The Mysterious Dark Watchers
Dear friends around the world,
As most of you will know, I have always been attracted to tales of supernatural creatures and cryptids like Bigfoot, faeries, aliens, trolls, little people, spirits and the list goes on. On my blog, there is a section specifically dedicated to articles and stories on these supernatural beings (you can click here to find out more).
Recently, I came across this interesting video on the Dark Watchers so it got me to do a little more research. What I discovered was fascinating. I haven’t heard of the Dark Watchers before but I have heard of similar beings. Dark Watchers are believed to be a type of supernatural being who have been mentioned in Californian folklore for several hundred years already. These giant human-like creatures purportedly stalk travellers along the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Santa Lucia Mountains
Most of the time, they appear as tall, dark and featureless figures wearing brimmed hats or carrying walking sticks. They are often spotted during the hours around dawn and twilight, and tend to appear to travellers with simple belongings and items as they don’t like or appreciate technology.
I must say that the stories of these creatures is super neat. I hope you enjoy the short video and do let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Tsem Rinpoche
Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/TheDarkWatchers.mp4
The Mysterious Dark Watchers
August 01, 2017 | Michael Chen
The Santa Lucia Mountains or the Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range located in the coastal area of central California. Named in 1602 by a Spanish cartographer as the Sierra de Santa Lucia, the mountain range stretches for 105 miles or 169 kilometers from Monterey County in the north all the way south to San Luis Obispo County. Among its southern peaks stands the famous Hearst Castle. The Santa Lucia Range is the coast north of Ragged Point, forming a 100-kilometer wall of wave-dashed cliffs known as the Big Sur, to which the Pacific Coast Highway clings.
It is a land of immense beauty and tranquility, where California Condors fly high above its mountains, and sea otters and elephant seals populate the turbulent waters at their base.
But lurking within these mountains is the strange and mystifying phantoms that stand motionless in long black cloaks. Surveying the crags and peaks of the mountains of Santa Lucia, these unfathomable creatures have been spotted by travelers to be looking out to the sea, often wearing broad brimmed hats, and sometimes carrying either a staff or a walking stick. But what is consistent in the description of those who have seen them is that they are always still, silent and featureless. Those who try to get a good look at these fantastical beings fail because, by the time that they attempt a second glance, they have already vanished.
WHAT ARE DARK WATCHERS?
These mystical entities are believed to reside in the misty hillside of Big Sur in the Santa Lucia Mountains. The early Spanish explorers and Mexican ranchers that came after referred to these creatures as “Los Vigilantes Oscuros.” In modern times, they came to be known as “The Dark Watchers.”
The Dark Watchers are a group of migratory entities that have appeared in California Folklore for supposedly the past several hundred years and are purportedly stalking travelers along the Santa Lucia Mountains. They are apparently giant human-like phantoms that are only seen at twilight, and they are usually spotted standing silhouetted against the night sky along the ridges and peaks of the mountains. These beings are believed to possess incredible hearing as well as impeccable eyesight. They are also immune to high-tech detection and prefer to only reveal themselves to travelers or trekkers who are equipped with simple items like hats and sticks.
ORIGINS, REFERENCES & ACCOUNTS
Tales about the Dark Watchers appear in many books, and many personal accounts of encounters with them can also be found online. A description of the Dark Watchers can be read in many books about California’s famous supernatural stories, but these descriptions always referred to the writings of Pulitzer Prize-winner John Steinbeck and poet Robinson Jeffers as literary sources that mention this phenomenon.
In 1938, John Steinbeck was living near Monterey at the northern end of the Santa Lucia Mountains when he published his book of short stories titled “The Long Valley.” One of the stories included in the book is the short story “Flight,” which most famously mentions the Dark Watchers specifically. The Dark Watchers had notoriety in the area at the time because of poet Robinson Jeffers – who also lived in Big Sur – published the poem “Such Counsels You Gave to Me” in 1937. In his poem, Jeffers described the Dark Watchers as “forms that look human… but certainly are not human.”
Steinbeck and Jeffers writing around the same time in the same region and drawing inspiration from the same local traditions implied that some form of Dark Watchers lore predated both of their literary creations. But what was it?
