1 00:00:05,440 --> 00:00:09,400 Hi is Bugiz Christina here. As you heard in our last episode, the 2 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:14,480 part two of Gloria Trevi and Set, we are taking a little break. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,480 For the next two weeks. You'll hear episodes from friends of the podcast Suo 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:21,440 and It's Haunted. What Now. If you've been a listener for a while, 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:24,839 you've heard this story before, but you haven't heard Aiden say it, 6 00:00:24,879 --> 00:00:27,839 and honestly it's better than us. If you haven't already, go check out 7 00:00:27,879 --> 00:00:32,200 Aiden and susta podcast and we'll catch you in a couple of weeks. Thank 8 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:58,039 you. Hey, cool friends, It's me Adrian or Aiden. Either way, 9 00:00:58,159 --> 00:01:00,359 I am still your host and you are still listening to Sustal. For 10 00:01:00,439 --> 00:01:03,760 those of you who are not familiar with me or the show, Sustal is 11 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:10,120 a scary podcast centered around paranormal folklore from Latin American and Hispanic cultures. Each 12 00:01:10,159 --> 00:01:12,959 episode is narrative driven, so I like to tell a story and then afterwards 13 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:18,280 I dive into any relevant context that surrounds the story, whether it's cultural, 14 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,840 historical, what have you. And sometimes they're just good old scary stories. 15 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:23,920 Now you might be thinking, what is this, what's going on? Well, 16 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:29,120 the ghouls over at a Spooky Tales have been so kind as to allow 17 00:01:29,159 --> 00:01:32,599 me to drop one of my episodes in their feed as a sneak peek into 18 00:01:32,599 --> 00:01:34,840 Sustal. If you haven't heard it before. If you have, heygolfriend and 19 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,560 nice to see you again. Funny running into you here, and if you 20 00:01:38,599 --> 00:01:41,560 haven't, I hope that you enjoy this episode and feel free to visit me 21 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,280 anytime you'd like before we move on. If you have any of your own 22 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,599 scary stories to share with me, or anything you think that I should share 23 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,920 on my social media pages, that's at sustal Podcast on every social platform you 24 00:01:52,959 --> 00:01:55,719 can do so by sending me a DM to one of those platforms. You 25 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:59,120 can write it in an email to sustalpodcast at gmail dot com. You can 26 00:01:59,159 --> 00:02:00,920 drop it in a Q and A on Spotify, in a five star review 27 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:06,159 on Apple Podcasts, or you can send it through my website that's www dot 28 00:02:06,239 --> 00:02:08,840 sustopodcast dot com. And while you're on my website, feel free to check 29 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,800 out my other episodes, my shop, my blog, anything that I throw 30 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,400 on there. Again, I hope that you enjoy it. It's so nice 31 00:02:15,439 --> 00:02:43,520 meeting you, and without further ado, let's get into today's episode. December 32 00:02:43,560 --> 00:02:49,560 eighth, nineteen sixty an unseasonably cold night in San Pedro Cholotla, a rural, 33 00:02:49,719 --> 00:02:54,719 primarily Nahuatch speaking community beneath Lamalinsi Volcano in the Mexican state of Lashkala. 34 00:02:55,400 --> 00:03:00,520 Philemon and Francisca, a couple in their early thirties, were working late carting 35 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:06,520 wool and making yarn. Like most households in the community, they supported themselves 36 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:12,120 with their weaving. They lived in one room of Philemon's parents extended household with 37 00:03:12,159 --> 00:03:16,319 their four children, two boys and a girl between five and fourteen years old, 38 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:23,080 and a seven month old daughter, Christina. Around midnight, Philemmon's older 39 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:27,199 brother returned from Mexico City, where he had gone to deliver an order of 40 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:31,159 sarapis. The three of them had coffee and chatted, then all retired for 41 00:03:31,199 --> 00:03:38,960 the night. Philemmon, exhausted, fell asleep immediately, but Franciska gave baby 42 00:03:38,039 --> 00:03:44,080 Christina one last breastfeeding. Then she put Christina back in her crib before going 43 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:49,800 to bed herself. Two or three hours later, Francisca awoke and saw a 44 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,800 glowing light moving around outside the bedroom window. She tried to get up to 45 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:59,919 investigate, but her body felt heavy and unresponsive, and she soon fell back 46 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:05,080 asleep. A little later, she half woke again. A strange mist filled 47 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:12,560 the room, and out of it materialized a large bird like creature. Again, 48 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,279 she tried to get up, but the mist overcame her, and that's 49 00:04:15,319 --> 00:04:20,879 all she remembered. As the sun rose, Philemon woke up and noticed that 50 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:26,959 the door to the room was partially open. Then he saw baby Christina lying 51 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,839 not in her crib, but on the floor a few feet away. He 52 00:04:30,959 --> 00:04:36,120 got up to investigate while Franciska was still fast asleep. It took several minutes 53 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:42,800 for Philammon to wake Franciska from her deep slumber with the terrible news Baby Christina 54 00:04:42,959 --> 00:04:46,839 was dead. The skin around her chest and neck was bruised, and she 55 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,720 was pale as if she had been drained of her blood. That same morning, 56 00:04:51,879 --> 00:04:57,920 six other families were shaken out of trance like sleeps to a similar discovery. 