Aicha Kandicha, la légende et le démon

Kandicha is a schizophrenic cultural being. indeed, the beautiful Aicha comes from both the historical legend and the world of demons. Journey to the land of myths

Everyone in Morocco, and even in a good part of Algeria, has heard of Aicha Kandicha. But the closer you get to the Atlantic, the more the myth is alive in everyday language and folktales. Seductive and adulterous woman, demon at the feet of a camel, Aicha Kandicha haunts our nightmares of children, without anyone knowing why or how she has entered our collective imagination.

A legend, several versions
The first version of the myth is that Aicha Kandicha is a Portuguese countess. It would be a noble woman of Portuguese origin fallen madly in love with a Moroccan notable of the city of Safi. The story would have happened a few centuries ago. The woman would have joined her lover and they were married according to the Koranic law, hence her Muslim name. As she was not used to covering her head and she was very beautiful: silky hair and very black, hazel eyes and very white face, the men who crossed her in the streets of the city fell all in love . Some lost the reason. Hence the legend.
In a second version, Aicha Kandicha is presented as a very beautiful Moroccan from the region of El Jadida. She enjoys roughly the same characteristics as the countess. But this would be a resistant who would have sworn to avenge her husband killed in a clash with the Portuguese who occupy the city. This new version Aicha pretended to be a girl of joy. And her beauty helping, she seduced the Portuguese officers and persuaded them to follow her at night in a secluded corner. Then she took out her knife to slaughter them. By mockery of her dissolute life, the Portuguese would have called her the Countess.

This mythical character, whom the story situates roughly at the level of the city of El Jadida, carries in any case a compound name: half Moroccan and Muslim (Aisha), half Portuguese (Condesa, or Countess). the Moroccans who feed this myth, have pronounced this second component, shout "Condesa" and pronounced / condecha / in portgais, as we believe to hear it: "qandicha" (in Arabic), "qandoucha" in Amazigh tachelhit.

Other explanation about AICHA kandicha

We Moroccans, we all grew up with stories told by the fire, one of the most famous:
Aicha kandicha, the explanations differ from one region to another, here is the best known:
AICHA KANDICHA, the immortal woman, the ambassador of the jinn, the one who terrifies men and women ... the female devil among Moroccans ...
But who is this fascinating Aisha?
According to confirmed sources
Aisha Kandisha is none of that.
She was a beautiful woman, exceptionally beautiful, she would have very white skin, very black eyes and very long black hair ... in short she was beautiful, it's normal, it was a chelha of the atlas . (Tribute to all chleuhs)

But what made her even more different from other women was her role as leader of an Amazigh guerrilla, fighting against the occupier of Morocco at the time, she was leading attacks on interests and positions of the colonizer successfully. and afterwards she withdrew into the mountains with her guerrillas, for the occupier it was impossible to get her hands on it, she was more and more successful, she received a lot of support from the population and people engaged by tens in his guerrillas seduced by his charm and his courage.

The occupant, all he had found to overcome her, was the psychological warfare, he had sought to break his reputation by inventing stories to scare the people ... and it worked well ... the myth of the jinn woman still exists ...

Aicha kandicha was at the base of one of the first guerrillas in history, guerrillas that were more valuable and honorable than those nowadays.

And here is another one, the one invented or rather remodeled:

Who among us does not know the wonderful legend, which rocked our childhood: AICHA KANDICHA
Our ancestors say that Aicha Kandicha was the daughter of a tribal sheikh of the High Atlas. This young woman was of rare beauty, unequaled ... She would have the skin of an incredible whiteness, eyes almonds, blood-colored mouth, and silky black hair, falling to the hips. But what distinguished her even more other women, it is to have fought and resisted against men against the Portuguese occupation in the 16th century. Its weapon was to attract the soldiers bewitched by its beauty, which afterwards were killed by its accomplices.
Alerted, the Portuguese punished her by eliminating her entire family including her lover. She then received a terrible shock that made her mad. She wandered in the forests and killed all the soldiers who crossed her path.
After his death his spirit haunted the place. Thus Aicha reappeared the nights to men who dared to venture into isolated places. Only his feet let guess who she is. She had camel hooves. The unfortunate woman who was crossing her must not succumb to her irresistible beauty and her barely dressed body. She called in a crystalline and bewitching voice the name of her victim. Malchanceux, was the one who he yielded to him, he never came back among his people. Many young men had disappeared by following this femme fatale. Few were the survivors, who despite their return, did not come out unscathed from this mishap. They remained bewitched or crazy forever.
Thus Aicha kandicha the militant heroine became the evil spirit avenging men.
The question that comes back in force: did it really exist? Was she a rebel resistant? And his mind is always prowling about the victims.
That said, AICHA KANDICHA remains and will remain one of the most extraordinary popular legend. Must we not forget that mythical tales reflect most of our cultural and historical heritage.

After all that is true or not ???