#Louisiana Folklore

[schweizercomics]

Companions of Christmas day 7: Guinefort, the Cajun Rougarou When Santa Claus visits the bayous of Louisiana, the dense canopy of trees that blanket the rivers along which its people live preclude him from employing his reindeer-pulled sleigh. He has instead taken to using a pirogue, a type of flat-bottomed boat, and in lieu of reindeer employs the services of eight charitable alligators.

The people along the bayou’s rivers light bonfires on the bank each Christmas Eve to help Santa find his way.

But those settlements, and the cabins and houses between them, are spread out enough that the oppressive darkness of the waterland often persists for long obstacled stretches.

Luckily for Santa and the children of Louisiana, he is assisted along these stretches by a Rougarou, a type of werewolf, whose real name is not known, but whom the Acadian locals calls “Guinefort” after St. Guinefort, a popular saint in France who happens to be a dog.

The Cajuns were always wary of Guinefort because it is, after all, prudent to be wary of wolves, but knowing that his birthday was Christmas (because, as many know, only those born on Christmas can be cursed to become werewolves), people would leave him treats and presents on that day, so Guinefort came to love Christmas, because it was the day that he felt loved himself.

Now, the furry Cajun makes the most of his agile nature and keen night vision to help Santa navigate the sometimes treacherous waterways, standing on the backs of Santa’s alligators and serving as a pilot, avoiding submerged logs and Cypress roots while sipping hot chicory and casting a warm glow with his red lantern.

••••••••••••••••••••••

Happy December, friends! Each year around this time I post up drawings of Christmas and other winter holiday figures, along with narratives to explain the practices with which folklorists and holiday buffs might be familiar. When stories exist, I use them; when they don't, I do what I can to piece together what folklore surrounds them to fill in the gaps (or, in some instances, defer to the theories of my friend and fellow narrative reconcilianist Benito Cereno). I hope you enjoy them!

#Guinefort #Papa Noel #Rougarou #Werewolves #Werewolf Art #Christmas Art #Folklore #Cajun Folklore #Louisiana Folklore #Christmas Around the World #Christmas Traditions

[jasperoni13]

This is a creature from louisiana folk lore but I'm using the basis of it for my slenderverse series! I hope yall like it :).

Not all rougarous **in my slenderverse** look the same! Some have a resemblance to professor lupin's wolf form from Harry Potter and some just look like a dude with a wolf head like seen above. Some just straight up look like a stereotypical werewolf.

This one is wearing gloves cause he doesn't like getting his hands dirty 🥰.

#rougarou #louisiana folklore #thecaddelshow #fyp #new slenderverse series #slenderverse #thecaddelshow slenderverse #art #slenderverse art #folklore art #artist #werewolf thing #tumblr dashboard

[pleb-the-original]

Day 27: “We Don’t Go In the Swamp”

(This was a lot more open ended, so it took a bit for me to come up with an idea. I knew I had to go with a loup garou, that was the easy part. The real problem was figuring out what to do. After reading for a bit, I figured I might as well try something I haven't done before. I've done plenty of stories here from the monster's perspective. How about something from the humans its hunting down? With a bit of Southern flair of course) Nope. We don’t go in there no more. Why? The loup garou. They say there’s a loup garou in them woods. Course nobody ain’t seem ‘im. But he’s there. I know he’s there. When I was huntin’ out in the swamp just a few nights ago, I tracked a deer for just a bit too long. Night fell. That’s when I heard ‘im. That monster just didn’t sound right. It was like a scream, but it sure wasn’t a bobcat. It sounded like a dog being skinned alive. I had no clue where it was comin’ from, but I had my shotgun ready case it got any closer. It just kept howling like that for hours. I just sat there, listening for anythin’ to come out of the dark. Nothing did. I headed back home after that. That’s why your pop was so shaken up that night. Got worse when we found the footprint. Right there in the mud, just a little bit away from the river bank. It looked human, like some poor bloke who lost their boot to the reeds. But it had claws big enough to sink inta the dirt. We all saw it too, wasn’t just your pop’s imagination. That’s when we organized the hunting parties. Your pop and some of his hunting buddies went out late at night to see if they could find anythin’. We all heard the howling again, but this time Claude from some weird fur stuck to a tree. It was brown and all matted, and it stank. But it didn’t stink like animal stink, not fully. It was a mix of animal smell and sweat. Last night confirmed it for us. That’s when we found the shed. We decided to head off trail for a bit, Claude saw a boar and wanted to track it. We lost the boar but we found somethin’ bigger. A wooden shed, out in the middle of the bayou. Thing was rotting completely, the windows were caked in dirt so we couldn’t see inside. We scouted ‘round it, looking for any signs of life. There was a door. None of us wanted to open it. Horace was the one that found the bones. Right behind the shed, there were piles and piles of bones. Small bones, large bones, all kinds of bones. We were just about ready to get outta there just after seeing that. We saw that Claude was gone though. We searched all around that shed, didn’t get too close. I had to be the one to search through the bones of course, we figured maybe he fell in. I found somethin’ worse' however. After a couple bones, some looked a little bit too big to be an animal. That’s when I found the skull. A human one too. I called out to everyone and they came rushing back where we met at the front of the shed, and I showed them the skull. We decided to get the hell outta there right then and there. That’s when we heard the howl. It was coming from inside the shed. Everyone else ran off, but I tripped on a branch. I looked back, only to see the door open from the inside. A tiny bit of light got it, that’s how I saw its body. Human, but like they had been living in the woods for years. It was holding an arm, something in me knew that was Claude. The worst part however, was the head. I couldn’t see nothin’, nothin’ but those eyes. Eyes aren’t meant to glow like that. Not human eyes, that’s for sure. That piercing red gaze. I got up after that. Didn’t want to stick around no more. We ain’t going in there for a long time kid. Not until I’m sure that thing ain’t around to hunt us.

