loup Garou https://caribbeanhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2011/09/loup-garou.html?m=0 ↩︎
23. Ibid ↩︎
24. Trinidad’s Folklore and Legends https://caribbeanhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/2011/08/trinidads-folklore-and-legends.html?m=0 ↩︎
25. Loup Garou and Loa Tales from Northern Haiti by George Eaton Simpson https://www.jstor.org/stable/535864 ↩︎
26. Bocor on Wiktionary https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bocor ↩︎
27. Loup Garou and Loa Tales from Northern Haiti by George Eaton Simpson https://www.jstor.org/stable/535864 ↩︎
28. Ibid ↩︎
29. Ibid ↩︎
30. Ibid ↩︎
31. Ibid ↩︎
32. Loup Garou in Haitian Folk Belief http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/haiti-archive/msg07414.html ↩︎
33. Loup-Garou on The Canadian Encyclopaedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/loup-garou ↩︎
34. The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French-Canadian Loup-garou by Amy J. Ransom https://www.proquest.com/docview/1833015749 ↩︎
35. Loup-Garou on The Canadian Encyclopaedia https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/loup-garou ↩︎
36. The Changing Shape of a Shape-Shifter: The French-Canadian Loup-garou by Amy J. Ransom https://www.proquest.com/docview/1833015749 ↩︎
37. Ibid ↩︎