Black mythology

[Turk]

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[Sinnerman]

Yemoja (also known as Yemaya and Iemanja)

The queen of the Earth, owner of all waters, and the orish of motherhood. She is the mother of all living things and lives in the sea. Her name is a contraction of the Yoruba saying “iyá omó eyá” meaning “mother whose children are the fish.” and mer-people are Yemoja sacred offspring. She is the older sister of Oshun.

Yemoja wears seven panels skirts to represent the seven seas of which she rules over. She carries a black haired horse tail fly-whisk, a sabre, or a machete with which she defends her children. When she spins, the rippling edges of her dress are the tempestuous waves of the stormy sea.

Nyarvirazi the Were-lioness

Origins- Rwanda (South East African maybe)

Nyarvirazi was a chieftain daughter or a the last born princess of a King. One day when venturing out into the wilderness she got lost as day turned to night she became tired, hungry and thristy looking for a way back. She found cup of water sitting atop of a tree stump and drank from it.

The water turned out to be urine from a lion left there by a witch or jujuman for a ritual that was to be performed under the full moon. Nyarvirazi could noticed that her senses were enhanced and as she made her way back home she had a craving for goat once seeing some she chagred after them turning into a lion and ate them. After devouring the goat she turned back into a human and ran back home, this became a habit on every full moon it wasn’t long until her brother became suspicious and saw her transformation and told the family about it.

Nyarvirazi warned them all to keep her transformation a secrect especially from her husband. When she had a baby the midwives joked about the baby no having claws, her husband wanted to know what they were talking about after many months of suspicion and threatened everyone with a spear which he ended up using on Nyarvirazi and the midwives and also the baby. Nyarvirazi transformed into a lioness and bit off his arm she called for other lions to appear and they ate him.

Nyarvirazi took her baby and went off with the Lions to become their Queen and Goddess thus keeping her family’s home safe from lions, she occasionally returns to her father’s village.

Loogaroo/Socouyant

Origins-Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada and other parts in the Caribbeans

Vampire/Witch

The Loogaro Socouyant is a vampire that once was a witch that had made a pact with a demon that lived in silk cotton tree demanded blood from the living so the Loogaroo would continue to practice evil magic. Once the witch died the she became a Loogaroo and elderly woman that would be seemingly harmless and would go from house to house asking to be invited in. Once invited in she would shed hers skin and drain to the blood from those in the household other legends claim that the Loogaroo shifts into a werewolf

The Soucouyant varies slightly, once it sheds its skin and hides it in a mortar the soucouyant would become a giant ball of fire (very similar to the West African vampire Obayifo) and slide through the keyhole and cracks through the door and would drain blood form its victim

("Soucouyant" by Christina Philp )

If the victim is drained too much and dies, it is said that she too will become a soucouyant or the soucouyant would assume her skin as a disguise. To expose a soucouyant, one should heap rice around the house or at the village cross roads as the creature will be obligated to gather every grain, grain by grain (an almost impossible task to do before dawn) thus being caught in the act. In order to destroy the soucouyant, coarse salt must be placed in the mortar containing the soucouyant’s skin or She then cannot put the skin back on and will perish. To protect your home you are to put salt at your door and place a broom behind it upside down