#writing #creative writing #prompt list #writeblr #cryptidinjuly #cryptidinjuly2023 #cryptid #loup garou #louisiana folklore

[hecatesdelights]

The Rougarou (original French loup-garou) is a familiar legend throughout French Louisiana. There are many variations, but the story generally involves a person who gets cursed, and becomes a flesh eating werewolf (or, occasionally, some other type of were-creature). Frequently the curse can be passed to another individual by biting them or draining their blood.

#french Louisiana #cajun folklore #united states folklore #alteredai #modern mythology #werewolves #werewolf #were creature #werewolfcurse #legendary monsters #legendary creature

[candela888]

Vampires and other Vampiric entities in the folklore of the Americas & Europe 🧛🏻‍♀️

#vampire #vampires #map #maps #folklore #urban legend #scary #creepy #vampiric #horror #europe #americas #chupacabra #louisiana #new orleans #new england #spain #russia #romania #serbia #poland #eastern europe #cartography #geography #history #spooky #caribbean

[lowcountry-gothic]

Beware of the Rougarou in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo by Valerie Esparza.

If you aren't familiar with the Rougarou it's basically a werewolf that can change whenever, no full moon needed, a Cajun tale.

#valerie esparza #new orleans #louisiana #southern #southern gothic #folklore #rougarou #werewolf #halloween

[cantva190]

Theory without practice is dead and fruitless, and Practice without theory is impossible and harmful.

#witches #witchcraft #witch #baby witch #witch community #witches of tumblr #pagan witch #wicca #wiccapedia #wiccan #louisiana hoodoo #hoodoo ancestors #hoodoo #hoodoo witch #new orleans hoodoo #hoodoowitches #hoodoo and folk magick #folk witchcraft #witch folk #folklore #folk witch #cunning folk #catholic folk magic #cunning folk of the crooked path #catholic witch #catholic witchcraft #witchy tips #witchcraft 101:

[lucyfox33]

I just put out my first single under the new “alias” i’m working under now, Lucy and the Fox! I’ve procrastinated releasing it even though it’s been done for a bit, i figured it was time to just put it out :)

at the moment it’s only on bandcamp but it’ll be on spotify and other streaming platforms/stores soon. The song is called Lacassine, after the Louisiana town, and you can listen here

Pretty happy with my bandcamp page too :3

The song is unlike anything i’ve made before, it’s a mix of field recordings, freak folk, ambient, and cassette tape manipulation, kinda copying Animal Collective honestly but i think i’ll distinguish myself eventually, the longer i keep at it. Besides, AnCo’s a great band to be inspired by 😸

#new music #freak folk #field recording #ambient #folklore #louisiana #lacassine

[romanchacon]

On June 15, 1939 Zora Neale Hurston recorded "Uncle Bud," a bawdy song found all over the South that went on to become a Cajun-Creole Zydeco classic. Hurston explains, "'Uncle Bud' is not a work song. It is a sort of social song for amusement." One of the first documented instances of the song in print appeared as "O-Bud!" in a Texas Folklore Society publication in 1928, collected in Virginia ca. 1924, but Hurston likely first heard the song from black working men while she was doing folklore field work in logging and terpantine camps in Louisiana. It's an invaluable audible artifact from almost a century ago. And it's quite raunchy to say the least! At the end, either Stetson Kennedy or Hurbert Halpert, the Library of Congress folk collectors in that session, say with an audible grin, "I think that's a very valuable contribution to scientific recording."

