Hupia - Citizendia

In Taíno culture, the hupia (also opia, opi'a, op'a, operi'to) is the spirit of a dead person. The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles.

In Taíno religious beliefs, hupias (spirits of the dead) were contrasted with goeiza, spirits of the living. While a living goieza had definite form, after death the spirit was released as a hupia and went to live in a remote earthly paradise called Coaybay^[1]. Hupias were believed to be able to assume many forms, sometimes appearing as faceless people or taking the form of a deceased loved one. Hupias in human form could always be distinguished by their lack of a navel. Hupias were also associated with bats and said to hide or sleep during the day and come out at night to eat guava fruit. Guava is a Genus of about 100 Species of Tropical Shrubs and small Trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae.

Hupias, as spirits of the dead and the night, were feared and said to seduce women and kidnap people who ventured outside after dark.

Literary References

In the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, hupia are suspected in a rash of attacks on infants and other people in rural Costa Rica. Jurassic Park is a Science fiction Novel that was written by Michael Crichton and published in 1990. John Michael Crichton, ˈkraɪtən, (born October 23 1942 is an American author Film producer, Film director, Medical doctor, and Television producer Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( Spanish: Costa Rica or República de Costa Rica,) is a Country in They were described as "night ghosts, faceless vampires who kidnapped small children". Later events showed that the real culprits were dinosaurs (probably compsognathids or Velociraptors) that had escaped from Isla Nublar. Compsognathidae is a family of small carnivorous Dinosaurs generally conservative in form from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods Velociraptor (vɨˈlɒsɨræptɚ meaning 'swift thief' 'swift plunderer' or 'swift bird of prey' is a Genus of Dromaeosaurid theropod Isla Nublar is the Fictional Island on which Dinosaurs were held in Jurassic Park.

References

^ http://www.kislakfoundation.org/prize/200103.html#ref22 Maria Poviones-Bishop. The Bat and the Guava: Life and Death in the Taíno Worldview. .

Literary References

References

See also