57 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,319 A still tiny body, sometimes an open door, seven dead babies. 58 00:05:04,079 --> 00:05:12,040 It was a Flawalbuchi epidemic. The blood sucking shape shifter Tlaowerbuci looks like an 59 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:17,000 ordinary person and lives in any family, but they must consume human blood at 60 00:05:17,079 --> 00:05:21,199 least once a month to survive. They hunt in the form of an animal, 61 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:28,199 usually a turkey or vulture. Lawalbuchis prefer the blood of infants, and 62 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:32,360 they hunt the most in cold or rainy weather. In flashgalen lore, they 63 00:05:32,399 --> 00:05:38,240 strike most often in cold and or wet weather. They hunt whenever they are 64 00:05:38,319 --> 00:05:42,920 hungry, but prefer to strike in the middle of the night. To hunt, 65 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:46,279 they fly from village to village in their bird form or as a hovering 66 00:05:46,319 --> 00:05:50,399 ball of light in the night. It is said you can tell if an 67 00:05:50,439 --> 00:05:58,040 animal is the Tlawalbuci by its glowing aura and the faint smell of blood. 68 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,879 After at Thlawalbuchi picks a v victim, they wait outside for a good opportunity 69 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:06,399 to sneak into the house. Some people say that to enter the house that 70 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,279 Lawerbouchi must fly over the roof in the shape of a cross from east to 71 00:06:12,399 --> 00:06:17,160 west and north to south. Others say she can sneak in as a paralyzing 72 00:06:17,199 --> 00:06:23,199 mist that knocks out everyone in the room. Once inside, she turns back 73 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:27,959 into a bird and sucks her victim's blood with her long needle like tongue. 74 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:32,959 When she escapes, she leaves the victim's body by the door. The position 75 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:38,639 of the body, along with bruises around the victim's chest, upper back, 76 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:44,000 or neck, are the signs of a Flowerbucci attack. You can try to 77 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:48,439 protect yourself or your baby from the flowerboucci in many ways. Leave a sharp 78 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:53,480 object under the crib, a knife, scissors, needles, or pins. 79 00:06:54,079 --> 00:06:58,160 Make a cross out of safety pins on your garments. Put a mirror or 80 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,160 dirty shorts, or a soiled duck viper near the bed, but none of 81 00:07:01,199 --> 00:07:06,319 these are full proof. Only onions or garlic are guaranteed to ward off an 82 00:07:06,319 --> 00:07:13,759 attack. You cannot tell who the tlawalpucci in your midst might be. Sometimes 83 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:18,360 they don't know themselves until they hit puberty and begin to crave blood. They 84 00:07:18,360 --> 00:07:23,759 can be any gender, but are mostly women. It is said the stronger, 85 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:29,240 meaner, more bloodthirsty ones are typically women. At Lawalbuchi can't kill their 86 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:33,480 own family unless that family member tries to give their identity away. In turn, 87 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:39,360 a family member who is responsible for the death of atlawalpuci will turn into 88 00:07:39,439 --> 00:07:46,160 one themselves, leaving families to live with the secret. Though Atlawalbuchi can hunt 89 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,120 or shape shift any time they need to. Once a month, they must 90 00:07:49,199 --> 00:07:54,839 go through a ritual. After midnight, they light a fire in the kitchen 91 00:07:54,959 --> 00:07:59,759 with certain types of wood and leaves that have magical properties. They walk over 92 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,920 the fire three times, first north to south, then east to west, 93 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:11,160 chanting incantations as they do so. Then they sit on the fire facing north. 