Creepy Legends And Myths

Skinwalkers

What is a Skinwalker

The Skinwalker is an ancient Native American legend that takes on various forms across tribes. In Navajo lore, a skin-walker ( yee naaldlooshii) is a kind of wicked sorcerer who can transform into, occupy, or disguise themselves as an animal.

The myth behind this shapeshifting being known as the Skinwalker has mostly been consigned the label of either hoax, too much peyote, or simply oral traditions transfixed to a culture’s beliefs.

The Navajo Skinwalker nevertheless has deep roots in aboriginal American folklore. Other tribes throughout the region also have their own version of the Skinwalker. The Pueblo people, Apache, and Hopi each have their own unique interpretation of what a skinwalker might be.

Theories on what a Skinwalker might be.

Some customs hold tight to the belive that Skinwalkers are produced when a medicine man abuses magic for evil; when they corrupt the natural order of things. The medicine man, now an entity for evil, becomes a Sith Lord. He or she is given awesome powers by the pollution. These powers differ from tradition to tradition. The few things this malicious transformation does have through all tribes is the Sith Lord’s now command over another beast, their ability to turn into different animals, and their capacity to possess other people from their tribe.

In other traditions, a person – man, woman, or child, becomes a skinwalker when they perform any kind of deep-seated taboo; similar to the wendigo curse.

Finally, yet another theory, one that’s tied up to Creation Myths, states that Skinwalkers were once the helpers of divine beings. In Navajo stories, the Naagloshii were agents for the Holy People when they were first training humans in the Blessing Way. Naagloshii were supposed to abandon the mortal world with the Holy People… but a few decided to stay behind. Their greed and desire to stay in the mortal plane corrupted the power the Holy People gave them and transformed them into malicious semi-divine beings.

Some tribes differentiate between Naagloshiis and Skinwalkers. The former the Native American equivalent of Fallen Angels while the latter a mortal with a gift for black magic.

How to kill a Skinwalker

They are reportedly near-impossible to kill. Some traditions state a bullet, knife or spear dipped in white ash might, MIGHT, be able to kill a Skinwalker. 

“He who must not be named.”

Just like Voldemort, and Fight Club, you do NOT talk about Skinwalkers. I’m putting my neck on the line just writing about them. Widespread belief in tribal custom warns that talking about wicked beings is not only bad luck but somehow calls out to them and makes their appearance all the more likely; think Beetlejuice.

Given that caveat, little, if anything, is really known about the skinwalker. The Navajo are staunchly hesitant to discuss their boogeymen with outsiders. Even amongst each other the subject is considered taboo.

“What happens when Rowling pulls this in, is we as Native people are now opened up to a barrage of questions about these beliefs and traditions. But these are not things that need or should be discussed by outsiders.”

Native American writer and historian Adrienne Keene explained on how J.K. Rowling’s, or other pop-culture phenomenons like Supernatural or Grimm, that employ of similar entities in their narratives have the affected indigenous people who believed in the Skinwalker.

There are many anecdotes about Skinwalkers online, particularly in Reddit. These occurrences usually transpire on Native American reservations and are supposedly only interrupted by the blessings of medicine men. The descriptions of the being are essentially always the same: a four-legged brute with a disturbingly human, albeit marred face, and orange-red gleaming eyes. Those who have seen a Skinwalker also stated that they were fast and made fiendish cries.

Skinwalker Ranch

Skinwalker Ranch, also known as Sherman Ranch, is a business located on around 512 acres (207 hectares) southeast of Ballard, Utah. It is thought to be the site of countless paranormal incidents and UFO-related activities. The land, many believe, is cursed… perhaps even the inhabited of a skinwalker.

Source:
https://rivercityghosts.com/the-terror-of-the-skinwalker-the-native-american-boogeyman/