To delve into the legend of La Sayona, one must first understand the setting in which it takes place: the Venezuelan Llanos. A vast land of infinite horizons, where the sun scorches the earth during the day and darkness is absolute at night, only broken by the song of crickets and the distant bellowing of cattle.
The narrative, set in an indeterminate colonial era or in the early 19th century, presents Casilda as a woman of disturbing beauty. She was said to be the most beautiful in her village, with hair as black as a moonless night and eyes that could either enchant or kill.
Casilda's fatal flaw was her jealousy, which was exploited by a rejected suitor who, unable to have her, decided to destroy her. He approached her while she was washing clothes in the river and, with venomous words, sowed the seeds of disaster: 'Your husband is cheating on you, Casilda. And not with just anyone. He's rolling around with your own mother'.
The lie, calculated to hurt her deeply, ignited Casilda's mind. Blinded by a fury that transcended human reason, she ran to her house and, in a fit of madness, set fire to it, blocking the exits. She heard her husband's screams and her baby's cries as the flames consumed the structure, and she felt no pity, only the burning satisfaction of revenge.
Armed with a machete, she ran to her mother's house and, in a brutal attack, killed her. The mother, as she fell to the ground, understanding the magnitude of the tragedy and her daughter's error, pronounced a curse that would seal Casilda's fate: 'You have killed me, my daughter, me, who gave you life. For this sin against nature, I curse you. You will never find rest. You will wander for all eternity, pursuing men who, like you believed your husband did, betray their women'.
From that day on, Casilda ceased to be human. She became La Sayona, a specter who haunts men who are unfaithful to their partners. Her name comes from the 'sayo', a long tunic or white dress, similar to a shroud, that she wears in her appearances.
La Sayona's modus operandi is always that of interrupted seduction. She appears to men who are out late at night, looking for illicit adventures, drunk or womanizing, and driving alone on their way home. At first, she shows herself as the woman she once was: sculptural, beautiful, asking for help or a ride.
Her transformation is described with horrific details by the few who have survived (and often lost their minds). Her soft skin becomes rotten cardboard. Her beautiful face melts or retracts, revealing an animal skull or a decomposed human face with enormous, knife-sharp teeth. Her eyes, once seductive, become empty sockets that burn with infernal fire.
There is a fascinating anthropological detail in the legend: symbolic or real castration. Many accounts claim that La Sayona does not kill the man, but marks him. She tears his genitals or leaves deep scratches that never fully heal, turning him into a social eunuch, unable to be unfaithful again.