Wendigo is who?

According to ancient legends, in the forests in the north of the US and central Canada there lives a terrible monster, feeding on human flesh. Indian tribes today also attribute the disappearance of their hunters and ordinary tourists to the insatiable temper of the monster called Wendigo. This creature can take the image of a person or beast, change its voice to lure a traveler into the forest thicket. The first mention of the man is found in manuscripts of the XVII century, compiled by missionaries from the words of Indian chiefs.

What does Wendigo look like

In the indigenous peoples of the North American continent, the image of the forest demon is associated with cold, hunger, darkness. Descriptions of the appearance of the monster may vary slightly, but all converge in one: Vendigo is a supernatural evil creature mercilessly dealing with anyone who encounters in its path.

In the representation of the Algonquian Indians living in the Great Lakes region, the body of the monster is almost transparent, its skeleton and heart are made of ice. Wendigo does not have fingers on his hands, huge yellow fangs protrude from his bloodless mouth. Moving monster very quickly and silently, it is difficult to notice until you come face to face.

Hunters of the Ojibwa tribe describe the appearance of the Wendigo as follows: "This is a giant creature tall with a tree. He has sharp teeth and long claws, luminous eyes and a huge tongue, the whole body is covered with felted hair. Wherever the Wendigo passes, there are deep traces filled with blood. His hissing breath is heard a few miles away, and the stench coming from his body is like the smell of a corpse that has disintegrated. "

Habitat of the monster

Lives vendigo in the deaf forest thickets, where birds do not sing and animals are not found. The monster avoids bright light, so it hides in the day in underground caves or abandoned mines. Since the Wendigo is a demon of cold and darkness, the monster prefers to hunt for its victims with the onset of twilight.

The ogre perfectly orientates itself in the dark, knows every inch of its territory and can change the weather with the help of black magic. He is extremely hungry and insatiable, but sometimes makes stocks, hanging pieces of human meat on the branches of trees, or digs them into pits dug with sharp claws. Evil monster takes prisoners and living people, locking the unfortunate in their lairs in case of power interruptions.

Where do Wendigo come from

One could not believe the legends. Indeed, from the point of view of a civilized man, who is Wendigo? Just a fictional character, existing in the imagination of poorly educated Indians. But the fact is that there are a lot of these creatures, they say, they still appear today in the forest and mountain regions of North America, seizing new territories.

Wendigo is not born, they become. The spirit of the Wendigo can live in any person, if he voluntarily or involuntarily breaks the taboo of cannibalism. So it often happened in the old days, when in the villages of North American Indians there was a famine, caused by poor harvest or severe weather conditions. If one of the fellow tribesmen, trying to save his life, ate another man, a terrible payment ensued-the cannibal's body grew hair, the teeth turned into fangs. He who brought upon himself the curse of the Wendigo had to go into the forest to continue to do his dark deeds.

The population of monsters increased and at the expense of immigrants, travelers, gold diggers, forced in extreme situations to eat the bodies of their comrades in order to avoid starvation. Who knows, perhaps, even today such cases occur, as in the local forests from time to time the traces of the disappearance of tourists are recorded.

Deal with the devil as an act of self-sacrifice

There is another, more noble version of the Wendigo appearance. This occurred during periods of protracted tribal wars. To protect its kind from the deadly danger, one of the most brave warriors concluded an agreement with the forest demons and took the image of a super-powerful invulnerable giant.

After the victory over the enemies, the hero could not regain his human form and he filled up the ranks of malicious cannibals. His former tribesmen began to hunt for a Wendigo, because, having adopted the image of the beast, he became very dangerous, sparing neither children, nor old men, nor women, for the sake of whose salvation he sang a heroic deed.

Voluntary transformation into a monster

Indians believe that any person who has expressed such a desire can become a monster. To do this, it is supposed to completely abandon food for a few days or weeks, and when hunger becomes unbearable, go to the darkest forest thicket. Wendigo necessarily finds a daredevil and, depending on his mood, either regrets a depleted body, or turns a volunteer into himself like that.

There is also the opinion that some shamans, if they are excessively infatuated with black magic, involuntarily or intentionally become a Wendigo. The evil spirit, who has become a sorcerer, drives the unfortunate man into the forest away from the eyes of the people.

Can I escape from a bloodthirsty monster?

