Coco (folklore)

TheCocoorCoca(also known as theCucuy,Cuco,Cuca,Cucu,CucuíorEl-Cucuí) is a mythicalghost-likemonster, equivalent to thebogeyman, found inSpainandPortugal. Those beliefs have also spread in manyHispanophoneandLusophonecountries. It can also be considered an Iberian version of abugbearas it is a commonly used figure of speech representing an irrational or exaggerated fear. The Cucuy is a male being while Cuca is a female version of the mythical monster. The "monster" will come to the house of disobedient children at night and take them away.
The myth of theCoco, orCucuy, originated in northern Portugal andGalicia. According to theReal Academia Española, the wordcocoderives from the Galician and Portuguesecôco[ˈkoku], which means "coconut".The wordcocois used in colloquial speech to refer to thehuman headin Spanish.Cocoalso means "skull".The wordscocurutoin Portuguese andcocorotain Spanish both means "the crown of the head" or "the highest place"and with the same etymology in Galicia,croucameans "head",fromproto-Celtic*krowkā-,with variantcróca;and eithercocoorcucameans "head" in both Portuguese and Galician.It is cognate withCornishcrogen, meaning "skull",andBretonkrogen ar penn, also meaning "skull".InIrish,clocanmeans "skull".
Many Latin American countries refer to the monster as ElCuco. In northernNew Mexicoand southernColorado, where there is a large Hispanic population, it is referred to by its anglicized name, "the Coco Man".In Brazilian folklore, the monster is referred to asCucaand pictured as a female humanoidalligator, derived from the Portuguesecoca,adragon.
In Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, parents sometimes invoke the Coco or Cuca as a way of discouraging their children from misbehaving; they sing lullabies or tell rhymes warning their children that if they don't obey their parents,el Cocowill come and get them and then eat them.
It is not the way the Coco looks but what it does that scares most. It is a child eater and a kidnapper; it may immediately devour the child, leaving no trace, or it mayspirit the child awayto a place of no return, but it only does this to disobedient children. It is on the lookout for children's misbehavior from the rooftops; it takes the shape of any dark shadow and stays watching.It represents the opposite of theguardian angeland is frequently compared to thedevil. Others see the Coco as a representation of the deceased of the local community.
The oldest known rhyme about the Coco, which originated in the 17th century, is in theAuto de los desposorios de la Virgenby Juan Caxés.
The rhyme has evolved over the years, but still retains its original meaning:
The Portuguese lullaby recorded byJosé Leite de Vasconcelostells Coca to go to the top of the roof. In other versions of the same lullaby, the name of Coca is changed to that of "papão negro" (black eater), the name of another bogeyman.
The traditional Brazilian lullaby is as follows, with theCucaas a female humanoid alligator:
Both Brazilians and Portuguese also have abogeymanversion, which sometimes acquires regional colors where the bogeyman (the shape-shiftingBicho Papãois a monster that is shaped by what the child fears most) is a small owl,murucututu, or other birds of prey that could be on the roof of homes at night (in Brazil) or a mysterious old man with a bag who is also waiting on the roof of the house (in Portugal).
Verses and songs were used in pre-Roman Iberia to transmit history to the younger generations, as told by ancient authors.Sallustsaid the mothers sang the military feats of the fathers to incite the children to battle.He was later quoted by Servius, who emphasised that it was the role of the mothers to remember and teach the young men about the war feats of their fathers.Silius Italicusadded more; he said that the young warriors sang songs in their native language while hitting their shields in the rhythm of the songs and that they were well versed in magic.Strabo, too, commented that history was recorded in verse.
During the Portuguese and Spanish colonization of Latin America, the legend of the Coco was spread to countries such asMexico,Argentina,UruguayandChile.
There is no general description of thecucuy, as far asfacialorbodydescriptions, but it is stated that thisshapeshiftingbeing is extremely horrible to look at. Thecocois variously described as a shapeless figure, sometimes a hairy monster, that hides in closets or under beds and eats children that misbehave when they are told to go to bed.
