The Loogaroo Vampire

The Loogaroo vampire is very similar to the Asema vampire, which comes from South America. And the Loogaroo also sounds very much like the “Le Loup Garou“, which is a French Canadian myth that is also heard of throughout Europe. However, the Loogaroo vampire is quite different from both of these, and should not be confused with either.

The Loogaroo vampire is comes from the vampire folklore of the Caribbean, although they myth is also widely known throughout Louisiana. This particular type of vampire was known to specifically be a woman who was working for the Devil. And because of that, the Loogaroo was also lumped right in with the Devil by the people of the Caribbean. The vampire would shed it’s skin every night and would leave it under a cotton silk tree, a tree which is also known as “the Devil’s tree.” She would then turn into a blue ball of light, and would fly around looking for victims who’s blood she could claim. Once she had taken enough blood, the Loogaroo could then return to its skin and put it back on.

The reason the Loogaroo would feel the need to take the blood of humans though, was not so that they could feast on it. But it was so that she could take the blood back to the Devil, because it was he who actually wanted the blood. The Loogaroo was said to collect the blood for the Devil, because if she didn’t, then the Devil would take her blood instead, killing her. If she didn’t collect enough blood, the myth also goes that she would not be able to return to her own skin, and she would eventually die.

But there was protection that could be had against the Loogaroo. Like many popular vampire beliefs, it was thought that spreading grains or seeds by the door would keep the Loogaroo at bay. This was of course, because she would be compelled to count all of the seeds before entering the home. And if you spread out enough seeds, the sun would come up before the Loogaroo was done, and she would be forced to flee from the sunlight.

Just goes to show once again, that it never hurts to have a few packs of pumpkin seeds or sesame seeds lying around….just in case!

Kate

6 comments

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  3. Umm… You’re actually talking about a soucouyant not a loogaroo (which I think is spelt loupgarou).
    The loupgarou is actually a man who turns into a werewolf under the full moon.

  4. Actually my family is from Grenada and we usually refer to the Soucouyant as female and the Loogaroo (ligaru) as male.

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