The cadejo (Spanish pronunciation: [kaˈðexo]) is a supernatural spirit that appears as a dog-shaped creature with blue eyes when it is calm and red eyes when it is attacking. It roams around isolated roads at night,^[1] according to Central American folklore of indigenous origin. There is a good white cadejo and an evil black cadejo. Both are spirits that appear at night to travelers: The white cadejo protects them from harm and danger during their journey, while the black cadejo (sometimes an incarnation of the devil) tries to kill them. They usually appear in the form of a large, shaggy dog (potentially as big as a cow) with burning red eyes and goats hooves, although, in some areas, they have more rough characteristics. According to the stories, many have tried to kill the black cadejo, but have failed and perished. It is said that if a cadejo is killed, it will smell terrible for several days, and then its body will disappear. Some Guatemalan and Salvadoran folklore also tells of a cadejo that protects drunk people against anyone who tries to rob or hurt them. When the cadejo is near, it is said to bring a strong goat-like smell. Turning one's back on the cadejo or speaking to it is said to induce insanity.^[2]

The term cadejo is thought to have derived from the Spanish word cadena, meaning "chain"; the cadejo is at times represented as dragging a chain behind him. There is a fairly large member of the weasel family, the tayra, which is called a cadejo and is cited as a possible source of the legend.

In Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, the dog-like creature is known as El Cadejo. It is said to look like a dog, has deer-like hooves, and moves like a deer. The white cadejos are benevolent and eat bell-like flowers that only grow on volcanoes. The white cadejo protects people, including drunks, vagabonds, and people with grudges from all evil footsteps, even La Siguanaba, and bad choices, which are sometimes caused by the cruel black cadejo. The black cadejo is malevolent and lures people to make bad choices. The black cadejo has glowing purple eyes and eats newborn babies. The book Los perros mágicos de los volcanes (Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes), by Manlio Argueta, describes the cadejos as mythical dog-like creatures that figure prominently in the folklore of El Salvador. They mysteriously appear at night and lovingly protect the villagers who live on the slopes of the volcanoes from danger. In Guatemala and El Salvador, the legend of El Cadejo revolves around La Siguanaba and El Cipitio legends.^[3]

The evil cadejo ranges in size, according to different tales in various regions. It lurks in graveyards and dark alleys, waiting to attack a passing victim. It has a distinctive smell of concentrated urine and burning sulfur. It rattles with a jerking motion, contracting its pharynx. Its gaze freezes anyone who makes eye contact. Its skin and short hair, similar to those of a pig, glitter in the pitch dark.

There are three types of black cadejos:

The first is the devil himself in the form of a large, wounded dog with hoofed feet that are bound with red-hot chains. It is said that not even the white cadejo can completely stop him. Unlike the regular black cadejo, it is not likely to pursue and attack a passing person, as it is a scout - the eyes of evil. Instead, anyone who spots him will have a sad event. In the short story "Leyenda del Cadejo" ("Legend of the Cadejo") by Nobel Prize laureate Miguel Ángel Asturias, this variety of cadejo terrorizes a young abbess and robs her of her braid.

The second type of cadejo is a mysterious evil dog. It kills and savagely tears through its victim. First, it demoralizes him with a series of sounds and other signs that it is nearby. Then, after the victim is scared, it leaps and will kill him if the white cadejo is not near.

The third and least powerful type of black cadejo is the offspring of a normal dog and the "regular" cadejo. It is a mortal hybrid and can (with difficulty) be killed by a strong man (bearing in mind that most men in those regions only carry a machete for protection). Once dead, it will completely rot in a matter of seconds, leaving behind a stain of evil, on which grass and moss will never grow again. This cadejo will never bite its victim. Instead, he kicks and pecks them with his snout. After this happens, people say "Lo jugó el cadejo" which means "he\she was handled by the cadejo". The victim goes mad. This term is sometimes applied to people who are born with a mental illness.

A fairly popular version of the legend in El Salvador talks about two brothers who walk into the house of a black magician. During a storm, he asks the boys to help him with some logs for a fire. Both boys slack on the job but eat the man's food. Once he finds out that the little bit of food he had is missing and that there is not enough wood for his fire, he puts a curse on the road that leads to the boys' village. Voices bother the boys and when they turn their backs on the voices they get turned into creatures: a white cadejo and a black one. After going back to their village in their cursed form they get kicked out and have no choice but to wander.

In the early 20th century, Juan Carlos was a guardian who lived in a thatched house near Los Arcos, in the country fields near La Aurora in Guatemala. He worked near Parroquia Vieja and arrived at his house at midnight. His wife and small children almost always spent the whole day alone, in the middle of the fields. Juan found a white dog when he arrived home one day. When the dog saw him coming, it shook, turned, and disappeared. Juan always tried to follow the dog, but he could never reach him. One day, when he arrived, the white dog did not move, and when he approached the dog, it did not make a single sound. But then Juan touched his paw, and all of a sudden it opened its eyes. Juan was scared; the dog said, 'You do not need my help anymore'. Frightened, Juan exclaimed, 'What help'? And the dog said, in pain, 'I am a dog sent from above. My mission was to protect you from any danger. But you have shown me you do not need my help anymore.' Right after that, the white dog died. Juan buried him, and every time he came home, he remembered the white dog.

The cadejo is a primary motif in the paintings of Guatemalan-born artist Carlos Loarca, who was born in 1937. As a child, Loarca was told the legend and believed that the cadejo protected his father, as he always came home unscathed from the cantina. As an adult, Loarca felt the protecting spirit helped him break his own alcohol habit. Since the 1970s, El cadejo has appeared in his paintings. Loarca states the dog has been a companion and guide, and has grown old with him. The cadejo is seen in places like Copán and Tegucigalpa in Honduras.

The Salvadoran writer Manlio Argueta wrote a children's book describing the folklore of El cadejo called Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes: Los Perros Mágicos De Los Volcanes (1990). The bilingual Spanish-English edition was translated by Stacey Ross and illustrated by Elly Simmons.

• Burchell, Simon (2007). Phantom Black Dogs in Latin America, Heart of Albion Press. Edited by Triniti R.

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