94 00:08:11,879 --> 00:08:16,360 Their upper body separates from their legs and feet, and they turn into 95 00:08:16,399 --> 00:08:20,360 a bird and fly out into the night, leaving their legs behind. If 96 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:26,680 the flowered bucci doesn't find a victim by daybreak, they will die. In 97 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:31,839 the stress and terror of a rash of deaths, people will accuse their neighbors 98 00:08:31,959 --> 00:08:37,080 of being the Towerboucci. That person is executed, stoned, or clubbed to 99 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:41,519 death, their body left in a ravine. This is rare and fortunately didn't 100 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:48,960 happen in Saint Pedro Schrootla. Normally, when a child died in rural Plashkala, 101 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:54,559 their funeral procession was filled with music. Mourners sang and made noise on 102 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,679 the way to the cemetery. Perhaps this was a way to comfort the spirit 103 00:08:58,759 --> 00:09:03,080 of the child on their furs and last journey without their parents. But the 104 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:09,360 funeral of a Tlawalpucci victim was a silent affair. No priest said prayers over 105 00:09:09,399 --> 00:09:13,960 the casket. No one said a word until the Badarinos condemned the baby's soul 106 00:09:15,039 --> 00:09:20,720 to God as they erected the cross over their grave. It is tradition for 107 00:09:20,759 --> 00:09:24,360 the Badarinos to visit the grave after eight days, also known as the ogdava 108 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:30,360 de Gruz, but this didn't happen for Lawalpucci victim. After the wake, 109 00:09:30,519 --> 00:09:35,519 all the child's clothes and possessions were burned. They had no ogdava le gruz. 110 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,200 No flowers were ever placed on their graves, nor were they remembered on 111 00:09:39,279 --> 00:09:45,080 the family altar. On the other Los Martos, they were rarely spoken of. 112 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,919 Again, it says if the child never existed, a tragedy the family 113 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:56,960 tried to wish away. Anthropologist Hugo Nutini had been conducting field studies nearby at 114 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:01,759 the time of the epidemic and stayed to observe the community in the aftermath of 115 00:10:01,799 --> 00:10:07,200 the tragedy. He posited that the close kinship ties in the community prevented any 116 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:13,559 accusations, since Lawilpucci cannot attack their own family. So what led to the 117 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:18,399 onslaught of infant deaths. Over the next decade, Neutheni studied forty seven of 118 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:24,559 these cases, bringing in a doctor to examine the bodies or examine them himself. 119 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:30,240 While the medical professionals wouldn't speak definitively about the cause of death without an 120 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:35,480 autopsy, the bruising of the victim's bodies provided a strong clue the victims hadn't 121 00:10:35,519 --> 00:10:58,440 lost blood but oxygen. Okay, I know that one kind of ended on 122 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:03,399 a little bit of the cliffhanger, but that was intentional. So before I 123 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:09,559 continue, I do want to credit this story. It was adapted from a 124 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:13,720 blog. It's muto ghost dot WordPress dot com. That's the blog that I 125 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:18,360 got her from, Muto Ghost m u lto ghost dot WordPress dot com, 126 00:11:18,399 --> 00:11:24,519 and they had an entry about the Lapucci. So that was like the first 127 00:11:24,679 --> 00:11:26,320 part of it, or almost like all of it. And I saved this 128 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,279 last part for this part of the episode because I thought it would be really 129 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,480 interesting. So I'm going to read kind of this like disclaimer that is at 130 00:11:33,519 --> 00:11:37,720 the end of this entry. Yeah, so it says the names of victims 131 00:11:37,759 --> 00:11:43,360 and parents are as given by Nutini Hugo Nodini, which is sounds like he's 132 00:11:43,399 --> 00:11:48,080 a sociologist that studied these cases and this community after these deaths. So it 133 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:52,159 says, yeah, the names of the victims and parents are as given by 134 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:56,399 Nutini, except Maria and Juana, whose names weren't given, and I'm going 135 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:58,360 to reference them to in a little while. This story is based on true 136 00:11:58,399 --> 00:12:03,080 events. From what I have seen in doing more research into this episode and 137 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:09,240 into the Lawbuci, there are a bunch of academic papers that were written about 138 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:13,679 Lashkala, about the Mexican state Lashkala. I'm going to continue on with the 139 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:18,919 rest of this blog entry. So basically, they go on to say that 140 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:22,279 what they think happened, and you know, the story ended with that cliffhander, 141 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:26,120 that cliffhanger of asphyxiation. But what they go on to say is that 142 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:31,440 they think that the cause of these infant deaths were accidents, or they could 143 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:37,200 be people who felt cultural pressure to do the unthinkable. Basically, the first 144 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:43,639 explanation was of course Lawbucci, but the first I guess real quote unquote, 145 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,919 real on the record explanations would have been accidents. So some say that it 146 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,080 was customary for mothers in the region to feed their babies while they were lying 147 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,679 