Coca is also the name of a femaledragonwho featured in various medieval celebrations in the Iberian Peninsula. In Portugal one still survives inMonção; she fights in some sort of medieval tournament withSaint Georgeduring theCorpus Christicelebrations. She is calledSanta Coca("Saint Coca"), an allusion to the Irish saint,orCoca rabicha("Tailed Coca"). If she defeatsSaint Georgeby scaring the horse, there will be a bad year for the crops and famine; if the horse and Saint George win by cutting off one of her ears with earring and her tongue, the crops will be fertile.Oddly enough, the people cheer for Saint Coca. In Galicia there are still two dragon cocas, one inBetanzosand the other inRedondela.The legend says that the dragon arrived from the sea and was devouring the young women until she was killed in combat by the young men
of the city. In Monção, the legend says, she lives in theMinho; in Redondela she lives in theRiaofVigo.The dragon shared the same name that was given in Portuguese and Spanish to thecog(a type of ship), and although used mainly for trade, it was also a war vessel common inmedieval warfareand piracy raids on coastal villages.
The oldest reference to Coca is in the bookLivro 3 de Doações de D.Afonso IIIfrom the year 1274, where it is referred to as a big fish that appears on theshore:"And if by chance anywhaleorsperm whaleormermaidor coca ordolphinor Musaranha or other large fish that resembles some of these die inSesimbraorSilvesor elsewhere[.]"
InCatalonia, theCuca fera de Tortosawas first documented in 1457. It is azoomorphicfigure that looks like atortoisewith a horned spine, dragon claws and a dragon head.The legend says she had to dine every night on three cats and three children. This legend of the Coca can be compared to the one ofPeludaorTarasque.
InBrazil, the Coco appears as a humanoid female alligator calledCuca. She is dressed like a woman with ugly hair and a sack on her back. Cuca appears as one of the main villains in children's booksSítio do Picapau AmarelobyMonteiro Lobato, but in the books she appears like a powerful witch that attacks innocent children. Artists illustrating these books depicted the Cuca as an anthropomorphic alligator. She is an allusion toCoca, a dragon from the folklore of Portugal and Galicia.
Traditionally in Portugal, however, thecocois represented by an iron pan with holes, to represent a face, with a light inside; or by a vegetable lantern carved from a pumpkin with two eyes and a mouth, which is left in dark places with a light inside to scare people.In theBeiras, heads carved on pumpkins, calledcoca, would be carried by the village boys, stuck on top of wooden stakes.
An analogous custom was first mentioned byDiodorus Siculus(XIII.56.5;57.3), in whichIberianwarriors, after the battle ofSelinunte, in 469 BC, would hang the heads of the enemies on theirspears.According to Rafael López Loureiro, this carving representation would be a milenar tradition from theCeltiberianregion that spread all over theIberian Peninsula.
This representation would be related to the Celtic cult of the severed heads in theIberian peninsula.According toJoão de Barros, the name of the "coconut" derived fromcocoand was given to the fruit by the sailors ofVasco da Gama, c.1498, because it reminded them of this mythical creature.
Rafael Bluteau(1712) observes that the coco and coca were thought to look like skulls, in Portugal:
In the first half of the 20th century, the coca was an integral part of festivities likeAll Souls' Dayand the ritual begging ofPão-por-Deus. The tradition of Pão-por-Deus, already mentioned in the 15th century,is a ritual begging for bread and cakes, done door to door by children, though in the past poor beggars would also take part. Its purpose is to share the bread or treats gathered door to door with the dead of the community, who were eagerly awaited and arrived at night in the shape of butterflies or little animals, during the traditionalmagusto.In Portugal, depending on the region, thePão-por-Deusassumes different names:santoroorsantorinho,dia dos bolinhos(cookies day), orfieis de deus.This same tradition extends toGalicia, where it is calledmigallo.It has a close resemblance with the traditions ofsoulingor nowadaystrick-or-treating.While the Pão-por-Deus or Santoro is the bread or offering given to the souls of the dead, the Molete or Samagaio is the bread or offering that is given when a child is born.
To ensure that the souls found their way back home, theBotador de almas, whose mission was to lay souls (botar almas), would go every night through valleys and mountains and up on trees ringing a little bell, or carrying a lantern and singing a prayer to the souls. Every Portuguese village had one. Calling and singing to the souls is an ancient tradition done either by one person alone or in groups and it has many names: "lançar as almas", "encomendar as almas", "amentar as almas", "deitar as almas", "cantar às almas santas".
