Douen

Douen are presented in island sources as forest spirits connected with the dead, commonly described as the spirits or lost souls of children; several accounts specifically link their origin to children who died before receiving baptism. This locates the figure at a liminal boundary between Christian ritual categories (baptism) and older, African-derived conceptions of child spirits in Caribbean oral cosmologies.

Across sources Douen are typically described as childlike in size, faceless except for a small mouth used to speak, and wearing a large floppy straw hat which conceals the lack of a face. A recurrent physical trait is feet that point backwards (heels facing front and knees reversed). Details beyond these motifs vary between accounts, but the backward feet, concealed facelessness, and childlike proportions are consistent in summaries.

Douen are credited primarily with voice mimicry — calling a living child's name in a parent's voice to lure the child into the forest — and with leading children astray until they are lost. They are also portrayed as mischievous, playing pranks on people and raiding gardens. Some sources emphasize their connection to deceased children; sources differ on whether they are characterized as malevolent, mischievous, or primarily cautionary figures used in pedagogy.