on their side. On a cold night, the mother would most likely feed 148 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,600 her baby while they were in bed or wherever they were sleeping, already wrapped 149 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,840 up. And so if it's late at night, if the parent is tired, 150 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:07,440 they're basically alluding to if the parent is sleeping with the baby, that 151 00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:13,720 they could have accidentally rolled over and suffocated the baby. I certainly have heard 152 00:13:13,759 --> 00:13:18,320 about cases like this happening, but it's horrible, you know, to imagine, 153 00:13:18,399 --> 00:13:22,759 and especially because this happened somewhere. This really did happen somewhere. Another 154 00:13:24,279 --> 00:13:28,600 explanation could be that because of the region in the world that this was in 155 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:31,960 in nineteen sixty that, you know, they didn't have the same luxuries that 156 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:37,799 we have now, you know, like space heaters and controlled temperature and you're 157 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:43,000 wherever you're living. So when they're putting the babies to sleep, you know, 158 00:13:43,279 --> 00:13:46,399 they want to bundle them up so that they stay warm if it gets 159 00:13:46,399 --> 00:13:50,240 cold at night. And like was mentioned in the story that the Tlapucci is 160 00:13:50,279 --> 00:13:54,919 said to strike on cold nights, that could be another explanation is that, 161 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:56,000 well, it's a cold night, we're going to wrap the baby up, 162 00:13:56,279 --> 00:14:01,480 bundle them up. So that they don't get cold, and maybe to try 163 00:14:01,519 --> 00:14:05,080 to prevent freezing to death. But then if they're completely bundled up, if 164 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,000 they roll the wrong way and they cover their face and they're unable to breathe, 165 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,000 then they can also suffocate that way, which is why I think that 166 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,840 they say now that you're not supposed to like put a baby to sleep with 167 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,240 blankets, because you know something like that can happen. So that was another 168 00:14:18,279 --> 00:14:24,679 explanation. Then the blog entry goes on to explanations that are maybe intentional, 169 00:14:24,799 --> 00:14:28,399 that are not that Basically, it's it's people killing their kids. And this 170 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:31,080 is for several different reasons. I'm going to read it a part of the 171 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:35,960 same blog entry. There are other tensions that could lead to infanticide. I 172 00:14:35,039 --> 00:14:39,759 was recently reading Bengali author Rabindra nath to Gore. One of his oft return 173 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:45,720 to two themes was the position of women in strict traditional Hindi households. Once 174 00:14:45,759 --> 00:14:48,919 a woman married, she was the property of her husband and his family. 175 00:14:48,159 --> 00:14:52,600 In very strict families, she couldn't return to her own parents. Even if 176 00:14:52,639 --> 00:14:56,159 something went very wrong with the marriage. They'd give her away. They weren't 177 00:14:56,159 --> 00:15:00,399 taking her back In an extended family living situation, a wife was out absolutely 178 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,639 subject to her mother in law, the domestic head of the household. A 179 00:15:03,679 --> 00:15:07,799 woman's future happiness could depend more on her relationship with her mother in law then 180 00:15:07,879 --> 00:15:11,480 on her relationship with her husband, and so it was in rual t Lashkala 181 00:15:11,559 --> 00:15:15,159 as well, which is where this story was set. Maria tried hard to 182 00:15:15,159 --> 00:15:18,639 placate her disagreeable mother in law, Juana, but this couldn't make up for 183 00:15:18,679 --> 00:15:22,840 the fact that Maria was older than her husband, too old according to her 184 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,519 mother in La Juana, and only had daughters, a wifely failure in a 185 00:15:26,519 --> 00:15:31,440 patriarchal society. The more Maria tried to defer to Juana, the more abusive 186 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:35,559 her mother in law got. Finally, after enduring an afternoon of especially vicious 187 00:15:35,639 --> 00:15:39,879 verbal abuse, Maria snapped and let her mother in law have it, very 188 00:15:39,919 --> 00:15:43,679 nearly striking her. The other women of the family had to hold her back. 189 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,519 Maria left the house for the rest of the day to cool down. 190 00:15:46,759 --> 00:15:52,559 That night, her mother in La Juana inexplicably insisted on sleeping in the room 191 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,000 where Maria, her husband, and family slept. That night, that Lawilbucci 192 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:02,960 struck by Nuthini's account, Several other women who had seen the altercation clearly suspected 193 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:07,759 that Juana had killed Maria's baby, though they never accused her outright. Juana 194 00:16:07,799 --> 00:16:11,279 seemed quite nervous when Nudini came to interview the family for his research, and 195 00:16:11,360 --> 00:16:15,559 on his follow up visits, she avoided him altogether. What Maria thought or 196 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,919 what she did about it isn't recorded. And I wish I could give the 197 00:16:19,279 --> 00:16:23,639 writer's name of the blog, but I can't find their name anywhere I'm seeing. 