Legend of Aisha Kandisha

Aisha Kandisha or Aicha Kandicha is a demon that goes after men. In Northern Africa, such as Morocco, people hesitate to say her name. Locals say you can summon her by pouring boiling water down the drain.

In the traditions of the Buffi Sufi order, she always wear black garments, have camel-like feet, cause pregnant women who see her to miscarry, and cause people she possesses to bray or bark like animals.

Locals say she lives under the rivers and around bodies of water. Some people claim to see her reflection as they look in the river. Nearly all accounts of Aicha Kandicha identify her home as a nearby body of water.

Illustration of Aisha Kandisha
Image Credit: fezfilm.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/the-story-of-aisha-kandisha/

Aïsha Kandisha is said to dwell underground in the waters of places like Fez or nearby Sidi Ali, where every year a sufi ritual takes place calling upon her and where people go to be cleansed by the natural waters of the spring.

Possessed of extraordinary beauty, Aisha Kandisha is feared throughout Morocco , from Tangier to the desert , although each area has been adding its own peculiarities to the legend. The legend varies depending on the region. Some say she’s a mermaid while others say she has the legs of a goat.

There are several theories about the origin of Aisha Kandisha, the demon woman. Some say that she was a young girl from the city of Mazagan , near Casablanca, who suffered torture by Portuguese soldiers in the 16th century. Members of the Army raped and killed all of her family and she, taking advantage of her beauty, made revenge by seducing the soldiers one by one and then killing them.

While according to other version of legend, Aisha was the daughter of Count Don Julián, a noble Goth resident in northern Morocco, who agreed with the Muslims to help in the invasion of the peninsula. Tarik ben Ziyab, in charge of the negotiations, asked the count to leave his daughter as a guarantee that he would not betray them when he crossed the Strait. In that pressing summer, the young woman came at night to bathe in the sea . With very white skin and black hair falling down her back, many locals lost their heads to her beauty , confirming the idea that she was haunted. "Aisha, the Condensa" was renamed "Aisa Kandisha", hence the origin of her name.

Aicha Kandicha has been referenced in a number of Moroccan cultural works, including books, films, and songs.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aicha_Kandicha

• https://www.sientemarruecos.viajes/magazine/aisha-kandisha-historia/

• https://designinglife.biz/aisha-kandisha-urban-legend/

• https://fezfilm.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/the-story-of-aisha-kandisha/