Theserandeirosare disguised young men, covered with a blanket, a bed sheet or a hooded cloak. They carry astaff(a stick ofquinceor ofhoneyberry, about their own height) in one hand, and in the other they carry a small bundle ofbasilor apples that they make the girls that take part of the desfolhada smell, or with which they tickle people's cheeks; sometimes, to play a prank, they bringstinging nettles. When a girl recognizes the serandeiro or if she recognizes her boyfriend masked as a serandeiro, she throws him an apple brought from home.The serandeiros represent the spirits of the dead, the spirits of nature.
The heads would have protective and healing powers, protecting people and communities. They would also be cherished for their divinatory, prophetic and healing powers.The display places for the Iron Age severed heads were in the inside or outside of buildings with a preference for public places, with streets and people passing by and always preferring high places.
In Portugal, rituals among theCatholicreligious order ofOur Lady of Cabeza, aBlack Madonna, include the offering of heads of wax to the Lady, praying theHail Marywhile keeping a small statue of Our Lady on top of the head; thepilgrimspray with their own heads inside a hole in the wall of the chapel.The Chapel of Our Lady of the Heads (Nossa Senhora das Cabeças) situated 50 m (160 ft) northwest of the ruins of the Roman era temple of Our Lady of the Heads (Orjais,Covilhã) evidences a continuity in the use of a sacred space that changed from a pagan worship cult area to a Christian one and continued to be a place of worship for centuries after. According to Pedro Carvalho, the pre-Roman findings and the unusual location of the ruins inside an 8th-century BChillfortsuggest it was the place of a pre-Roman cult.
The Lady of the Head and Lady of the Heads are two of the many names given to Our Lady. Several of her names are thought to be of pre-Roman origin. Names likeSenhora da Noite(lit.'Lady of the Night'),Senhora da Luz("Lady of the Light"),Señora de Carbayo("Lady of the Oak Tree") are spread all over the peninsula. In Portugal alone 972 titles for Our Lady have been found in churches, altars and images, not including the names of villages and places.Spain has a similar proliferation of titles for Our Lady.
The common element to all these names is the title Lady. But the titleSenhora(Portuguese) orSeñora(Spanish) is of Latin origin, and derives from the Latinsenior;thus there had to be another one of pre-Roman origin. In ancient times the titles that were used in Portugal by the ladies of the court wereMeana(me Ana) orMiana(mi Ana) andMeona(me Ona); these words meant the same as miLady, that is,AnaandOnawere synonyms ofSenhoraandDona.Anais the name of the riverGuadiana, thus pre-Roman in origin.Anais also the name of a goddess of Irish mythology.
In the village of Ponte, parish of Mouçós, on a hill that overlooks the River Corgo, there is a chapel called Santo Cabeço which legend says was built by themouros encantados. On the wall facing south there is a hole, where legend says themourosused to put their head to hear the sound of the sea. The local people also have the custom of putting their head inside the hole: some to hear the whisper that is similar to the waves of the sea, others to heal headaches.
InAlcuéscar, Spain, a legend says that a princess exhibited a stall of skulls and human bones.
In Portugal,cocais a name for a hoodedcloak; it was also the name of the traditional hooded blackwedding gownstill in use at the beginning of the 20th century.InPortimãoduring the holy week celebrations, in theprocissão dos Passos(Spanish:Procesión de los Pasos), aprocessionorganized by the Catholic brotherhoods, the herald, a man dressed with a black hooded cloak that covered his face and had three holes for the eyes and mouth, led the procession and announced the death of Christ. This man was either named coca, farnicoco, (farricunco, farricoco from Latinfar, farrisand coco) or death. The namecocawas given to the cloak and to the man who wore the cloak.
In 1498, the PortugueseKing Manuel Igave permission to the Catholic brotherhood of the Misericórdia to collect the bones and remains from the gallows of those that had been condemned to death and put them in a grave every year onAll Saints' Day.The brotherhood in a procession, known as Procissão dos Ossos, were followed by thefarricocos, who carried the tombs and collected the bones.
