Slavic antiquities. Heroes of Slavic mythology - Slavic mythology through the eyes of Vasylina Ears and eyes in Slavic mythology

There is a belief among the southern Slavs: a long time ago all animals were people, but later, those of them who took false oaths, insulted their mother, villainized, raped, were turned into animals, fish and birds. (jcomments on)

Any animal sees everything, hears everything, and even foresees everything; moreover, it knows what a person feels. This divine gift is received in return for the gift of speech. However, being deprived of human speech, animals talk among themselves. Fish, plants, even stones were once endowed with speech, freely communicated with each other. No wonder there are proverbs: “And the mountain has eyes”, “And the walls have ears”, “And the stones speak”.

With its clumsy appearance, the bear was imprinted in many proverbs, sayings, jokes and riddles of the forest governor. His Russian people dubbed Mishka, Mikhail Ivanovich, Toptygin. If you do not touch him, he is mild-mannered and even kind in his own way, in a bearish way. But the hunters who go out to him with an ax and a horn, it’s completely in vain to rely on his kindness: just look from a “club-toed bear” it will turn into a ferocious forest monster. Inveterate bear-hunters are called “inveterate”, and every time they go hunting, they see them off as if to death. “The bear is the brother of the goblin, God forbid you meet him!” say the forest dwellers. According to the bear's desire, the icy winter lasts: as he turns in his lair on the other side, exactly half of the way to spring remains in winter.

The people call the fox Patrikeevna and Kumushka. “Fox pass” is tantamount to the word cheat; there is even a special word - "fox". The fox is weaker than the wolf, yes, thanks to his cunning habit, where he lives better.

She - "seven wolves will hold": no matter how the dog guards the yard from her, but she will get the chicken. “A fox counts chickens in a peasant’s barn in a dream!”, “In a fox and in a dream, ears are on top!”, “Where I walk like a fox, chickens don’t lay there for three years!”, “Whoever got into the rank of a fox will in the rank - a wolf!", "When you look for a fox in front, it is behind!", "The fox will cover everything with its tail!" - old proverbs and sayings interrupt one another. "He has a fox tail!" - speaks of flattering cunning.

The embodiment of weakness and timidity is a hare. "Through the forest - fox roast in a fur coat runs!" - they talk about him. "Cowardly as a hare!" - they say colloquially about people who are timid beyond measure. The hare is not only the embodiment of cowardice, but also the personification of speed. Therefore, a quick, barely perceptible flashing of the reflection of the sun's rays on the walls, ceiling and floor is called a bunny. This name also applies to the blue lights running across burning coals.

Popular superstition advises against remembering a hare while swimming: a water hare can drown for it.

Surprisingly, since ancient times, the hare has also been the embodiment of voluptuousness, male power. As it is sung in one of the round dance songs:

Bunny, with whom did you sleep and spend the night,

White, with whom did you sleep and spend the night? I slept, I slept, my sir,

I slept, I slept, my heart

Katyukha - on the hand,

Maryukha - on her chest,

And Dunka has a widow all over his stomach.

Until now, people believe: to see a hare in a dream - for an early pregnancy. And among the southern Slavs, to help the natural way, you still need to drink the blood of a young hare.

The most beloved and important character in Slavic mythology from ancient times to the present day is Mother - Cheese Earth.

Mother - Cheese Earth was represented to the imagination of a pagan, who deified nature, as a living human-like creature. Herbs, flowers, shrubs, trees seemed to him her magnificent hair; he recognized stone rocks as bones; tenacious tree roots replaced the veins, the blood of the earth was the water oozing from its depths. And, like a living woman, she gave birth to earthly creatures, she groaned in pain in a storm, she became angry, causing earthquakes, she smiled under the sun, giving people unprecedented beauty, she fell asleep in a cold winter and woke up in the spring, she died, burned by a drought. And, as if to a true mother, a person resorted to her at any time of his life. The hero will fall to the damp earth - and will be filled with new strength. Hit the ground with a spear - and it will absorb the black, poisonous snake blood, bringing back the life of ruined people.

Whoever does not honor the land - the nurse, to that, according to the plowman, she will not give bread - not only enough, but also starving; whoever does not bow down to the Mother - Raw Earth with a son's bow, on the coffin of that she will lie not with light fluff, but with a heavy stone. Whoever does not take with him a handful of his native land on a long journey will never see his homeland again, our ancestors believed.

Patients in the old days went out into the open field, bowed to all four sides, lamenting: "Forgive me, side, Mother - Cheese Earth!" “The more you get sick, the more you heal!” - they say among the people, and the old people advise to take out those who hurt themselves - crashed, to that very place and pray to the earth for forgiveness.

The earth itself is revered by the people as a healing agent: with it, dipped in saliva, healers heal wounds, stop the blood, and also apply it to a sore head. “How healthy the earth is,” they say at the same time, “so my head would be healthy!”

“Mother is Cheese Earth! Take away all the unclean reptile from the love spell and dashing deed! - is pronounced in some places even now at the first pasture of cattle for spring pasture.

"Let Mother cover me - Cheese Earth forever, if I'm lying!" - says a man, taking an oath, and such an oath is sacred and inviolable. Those who fraternize not for life, but for death, mix the blood from cut fingers and give each other handfuls of earth: hence, from now on their kinship is eternal.

And in ancient times there were such sorcerers - healers that knew how to guess from a handful of earth taken from under the left foot of those who wanted to know their fate.

“To take out a trace” from a person is now considered the most unkind intent. To whisper skillfully over this excavated trace means, in the old belief, to bind the will of the one whose trace is hand and foot. Superstitious people fear it like fire. “Mother is the nurse, the dear earth is damp,” they report from such a misfortune, “shelter me from the fierce spectator, from any unexpected hardship. Protect me from an evil eye, from an evil tongue, from the slander of demons. My word is strong as iron. It is to you with seven seals, Mother Mother - Cheese Earth, sealed - for many days, for many years, for all eternal life!

According to the southern Slavs, the earth is flat and round. At the end of the world, the dome of the sky connects with the Earth. The earth is held on the horn by an ox or a buffalo; from time to time he gets tired and throws the burden on the other horn - hence the earthquakes.

People also live in the underworld, everything is arranged there in our own way: the same plants, birds, animals.

When the world was created, the whole - the whole earth was flat, but when the Lord was digging the channels of rivers and seas, he had to create hills and mountains from sand and stones.

“The earth was created like a man, instead of hair it has the past!” - the ancient all-knowers assured, and therefore they endowed the former, the potion - the grass - with the magical properties of the Mother - the Raw Earth. “Healing grass, if you know how to collect it,” they say among the people. Such special connoisseurs of herbal potions and “fierce roots” were called zaleyniks, herbalists, and they walked through meadows and forests, as in a garden planted with their own hands: every grass, every blade of grass knew the properties and place.

Sirin, in Slavic mythology, one of the birds of paradise, even its very name is consonant with the name of paradise: Iriy . However, this mythical creature is by no means light Alkonost and Gamayun. Sirin is a dark bird dark force, the messenger of the lord of the underworld. From the head to the waist, Sirin is a woman of incomparable beauty, from the waist is a bird.Whoever listens to her voice forgets about everything in the world, but is soon doomed to troubles and misfortunes, and even dies, and there is no strength to make him not listen to Sirin's voice. And this voice is true bliss!

Vasilisa is beautiful.

They carried the skull into the chamber; and the eyes from the skull look at the stepmother and her daughters, they burn! They had to hide, but wherever they rush, eyes everywhere follow them; by morning it had completely burned them into coal; Vasilisa alone was not touched.

Devana (Dzewana, Dziewonna) - in West Slavic mythology, the goddess of the hunt. According to the "History of Poland" by J. Dlugosh (third quarter of the 15th century), Dzewana is the goddess of the Polish pantheon, corresponding to the Roman Diana.
A. Bruckner pointed out that much of Dlugosh's list is the creation of a chronicler and has no roots in ancient Slavic mythology, and in particular the goddess Dzewana was created by the desire to find a match for the Roman deity. However, modern researchers are inclined to believe that, "despite many inaccuracies and fiction, Dlugosh's list reflects the mythological reality." In 1824, the goddess Dziewonna was mentioned by the Danish poet B.S. Ingeman among the gods of the northern Slavs.

