The Ole Higue

A Series: Jamaican Legends, Superstitions, Myths and Monsters

The Ole Hige (Old Hag, Ol’ Higue, Soucouyant) presents as a reclusive, introverted old woman by day and at night sheds her skin (in some accounts she places it in a calabash, others, a mortar) and she might shape shift into an owl - in other accounts she transforms into a ball of fire and travels across the sky.

She feeds on the blood (some say, the souls) of humans - she prefers infants. She exists all over the Caribbean, Africa, Europe… and as other things in Asia and other places.

The Old Hag has been associated with sleep paralysis as well. That feeling you get when you wake up, but it feels like there’s an entity resting on your chest and you can’t move and can barely make a sound.

There are a few ways to stop her like throwing salt or pepper on the skin she left behind so she’s in agony once she tries to put her skin back on. You could also (and I’ve heard something similar for other entities) sprinkle rice grains outside your door - she can’t resist counting them all before entering.

Watch your children at night … if you can even get up, yourself.

You might encounter her at the Silk Cotton Tree exchanging blood for magical power… .

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AI again is weird. You get one thing when you mention the Scottish connection ...another thing when you don’t. Always hit or miss, but sometimes the weird things are really interesting.

What are your Ole Higue stories?

The Ole Higue