Escape from the monster is almost impossible. The giant moves faster than the wind and can catch up with his victim in no time. There is an opinion that the Wendigo is like a zombie or a vampire, so you can easily kill it with a silver bullet or pin it with an aspen stake. Unfortunately, these methods do not work for the cannibal.

The only way to prevent a Wendigo attack is to fire. Therefore, local residents, going to the forest, always take with them a large stock of matches. To the burning fire monster never approaches. Certainly, there are other secret methods for the destruction of monsters, since the Indians and white immigrants periodically came out against them.

Hunters for the evil forest spirit

Wendigo (the forest demon) is known by several names - Windigo, Vitigo, Uitiko and Vi-Ti-Go, but each of them is translated roughly the same way: "the evil spirit that devours human flesh."

At the dawn of the development of the North American continent, many immigrants quite seriously took the stories of the Indians about the Wendigo. Moreover, there were all grounds for that. Periodically disappeared people who left to hunt, and in the forests of Northern Minnesota, not once saw a wandering monster. It is said that here still live single individuals of bloody monsters, and in the period from 1800 to 1920 there were especially many.

Individual daredevils declared a real war to the giants, calling themselves professional hunters for the Wendigo. The most eminent fighter with cannibals Jack Fiedler, according to his own statement, managed to destroy fourteen Wendigo. The last of them he neutralized, being already an old man of 87 years.

In 1907, Fiedler, along with his son, was brought to trial for the murder of an Indian woman. Without denying their guilt, the hunters declared that they could not have acted differently, since the unfortunate one was "wandigo fever". In a short time, a woman would turn into a monster, endangering the lives of a large number of people.

Symptoms of infection with "Wendigo fever"

No matter how terrible and bloodthirsty the Wendigo, in some cases, after a meeting with him, people managed to survive. But just as there is a conversion to vampires, a man bitten by a forest monster began to gradually acquire the appearance of a monster. In the first place, the psyche suffered. The unfortunate were tormented by hallucinations and nightmares.

Wendigo psychology could arise even without contact with a monster, for example, against a background of prolonged starvation. The man was overcome by the fear of becoming an ogre, it began to seem that no food could satisfy hunger, except human flesh. And although these symptoms, as a rule, were false, in the Indian tribes such a possessed person was executed.

What a person feels when turning into a wendigo

Before becoming a monster, infected with a "wendigo fever" begins to feel a strange smell, his body shakes with a great chill, every night he fears to fall asleep, fearing the repetition of nightmares. Then the unfortunate person has an unbearable pain in his legs, his feet are burning like singed by fire. In the end, getting rid of clothes and shoes, the future monster runs into the forest, where its final transformation takes place.

As it was possible to fix the feelings of werewolves, it remains a mystery. Obviously, turning into a monster, a person would not describe the subtleties of the process to former tribesmen or comrades. Perhaps in the emergence of this information not the least role was played by films about Wendigo, which were shot a lot both in the past and in this century. Among the most popular films on this topic can be identified a picture of Larry Fessenden Wendigo (2001) and a horror film "The Witch of Blair: A courser from the other world", released by the studio of independent American cinema in 1999.

Wendigo syndrome as a mental illness

An ancient Indian legend was reflected in the definition of the modern medical term "psychosis of Wendigo". Some specialists find the existence of such a disease very controversial, while others believe that with certain changes in the psyche, the patient has an intense desire to taste human flesh and fear of becoming a cannibal.

Exposure to this psychosis is observed only among the Indian population living in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. The disease usually develops in winter in people who have been isolated by heavy snow for a long time.

The initial symptoms are expressed by lack of appetite, nausea and vomiting. Subsequently, the person develops the illusion of becoming a monster. Surprisingly, the frequency of cases of Wendigo psychosis fell sharply in the twentieth century, when Native Americans began to become actively involved in Western culture.

Modern ideas about Wendigo

And nowadays many people seriously believe in the existence of an evil forest monster. It is reported that already in the new millennium Wendigo was allegedly seen in the north-west of Ontario, near the city of Kenora. According to the testimony of hunters, traveling traders and travelers, the monster often appears on the shore of the Forest Lake. According to beliefs, it is in these places is the den of an evil cannibal. The small town of Kenore was given the secret title of the World Capital of the Wendigo.

They say a bloodthirsty monster almost five meters tall still wanders through the forests and prairies of the North American continent, terrifying not only local residents, but also visiting tourists. Despite all the efforts of fighters against the monster, we have to admit: it is impossible to kill a Wendigo, he is immortal.