Count the legend que la Mancarita wave peasant gossip; It is a specter that lives in the forests and usually appears on the trails and jungle areas of the Andean region of Colombia.
The legend says that the Mancarita is a wild-looking woman who lives in the depths of the forests and jungles, she likes to eat fruits and roots; Her feet are upside down and in the middle of her chest she has only one breast; His abundant, shaggy hair covers most of his body.
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Many claim that the Mancarita It is a harmless and even timid fright, which is afraid of human presence, but many peasants tend to differ from this opinion and say that Mancarita usually steals babies in the middle of the night in order to devour them and that when she sees men alone In the middle of the forest he bewitches them for the same purpose.
It is said that this being is a kind of gossiping deity of the peasants, who has the ability to increase discord between people, through gossip, stories and misunderstandings.
Versions of the legend of La Mancarita
A first version says that La Mancarita was a woman named Rita in life, she stood out because she had a problem with her feet that prevented her from walking correctly and because she loved to gossip and create discord between people.
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For that reason the people of the town abandoned her, they completely ignored her presence and avoided having contact with her at all costs, because of this the woman went into the forest, and completely neglected her appearance, letting her nails grow uncontrollably. just like his hair that was all messy and tangled; He fed on what the forest itself provided him and each time he acquired a wilder and wilder appearance; Every time he heard a person approaching he ran away to hide; From that moment on, she became the horror she is known for today. It is said that at night her lugubrious and sad screams can be heard inside the forests.
In another version it is said that the Mancarita, more than a wild being, is a divine spirit, who loves the silence, the tranquility of the forest and being surrounded by plants and nature in general; This being likes to imitate the voices of humans when they go into the forest and every time it listens to their conversations it repeats the last word they mention (the echo), which is why many farmers used to go into the forest to shout their conversations and listen. how she repeated her words; It is also said that sometimes it imitates the voice of a crying child or baby, causing unsuspecting peasants to go into the forest trying to help it and when they do, they disappear forever.
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In this version, La Mancarita is described as a beautiful woman, who, like the other version, has a single breast in the middle of her chest and her body is barely covered by a transparent blue veil; When Mancarita is angry, she flies on the Andean condor and climbs on top of a cloud and from there launches floods and natural disasters with powerful lightning; When the storm ends, the Mancarita releases sap from its chest that revitalizes the forests and plantations, making them green, flower and have abundant harvests.
How did the legend of Mancarita originate?
There is no complete clarity about the origin of the legend or Myth of the Mancarita, it is believed that this may be related to the instructive nature that many legends have, since many have their origin in giving a teaching or creating a warning against a bad act, in this case the legend would have emerged to warn people about how bad it is to create gossip.
What does Mancarita look like?
La Mancarita or Manca Rita as she is also known is mostly described as a very wild-looking woman, with very abundant hair that covers a large part of her body, with long nails, with her feet upside down and with a single breast in the middle. of the chest.
(Also read: Legend of Sayona, a specter that devours gossips and unbelievers)
In some versions it is said that he has a beautiful face and that his body, instead of being covered by his long hair, is dressed in a transparent blue suit similar to a veil that reveals his nakedness.
Where does Mancarita appear?
Este espanto es propio de las áreas rurales de Santander, North of Santander, Boyacá y Cundinamarca en Colombia.
In República Dominicana existe la leyenda de la Ciguapa o Siguapa el cual es un espectro con características muy parecidas a la Mancarita.
How to protect yourself from Mancarita?
En algunas versiones de la leyenda se dice que la Mancarita les teme a los perros y a las personas, tanto así que con solo verlos sale huyendo.
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