Original accounts of the Dark Watchers date all the way back to the Chumash – a native American tribe which has lived along the central coast of California and among the Channel Islands for around 13,000 years. These Chumash natives have included stories of The Dark Watchers in their oral legends and traditions since the Pre-Columbian era.
VALIDITY OF ORIGIN STORY
One of the most detailed and authoritative accounts of Chumash beliefs is arguably the 1974 1200-page doctoral dissertation by Thomas Blackburn, which was later on published as “December’s Child: A Book of Chumash Oral Narratives.” Blackburn’s principal source in writing his dissertation about Chumash beliefs was the massive archive collected by American linguist and ethnologist John Peabody Harrington between 1912 and 1928, including 111 oral narratives of the Chumash native tribe. Harrington’s body of unpublished research was housed at the Smithsonian’s National Anthropological Archives, and Blackburn went through it all, compiling virtually all there is to know about the Chumash beliefs.
With an expert having researched extensively on the subject matter, we are now left with a very important question: Did the Chumash really tell stories about the Dark Watchers? If we are going to base our answer to this question on Blackburn’s work about the Chumash beliefs, then we can conclude that there were no creatures anything like the Dark Watchers mentioned in the oral narratives of this native American tribe.
The closest thing that can be connected to these watchers was a creature called nunašīš. The Chumash believed that the Earth, as we know it, is the Middle World, which is an island surrounded by the ocean. The sun and other celestial bodies are a part of the Upper World, and down below are a Lower World. Among the dwellers of this Lower World are the Nunašīš, which are monstrous and misshapen animals who come up to the Middle World at night and spread bad luck, illness and other negative things. These creatures can also be shaped like humans, but they are neither dark nor cloaked. They are also not known for standing still against the night sky along mountain peaks.
The Chumash also believed in shape-shifting animals and humans, which is a belief widely held by many Native American cultures. However, so far, claiming that the Dark Watchers can actually be linked with any Chumash tradition cannot be done without casting doubts on its validity. Hence, it is also just as likely, if not more so, that the supposed connection of the Dark Watchers with Chumash oral stories could be just an invention of the 20th-century ghost story authors. After all, what better way to lend credibility to an urban legend than to tie it to an ancient culture?
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS BEHIND THE DARK WATCHERS
So, if the mysterious dark watchers are not at all a supernatural or mystical phenomenon, why are there people claiming to have seen one while hiking in the Santa Lucia Mountains in the fading twilight?
We do not need to be an expert to know that our minds and eyes can sometimes play tricks on us, especially when we are in spooky environments where we are on edge, and our senses are on high alert. According to psychologists, illusions, hallucinations or misrepresentation of natural stimulus can be brought on by either exhaustion or isolation – conditions that are prevalent when you are traveling alone on the mountain trails of the Santa Lucia Range.
Infrasound, which can be generated by the wind, can also cause feelings of uneasiness and anxiety in some people, which is why it is often connected to paranormal sightings. Studies show that infrasound between 7 and 19 Hertz can cause feelings of fear and panic in human beings. Researchers from the University of Hertfordshire conducted an experiment where they played music with and without tones of 17 Hertz frequency in the background. Results of the study showed that when the participants heard or felt the music with the 17 Hertz tones, they felt nervous, anxious and fearful. They also felt some pressure on their chests and chills crawling down their spine – feelings which are described by most people when they experience a paranormal event.
An optical illusion known as the Brocken specter could also be a plausible explanation for the legend of the Dark Watchers. “Mountain Specter” can occur in certain atmospheric conditions when the sun is shining at a particular angle. A person’s shadow can be cast onto a cloud bank around them, which could create the illusion of a large shadowy humanoid figure.
No one knows for sure who or what these Dark Watchers are. Where they come from or where they go when they disappear remains an unsolvable mystery to this day. As we have explained, it is likely that these creatures are nothing more than fictional legend, but even if they are real, these Dark Watchers were wise enough to have left no footprint behind that would have served as tangible proof of their existence.
