The story of the Old Higue is a Guyanese folklore passed down through oral tradition. It is not clear which ethnic group introduced this idea to the Guyanese culture, however, it is most widely circulated amongst the East Indian and African populations along the coastal areas of Guyana. The same idea exists in Trinidad which share a similar population history as Guyana, but in Trinidad, the mythical being is referred to as the “Soucouyant.”
Whether old higues actually exist or the idea is just a myth used to explain an unknown scientific phenomenon is debatable. Although there is no concrete evidence that the old higue actually exists, many people in Guyana and Trinidad swear that its real. One possible explanation is that in olden times, the people saw shooting stars, meteors, or ball lightning, and sought to explain these natural/scientific phenomena through mythical stories which evolved to become superstitious folklore. But this speculation by no means seeks to downplay the input of those who believe the old higue is real.
By definition, a myth is a traditional story which seeks to explain historical events or poorly understood natural phenomena even though the explanation may venture into the supernatural. But before we speculate on what that natural phenomenon might be, let’s take a closer look at the old higue story in Guyanese tradition.
According to some accounts, the expressions “old higue” and “fire rass” refer to one and the same thing: a vampire-like old woman who has gained the ability to shed her skin and fly off in the nights to suck the blood of victims, mostly babies, the sick, and even cattle. However, others say that old higue and fire rass are two distinctive “zombies” or demonic beings which bear a number of similarities. They both refer to very old and unattractive women who carry on a normal life in the daytime and fly around as a ball of fire in the night trying to suck blood from people, especially babies. This article will treat the term “old higue” and “fire rass” as the same thing since the difference, if any, is minimal.
The Story of the Old Higue Can Be Dangerous for Elderly Women
According to Guyanese folklore, it is difficult to recognize an old higue under normal circumstances in the daytime. However, you can see it flying out of its abode as a ball of fire in the night. So, if a neighborhood of Guyanese suspect an old woman to be an old higue, or fire rass, they might spy on the house in which she lives to see if a ball of fire will fly out of there in the evenings, and if they see it, they will exclaim in wonder that the old woman is an old higue. Sometimes, even though they see no such ball of fire exiting the premises, someone might start a rumor that they saw a ball of fire leaving the house just to stir up excitement. There are even stories of elderly women being beaten to death in Guyana because they were suspected to be old higue or fire rass. This is indeed a sad situation since there is a great chance that those victims were simply elderly with poor memory or who were suffering mental health conditions. The story of the old higue especially creates danger to elderly women who, for some reason or the other, are left to live alone.
According to the ancient Guyanese folklore, the old higue has an appetite for sucking the blood of people, especially babies. So she would take off her skin at night, fold it into a calabash, and fly out as a ball of fire and go hunting for people or babies to suck. The old higue is said to usually enter through the keyholes of doors, although it can also enter through windows etc. Sometimes, in olden times, when Guyanese wake up with red marks about their bodies, they would think that they had been sucked by an old higue. Or if they see red marks about the body of their babies, they would think the same thing. It should be noted that there several documented medical conditions that cause persons to wake up with red marks about the body.
Destroying the Old Higue
The story continues that the old higue can be caught by putting a bag of rice at the door where the old higue is supposed to enter. The old higue, being “miserly,” will count the rice grains one by one, moving the counted grains from one hand to other. The grains will spill forcing her (or it) to start the process all over again. The old higue will be unable to exit the location due to repeated counting of the grains and will be caught and beaten to death by the people of the house. To date, there has been no credible documented case of any old higue having been caught this way – further diminishing the idea that the old higue is real.
It is said that the old higue can also be killed by turning the key when it tries to enter through the keyhole. Good luck with that. Another way to destroy the old higue is to find its skin in the calabash (after it goes out to suck blood in the night) and coat it with pepper. When the old higue tries to reenter the skin, it will be burned (possibly to death). To date, there has been no credible documentation of any old higue killed this way either – or any skin of the old higue found.
Below is a video filmed by a Guyanese citizen over the rice fields in Region 4. The citizen believes that he saw an old higue flying over the rice field. He says this is a regular occurrence, and that the old higue such the blood of cattle.
Whether old higue is real or imaginary is not crystal clear at this point in time, but hopefully, with modern science and technology, the question will soon be settled. In the meantime, we would like to implore all our readers to desist from labeling old women old higue without proper evidence. There is at least one documented case of an old woman who was beaten to death because she was found walking around in a strange place in the early morning hours and was assumed by the residents of the area to have been an old higue. This is what makes the story of the old higue a dangerous rhetoric. Old people sometimes suffer from memory loss and it is very possible that the old woman might have wandered from her home.