198 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,919 What I'm thinking is them commenting, but it's under a username and I 199 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,399 can't find their name. But all they can do is you offer you their 200 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,000 blog like I did earlier. There's a little bit more in the entry, 201 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:38,799 but they end with a PostScript. And I thought this was very interesting also, 202 00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:45,120 and it says infant mortality rates dropped drastically in rural Lashkala after about nineteen 203 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:51,240 sixty five, from about forty five percent of children under five in nineteen sixty 204 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:56,840 to about twenty percent in nineteen eighty five. So again, the infant mortality 205 00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:02,759 rate in Lashkala dropped from forty five percent to twenty percent in about twenty years 206 00:17:02,799 --> 00:17:07,400 when Nudini revisited the area in the mid eighties, that Lawalpucci was only a 207 00:17:07,519 --> 00:17:11,759 vague folkloric memory, just a story even to his original informants. In fact, 208 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:17,559 he noticed that many people had stopped using the Nahuat term Flawalbucci, opting 209 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:22,279 instead for the generic Spanish word bruha. So that's also interesting too that after 210 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:26,400 his study, and I wish I could see like a chart or a graph, 211 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,720 but it to me it sounds, you know, that that was like 212 00:17:29,759 --> 00:17:34,240 a steady drop of infant mortality rates. That's twenty five percent in twenty years, 213 00:17:34,400 --> 00:17:37,880 so it sounds like a steady drop. Again, I won't I'm not 214 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,599 going to say that definitively because I don't see a chart, so I don't 215 00:17:40,599 --> 00:17:42,599 know what the trend looks like. But it is a drop regardless. But 216 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:48,359 it's interesting that it happened after he visited. So the reason that I thought 217 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:52,759 this specific story was very interesting and that I wanted to go with the Muto 218 00:17:52,839 --> 00:17:59,680 Ghosts blog was because again, this speaks to the idea that we're always talking 219 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,839 about on SUSTO about trauma and when traumatic events happen, like how do they 220 00:18:03,839 --> 00:18:07,599 get explained away? And what is the conversation in the community at that time. 221 00:18:07,720 --> 00:18:11,799 So I think it was referenced earlier, but if not, it's in 222 00:18:11,839 --> 00:18:17,079 a different link. There was over forty cases like this that Nutini studied, 223 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:18,720 and he wrote a book about it, and I'm going to reference that book 224 00:18:18,759 --> 00:18:22,039 too. I want to buy it so bad. You know, if there's 225 00:18:22,079 --> 00:18:27,039 forty cases, if I don't know what a normal amount of infant mortality rate 226 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:30,640 is, but I feel like forty five any is high. I feel like 227 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,559 forty five is probably really high. And I feel like forty cases in I'm 228 00:18:34,559 --> 00:18:38,319 going to say the span of like what two years this says this happened in 229 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:44,200 nineteen sixty there was seven deaths over one night. That is huge. That's 230 00:18:44,559 --> 00:18:48,680 really traumatic for a community. People are going to find something to point their 231 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:52,480 finger at and be like, this is what it is. It's this vampire 232 00:18:52,599 --> 00:18:56,440 sorceress, the Lawalpucci. It's her versus you know, maybe pointing fingers at 233 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,119 each other. And I feel like the story of the Lawalpucci and her characteristics 234 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:07,000 are very very indicative of how people behave because there's also that point about how 235 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:11,880 she doesn't attack her own family and the only reason that she would attack her 236 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:15,000 own family is if they try to identify her. So if they try to 237 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:21,000 out her for whatever reason, I think this spoke to the way people behave 238 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,799 in a very like kind of raw way. I'll move on to the next 239 00:19:23,839 --> 00:19:29,599 link that I have here, and this is a good old Wikipedia entry. 