Sources: https://www.beyondsciencetv.com/news/2017/8/1/the-mysterious-dark-watchers?rq=dark%20watcher
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Tales of supernatural creatures like Bigfoot, aliens, trolls, little people are always my reading interest. Came across this old blog about Dark Watchers so interesting.
The Dark Watchers known by early Spanish settlers as Los Vigilantes Oscuros. Is a name given to a group of entities in California folklore purportedly seen observing travellers along the Santa Lucia Mountains. The earliest written accounts of the Dark Watchers date back to the 1700s, when Spanish colonists called them los vigilantes oscuros. According to Chumash folklore, the Dark Watchers are shadowy figures that stand atop the lofty heights, silently observing the land below. The Dark Watchers are mysterious, tall, shadowy figures that have been reported in California for centuries. They are often described as wearing cloaks and hats, and are said to appear around twilight. Whatever scary it looks we have Dorje Shugden to protect us. Even though there are spirits every where seen or not seen by our naked eyes we should leave them un disturb as it is. I do believe its existence every where day and night.
Thank you Rinpoche sharing this with us.
I believe in the existence of ghosts and spirits and also higher beings. We may not be able to see them but it does not mean they don’t exist. There are some people who have the third eye and they are able to see what normal people can’t.
We are scared of the ghosts or spirits because we can’t see them and because they have some degree of supernatural power. However, we don’t really have to be scared of the unseen especially if we have been doing Dorje Shugden practice. Dorje Shugden has the power to protect us from spirit disturbances.
Ghosts or spirits are very similar to human beings. They also have emotions. Most of the ghosts are angry, miserable and lonely, these are the emotions that cause them taking rebirth as a ghost. When we are disturbed by ghosts or spirits, instead of being hostile to them, we should generate compassion for them. We can invoke Dorje Shugden’s blessings and request Dorje Shugden to help them.
Good and Bad is balance of life..
Carrying the good is best for life..
Carrying the bad, karma waits!
This is the first time I have heard of Dark Watchers, I wonder what would they do if you encountered them? Is there any motivation behind them being there just watching and observing?
I do believe about Dark watcher existance such at discover at Santa Lucia mountain. Many year i came cross story at Malaysia north south highway story about dark giant shadow create many accident at the highway. That particular place has reported giant shadow in the middle of highway causing the accident causing many people death at that area. The local people seek adviced from Toias medium said that the big giant is the entity who stay at that area or call “mountain god”are causing all this accident. What people believe has offended mountain god before building this highway. People just have open this high way cross to the jungle disturbing entity stay at that area. After many pass, that area still happen serious car accident time to time. With all the respect, people destroy many jungle for developent create many disturbing at many area. without notice other being exitence creating problem.
First time hear the story, very interesting to know that Dark Watches have possessed of incredible hearing and impeccable eyesight and therefore they are immune to high-tech detection . I wonder if they really exist, what has they have been done for the past to reborn as a Dark Watches with such incredible hearing and eyesight. Also they are only confined to Santa Lucia Range and its surrounding area, is that means they have special task there, no one know, but is very interesting to explore more about them. Thank you for sharing.
When I first heard about Dark watcher, I was expecting something powerful that did a lot of bad deeds such as killing hikers since they are wandering on the mountain. Surprisingly, nothing fulfill my expectations even though they have been here for 13,000 years according to the Native Amaericans. They must be feeling lonely and waiting for something for someone on the mountain..
I don’t think the Dark Watchers are alien or anyone that has physical form. It could be spirit who died there long time ago, or some deity that guard the mountain or what we call the mountain god. As he doesn’t harm anyone that “saw” him before, it could be the local deity that guard the mountain. Just like we heard many Malaysian that they saw “Datuk” god before, it’s a deity that is put at that particular area that guard that area. They don’t harm people, just that sometimes people see them appear.
It’s my first time hearing about Dark Watchers, but what catch my attention the most is the infrasound between 7hz to 19hz. I even went online to search for that sound, but the frequency is too low that I couldn’t hear anything. Rinpoche and writers team, I would like to know more about the infrasound, or, is it also karmically for someone to hear it? Or, is it ghost whisper? Or, is it the frequency that only ghost or certain animal produce? It reminds me of the article I read before, “The World Loneliest Whale”. It was because the frequency that particular whale produced was different from other whales , it made him an “alien” to the same species, because they couldn’t “hear” him, and that caused him couldn’t join the rest of his kind. It’s sad. So, the infrasound catch my curiosity.