Morana or Mara, Morena, in Slavic mythology, a powerful and formidable deity, the goddess of Winter and Death, Koshchei's wife and Lada's daughter, Zhiva and Lely's sister.
Marana among the Slavs in ancient times was considered the embodiment of unclean forces. She had no family and wandered in the snow, visiting people from time to time to do her dirty work. The name Morana (Morena) is indeed related to such words as "pestilence", "haze", "gloom", "haze", "fool", "death". Legends tell how Morana, with evil henchmen, every morning tries to lie in wait and destroy the Sun, but every time she retreats in horror before his radiant power and beauty. Her symbols are the Black Moon, piles of broken skulls, and a sickle with which she cuts the Threads of Life.
The possessions of Morena, according to Ancient Tales, lie behind the Black Currant River, which separates Yav and Nav, across which the Kalinov Bridge is thrown, guarded by the Three-Headed Serpent.
In contrast to Zhiva and Yarila, Marena embodies the triumph of Marie - “ Dead Water"(Will to Death), that is, the Force opposite to the Life-Giving Solar Yari. But the Death bestowed by Marena is not a complete interruption of the Currents of Life as such, but only a transition to Another Life, to a new Beginning, for it is so laid down by the Almighty Sort that after the Winter, which takes away everything that has become obsolete, a new Spring always comes. Straw the effigy, which to this day is still burnt in some places during the feast of the ancient Maslenitsa at the time of the vernal equinox, undoubtedly belongs to Morena, the Goddess of death and cold. And every winter she takes over. But even after the departure of Winter-Death, her numerous servants, maras, remained with people. According to the legends of the ancient Slavs, these are evil spirits of diseases, they carry their heads under their arms, roam at night under the windows of houses and whisper the names of household members: whoever responds to the voice of mara, he will die. The Germans are sure that the Maruts are the spirits of violent warriors. The Swedes and Danes consider them to be the souls of the dead, the Bulgarians are sure that the Marys are the souls of babies who died unbaptized. The Belarusians believed that Morana passes the dead to Baba Yaga, who feeds souls of the dead. In Sanskrit, the word "ahi" means serpent, snake.

Jackets.

Blazers are the daughters of the Owner of snakes. Up to half they are beautiful young girls, with long flowing hair, and instead of legs they have, as it were, a snake's tail. Woolers usually live in the forest, near bodies of water, although not necessarily. They are very fond of sitting on old sprawling trees and combing their beautiful hair with golden combs.
The jackets do not have any clothes, despite the fact that their father - the Master of the snakes - is very rich. There are many treasures under his protection, so his daughters do not have anything to refuse. And if, nevertheless, someone offends Vuzhalka, all sorts of misfortunes will fall on the person that will destroy him and his entire family.

Goblin.

Goblin (Belarusian lyasun, lesavik, Ukrainian lisovik; there are many other regional and estimated names) is the master spirit of the forest in the mythology of the Eastern Slavs. The appearance in which the goblin appears in mythological stories indicates its otherworldly nature and connection with the forest. It happens that this is a completely plant object (tree, bush, stump), or this plant with individual human features (shape, branches like hair), or a person with plant features (hair and beard like branches, moss-covered clothes and face, skin like bark), or only plant attributes (a stick in the hands, the green color of the body and clothes), and sometimes the goblin personifies the entire forest. The goblin can appear as an animal (often wild, but sometimes domestic), or as a half-man-half-goat, or a person with signs of an animal (hairiness, clothing made from animal skins, claws, hooves, tail), or some animal can accompany the goblin. However, more often the goblin looks like a person, however, with some strange features (unnatural color of the skin and eyes, the absence of some external organs or their unusual shape), for the goblin it is usual to appear in the guise of relatives and friends, including the dead. Representations about the growth of the goblin vary from giant to dwarf, there are beliefs that he can change him. He has no shadow, he can become invisible. Leshy has great strength. A variety of forest sounds are attributed to him, in which people hear whistling, laughter, clapping, screaming, singing and the voices of any animals, but he can also talk like a human.
The attitude towards the goblin among the people was ambivalent. On the one hand, he was considered to be hostile to a person and an evil spirit dangerous to him, however, more often he does not purposefully harm people, but plays pranks and jokes, but does it rudely and evilly - he scares, misleads, hides objects. On the other hand, the goblin was considered a fair owner of the forest, who would not harm just like that, but could punish for inappropriate behavior. According to folk etiquette, the goblin's consent should be asked for visiting the forest, for any activity in it, for spending the night in a forest hut. Leshy does not like it when they scold and make noise in the forest, make fires and go to bed on the path. Protecting the forest, the goblin can prevent a person from mutilating and cutting down trees and hunting. A goblin who behaved badly in the forest could scare half to death, confuse him with visions, send him a disease, tickle him to death. Goblin can also help a person - suggest places rich in mushrooms and berries, show the way, take care of a lost child.
It was believed that the goblin could ensure good luck in hunting and safe grazing, for this, hunters and shepherds needed to bring him a gift (an egg, bread with salt, etc.) and conclude an agreement with him obliging them to comply with certain conditions: for example, for a hunter - do not take prey more than definitely or do not go hunting on certain days, for the shepherd - do not look after grazing cows in the forest (they are grazed by the goblin), do not exploit the forest and do no harm to it, do not touch other people.
Leshy was considered as the root cause of a person's wandering in the forest. It was believed that a person got lost because a goblin “walked around” him, or he crossed the “trace of the goblin”, or the goblin closed the road with an obsession obstruction, or forged signs, or “tied” a person to a tree, so that he always returned to him , or brought a person pretending to be a fellow traveler, or beckoned with the voices of animals, acquaintances or people requiring help. Also, pretending to be familiar, the goblin can loom ahead at a distance, not allowing itself to catch up and not responding. You can get rid of the goblin with the help of prayer, or even just mentioning God, with the help of obscene abuse, amulets and other means. To remove his spell, you need to change your clothes in reverse.
The loss of people and livestock in the forest was associated with the goblin. Most often, the reason for the kidnapping is a curse, in the form of sending "to the devil." Goblin can replace babies with a log or with his ugly child. The goblins take the kidnapped girls as their wives and can have children with them. The goblin can also kidnap a person in order to turn him into a slave. According to other stories, the missing are running wild. In order to find people and cattle missing in the forest, they not only undertook ordinary searches, but also performed the ritual of “tasting” - they presented a gift or threatened with magic or the intercession of saints. If it was possible to agree with the goblin, then he showed the way to the missing person or even led him out of the forest himself. There was an idea that those who returned from the goblin change - either run wild, or become unsociable, acquire supernatural abilities. Leshem was credited with the ability to predict the future, in connection with which there were rituals of his evocation and divination. In past stories and fairy tales, the goblin could freely communicate with people, sometimes he accepted help from them, for which he generously thanked.

Mermaid.

Mermaid is a character of Slavic mythology. One of the most varied images of folk mysticism: the idea of ​​a mermaid, existing in the Russian North, in the Volga region, in the Urals, in Western Siberia, differs significantly from Western Russian and South Russian. It was believed that the mermaids took care of the fields, forests and waters.

Chernobog and Belobog.

Slavic mythology is permeated with the idea of ​​confrontation between two gods, Chernobog and Belobog. Belbog, or as he is also called Belobog and Belun, is the god of goodness, good luck, happiness, goodness and light. It symbolizes a clear spring sky, clear sunny weather, the joy of light and spring.Chernobog or black Serpent, Koschey among the ancient Slavs was considered the lord of Darkness and the Dark Kingdom. This is the god of cold, evil, death and destruction, all misfortunes, troubles and sorrows are associated with Chernobog.