240 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,319 This is just going to break down what a lawalpuci is down to the bear 241 00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:37,680 minimum or description or whatever in case it was unclear in the story, but 242 00:19:37,799 --> 00:19:41,599 I think or just to reiterate what was in the story, but this says 243 00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:45,559 that. It's a short a pretty short Wiki entry, and it says belief 244 00:19:45,599 --> 00:19:49,160 in the bloodsucker at Lawalpuci is prominent in the Mexican state of Plashkala, with 245 00:19:49,279 --> 00:19:55,680 deep roots amongst the indigenous Nahwak culture of the region. The word lawalbuci derives 246 00:19:55,720 --> 00:20:00,319 from the Nahuatlochli plural. Let me see if I can get this one La 247 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:06,839 lahui bodin a compound of lahuilla or to light up or illuminate. And you 248 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,279 know we have that descriptor of the tower boucci that they glow. So again 249 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:15,799 this light flahuilla to light up or illuminate and bocht li, which can mean 250 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:19,960 haze, left southern or youth, which is interesting because it's said that she 251 00:20:21,839 --> 00:20:26,440 feeds primarily on infants, but also can travel in this haze of light or 252 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:30,559 can create this mist. So many I guess different you know facets to her 253 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:37,319 as a result. Lawibucci may mean glowing haze or illuminated youth. Interesting. 254 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:41,839 The description says the flower boucci is a type of vampire or witch that lives 255 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:45,839 with a human family. It is able to shape shift and sucks the blood 256 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,000 of infants at night. It has a kind of glowing aura when shape shifted. 257 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:55,200 Flowerpucci are born with their curse and cannot avoid it. They first learn 258 00:20:55,319 --> 00:21:00,440 of what they are sometime around puberty. Most flowerbucci are female, and the 259 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,480 female lawalbouci are more powerful than males. They also have a pact with shamans 260 00:21:04,519 --> 00:21:11,079 and other supernatural creatures. A shaman won't turn in a suspected lawerbuci. The 261 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,319 typical sign that a victim was killed by the tlawalbuci are bruises on their upper 262 00:21:15,319 --> 00:21:18,440 body. The Tlawalbuchi largely feeds on children, though it can kill others, 263 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:22,000 and there's also something about their powers and weaknesses. So again, this says 264 00:21:22,039 --> 00:21:26,039 that they're able to change form by detaching their body from their legs. Then 265 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:30,519 they go hunting, usually in the form of some bird turkey of vulture. 266 00:21:30,759 --> 00:21:33,799 That the Taupouchi has to perform a ritual before she can enter the house of 267 00:21:33,839 --> 00:21:37,519 a victim, so again flying over in the shape of across east to west, 268 00:21:37,519 --> 00:21:40,519 north to south, I think is what it was. And then the 269 00:21:40,559 --> 00:21:42,759 weaknesses we mentioned them again in the story, but one more time. This 270 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,279 says that they must feed on the blood at least once a month or they 271 00:21:47,319 --> 00:21:51,599 die. Their victim of choice is an infant, so they are picky eaters. 272 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:55,240 There is no way to detect with Lawalbuci except by catching them in the 273 00:21:55,440 --> 00:22:00,359 act. Their family protects them out of shame and because if a family member 274 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,480 is responsible for the death of a Flowerbucci, the curse will be passed down 275 00:22:03,559 --> 00:22:07,880 to them. I don't think that part was in the story or the blog 276 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,839 entry that I read, but I thought that was really interesting that this is 277 00:22:11,559 --> 00:22:15,880 hereditary in a way. Yeah, it's hereditary because this is only if a 278 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,880 family member it kills them. If a stranger kills them, then nothing happens 279 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,759 to the stranger. But if a family does, then because they're related, 280 00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:26,440 it's passed down to them. This continues, the curse cannot be lifted and 281 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,640 if at Thlowerbucci is identified, they must be killed on the spot. Garlic 282 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:34,720 onions and metal repel the Thlawerbucci again like you mentioned earlier. Also, I'm 283 00:22:34,759 --> 00:22:38,279 sure, as you all know, all of the direct links will be available 284 00:22:38,319 --> 00:22:42,960 in these Susto Google docs on Patreon It's patreon dot com slash sustal podcast. 285 00:22:44,039 --> 00:22:48,640 And so now we get into the academic links. This is from Journeys dot 286 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:53,960 Dartmouth dot edu and it is their folklore archive. So once I started seeing 287 00:22:55,039 --> 00:22:57,640 these links, I was like, okay, yeah, folklore. And then 288 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:02,279 I started seeing like sociologic studies and so I was like, wait, what 289 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:04,759 is going on? Is this real? So this one just says the witches 290 00:23:04,799 --> 00:23:11,000 who suck the blood of children or newborns. So unfortunately with this one they 291 00:23:11,079 --> 00:23:17,279 have an item or it's basically like a like they recorded this guy's story about 292 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,160 this, and it's really roughly translated on here. So I'm having a hard 293 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,599 time understanding it. So if you have access to the just to Google docs 294 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,200 or if you find this online