#zora neale hurston #folklore #folk music #black history #music #music history #musicology #literature #african american literature #african diaspora #zydeco #cajun music #louisiana creole #boozoo chavis #rockin' sidney #sonny terry #Spotify

[crows-with-ink]

Cemetery dreams

#art #traditional art #artist of tumblr #illustration #drawing #swamp gothic #art on tumblr #artists on tumblr #nature #paper art #fantasy #watercolor #cemetary #dreams #folklore #3 d #paperfolding #papercutting #louisiana

[ariel-seagull-wings]

KING PEACOCK

@faintingheroine @princesssarisa @themousefromfantasyland @softlytowardthesun @grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales @adarkrainbow @professorlehnsherr-almashy

(A folktale from Louisiana)

There was once a lady who was so pretty, so pretty that she never wanted to marry. She found something to criticise in all the suitors who presented themselves, saying of them: "Oh, you are too ugly." " You are too small." " You have too large a mouth." One day a fine man came ; he was in a golden carriage, drawn by eight horses. He asked the lady to marry him, but she refused. He fell into a passion, and told her that in one year she would have a daughter that would be much, much prettier than herself. The lady sent him away with scorn.

Well, a year later she had a pretty little girl. When she saw that the child was so pretty, she shut her up in a room at the further end of the house, with her nurse to attend to her. As the girl grew up she became handsomer every day. The nurse never allowed her to leave her room, or even to look through the window. One day, however, while the old woman was sweeping the floor, she left the door open, and the young girl saw a large bird. "Nurse," said she, "how do you call that bird which is so pretty ? " The woman was obliged to reply, and sai :

"That is a peacock."

"If ever I marry, I want to marry King Peacock." "May God hear you, my child."

That very day the mother came, called the nurse into a corner, drew from under her skirt a great knife, and said, "I want you tokill my child. She has become prettier than I."

The nurse began to cry, and begged the lady to spare the poor child, but all in vain ; that black heart could not be softened. When night came, the nurse said to the girl :

"My poor child, I have to kill you, your mother wants you to die." The girl was so good that she replied :

"Well, kill me, nurse, if my mother wants it to be so."

But the nurse answered :

"No, I have not the heart to do any such thing, my little one. Here, take these three seeds, throw yourself in the well and drown yourself ; but before jumping in the well, swallow one of these seeds, and you will not suffer at all."

The girl thanked the nurse, and went to drown herself. She walked until she arrived at a large well. She threw herself into but before touching the water she took one of her seeds to put it in her mouth. The seed, however, fell in the water, and immediately the well dried up. The young lady was very sorry to see that there was no water left in the well, and getting out she walked as far as a wood, in which she found a small house. She knocked at the door, and an old woman showed herself. When she saw the pretty young girl, she said :

"Oh! My child, what do you come to do here ? Don't you know that my husband is an ogre ? He will eat you up!" Then the girl answered : "That is what I want. My mother wants me to die."

The woman replied : "If that is the case, come in, but it is a great pity." The poor girl sat down in a corner, and cried while she was waiting for the ogre. All at once they heard big footsteps, and as soon as the door was opened, the ogre said :

"My wife, I smell fresh meat in here," and he ran towards the young girl.

She, however,merely looked at him with her large eyes, and he stepped back, saying to his wife :

"Do you think that I can eat such a pretty girl ? She is so beautiful that I want to look at her all the time." The girl said she was tired, so the ogre took her to a beautiful room, and ordered his wife to fan her with peacock feathers while she would be sleeping. The young lady said to herself :

"It is better for me to die now, for perhaps the ogre will change his mind tomorrow and will eat me." She put one of her seeds in her mouth, and fell in a deep sleep. She slept and slept, and the ogre's wife was fanning her all the time. When three days had passed, and she did not awake, the ogre looked at her, and said :

"It is a great pity, but I believe she is dead."