In the travels of the Baron Rozmital, 1465–1467, a paragraph was written commenting on the traditional mourning clothes of the Portuguese of that time. The relatives of the deceased who accompanied his funeral would be clad in white and hooded like monks, but the paid mourners would be arrayed in black."[...] white was 
worn as the garb of mourning until the time of King Manuel, at the death of whose aunt, Philippa, black was adopted for the first time in Portugal as the symbol of sorrow for the dead".
InRibadeo, twogiantfigures represent "el coco y la coca" that dance at the sound ofdrummersandGalician bagpipeplayers.
The 'land of the dead' is a mythic land which appears in traditions from various cultures around the ancient world.
Probably the oldest mention of a mythic land of the dead located in theIberian Peninsulais in theLebor Gabála Érenn.
The legends of Portugal and Spain speak of an enchanted land, the Mourama, the land where an enchanted people, theMouros(Celtic *MRVOS)dwell under the earth in Portugal and Galicia. The lore of Galicia says that "In Galicia there are two overlapped people: a part lives on the surface of the land; they are the Galician people, and the other in the subsoil, the Mouros". Mourama is the otherworld, the world of the dead from where everything comes back.
The Mourama is ruled by an enchanted being who is calledrei Mouro(king Mouro). His daughter is the princesa Moura (princess Moura), a shapeshifter who changes herself into a snake, also calledbicha Moura, or can even be seen riding a dragon.
In the last chapter of the work ofMiguel de Cervantes, the epitaph ofDon Quijoteidentifies him as thescarecrowandel coco.
Que Viene el Coco, a painting that depicts a cloaked, menacing figure, was painted byGoyain 1799.
Pennywisefrom Stephen King's miniseriesItcalls himself the "eater of worlds and of children."
The Cuco appears inAdventureQuest Worlds. It is among the creatures that attack Terra da Festa before theCarnavalParty. The Cuco resembles a Carnaval version of Blister. The Cuca later appears where it is depicted as a humanoid alligator in witch attire.
A wealthy family of Cucuys appear inWizards of Waverly Placeepisode "Alex Gives Up". Their abilities include shapeshifting in which they can change their face to a dark-gray skull shape, with large red eyes. The family consists of Carlos Cucuy (portrayed byDavid Barrera), Julie Cucuy (portrayed byRoxana Brusso), and Lisa Cucuy (portrayed bySamantha Boscarino). Staying somewhat true to folklore, they enjoy scaring children. Surprisingly, they are afraid ofwerewolveswhich evident at the end of the episode when the parents jump overboard their boat once they find out Mason, the boyfriend of Alex Russo, is in fact a werewolf. Interestingly, Lisa Cucuy wasn't phased by the reveal and only jumped overboard once she was rejected by Mason.
The 2013Universal Studios HollywoodHalloween Horror Nightsevent featured El Cuco (here known as El Cucuy) at a Scarezone who was voiced byDanny Trejo.
On the television seriesGrimm, in the fifth episode of season three, El Cucuy poses as a little, old lady who answers the prayers of crime victims, changes into beast form, and brutally slays criminals, thus rendering a version of vigilante justice that is a departure from the standard El Cucuy legend.
Stephen King's 2018 novelThe Outsider(and the2020 TV miniseriesbased on King's novel) features a variation of El Cuco as its main villain.
El Cucuy is featured inThe Casagrandesepisode "Monster Cash," voiced byEric Bauza. Carl Casagrande starts a ghost tour revolving around El Cucuy after hearing about it from his grandmother Rosa. Enlisting the assistance from Lalo, Sergio, and Stanley, Carl invites Ronnie Anne, Bobby, Adelaide, and Vito to partake in it. Afterwards, Carl, Lalo, and Sergio soon find that the El Cucuy legend appears to be true when it shows up and haunts Carl. It leaves when Carl does his chores and refunds the money he made. When El Cucuy visits the hot dog vendor Bruno, he was spooked until it was discovered to be a disguise worn by Rosa.
The Mexican stop motion seriesFrankelda's Book of Spooksepisode "Let's Get Out of Darkness" features Coco Jr., the son of the child stealing Coco, depicted as a furry creature with eight limbs and a horned lizard-like face. A music lover, Coco Jr. steals childhood passions for music and the arts to create a ghostly orchestra and tricks a bullied theremin player named Tere into giving away her talents to him.
El Cucuy is the nickname of American mixed martial artistTony Ferguson.