again. It's Journeys dot Dartmouth dot edu and 295 00:23:29,279 --> 00:23:33,839 it's from their folklore archive. I would say, feel free to read it 296 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,079 and try and figure it out. But what I'm seeing from the other parts 297 00:23:37,079 --> 00:23:41,799 of this entry is that they were trying to collect entries about the Otomi culture 298 00:23:41,839 --> 00:23:45,039 and he ended up giving this story. He's swearing to them that it's true, 299 00:23:45,319 --> 00:23:49,039 but it is about blood sucking, which is what we're talking about this 300 00:23:49,079 --> 00:23:53,039 episode as the Tawerbucci. So just wanted to put that out there because I 301 00:23:53,079 --> 00:24:00,839 think it's interesting that academic papers are collecting and publishing stories like this. The 302 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,759 next one that I really want this is from jstore dot org. This is 303 00:24:03,799 --> 00:24:12,079 a book called Bloodsucking Witchcraft, An Epistemological Study of Anthropomorphic Supernaturalism in Rural Tlashkala. 304 00:24:12,279 --> 00:24:17,119 I really really really want to buy this book. I found it online. 305 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,559 I think the cheapest that I found it was like fifty three dollars. 306 00:24:21,599 --> 00:24:23,279 So I'm going to see if I can maybe save up a little bit and 307 00:24:23,319 --> 00:24:29,480 buy it because I'm very interested in this. I mean, it's like all 308 00:24:29,519 --> 00:24:33,000 of my favorite things. I love sociology. I mean, obviously I think 309 00:24:33,319 --> 00:24:37,319 this show can tell you that about me. You know, I love learning 310 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,519 about cultures, and I really want to get this book, but it is 311 00:24:40,559 --> 00:24:44,640 heavily protected. It is an app it's an academic book, and it's by 312 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,400 Hugo g Nutini, which is the one that we reference in the story. 313 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:51,160 He was there for these studies and John M. Roberts. This was published 314 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,440 or it was copyrighted, in nineteen ninety three, so I was maybe only 315 00:24:53,480 --> 00:24:56,079 a year old when this book came out. But I'm going to read some 316 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,839 of the excerpts from the chapters. The introduction says this book is concerned with 317 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:06,920 bloodsucking witchcraft and rural tlash Gala Mexico, the most prominent personified complex in the 318 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:11,079 non Catholic belief system of the region. The primary aim of this book is 319 00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:15,400 to analyze the social and psychological contexts of witchcraft and to place it within the 320 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:21,359 framework of rural plash, good and culture. The manifold aspects of bloodsucking witchcraft 321 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:26,799 are complex and ramified, and they are described and analyzed within the overall system 322 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:32,359 of magic and religious supernaturalism. As these phenomena are embedded in kinship, ritual 323 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:36,720 kinship, the household, the non residential, extended family, the neighborhood, 324 00:25:36,799 --> 00:25:41,440 the community, and the entire region. I want this book so bad. 325 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:44,720 This sounds like it's just right up my alley. And this is a little 326 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,359 bit of what I studied in school. But if you have never listened to 327 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,680 SUSTOL or if you have been listening to SUSA for a while, this really 328 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:56,960 is a good glimpse into what this show is about. This specifically is about 329 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:02,559 witchcraft, and it's about bloodsucking whitch. But I feel like you can apply 330 00:26:02,759 --> 00:26:11,960 almost any supernatural or unexplainable phenomena or entity or creature in place of the witchcraft 331 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,839 here. That's like kind of what SUSTO is, you know. I love 332 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:21,359 to look at people and communities and families and society at large and how we 333 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:27,720 behave in relation to insert whatever you know, paranormal, unexplainable thing that's from 334 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,160 the introduction. I'm gonna go down. I'm going to stop at a random 335 00:26:30,240 --> 00:26:36,240 chapter Chapter eight. Let's do chapter eight. This says. Chapters two and 336 00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:41,359 five presented the ideology and belief system of bloodsucking witchcraft and Route Lashkala, as 337 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,039 well as the social matrix in which it takes place. The socio psychological ambience 338 00:26:45,039 --> 00:26:49,200 in which the Laobucci is supposed to kill her victims, was also discussed and 339 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:55,000 placed in the context of family structure and the organization of the household, occasionally 340 00:26:55,039 --> 00:27:00,200 giving the impression of a certain ontological reality attributed to this anthropomorphics Supernatural. Chapter 341 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:06,480 six presented the data about the circumstances immediately preceding the bloodsucking