The brothers Belobog and Chernobog follow a person everywhere and write down all his deeds, good and evil, in the books of fate. Later they were replaced by a guardian angel standing behind the right shoulder, and the devil behind the left.

Koschei the Deathless.

Koschey the Immortal is a cult character of Slavic mythology, whose folklore image is extremely far from the original. Koschei Chernobogvich was the youngest son of Chernobog, the great Serpent of Darkness. His older brothers - Goryn and Viy - feared and respected Koshchei for his great wisdom and equally great hatred for his father's enemies - the Iry gods. Koschei owned the deepest and darkest kingdom of Navi - the Koshcheev kingdom, which probably housed the Lunar Hall, the abode of Chernobog.

Dragon.

A cult character of Slavic mythology, whose folklore image is extremely far from the original. Koschei Chernobogvich was the youngest son of Chernobog, the great Serpent of Darkness. His older brothers - Goryn and Viy - feared and respected Koshchei for his great wisdom and equally great hatred for his father's enemies - the Iry gods. Koschei owned the deepest and darkest kingdom of Navi - the Koshcheev kingdom, which probably housed the Lunar Hall, the abode of Chernobog.

Volkola.

Volkola - Volkodlak - in Slavic mythology, a werewolf that takes the form of a wolf: it is either a sorcerer who takes on an animal image, or a simple person turned into a wolf by the spell of witchcraft.
The idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreatures devouring the Sun and the Moon is associated with the Volkolaks among the Slavs.

Maya Zlatogorka.

Maya Zlatogorka - In Slavic mythology, Zlata Maya, she is Maya-Zlatogorka - the goddess of summer, a powerful warrior, the progenitor of the Slavs, born from the rays of golden stars, the daughter of Svyatogor and the wife of Dazhdbog. Maya was a skilled craftswoman, she embroidered with pure gold: "she sewed the first pattern - the Sun is red, and the second pattern - the bright Moon, she sewed the third pattern - then the stars are frequent".

Simargl.

Simargl - (Semargl) - slavic god primordial fire, god mediator between the world of people and the world of gods, protects the sun from earthly evil. Harvest keeper. He is also called the Fire God, He is one of the welders, i.e. the sons of Svarog, appeared from the blow of the hammer of Svarog on the stone Alatyr. There is an opinion that it was not one god, but two "Sim" and "Regla".

Brownie.

Brownie - a good spirit, the keeper of the house and everything that is in it. The brownie looks like a little old man (20-30 centimeters tall) with a big beard. It is believed that the older the brownie, the younger he looks, since they are born old and die as babies. The god Veles patronizes the brownies, from whom the spirits got several abilities, for example, the ability to predict the future, but the main thing, of course, is wisdom and the ability to heal people and animals. The brownie lives in almost every house, choosing secluded places for living. The brownie in every possible way monitors his house and the family that lives in it, protects them from evil spirits and misfortunes. If the family keeps animals, then the brownie will look after them, but if the brownie does not like the beast, then he can beat him to death.

The Slavic epic has big number UNDEAD - everything that does not live as a person, that lives without a soul, but in the form of a person.

undead- a special category of spirits, these are not aliens from that world, not the dead, not ghosts, not trouble and not devilry, not the Devil, only the Water One forms some kind of transition to evil spirits and is often called both a jester and Satan. The undead neither live nor die. The healer knows the Undead. There is a belief that the undead do not have their own appearance, they walk in disguises. All Undead are speechless.

Spirits - the guardians of the ancient Slavs were called BEREGINI. They guarded the house, the well-being of various places and types of nature. The word "Bereginya" comes from the concepts of protecting, helping the wanderer, sailing, in distress - to get to the shore.

Auka
THIS IS THE SPIRIT of the forest, which, unlike other undead, does not sleep either in winter or in summer. Auka himself is small, pot-bellied, with puffy cheeks. He lives in a hut caulked with golden moss, water all year round from melted ice, pomelo - a bear's paw. In winter, he has a special expanse when the goblin sleeps! He loves to fool a person in a winter forest, to respond immediately from all sides. Togo and look will lead into the wilderness or windbreak. He inspires hope for salvation, and he leads until the person gets tired and falls into a sweet frosty sleep, forgetting everything.

Borovichki- little old men, an inch in two, the owners of mushrooms - milk mushrooms, mushrooms; live under them.

DOMOVOI- in East Slavic mythology, a demonological character, the spirit of the house. He was presented as a person, often on the same face as the owner of the house, or as a small old man with a face overgrown with white hair, and the like. It is closely connected with ideas about beneficent ancestors, well-being in the house.
From his attitude, benevolent or hostile, the health of the cattle depended. Some ceremonies related to DOMOVO could previously be associated with the “cattle god” Veles, and with the disappearance of his cult, they were transferred to DOMOVO. An indirect argument in favor of this assumption is the belief that a married woman who “shone her hair” (showing her hair to a stranger) aroused the wrath of the DOMOVOI - cf. Data on the connection of Veles (Volos) with beliefs about hair.
When moving to a new house, it was necessary to perform a special ritual in order to persuade the DOMOVOI to move with the owners, who would otherwise be in trouble. There were two types of HOUSEHOLDS - a homemaker (cf. the mention of a demon-horseman in the medieval “Word of St. Basil”), who lived in a house, usually in the corner behind the stove, where it was necessary to throw garbage so that “HOUSEHOLDS do not run out” (also called dobrozhil, well-wisher, breadwinner, neighbor, owner, grandfather), and a courtyard, often torturing animals (DOMOVOI in general often approached evil spirits). According to popular beliefs, D. could turn into a cat, dog, cow, sometimes into a snake, rat or frog. According to Belarusian According to popular beliefs, DOMOVOI appears from an egg laid by a rooster, which must be carried under the arm on the left side for six months: then a serpent hatches - DOMOVOI (cf. Fire Serpent, Basilisk). HOUSEHOLDS could be people who died without communion. Sacrifices for the DOMOVOMU (some food, etc.) were brought to the barn where he could live.
Sometimes it was believed that DOMOVOI had a family - a wife (domakha, domovichiha, bolshukha) and children. By analogy with the names of the female spirit of the house (maruha, kikimora), it is assumed that ancient name DOMOVOGO could be Mara. Similar beliefs about the spirits of the house existed among the Western Slavs and many other peoples.

The practice of communication: Brownie in itself is not a sociable creature, but there are many cases when He was the first to speak to a person. His voice is not very intelligible - quiet and rustling - but you can make out some words. Most often, brownies speak at night when they want to predict something to the owners. Hear the voice - don't be afraid. If you get scared, the brownie will be offended and will never speak to you again. It is better to pull yourself together and ask him about everything in detail. There are many rules and will take on communicating with brownies. For example:

Brownie cries - expect trouble, laughs - fortunately;

It happens that in the middle of the night a brownie will lay down on a sleeping person’s chest or begin to choke, so you can’t breathe. There is nothing to be afraid of - the brownie will never strangle to death. And waking up from heaviness in the chest, one should ask: "For worse or for good?" If it’s good, the brownie will stroke his palm. If for worse, he will knock, pinch or pull his hair. True, there were cases when he answered directly;

The brownie feels the approach of damage in advance. If, for example, an unkind person with black thoughts came to visit you, bringing with him a pile of blackness, envy, then the brownie begins to worry. If the owner of the apartment does not hear the whispers of the brownie, then the latter will do anything to attract attention. An unkind guest can break out of the hands of a mug and break, spill something on the tablecloth. Sometimes the dishes break at the owner himself - this is also a warning;

In order to be friends with the brownie, it is customary to treat him: on the first day of each month, in a place inaccessible to your pets, ideally - under the battery or on the refrigerator, away from human eyes, put a plate of treats. Brownie porridge is removed the next day and often fed to street animals, and sweets are kept until the next day. It is also customary to treat well-wishers with wine (do not offer vodka) and bread crust every time at family holidays. At the same time, it is necessary to say: "The owner-father, sir brownie, love me and, perhaps, accept my treat." Everyone clinks glasses with a glass of brownie;

