El Cucuy an article by Ms. Baggs

Wikipedia says,  "In Mexico and among Mexican-Americans, El Cucuy is portrayed as an evil monster that hides under children's bed at night and kidnaps or eats the child that does not obey his/her parents or go to sleep when it is time to do so.

El Cucuy is a Boogie Man. A bogeyman (also spelled bogieman, boogeyman or boogieman) is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into behaving. The monster has no specific appearance, and conceptions about it can vary drastically from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he has no set appearance in the mind of an adult or child, but is simply a non-specific embodiment of terror. Parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, the bogeyman will get them. Bogeymen may target a specific mischief — for instance, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs — or general misbehavior, depending on what purpose needs serving. In some cases, the bogeyman is a nickname for the devil."

"No one knows what “El Cucuy” looks like. What we do know is that El Cucuy is some sort of a gobbling goblin with an appetite for children who fail to obey authority. This goblin, ghost, monster, or whatever he may be, will eat you if you don’t listen to your parents." from an article in the Tuscon Citizen.com

What is interesting to this reporter is that I did see the Cucuy twins and I do know what they look like. I have been instructed to say the following. "Cucuy prefer their privacy and would be far less scary if the humans knew what they actually look like." And that is a very accurate statement. More like a furball than a devil.

The twins have been prowling this area for at least 100 years. Many settlements, homes and humans have been laid victim to the snarling, fowl tempered beasts. They are after all from the earth and have a mind set of protecting earth. We should all take a lesson from their unselfish protection of terra firma. They would actually prefer to be known for their protection of the earth rather than the bad reputation they have.

Twin 1 was the best communicator of the two and was much easier to understand, less growling and snarling from him. He stayed with me in the crawlspace under the house for a full hour telling me tales of ranchos and the cowboys who settled here in the Rio Grande Valley. And most especially, the children who are the bane of El Cucuy's existence because of their laughter. It has nothing to do with behavior but rather volume of the laughs that are part of childhood. The laughter hurts their very tiny external ears.

The Cucuy usually live close to the earth, in the dark and only prowl at night. They are sensitive creatures and can feel fear, anger and malice and are attracted to these more base emotions. You can usually find this beast close to angry or scared people. This may be why reports of Cucuy terrorizing already frightened children exist. Parents use El Cucuy into behaving themselves and then El Cucuy feel or sense the fear and further frighten the child.

The twins were drawn to this house, not because of the current residents but rather the former dwellers. They have stayed on because the current humans are very fond of the creatures of the "here and there" as well as the other worlds. The veil is very often opened because of their activities and this makes it a very sought after place for the magickal beings to dwell.

Not all humans are susceptible to El Cucuy. And those are the people that El Cucuy guard or protect. They actually have feeling toward the unscareable ones. I later found out that the literal translation is the "ones with no good sense". Go figure. They do seem to be very fond of the humans here and even pet names for their favorites. I am so very glad I was able to interview these fascinating creatures.

I watched as the twins disappeared into the dark corner of the crawlspace and suddenly felt more comfortable knowing that they are here with this house.