Do you have a mysterious old lady in your neighbourhood who only appears in her yard or at night? She might be the Ole Higue!
The Ole Higue (pronounced hai-g) appears as a lonely, old woman by day. At night, she sheds her wrinkled skin, which she hides in a mortar, and transforms into a ball of fire which flies through the night in search of her next victim. She enters the house through a keyhole, or any other crack or hole, and sucks the blood of her victim - who are usually babies or young children.
Now, you know you only know you are a victim of the Ole Higue when you see a blue-black mark on your skin the next morning when you awake. If this happens, to get rid of or ward off the Ole Higue, you must find her shed skin and rub coarse salt or hot pepper on it so that it burns her when she puts it back on! You can also put rice grains outside her door so she will be forced to count each grain or trap her by forming a circle of rice grains around her.
The Ole Higue is notoriously known and feared in some Eastern Caribbean islands like Anguilla and Barbados, and also in Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad. She's known throughout the Caribbean as Old Heg, Succouyant, Sukunya, Wangla Lady, Soucouyant, Soukouyant, Fire Rass, and Angeli.
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