If the brownie began to play pranks without a goal, he should be scolded: "Such an adult grandfather and you are playing pranks. Ay-yai-yai!";

If the brownie dislikes your cat or dog, then be sure - your pet will not last long in the house - how to drink the brownie will exhaust the indecent animal;

Pay attention, sometimes your fluffy pet suddenly topples over on its back and starts waving its paws in the air. It is her brownie tickling. Sometimes a cat, while licking itself, will wake up and stare into the void, and looks as if following someone with a look. This invisible traveler is the brownie;

He helps to find the missing things. To do this, you just need to ask him about it: "Owner-priest, help, tell me where this and that lies ...". Or: stand in the corner of the room and turn to the brownie: "Brownie, brownie, play and give." Search each room separately;

Domovoi do not enter the bathroom at all. And in the countryside, completely different creatures live in the baths - banniki. Due to constant communication with the blackness, banniks become evil and dangerous. You spend a little time in the bath, longer than necessary, and instead of pleasant freshness, you feel empty and powerless;

Old beads, jewelry, shiny buttons, old coins. Put all this in a beautiful box without a lid and tell the brownie that this is a gift for him, and put it in a secret place. No one should touch the box and its contents. The box can be sewn from postcards, glued together or taken ready-made and dressed up with all sorts of shiny pieces of paper, rain. Give money to your home. Usually it is five kopecks in one coin. It is placed in a hard-to-reach place in the house, often left between cracks in the floor. At this time they say: "Grandfather brownie! Here's some money for boots and seeds. I give it from my heart, I give it to you!";

When they built a new house, they always put a coin in the basement, or even four (in the corners) for the brownie;

Leaving the old apartment, say on the threshold: "My master, come with me!" or at night, the host should invite him, setting him a treat - a slice of bread with salt and a cup of milk. They say: "Father, my master, my good brownie. I will give you new mansions, bright chambers. Come with me, there will be no happiness without you." They carry the brownie in a bag, where he is politely asked to climb. An ember or an awl, which should be put in a bag, becomes the material embodiment of the brownie. The brownie will not go with you without an invitation. And stay alone and abandoned. And with your brownie, well-being in a new place is guaranteed to you. He can in real life appear in the form of a cat, therefore, when moving to a new place of residence, they let this animal in first, saying: "Here you are, master, a shaggy beast for rich housing." If there is a stove in the house, she should bow 9 times, then bring the cat to the stove with the words: "Here you are, the owner, a shaggy beast for rich housing." Then make a pie. Knead the dough: 800 g flour, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons sugar, 200 g butter, 2 pinches of salt. Bake a bun. Do not touch the product for three days. After the specified period in the evening, set the table for the whole family, put an extra appliance and a glass. The elder in the house pours wine, cuts the bun. He divides one half for everyone, and puts the other half with a glass on the table with the words: "Father brownie, love me, protect and take care of my goodness, accept my treat and drink wine from a full cup." If after a day the wine is drunk, then add it again, saying the same words, if not, then ask the brownie to accept the treat in your own words 9 times. Perform the ritual every first day of the month;

It is very important to greet and say goodbye to the brownie, respectfully calling him "master". Sometimes the brownie can even reveal his name to you - a sign of boundless trust on his part;

A way of reconciliation with the brownie: bread and salt are placed on the place you have chosen for the brownie and a cup of milk is placed with the words: “Neighbor-home-neighbor, a slave is coming to you, carrying his head low; them friendship, but do an easy service. Here is a warm place for you and a small treat. " After a day, remove the treat;

If, having bought a house in a new building, you moved there from your parents (or in other cases when it is not possible to take the brownie with you), you can attract the brownie in the following way: at midnight (if you wear a cross, hang it on your back) put a glass on the table milk and a loaf of bread and say three times: "My master, come to my house, be always with me, here is your home. Batiushka, breadwinner, come to my new house to eat bread here, drink milk, and we will not know sorrow and grief "leave the treat on the table for 3 days, and then, as a sign of love and respect, finish your bread and drink the milk left on the table. It’s a completely natural question - does a brownie live with you - you can easily resolve it, paying attention to how subtly the situation in the house has changed, how light and comfortable it has become, how longing is gradually passing. After that, thank him by putting a treat. There is another way: on the new moon, when you begin to have dinner, put two saucers with treats - pour a little milk into one and determine it under the stove or at the stove oven with the words: "Eat, drink, grandfather, as much as you want, and live with me ". In the second saucer, put a little of what you have on the table. When you begin to bet, you need to say: "Eat, eat, grandfather, as much as you want, and live with me." if you speak sincerely, then the brownie will certainly appear and drive out all kinds of evil spirits and remain with you;

Domovoy also has special holidays. One of them is February 7, the day of Ephraim the Syrian, the "name day of the brownie", when the brownie was "fed", they left him food (porridge on the bridle) with a request to take care of the cattle. On April 12, on the day of John of the Ladder, the brownie celebrated the onset of spring. According to the peasants, on this day he was furious, threw off his skin, rolled under the feet of the owners, broke dishes, etc. The peasants of the Novgorod province believed that the brownie was furious before Peter's Day.

In the Tobolsk province they said that "in November, with a brownie as with a family: either appease or expel"; in some regions of Russia, the brownie was "pleased" on Mikhailov's day. On November 1 (on the day of Kuzma and Demyan) the brownie "was driven with a broom and marked with a broom so that he would not ruin the yard and kill the animals."
<Ермолов, 1901>

To see a brownie in the form of a still living person - to the death of this person, "the very phenomenon is, they say, from the other world" (Yaroslav). Brownie - the ancestor of the clan, doomed to work as a farmhand living in the house and each time taking the form of the last deceased in the family (Tamb.)

Before the death of the owner, the brownie sits in his place and works his work
<Даль, 1880(1)>

In numerous stories, it becomes a cause or a harbinger of inconvenience, trouble. He is naughty, harming in the hut (stomping, screaming, throwing bricks, scattering dishes, etc.) or unreasonably surviving the owners from the house (in this case it is better to leave - Tom.); brownie "likes to be self-willed" (Orl.). “If at night something taps in the attic, then they think that the undead were brought into the house. This also means that the brownie kicks the tenant out of the house, that there is no more fat. When there are a lot of rats and mice in the house, the tenant does not get along for a long time in it. This also means that the creature let loose by the brownie survives the residents "(Arch., Murm.)
<Ефименко, 1877>

If you are unable to negotiate with the brownie, take a broom and, saying: "I'm sweeping you, a stranger, a harmful brownie, I'm kicking you out" - mark the floors, looking into every corner with a broom. And so every day, except Friday, all week. I want to warn you, it's worth trying all the methods of influencing it, indicated here. And scold, and scold, and caress, and only if nothing comes of it, and he is really very angry, then kick him out, but remember, life is bad without a brownie.

In the end, it is worth adding that there is an opinion that after talking with a brownie, you can become numb or remain a stutterer for life.

wild men
These are creatures of small stature with a huge long beard and tail, akin to goblin. They wander through the forest, calling to each other in the dead of midnight with terrible voices, attacking people, tickling them with laughter all over their bodies with bone fingers until they die.