He went to the town, and brought a coffin all made of gold. He put the girl in it, and placed it on the river. The coffin then went floating down the river. Very far away, King Peacock was one day on the levee, with all his princes, to enjoy the cool breeze, when he saw something shining in the river. He ordered his courtiers to see what that was. They took a skiff, and exclaiming, "It is a coffin," they brought it to the king.

When he saw the pretty young girl, who appeared to be sleeping, he said, "Take her to my chamber," for he wished to try to awaken her. He put her on a bed and rubbed her hands and face with cologne water, but to no avail. Then he opened her mouth to see what pretty teeth she had.

He saw something red in her front teeth, and tried to take it off with a golden pin. It was a seed which fell on the floor. The young girl awoke and said, " I am so glad to see you." The king replied : "I am King Peacock, and I want to marry you."

The young girl said "yes," and there was such a wedding that they sent me to relate the story everywhere, everywhere.

#fantasy #louisiana #folklore #folktales #literature #fairy tales #snow white #the fairest of them all

[frettchanstudios]

This is one of my favourite sections of the mural I designed for New Orleans. I started illustrating the Rougarou / Loup Garou last year when I was brought onto the project. I knew right away that I wanted to incorporate my interpretation of this being from Cajun Folklore into the mural. I uploaded a full version of my artwork of the mural on my website. Link in bio! @artsneworleans

#New Orleans #Louisiana #Indigenous #Artist #Loup Garou #Rougarou #werewolf #cajun #folklore #frettchanstudios #art #indigenous art #native art #canadian artist #chantelle trainor-matties #french quarter #alligato #mardi gras #cray fish

[spinyax]

i forgot how much i loved charlies style of dming

#jrwi #blood in the bayou #dont get me wrong i love all of the boys’ dming style obvi but charles slimecicle has a special place in my heart #im also very biased about this campaign i really hope theres some louisiana folklore #if theres a rougarou i will fucking scream

[randomtimes-com]

Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana, and its monster

Stories about Louisiana have always included reference to the swamps, humid, soggy environments scattered throughout much of the southeastern United States. Several characters call these places home, including snakes, alligators,every kind of bugs and, according to the lore, also mysterious creatures. The Honey Island Swamp Monster is one of them and, according to the legend, thie guy is a giant…

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#folklore #human #international #legends #local history #Louisiana #mysteries #nature #news #oddities #people #stories #Travel #world

[lxvvie]

Spooky season might be over, but the horror and folklore lover in me will never die!

I wanna see the TF141 boys (or just all of the MW2 guys in general) go to the U.S (either in a mission or with their American S/O who is local) and encounter all the creepy and freaky shit that goes down either in the Appalachian Mountains or in the Louisiana Bayous.

Just them being fed stories from the locals and being told what to do and what not to do, especially at night.

Just…some COD supernatural-folklore horror/survival…

omg, I feel like this would be hilarious, though.

Gaz fucking loves horror movies but can't be bothered to believe in cryptids. Meanwhile, Soap doesn't care for them but absolutely believes cryptids exist.

Ghost just doesn't give a damn and gets roped in.

Price is busy wondering why his ass hasn't gotten a pay raise for all the shit he deals with.

Graves is the superstitious one, surprisingly, 'cause his momma made him hip to the goings on of the supernatural around them. Phillip Winchester for the win lol.

Roach is the one who actually manages to encounter one.

König is the one who gets mistaken for a cryptid. We all know he's Cthulhu's long-lost child so move the fuck over Cthylla. Probably has something to do with that moss cape thingie he's wearing at the moment.

Horangi hedged a bet that someone in KorTac would encounter one and came out on top. Surprisingly.

Keegan also encounters one but thinks nothing of it until it locks eyes with him and... oh.

Rudy swears he saw a ghost or two or three on base and Alejandro initially doesn't believe him until he has a paranormal experience of his own while working late one night.

Valeria would be the type to use this against to scare the fuck out of Los Vaqueros, Rudy, especially lmaoooo.

#call of duty: imagines #los vaqueros #call of duty #call of duty ghosts #call of duty modern warfare #task force 141 #kortac #shadow company #captain john price #kyle gaz garrick #john soap mctavish #simon ghost riley #rodolfo rudy parra #alejandro vargas #gary roach sanderson #keegan p russ #könig #phillip graves #valeria garza

[gravalicious]

Boys playing “king of the mountain” on jungle gym, New Orleans, Louisiana, 1974.

Jeanne Pitre Soileau - Yo’ Mama, Mary Mack, and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux: Louisiana Children's Folklore and Play (2016)

#new orleans #louisiana #culture #children #play #african-american