La Diablesse of Caribbean Folklore

MythDemonCaribbean

Jan 17

Also known as Ladjables, La Djablesse, and La Guiablesse among other names, La Diablesse is one of the more well-known figures in Caribbean folklore and is said to be prominently found in Trinidad.

Often described as a gorgeous devil woman, La Diablesse wanders dirt roads in long elegant dresses with her face hidden by a large straw hat as she hunts for other male victims. But what are the legends of La Diablesse and where are they thought to originate from?

The Legends of La Diablesse

There are two main stories of how La Diablesse came to be, each is widely different and portray her in very different lights.

The Beautifully Vain Diablesse

The first story is of a young woman in the 18th century who was obsessed with being the most stunning woman anyone had ever seen. When she discovered another woman in a nearby village who was considered by many as more beautiful, her vanity led her to seek help from the supernatural.

The young woman prayed to the devil and made a deal with the demon to make her the object of every man’s affection. The deal was done and the very first man the woman came across fell into a trance and followed her wherever she went. But a deal with the devil is never simple, to the woman’s shock she discovered that one of her feet had transformed into a cloven foot.

Donning a long dress to hide her foot, she decided to put her beauty to the test at a local party. Immediately almost every man turned and had their eyes glued to her as she walked in but the young woman was confused, why wasn’t every man staring at her?

The woman approached one of the men who hadn’t fallen into a trance and turned him around to face her. The man looked at her face and screamed, “une Diablesse!” which translates to “a she-devil”. While most men immediately fell in love with the young woman, some were immune to her allure; instead of seeing a beautiful woman in front of them, they saw a woman with a face like a corpse and burning red eyes.

The young woman moved to the outskirts of town and would often be found near dirt roads wearing a long dress hiding her cloven foot and a large straw hat hiding her face. If you find yourself near la Diablesse, and if you’re susceptible to her beauty, you’ll smell an enticing perfume that you won’t be able to ignore.

But, if you’re one of the lucky ones to not fall for the allure of la Diablesse you’ll smell the scent of rotting flesh telling you to stay away. Those that fall for la Diablesse follow her into the woods and are usually never seen again. If they are seen again it’s because someone found their lifeless broken bodies on the side of the road where they first met la Diablesse.

The Vengeful La Diablesse

This version of La Diablesse’s origin takes place in the 18th century when a beautiful young woman belonging to a French-Creole family falls in love with the man of her dreams. The two begin a relationship and eventually are wed to the delight of their families.

Unfortunately, her husband’s true colors are shown when he starts to belittle and beat her. One night the husband does the unthinkable, after losing his temper, he kills his wife. In a panic, the husband takes her body and buries her out in the woods. Later, he claims his wife is missing after having gone out for a walk, and in the end, no one suspects him of any wrongdoing.

Days later the husband is out walking along the dirt roads when he smells the sweet perfume his wife used to wear. Following the smell he sees her wearing a long black dress and a large straw hat in the distance. Confused the man runs up to her and upon seeing her face, falls into a trance.

His wife leads him into the woods and up a mountain all the while the man follows without question. Reaching the peak the man finally looks down at his wife’s feet and realizes one of them is a cloven hoof. This breaks the trance as the man yells out “she-devil” but it’s too late for him.

His wife, now la Diablesse, lifts her head revealing her demonic-like face and burning red eyes. Screaming, the man tumbles back and loses his footing. La Diablesse disappears as the man falls dozens of feet below onto the craggy rocks, killing him instantly.

From that day forward, it’s said any man who has wronged a woman physically or has been unfaithful to his wife will immediately fall into a trance when they see la Diablesse. They’ll follow her deep into the woods where she’ll disappear and leave the man lost. Eventually, the man will die from either starvation or an attack from wild animals, and la Diablesse will return to the side of the road waiting for another victim.

Other Versions

Since the legends of la Diablesse were originally told orally, it’s no surprise that there are dozens of variations of how she came to be, although most stories don’t specify. Many stories skip over how la Diablesse came to be and go straight into her leading a victim to death or driving them insane.

Some of the more common variations I could find are when la Diablesse can be found looking for victims. Sometimes she only “hunts” at night during a full moon and the men that find her are so drunk they can’t tell her face is that of a corpse. Other times she can be found at dusk, while other stories give her the ability to be out “hunting” at any time of the day.

Another variation of the stories involves what she does to men once she’s caught them. Often she’ll lead them to get lost in the woods or cause them to fall from a mountain, but in some stories, she leads them to a ravine where they drown. In one legend, la Diablesse leads men to a specific tree where she kills them but the method is not specified. These stories also have different variations on how to avoid la Diablesse.

While any man will be unable to escape her grasp once they are entranced, the legends say once you smell her perfume, you must remove all your clothes and wear them inside out as you walk backward in order to have la Diablesse ignore you. If you suspect you don’t have enough time to avoid her, light a match as la Diablesses are said to fear fire.

The biggest variation on the legend that I could find says la Diablesse is not just one woman but instead several different cursed women who exist to take vengeance on men who wronged them and others in the past.

In these versions, a Diablesse is created anytime a man’s actions lead to a woman's death and she returns to ensure it doesn’t happen again. These Diablesses are more protectors and vigilantes than evil devils.

While the version of a devil woman out to bewitch any man is the more popular of the legends, recently the version of la Diablesse who entrances only evil men has gained popularity.

Possible Origins of La Diablesse

As with other mythological figures with legends that were told orally, it’s extremely difficult or impossible to pinpoint where the legend started. In the case of la Diablesse, it seems to be a legend heavily influenced by the history of the Caribbean islands but, with no exact origin.

Often la Diablesse is thought to have originated on the island of Martinique due to how she is often depicted wearing Martinque-style dresses. This makes sense as the French settled in Martinique in the 17th century bringing along thousands of West African slaves. Both sets of people also brought along their own culture, superstitions, and mythology.

Historian and author Gerard Besson believes la Diablesse may be an evolution of the West African goddess of love or vengeance. Those legends then mixed with the French/European supernatural beliefs such as the ability to make deals with the devil and, the cloven foot being a telltale sign of a demon.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the British took control of Martinique causing many French settlers to move to the other islands such as Trinidad and Tobago. It’s also important to note that the Spanish and Dutch were on the islands which could have caused further changes to the mythology that was evolving.

For example, the idea that turning your clothes inside out and walking backward in order to escape la Diablesse is something that is seen in various mythologies when dealing with the supernatural. This action is said to confuse the supernatural being and give you enough time to escape.

The belief in witches and demons was also at an all-time high in various European countries and these supernatural beings were often said to have the ability to bewitch and entrance others. Several of these views came from the Puritans who had very strict beliefs when it came to women in the household and how they should act around other men. It’s not surprising then that legends could have been created and used to scare men away from being enticed by other women.

Popularizing La Diablesse

While we may never know how the legend started or who started it, we know who helped popularize it. In 1887 acclaimed writer Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was sent to Martinique as a correspondent for Harper’s Magazine. Hearn spent two years in Martinique as well as traveling to Trinidad where he took particular interest in the legends.

In 1890 Hearn wrote Two Years in the French West Indies detailing his time and experiences. One chapter is devoted to the legend of la Diablesse and a version of her legend. This version follows a male character, Fafa, who succumbs to the seduction of la Diablesse and is led to his death from a mountaintop.

Hearn’s writing helped popularize the legend of la Diablesse and create an interest in Caribbean folklore. Who knows, maybe he has even contributed to the evolving legend of La Diablesse that we know today.