Sinister, sinister - in East Slavic mythology, evil spirits, small creatures that, having settled behind the stove (like a brownie), remain invisible and bring misfortune to the house. Ukrainian and Belarusian proverbs and sayings mention EVIL in the context usual for ancient mythological characters: Ukrainian: “Bodai you were beaten by zlidni!” - a wish for misfortune, “to hell” - to hell.
Sinisters have vaguely rounded outlines, either they are invisible little old men - beggars, or they look like an old, angry and nasty woman. A person who has EVIL in his house will never get out of poverty. Usually there are twelve; the Sinisters live behind the stove or under it, the Sinisters, like their master, live very badly. It is possible to get rid of the SPIDERS by deceit: put them in a snuff box, and when the SPIDERS running after the owner ask him to sniff the tobacco, bury them; plant them in a barrel so that they have more room, and take them out to an open field, etc. Having got rid of the EVIL, a person quickly grows rich, and the one who moved into the house where the EVIL live sinks into poverty. If someone, out of pity for the SPIDERS or out of envy for the rich, frees the SPIDERS from imprisonment, they will attack him, cling to him and will not leave him alone, cf. Ukrainian proverb: “Sinisters asked for three days, tai vignati is not possible.”
In order not to bring EVIL into the house, you cannot sweep with a broom from the threshold, and if you sweep the floor to the threshold, you can sweep the EVIL from the hut. Sinister can be killed with a stake (as well as other evil spirits), after which they should be thrown into the bog and plugged into the Sinister stake, but if the stake is pulled out, the Sinister will come to life again. Sinisters are often mentioned in curses: “Nay go Sinister!” etc.

Ice cold(Laying) - A SPIRIT of straw, all swollen from sleep, with straw in its head.
No one has ever seen him, only you can hear him yawning.
Many unclean people sleep in the winter, but the ice-cold one in this business was the ringleader. No one can wake him up, except for Mother Spring. He always wakes up dissatisfied and, awake in the summer, looks forward to the end of summer, so that again he can fall asleep soundly and sweetly in a pile of fresh straw.
If in the summer someone hears sighs and yawns, and there is no living creature nearby, it is an icy

Leshy, forest man, leshak, fox, boletus - in East Slavic mythology an evil spirit (K: Why do they see EVIL spirits everywhere?), The embodiment of the forest as a part of space hostile to man. LESHIY - the owner of the forest and animals, he is represented dressed in an animal skin, sometimes with animal attributes - horns, hooves; LESHY can change his height - become lower than the grass or higher than the trees; drives herds of animals from one forest to another; connection with wolves unites him with St. George - Yuri, the wolf shepherd Yegoriy of Russian spiritual traditions. Endowed with negative attributes, connection with the left (a sign of evil spirits), he left-hand side clothes are wrapped around the right, the left bast shoe is put on the right foot, etc. (cf. a similar motif in connection with the Slavic water man, etc.). In the bylichki, LESHY is a cursed person or a mortgaged (malicious) dead person.
LESHIY can scare people with his laughter, lead a child away, lead astray. To protect against LESH, the person taken away by him should not eat anything or should carry a litter (a piece of linden tree peeled from the bark), turn the insoles of shoes, etc. thrown behind the back. Similar forest spirits are known in West Slavic and other traditions.

Listin
OLD blind spirit of the forest, leader of the woods; his wife and assistant is Baba Listina. They are not scary, although they like to scare.
Listin is a mole rat all made of leaves, his woman is with a body of moss, instead of hands there are fir cones, on her feet there are real bast shoes.
They are not as violent and nimble as woods - they sit in a pile of leaves near a stump or ravine and command - who should rustle when. In autumn, at first, a light whisper is heard: this is leaf with leaf consulting and giving the woods a start. And then there is a rustling and noise, round dances of fallen leaves are spinning: then the woods are playing.

mokhovik
THE SPIRIT OF MOSSY SWAMPS appears to people in the form of a pig or a ram. It feeds on plants, but sometimes seizes children. This is the smallest of the forest spirits compared to the boletus and goblin. He submits to the forest king, does the same as all the forest ones: he leads him into the depths of his possessions in order to destroy a person there. The means of salvation from mossiness mushrooms are the same as from goblin.

Underground
He LIVES underground, he is evil in temper and often drags girls cursed by his mother to him; has children with them. To see him, you have to go down three steps on the stairs leading to the underground, bend down and look between the legs.

Khovanets(godovanets, vykhovanok) - in Ukrainian demonology (Prykarpattya) a spirit that enriches the owner. KHOVANETS is represented as a little boy or a chicken. By origin, KHOVANETS is associated with "mortgaged" dead: a miscarriage becomes a KHOVANTS 7 years after an abortion; during this time KHOVANETS asks passers-by for baptism.
A person could bring out for himself KHOVANTS from an egg laid by a rooster or a black hen, which must be worn under the left armpit for 9 days, during which it is impossible to wash, cut nails, pray, and be baptized; if KHOVANTS is not reported, he will torture a person to death. KHOVANTS can be bought, while renouncing Christ and the Virgin, mocking the cross and icons. It was believed that when buying and breeding KHOVANTS, a person sells his soul to the devil.
KHOVANETS lives in a house in the attic, eats unsalted food, primarily wheat bread, milk and sugar. KHOVANETS provides wealth to his owner, prosperity to the house and household, takes care of livestock. There may be several KHOVANTS in the house, distributing work among themselves - one guards the house from thieves (like the other spirit, treasury), the other takes care of the apiary (like the spirit - beekeeper), the third works in the field, etc. If KHOVANETS is offended by something, for example, they give him salty food, then he will kill all the dishes, he can knock out the owner’s eyes and generally leave the house, taking happiness with him, or torture the owner so that he hangs himself.
With the death of the owner of the khovanets, the wealth in the house also disappears. The death of such a person is very difficult: according to Hutsul beliefs, KHOVANETS takes his soul to hell to the eldest devil, who will drive it into an egg, and an even more evil spirit will hatch from it. You can get rid of KHOVANZ with the help of a priest, consecrating the hut three times, throwing KHOVANZ over the roof, taking him beyond the ninth boundary. Hovantsa, like the devil, is killed by thunder. He can be killed by hitting him backhand, but if KHOVANZ is then hit on the head with a beech stick, he will resurrect.

Shish
UNCLEAN force, usually living on the roadsides and playing their weddings, when whirlwinds rise in a pillar on the passing roads. To the "shish" they send in anger annoying or unpleasant people. "Intoxicated shisha" are drunk to the point of delirium tremens: to hell. The head is a chisha with a cam, the nose is long and fidgety - exactly a chisha - or a fig.

SHULIKUNS, shilikuns, shulukuns, shlikuns (possibly from other Slavic shui “left, bad, unclean” with a double suffix - “ik” and “un”) - northern Russians have seasonal demons. SHULIKUNS, associated with the elements of water and fire, appear on Christmas Eve from the chimney (sometimes on Ignatiev's day on December 20) and go back under the water for Epiphany. They run through the streets, often with hot coals in an iron pan or a hardened iron hook in their hands, with which they can capture people (“hook and burn”), or ride horses, troikas, mortars or “hot” stoves. They are often the size of a fist, sometimes larger, they can have horse legs and a pointed head (cf. Devil), fire burns from their mouths, they wear white self-woven caftans with sashes and pointed hats. SHULIKUNs hustle at Christmas time at crossroads or near ice-holes, they also meet in the forest (hence the formula for scaring children “Do not go into the forest - SHULIKUN is on fire”), tease drunks, circle them and push them into the mud, without causing much harm, but they can lure into the hole and drown in the river.
In some places, the SHULIKUNS carried a spinning wheel with a tow and a spindle in the cage, so that they would spin the silk. SHULIKUNS are able to steal the lanyard from lazy spinners, watch and carry away everything that is supposed to be without blessing, climb into houses and barns and quietly lime or steal supplies (K: see Theft, Sacrifice). According to Vologda notions, babies cursed or killed by their mothers become SHULIKUNs. SHULIKUNS often live in abandoned and empty sheds, always in artels, but they can also get into a hut (if the hostess does not protect herself with a cross made of bread, etc.), and then it is difficult to drive them out. In the Russian North, SHULIKUNS are also the name of Christmas mummers. SHULIKUNS are related to other Slavic demons - Karakondzhals, Kikimors and demons not Slavic peoples Volga and Siberia.