Thank YOU for sharing. Also, not forgetting to thank the team for bringing this topic up and discuss about it. This is a topic which I guess I wouldn’t have had a chance to know if it wasn’t a topic for weekly discussion. It’s good to know a little about dark watcher. With regards to the concern of dark watcher being harmful or not, it doesn’t really matter when individual finds its presence strange and creepy. ?
I do not think they are really a form being but instead the nearest I can link them to will be spirits who could have taken rebirth from a dead person who probably died there. I don’t particularly believe they exist as a form being because if this is so then there could be traces of “them” somewhere else and probably some skeletons to prove their existence. It could also be reflections of lights from tired eyes.
To me I think the dark watchers can either be alien or ghost because they do not have footprints and are faceless. I am not sure if it really exist ormaybe a myth. It can also be a story told by many people around the area but the truth is no one ever met the dark watchers face to face.
Dark watchers, my first time hearing it, but well, every culture has their mystical and unique folklore.
Im always interested to hear stories like this, probably because I have never encounter or seen it before, thats why i got very curious about them, like hows their living environment, their lifestyle, what do they eat, hows their mind like, etc etc.
I wonder how will I react when Im meeting 1 of them one day 🙂
It is the first time that I hear about the Mysterious Dark Watchers. I don’t if they are ghosts or if they are from another dimension. I find it interesting that they seem to not interact but only watch. May be they are protecting the place and scare the people by appearing to them?
This article makes us reflect on how lucky we are to be born as humans with all the abilities we have to help others and being able to make a difference in the world. It is a very beautiful place and we should always remember to care about our beautiful earth and environment.
Thank you Rinpoche for letting us know about these mysterious dark watchers in the US.
Every place will have their own mysteries and their own paranormal phenomena. I have no doubt with the existent of Dark Wathcers but just that not much of finding about it to know more about them.
Dark Watcher may seems like a spirit to me that live in Santa Lucia Mountains for such a long time to watch the place but as mentioned in the article they have not done anything to the people and I just assume that the people that visited this place have been respectful. Being respectful at anywhere we go is very important in order not to offend the being that can seen as well as those cannot. We are not alone that staying in this planet so is better to be considerate so we can live in harmony with anyone.
I find mysterious events and stories related to paranormal intriguing and fascinating because they offer many theories and imaginations. The not so widely publicised, as compared to Bigfoot or UFOs, stories of the sightings of these dark watchers may or not be real but they do provide theories for discussions among believers and non believers. No one offered clues as to why the dark watchers, as claimed by some people, are only confined to Santa Lucia Range and its surrounding areas. Are they real or are they a figment of people’s imagination? If they are real, are they migratory entities or are they just dwellers in this particular part of the world. If they are migratory beings, how is it that there are no other sightings of them in other parts of the world? No one knows for sure. Interesting.
My first time hearing about dark watchers. What I don’t understand is why do they appear? Doesn’t seem to serve any purpose and they choose who to appear to.
I believe that it is caused by what science proved. Infrasound and broken specter play a big part in the existence of mysterious watchers.
Another reason could be that they are spirits/land gods/mountain gods appearing to those who disrespect the place or environment to remind them that they are watching.
I think the existing of dark watchers may be true but somehow not much evidence. It’s quite illogical when these beings shows up with not expressing much intentions on the spectators. It’s quiet, black, faceless and harmless. Or maybe it appearance is to scared away people or to show that he is the caretaker of the place.
The only thought I could guess was the dark watchers might be some kind of land God deity that protect the environment from getting harm.
Dark Watchers as “forms that look human… but certainly are not human.”?
