El Silbon
In the flat plains of the Los Llanos region in Colombia and Venezuela, the wind whips across vast open plains. During the rainy seasons, when weather is most active and unpredictable, you can hear the sounds of whistling hidden within the howling wind.
As the rains come, the legend of El Silbón (“The Whistler”) washes over the area. Standing at over six meters tall, his slender frame walks through the plains, looking for souls to claim. A large sack filled with bones carried on his back.
The legend began on a dark night, where a spoiled young boy demanded his father hunt deer for dinner - his favorite meat. When the hunt didn’t go well, and the father came back empty handed, the boy flew into a rage, killing him and cutting out his heart and liver. He gave the organs to his unknowing mother to cook, telling her they a from a deer. Growing suspicious after the meat didn’t cook well, she went to investigate, mortified to find her husbands corpse hidden within the forest outside.
Upon hearing this, his grandfather tied the boy to a tree, where he whipped him and rubbed Chili Pepper, lemon, and Rum into his wounds. After cursing the child to carry his fathers bones for eternity, he let loose two hunting dogs to chase the boy as he ran into the nearby forest. After years of running from these hounds, he became starved and emaciated, and in death still wanders the region as El Silbón - with the sack of fathers bones slung over his shoulder, covering the wounds on his back, and whistling wherever he goes.
Hearing El Silbón’s whistle is considered a bad omen, similar the cry of the Celtic Banshee. However the most distinct characteristic is when his whistling sounds close, the spirit is actually farther away. But the more distant the whistling sound, the closer he actually is.
El Silbón mainly targets womanizers and drunkards. This may result from another interpretation of his origin, where his father constantly got drunk and beat his wife. In this version the boy kills his father in order to protect his mother.
However, El Silbón has also known to attack innocent people passing through the area. The best way to protect oneself from his spirit is to travel with a dog, or keep chili peppers hung outside the house. As these remind him of the night his curse was enacted, and he’ll keep his distance.
He may also sit outside a household to count his bones. If the residents of the house hear him whistling outside, they are safe. But if one person doesn’t hear the whistling, it’s dark omen signaling their death in the coming year.
When the rainy season passes, legends says locals can see El Silbón sitting in trees collecting dust, patiently while waiting for the rains to return, so he can continue wandering the plains, whistling in the wind of Los Llanos.
He may also sit outside a household to count his bones. If the residents of the house hear him whistling outside, they are safe. But if one person doesn’t hear the whistling, it’s dark omen signaling their death in the coming year.
When the rainy season passes, legends says locals can see El Silbón sitting in trees collecting dust, patiently while waiting for the rains to return, so he can continue wandering the plains, whistling in the wind of Los Llanos.