Shishiga
A SMALL, hunchbacked creature, belly-bellied, cold, with gnarled hands. Pounces on gaping passers-by and drags them into the water. Unlike the well-known water shishiga, it lives in reeds, prefers small rivers and reservoirs. Sleeps during the day, appears only at dusk. It can be assumed that shishiga is related to shish, because it reminds him of the pettiness of his dirty tricks.

YAGA(BABA-YAGA) - initially caring Bereginya, who later, during the time of Christianity, turned into a terrible, demonic creature that scared children. Yaga is a coarsened word "Yashka". Yasha in Slavic songs was called foot-and-mouth disease - who once lived on earth and disappeared progenitor of all living things, hence the name "foot-and-mouth disease". Baba Yaga was originally a progenitor, a very ancient positive being, a guardian (if necessary, militant) of the family, traditions, children and near-home (often forest) space.

ANCHUTKA- in Russian mythology, a small, but very mischievous imp, a cross between a devil and a duck. His distinguishing feature is short stature, the ability to fly and increased grimyness. Anchutka is associated with water and at the same time flies. Sometimes it is called water, swamp. His usual epithets are "fifthless" ("fifthless"), "horny", "fingerless".

BOLI-BOSHKA- the Russian spirit of the forest, living in berry places, most of all on cranberries and lingonberries. He himself is big-headed, handy, clumsy, his clothes are ragged in patches. The nose is pointed, and the eyes - you won’t understand, either sad, or cunning. He pretends to be a miserable old man, comes out to meet him and asks for help to find a lost wallet or something else. You can not succumb to persuasion, no matter how you plead. You give in - you start thinking about the loss, look around, bend over, search - Pain-Boshka jumps on his neck, pulls his head with a noose, and leads him through the forest. Your head will hurt, you will get lost - and you will completely disappear.

BOROVIK- Russian spirit of boron, grove. It looks like a huge bear, but without a tail, which is how it differs from a real beast. It feeds on animals, but sometimes eats people. When people want to see Borovik in order to negotiate with him about the safe grazing of livestock, about returning the missing (human, cattle), curing a disease that has become attached to the forest, they take a cat and begin to strangle it. Hearing a cat's meow, Borovik comes out of the forest to a man and enters into negotiations with him.

resentment- Goblin, often in the form of a woman, with huge breasts and shaggy hair.

FIELD(POLEVIK) - in Russian mythology, the genus of the Undead, one of the few subspecies of evil spirits that does its dirty deeds not at night, but in broad daylight. It is not easy to see him, he moves very quickly, so that you can only notice him by the flash of fiery red hair. He is short, with crooked legs, horns and a tail topped with a tassel. If Polevik gets angry, then at the time of haymaking, the worker may have a sunstroke. Polevik, in a good mood, helps to save his home - the field.

NOON(RZHANITSA) - Slavic field spirit, in particular - the embodiment sunstroke. It was presented as a girl in a white dress, with long hair, or a shaggy old woman, appearing on the field, and chasing those who work on it. Can twist his neck, kidnap a child left in the field.

LUGOVICHOK- Russian spirit of the meadows, a little green man in clothes made of grass. He helps people surreptitiously during haymaking and is considered a child of Polevoy. Runs through the meadows and catches birds as food for his parent. A meadow grass is very angry when people miss mowing: it drives the grass into lush growth, and braids it so that it can neither be cut nor torn, otherwise it dries the grass on the vine.

MEZHEVICHOK- brother of Lugovichka, son of Polevoy. He is just as small, dressed in grass, but not green, but black. He runs along the boundary, guards it, just like a brother, he gets food for his Parent. Punishes those who violate the boundary, crosses it illegally. Installs and adjusts poles, helps working owners in the field. But if he finds a person sleeping on the boundary, he leans on him, braids his neck with grass and strangles him.

LIFTS- Russian evil spirits, Leshy's grandfather and grandmother. They are very small, grey, similar to hedgehogs. They live in last year's foliage, awake from late summer to mid-autumn. All this time they have fun, dance, raise leaves, rustle, rustle, swarm - small shaggy balls will work hard in a short time, grow tired, and then sleep for a long time.

BOSORKUN- Russian mountain spirit, windmill, which raises a strong wind, and flies with it invisibly. Whoever tries to catch him, he kills with the power of the wind. Bosorkun causes drought, brings diseases to people and cattle - plagues.

VORTEX- Russian spirit, located in the wind. These spirits harm a person, cause illness, nervous disorders. A strong destructive whirlwind, in which, led by Vikhrov, evil spirits are transferred.

VORTEX-DEVIL- the Russian evil spirit, which, seeing that a thunderstorm is approaching, runs away from it so that it is not hit by the arrow of Elijah - the prophet (formerly - Perun). Whoever wants to see him as the old men and women teach, must take off the cross and bend down to look between the legs. Whirlwind-Devil will appear in the form of a huge man, waving his arms and running headlong.

SUBMISSION- malaise, identified with evil spirits. It is believed that the wind, especially the whirlwind, is unclean. If you accidentally get into a whirlwind, something bad will happen to a person. It can be applied in the form of damage by Sorcerers, who call on a bad wind from the "damn" swamp, from a deaf, unclean place.

STEPOVOY- Russian spirit of the steppe, steppe master. They notice him by the rushing whirlwinds. Sometimes he "showns", and such an appearance is not good. A grey-haired tall old man appears in the crowd of whirlwinds, with a long ashy beard and a shock of hair fluttering in all directions. It will seem, threaten with an senile bony hand - and hide. The trouble is for the traveler who, without blessing, leaves the house, but at noon he gets on the steppe road, where a dusty crowd of whirlwinds is spinning.

NEKOSHNOY- the name of the Brownie, when the owners of the house do not get along with him.

BANNIK- In Russian mythology, the spirit of the Undead kind, who settles in the bathhouse. Bannik is a gentle creature that lives in a bathhouse behind a heater or under a shelf. It looks like an old man covered with leaves from a birch broom. Steam survives it temporarily, but it always lives in the unheated part. Bannik does not like women in childbirth, who are usually taken to the bathhouse because of the cramped conditions in the house. At the same time, women in labor should not be left alone in the bath. According to other versions, this is an evil old man who does not like those who take a bath after midnight. If a person is there alone, Bannik can scald him to death or kill him with a stone. He is Bainik, Baennik, Bainnik, Banny.

OBDERIHA(RINGS) - a type of Bannik, characterized by unusual cruelty. For the slightest violation of the bathing ritual - punishes. It is considered a great sin to wash in the bath alone, especially on the third steam, which is prepared for Obderikhe. On the third shift, especially for Obderikha, they leave some hot water in the tub, and a bar of soap on the shelf. From a person who has entered his time, Obrerikha rips off the skin, hangs it on the stove - a heater, and hammers the body under the floor, into the cracks. Any night visit to the bathhouse, especially that you should not be afraid of devils, is punished by Obderikha. He also punishes those who do not leave soap or water. On the next visit, he will splash the offender with boiling water or suffocate with intoxication. If someone comes out of the bath with a scratched or torn back, then Obderikha "teared." We saw Obderikha under the regiment, in the bathhouse. At midnight, can be seen like a cat, with wide open, glowing eyes.

BATANUSHKA(BATAN) - a synonym for Brownie. The origin of the word "Batan" comes from the meaning of the concept of "bati-father", or the concept of "bro" i.e. stepbrother.

VOSTUKHA- Russian clan of the Undead, a kind of Brownie. Lives behind the stove and guards thieves. Nothing can be hidden from Vostukha's acute hearing. Where he lives, nothing can happen, nothing will be lost in the house. Even the beauty and purity of young maidens, as an honor and property of the house, is protected by Vostukh.

KIKIMORA- in Slavic mythology, the genus Domovoy is a female gender, one of the types of Undead, the spirit of sleep and night ghosts, which spins at night. During the day she sits at the stove, and plays pranks at night with a spindle, a spinning wheel and a sack. According to legends, from the message of Domovoy with Kikimora, they have offspring, and so. continue their lineage. Kikimora is hostile to men. May harm pets, especially chickens.

