ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – This week’s cryptid is usually divisive amongst folklore fans, from its origin story right down to its identify.
If you happen to’re from Missouri, it’s possible you’ll know her because the Gallywampus. In Arkansas, they name her the Whistling Wampus. Even inside Appalachia, some discuss with her because the Wampus cat, whereas others say Wampas cat.
Many say the Wampus cat is a creature that’s half girl and half mountain lion, whereas others declare it has six legs and is extra like a half-cat, half-dog hybrid. It’s usually agreed upon that the Wampus has piercing yellow eyes and is seen after darkish or proper earlier than daybreak.
Many tales of the Wampus cat embrace the eerie sounds and guttural screams that oldsters used to warn their youngsters of staying out previous sunset, typically replicating the screams as a part of their cautionary tales.
There are additionally many theories of how the Wampus cat got here to be. Whereas most might imagine the Wampus cat is just like different cryptids, it’s a creature that has existed so long as the mountains themselves. Nevertheless, for those who look deeper into the historical past of the Cherokee tribe that referred to as Appalachia dwelling, there are tales of how the Wampus cat got here to be.
That is one other space the place there’s a little bit of disagreement. Inside Cherokee folklore, there are reportedly two totally different variations of the tales of how a lady was became the hybrid that grew to become the Wampus cat.
One tale depicts a Cherokee girl named Operating Deer who needed to precise revenge on Ew’ah, the Spirit of Insanity, after it drove her husband mad. She was outfitted with a booger masks that held the spirit of a mountain cat. When she lastly discovered Ew’ah, she was in a position to shock it and used the masks to show the magic of Ew’ah again onto itself, driving it mad. Upon her return, the shamans and the warchiefs declared Operating Deer the Spirit-Talker and House-Protector. This led some to imagine her spirit nonetheless inhabits the Wampus cat, as she continues her everlasting mission of defending her tribe’s lands and folks from the demons that conceal at the hours of darkness.
One other legend says a Cherokee girl spied on a sacred ceremony by hiding beneath a pelt of a mountain lion. When she was found, the tribe’s healer punished the lady by reworking her into the fearsome entity of the Wampus cat. This story grew to become the muse for Appalachian folklore, which says the Wampus cat was a lady punished for her disobedience or involvement in witchcraft.
Different Appalachian folklore, probably influenced by European mythology, introduces the Wampus cat as a witch or girl with shape-shifting talents.
Reported sightings typically occur late at night time in distant areas. They’re additionally continuously tied to livestock deaths and disappearances. Whereas some sightings return so far as 1918, a recorded sighting in West Virginia in January 2016 was featured on the Journey Channel.
On the TV present “Mountain Monsters,” the crew tried to arrange a entice for a Wampus cat {that a} Pleasants County, WV, resident claimed to have caught on digicam within the wooded areas of his farm. You’ll be able to view the footage across the 1:20 mark on this Journey Channel YouTube clip.
This TV clip, posted in January 2024, helps the concept that the Wampus cat continues to affect popular culture at the moment. The Wampus cat is featured as a creature within the fifth Version of Dungeons & Dragons. There are additionally a number of references to the Wampus cat within the Harry Potter Universe, as a core choice in your wand (Wampus hair) and a reputation of one of many homes on the Ilvermorny College of Witchcraft and Wizardry in North America.
Now that you recognize the legend of the Wampus cat, you would possibly begin to discover her all over the place within the ziegest, simply hope you don’t see her in your yard.