event, positioned with 342 00:27:06,559 --> 00:27:11,279 respect to the subsequent behavior of the primary actors involved. The next one is 343 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:15,000 from Springer dot com or I'm sorry link dot Springer dot com. Another paper 344 00:27:15,319 --> 00:27:22,079 about Plashkala. It's called the lash galin Constructions of Acute Grief, and this 345 00:27:22,319 --> 00:27:27,039 is by also Hugo Nutini and Oracio Fabrega. This was published in nineteen ninety 346 00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,039 four. And there is an abstract for this paper. And I'm sure that 347 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:33,880 probably a lot of what is in here, or some of what is in 348 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,480 here is also in Bloodsucking Witchcraft in Hugo's book. But the abstract says in 349 00:27:37,559 --> 00:27:42,119 rule tlash Gala Mexico, the sudden and unexpected death of infants and young children 350 00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:45,960 was a relatively common occurrence during the time when this study was conducted. Not 351 00:27:47,039 --> 00:27:52,920 surprisingly, the deaths constituted major and social tragedies and operated as psychological traumas to 352 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:57,359 the family, especially the parents. Acute grief reactions inevitable resulted, and these 353 00:27:57,400 --> 00:28:03,240 were suffused with body and psychological disturbances of different types, some of which were 354 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:08,680 handled in the society as illness. The article grows out of a longitudinal study 355 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:15,000 about these tragedies to families and the region. Attention is given to the grief 356 00:28:15,039 --> 00:28:19,799 reactions of parents, with special emphasis placed on psychological and behavioral manifestations. Of 357 00:28:19,839 --> 00:28:25,559 particular interest is the way local cultural symbols pertaining to the cause of the deaths, 358 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:30,880 which involved the malevolent attack of bloodsucking witches, were configured in the verbalizations 359 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:37,039 and behavioral actions that comprised the grief reactions. What I'm taking from that or 360 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:38,880 the way that I am understanding it, and I hope it's correct. If 361 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:42,359 anybody has any other ideas, please feel free to send them in DM them 362 00:28:42,359 --> 00:28:48,279 whatever or comment them, is that this study paid really close attention to the 363 00:28:48,279 --> 00:28:52,200 way that people reacted after the deaths. So if we think back to the 364 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:56,119 story, then that means that they didn't have the same kinds of funeral processions. 365 00:28:56,160 --> 00:29:00,960 Instead of the music and the songs the funerals were sit the priests didn't 366 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:07,039 pray over the coffins, they didn't place nobody placed flowers at the gravestones. 367 00:29:07,359 --> 00:29:11,519 The godparents didn't do the eighth day visit. The reaction like it was in 368 00:29:11,559 --> 00:29:15,640 that story. The reaction is opposite of what it normally is, especially for 369 00:29:15,759 --> 00:29:18,599 children's funerals. So I think that's what this is talking about, is that 370 00:29:18,599 --> 00:29:23,599 this paper is really focused on how the families and the parents reacted after the 371 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:29,359 loss of their child, which obviously no one's going to react well. So 372 00:29:29,559 --> 00:29:33,160 the last link that I thought I had is actually just a repeat of the 373 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,920 one that we just talked about. That third academic article. I thought it 374 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:38,599 was a different one, but it's the same thing. It's the same authors 375 00:29:38,599 --> 00:30:00,559 and the same paper. I just got really excited about it. Welcome back 376 00:30:00,599 --> 00:30:03,960 one last time, Goalfriends. Thank you so much again for listening. If 377 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,039 this is your first time hearing Sustal, I hope that you enjoyed it. 378 00:30:07,119 --> 00:30:10,359 I hope that you'll check out my other episodes. And this was again just 379 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,000 a taste of what a typical episode of Sustal is like. Sometimes they do 380 00:30:14,039 --> 00:30:17,720 book reviews, sometimes they do interviews, sometimes they do crossovers with other shows. 381 00:30:17,799 --> 00:30:19,920 So if you enjoyed this, feel free to visit me on my website 382 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:23,720 sustalpodcast dot com, Subscribe, follow, rate, review, You know what 383 00:30:23,759 --> 00:30:26,720 to do all those buttons wherever you are listening. And if you have your 384 00:30:26,759 --> 00:30:32,079 own scary story or even if it's a video photo, anything paranormal related that 385 00:30:32,119 --> 00:30:34,240 you think I should share either on my show or my socials, send that 386 00:30:34,279 --> 00:30:40,240 to me via email that's sustalpodcast at gmail dot com, through my website sustalpodcast 387 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,000 dot com, in a DM on any social media at sustal podcast across all 388 00:30:44,039 --> 00:30:47,720 platforms, or by leaving it in the Spotify Q and A or a five 389 00:30:47,759 --> 00:30:51,240 star Apple Podcasts review. One more time, thank you so much for being 390 00:30:51,279 --> 00:31:30,559 here. I hope that you enjoyed this and I will haunt you later. Bye,