GORGEOUS- Slavic evil spirit. Undead. Sneaks into the house through
unprotected thresholds of the doorway and affects mainly women, causing unnecessary excitement and bad thoughts about loved ones, sometimes leading to a mental breakdown. To protect against Kumushnitsa, a sickle is plugged over the threshold, bunches of thistles and nettles are hung and a conspiracy is pronounced in defense of the house.

SHULIKUNS- Russian unclean spirits that appear on Christmas Eve from a pipe and go under water for Epiphany. They assure that they breed Kikimors. They run through the streets with hot coals in frying pans or with a red-hot hook in their hands, with which they can seize a drunkard: they circle him, push him into the mud, they can lure him into an ice hole. Sometimes they ride on mortars or stoves. Growth with a fist, horse legs, fire bursts from his mouth. They wear self-woven caftans, sashes and pointed hats.

VAZILA- a kind of Undead that lives in outbuildings, especially in stables, has the appearance of a tiny man with horse ears and hooves. He takes care of horses in every possible way, protects them from diseases, and when they are on a pasture, in a herd, from a predatory beast. He is a Yard.

DREAM- Russian evening or night spirit in the form of a kind old woman with soft, gentle hands or in the guise of a little man with a quiet, lulling voice. At dusk, Sandman wanders under the windows, and when the darkness thickens, seeps through the cracks or slips through the door. Sandman comes to the children, closes their eyes, straightens the blanket, strokes their hair. With adults, this spirit is not so gentle and sometimes brings nightmares.

TYuHA shaggy- the Slavic clan of the Undead, is rare, and lives only in huts, next to Domov. The size is small, with a mitten, shaggy all over and kind of funny. He looks after the household, children, and loves domestic animals, cats, most of all. If she is not offended, then the house will always have peace and a full bowl. Tyukha Shaggy is not afraid of anyone except Domovoy, but only he does not touch her. If the owners are sloppy, they breed dirt, the economy is poorly managed, then she loses her temper and rages.
KOSHEMARE is a Slavic spirit that torments people during sleep. More often people experience feelings of danger, persecution, see dream plots associated with them.

HAIRWOMAN- in Russian mythology, the genus of the Undead. Brownie female, living in a bathhouse or a barn, hence another name - Ovinny.

ZHIKHAR- Russian evil domestic spirit. Where he lives in the house is not exactly known, but he is a dangerous neighbor: in the absence of his mother, he steals children from the hut, but he does not dare to do this in her presence. To protect a child from Zhikhar, you can only put scissors and a spindle stone in the shank, and an old broom under the shank, on the floor. If such measures are taken, Zhikhar is powerless.

Udelnitsa- the Russian spirit - the thief of share, happiness, fate and giving another lot in life: illness, death, ugliness. The genius of evil fate, black, hairy, disheveled. They prematurely take the baby out of the mother's womb and mutilate it, torment the puerperal. If a pregnant woman sleeps on her back, wide open, without a belt, and a knife is left on the table, the Lady takes out the baby with it. From that, freaks are born or the stomach turns out to be empty, although there are all signs of pregnancy.

SUSEDCO- Russian clan of the Undead, one of the varieties of Brownies. This spirit lives almost in the oven (on the hearth), and is so nicknamed for its willing cohabitation with people. It is very small and almost invisible. Husband of Kikimora. He is wearing a huge, oversized, shaggy hat. Susedko is very friendly, and tries to warn people in a timely manner about impending troubles.

IGOSHA- the Russian spirit of a child who was born but died unbaptized. Has no arms and legs. He lives here and there and misbehaves, especially if someone does not want to recognize him, invisible, as a Brownie, does not put spoons and slices of bread at the table for him, does not throw hats and mittens out of the window for him.

CHUDINKO- Russian likeness of Kikimora, the embodiment of an evil inclination. Bad people they lay it in the form of a small rag or wooden doll, under the log of the house during construction. It scares tenants at night with a knock and a bang. Especially strong in abandoned houses. You can get rid of him only by destroying the doll. Those who are fed up with Chudinko's pranks should call the healer for help or, at worst, prick with a pitchfork into the lower logs of the hut with a sentence: "Here you are, here you are for this, and here you are for that!"

TRANSFER- Russian evil domestic spirit. Appears at night, does not like to be watched. After scary conversations, stories, before going to bed, you can hear his quiet crying and muffled restrained moans. You can’t talk to him - you can get sick, there will be no good. Sometimes it flashes in the dark, in the form of a clumsy old man - and disappears from sight.

MOKUSHA- Russian night spirit, walks at night to spin wool and shear sheep. If a sheep's wool comes out, they say: "Mokusha sheared." They do not see her, but at night they hear the rumbling of the spindle when she works. Leaving the house, he clicks the spindle on the bar, on the floor. If she is not pleased with the mistress, then she cuts off some of her hair.

OVINNIK- a kind of Undead living in outbuildings, in barns - buildings where peasants dry sheaves. His duties include guarding the barns from fire, monitoring the laying of sheaves, and monitoring the temperature regime. Ovinnik knows how to bark like a dog, clap his hands and laugh when he manages to punish a negligent owner. Considered the most malevolent spirit surrounding the owner in Everyday life, especially if the owner is negligent.

POSTEN(PO-STEN) - Slavic, ghostly creature. A synonym for Brownie, so named for the way of existence (ghost). The origin of the word is due to the word "shadow" or "wall".

SHED- in Russian mythology, the genus of the Undead. Brownie living in a barn.

VIY- a Slavic inhabitant of the underworld, whose deadly gaze is hidden under huge eyelids or eyelashes. I couldn't raise my eyelids on my own, and assistants lifted them with pitchforks. The man who looked into Viy's eyes could not bear the look and died.

VOLKODLAK- in Slavic mythology, a person with the supernatural ability to turn into a wolf. It was believed that sorcerers could turn entire wedding trains into wolves. Had many names: Vovkulak, Varkulak, Werewolf, later Werewolf. In Christian beliefs - a servant of the devil, who leads packs of wolves, turning into a wolf at night, and attacking livestock and people.

VAMPIRE- a Slavic fairy-tale dead man, animated by his lower principles and preserving something like life in himself, coming out of the grave at night, enchanting his victims, sucking their blood. Literally "blood sucker". From an energetic point of view, Vampires are distinguished solar and lunar. Energy vampirism, as a phenomenon, was a constant companion of a person. A person who lacks his own energy can consciously or unconsciously feed on it from other people. Vampirism is a disease. Studies have proven that the Vampire's blood differs from the blood of healthy people in its liquid crystal structure. He is a Vurdulak.

GHOUL(UPIR) - Slavic shifter, shifter. A werewolf roaming at night as a witch, wolf or pugach and sucking people and cattle, a bloodsucker (vampire), which people who are born from evil spirits become. The future Ghoul can be recognized by the double rows of teeth. This is also the deceased, over whose coffin, the Devil jumped, in the form of a black cat, a “mortgaging dead man” (suicide). Evil healers roam death by ghouls, and in order to calm them down, they tear open the grave and pierce the corpse with an aspen stake.

ZERDYAY- Russian unclean, having a very long growth and very thin (from the word "pole"). He sometimes staggers through the streets, warms his hands in a chimney, looks into windows and frightens people. This is a miserable connecting rod, which is condemned for a century, to wander around the world to no avail and meaning.

KHOPOTOUN- Russian spirit of the dead Sorcerer. The devil, who uses the outer shell, the skin of a corpse, a dead sorcerer, in order to suck blood at night and seize living people. The troublemaker waits for a dead person to appear in someone's family, and as soon as the soul leaves the body, he enters the dead person. Then one misfortune follows another in the family. The troublemaker can take on someone else's appearance and penetrate into his own (that is, into the one whose appearance he took) or someone else's family, then people will disappear not only from this house, but from the whole village - the troublemaker seizes them. You can kill him with a blow of a whip from an unbaited horse, a cart axle, but only with a backhand, and the first time, because. the second hit will revive him.