At my point of views : I think that Dark Watchers is maybe a mountain spirit or a demi god or Dark Watchers is a mountain guardian of Santa Lucia Mountains. Today i just watched a video footage on YouTube, it’s regarding of ANGELS. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUQJ3Ncfpm0
Was it true or just a video Visual Effects? Dark Watchers or an Angels are Mysteries to me.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this extensive article on the Mysterious Dark Watchers. As with most mysteries, the more research done on them, the more questions arises. Personally, I believe that such Mysterious Dark watchers can exist otherwise why should people write about them.
What make the Dark Watchers different is that besides being seen, there seem no reports of harm being done to people. Are they therefore protecting something from harming the travellers on valley of the Santa Lucia mountain range or are they preventing travellers from discovering something that should be hidden?
Mysteries are such that more questions arise than answers available.
With appreciation,
Datuk May
The mysterious Dark Watcher is an interesting read. Even though we see this type of beings depicted in comics, movies or even books, they were always mixed up with something else like ghost, vampires, despite bearing similar appearances. Now, the Dark Watchers had been identified has given us something to ponder. Where did they come from and how did they keep themselves hidden for so long? It could be possible for the Dark Watcher to be just an illusory entity because our eyes and mind can play tricks on us. But it is also hard to dismiss that the Dark Watcher could be the best-kept secret of Santa Lucia Mountains. 🙂 Thank you, Rinpoche, for this sharing.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Do believe it does exist.
There are alot unseen beings , aliens etc that is living together with us. They are like humans who needed merits and help. Sometimes, they do not want to be in that form.
And I do believe frequency does influence. When we are in the same frequency as unseen beings. We or they can communicate with each other.
The most important is we treat them as sentient beings. Dedicate to them. They are also like human which are suffering.
Sometimes they just want to tell people that they exist or they needed help which I believe as human, we can help them.
Thank you._/\_
Dear Rinpoche,
I do believe that the Dark Watchers exist.
Because it is not possible for various people could described the figure in a same way. Maybe we could only see them in specific time most probably because their figure is like a shadow. Thus, only when the sun is not too bright, we could see them.
In this article, it is my first time to know about infrasound. I knew that sound have great influent in human body, because some people use music to heal and it is very popular to use sound wave for treatment.
I can’t denied also that our mind might play tricks on us. But, could it be so coincident that the 2 Authors write at the same time, same place? In this earth, there are many unresolved mysteries. What we see might not be true, but, i prefer to have open mind that these mysterious creature do appear.
Thank you Rinpoche for this article
With folded hand
Freon
What pique me is that these dark watchers leave no footprints, as stated in the article. They sound like they are similar to bigfoot but bigfoot seems more real as there have been footprints found. But then again, in the early days, there were no footprints of bigfoot found.
Even if the existence of these dark watchers are attributed to hallucinations, they can’t be so prevalent over the centuries. Plus, there are too numerous to be dismissed offhand. If you believe in the teachings of the Buddha and the Six Realms of Existence, then, you would tend to believe in dark watchers as you would bigfoot. They may be from another dimension or realm that have somehow crossed the divide and became visible to humans for a brief time. All said, I have no wish to encounter these beings as not much is known about them – whether they are benign or otherwise.
Interesting have not heard of these till I read the post.
The Dark Watchers are apparently giant human like phantoms that are only seen at twilight and found standing along the ridges and peaks of the mountain range. Interesting…. when spotted, it will vanish into thin air right before the spectators eyes. These beings are believed to possess incredible hearing as well as impeccable eyesight. No one knows of who they are ,where they are from and many questions unanswered for many many years since the sighting.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this short article on Dark Watchers.
I believe that if there are more than one account of the sighting, there could be some truth basis to the existence of these beings. If the Dark Watchers are of a difference realm, then catching a glimpse or being able to see them certainly requires effort.
Assuming that there are such entities as Dark Watchers, then the next investigation that would logically come would be asking if there are any physical or psychological harm being inflicted on those who claimed that they have seen them?
Again, this will come back to the basis of evidence. Perhaps, for mankind, the more evidence gathered, the stronger the case will be to prove or demonstrate that such entities do walk amongst us.
Personally, I believe that there are such entities in every corner of this world. It’s just that these entities have the ability to appear not only in their realm but in the human realm as well.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Humbly yours,
Lum KL