BAD(NOSAK) is a Russian mythological creature that looks like a fiery broom. It flies through the air and enters the house through the chimneys. It is derived from an egg that a rooster lays once every 3 years, If you do not immediately notice, the rooster will trample it. Whoever saves the egg, the Bad One will carry money and oil, taking them where they were not blessedly left.

NAMELESS- Russian ghost - double. Bringing before death. The spirit of a dead unnatural death, drowned, suicidal. In everything he looks like a person, but he does not have his own face, and in his impersonality wears the mask of who he wants to appear. To see such a double is to death. Anonymous is also called the image of a person called up in a mirror during divination. In conspiracies, Sorcerers turn to the help of the Nameless, wanting to spoil a person. In the forest near the aspen, facing the West, the sorcerer asks all the "dead, killed, lost, unbaptized and nameless" to stand up and damage such and such. He is the Shadow, the Next.

BES- Slavic designation "without", and then any positive concept follows, for example: without ... conscience, God, justice, concepts, goodness, honor, etc. The soul of such people after death could not get into Vyriy (Paradise) and toiled on Earth, attracting attention to itself with various tricks. The negative emotions caused by these tricks in living people served as food for such spirits. Common Slavic word, the same root as "to be afraid." Evil spirits, which for the followers of Satan were the same as for the righteous Guardian Angels. They are small in size, capable of everything - from innocent pranks to murder.

EXCHANGE- Russian mythological baby, replaced by Bes with an imp. The exchangers are very skinny and extremely ugly. The legs are always thin, the arms hang like a whip, the belly is huge, and the head, which is certainly large, hangs to the side. Moreover, they are distinguished by natural stupidity and anger and willingly leave their foster parents, leaving for the forest. However, they do not live long and often disappear or turn into a firebrand. As for the fate of the abducted children, the devils drag them with them, forcing them to fan the fires that have begun on Earth. But it happens otherwise: kidnapped children are given to be raised by Mermaids or cursed girls, with whom they remain, subsequently turning into Mermaids (girls) or Leshih (boys).

WATER- in Russian mythology, the genus of Undead, unclean, a demon sitting in pools and buchals, under a mill. He walks naked or shaggy, bearded, covered in mud, sometimes with a green beard. A water comrade to Leshem and Polevoy, an enemy to Domovoy, but more evil than all of them and closer in kinship to evil spirits. He is the Water Grandfather, the Water Man.

BOLOTNYAK- Russian spirit of the swamp, lives there with his wife and children. His wife Bolotnitsa, a maiden drowned in a swamp. Bolotnyak is a relative of Vodyanoy and Leshy. He looks like a gray-haired old man with a broad, yellowish face. Turning into a monk, he bypasses and leads the traveler, lures him into the quagmire. He likes to walk along the shore, frighten those passing through the swamp, either with sharp sounds, or with sighs, blows out the air with water bubbles, and smacks his lips loudly.

MERMAIDS- Slavic species Beregin, one of the clans of the Undead. The mermaid is depicted with a female face and breasts, a fish body and tail. Lives in the waters. During the period of Christianity, criticism and denial of paganism, all pagan deities were given evil, demonic features. Gradually, from Beregin, the Mermaids began to turn into drowned women and dead unbaptized children. It was believed that they are always dangerous for people in the Russian week (July 19 - 24) before Ivan Kupala, especially on Thursday (Perun's Day).

SWAMP- the Russian clan of the Undead, the sister of the mermaids, Vodyanitsa, only she lives in a swamp, in a snow-white flower of a water lily the size of a cauldron. She is indescribably beautiful, shameless and seductive, and sits in a flower to hide her goose feet with black membranes from a person. Seeing a man, the Bolotnitsa begins to cry bitterly, so that everyone wants to console her, but it is worth taking one step towards her through the swamp, as the villain will attack, strangle her in her arms and drag her into the swamp, into the abyss.

VODYANITSA- in Russian mythology, a mermaid, but a drowned woman from the baptized, and therefore does not belong to the Undead (other mermaids), according to legend, - in general, children who died unbaptized.

MAVKI- one of the varieties of Mermaids. According to Ukrainian beliefs, children who died before baptism turn into Mavok. The name Mavka (sometimes Navka) is derived from the concept of Nav. Mavki have human body, and they have no back, so all the insides are visible. Passers-by are begging to be baptized, crying. If they are still angry with the living, they try to lure them into the rocks, the turbulent waters of the river.

SHISHIMORA - Slavic variety Undead. A small hunchbacked creature, belly-bellied, cold, with gnarled hands. Pounces on the gaping and drags him into the water. Unlike Vodyany, it lives in reeds, prefers small rivers and reservoirs. Sleeps during the day, appears at dusk.

ICETIC- Russian evil spirit from the Vodyany family, their assistant. He does not have the strength of his mighty relative, and he himself is smaller, although the same green, all covered with leeches and algae. Swims out accompanied by frogs and other reptiles. He likes to play cards, drink brew and do dirty tricks in a small way: flood crops, wash away masonry, wash bridges and steep banks. Like Vodyanoy, he never misses an opportunity to drag a child or a tipsy adult under the water.

GODDESSES- in Russian mythology, the spirits of women who, during their lifetime, committed some terrible atrocity and killed: their children, who violated the holy oath, These are the most evil spirits. The goddesses cast a shadow, but they themselves are not visible.

BLAZNE- obsession, ghost. It can appear anywhere: at home, in the forest, in the field. Not a single Blasphemy can do without the participation of evil spirits, which darken the mind of a person, forcing him to see what is not really there. Realizing that he has a vision in front of him, a person cannot get rid of the obsessive image. Blasphemy happens in the house where there was a quarrel. After a quarrel Blaznya starts throwing sticks, dishes, litter, and throws everything off the table. There is no great harm from Blaze, except for fear, shock, bewilderment and anxiety.

MPA(Petroleum Maiden, Pestilence) - in Russian mythology, it is personified by a woman of enormous stature (sometimes on stilts), with loose braids and in white clothes. She travels around the world in a wagon or makes some person carry herself around cities and villages. With her bony hand, she blows on all sides with a bloody or fiery handkerchief - and after the wave of her handkerchief, everything around dies out.
MANA (MANIA) - old Russian (to beckon - to lie, to deceive) a ghost in the form of an old frail woman.

NAVI- Russian spirits of the dead, hostile to man. The incarnation of death, beings without flesh that move with the movement of the thought of the dead. In the old days, it was believed that the cause of death is the navya bone, which is preserved in a decaying corpse. Navi appear after midnight in the form of clouds resembling a person. They bathe with evil spirits in the fourth couple, in the bathhouse, leaving behind traces slightly reminiscent of chicken ones.

PLAQUE(DREAM) - the Russian phenomenon of the spirit of the deceased, which flies at night to people who yearn for the dead in order to exterminate them. The plaque is only visible to those they visit, the rest only notice the radiance. Only Sorcerers are capable of raiding. To do this, the Sorcerer takes his heel with his hand and holds it "with a word", with a conspiracy. The Flying Dream would then stop, spin around until it was human. The Sorcerer will let go of his heel, - The raid will again be invisible or crumble. So that the Plaque would not frighten the sleeping person, they surrounded him with crosses made of linden, put crosses on windows, doors, in a barrier, in a pipe. Some Sorcerers manage to negotiate with the dead so that he stops disturbing the living. For example, when a Raid appears, the Sorcerers exhort him: "Where are you going? The dead do not go to the living. Amen! My place is holy!". Others are saved by putting a prayer to the Guardian Angel under their heads for the night. They smoke in the house with incense, the root of the plakuna.
NAMNOY - Russian night spirit, comes to a person during sleep, crushes the sleeping person to bruises. If the bruises hurt - for worse, if they are insensitive - everything will go well.

GHOST- Slavs defined several types of ghosts:
"Cemetery Watchman" - the ghost of a man who was the first to be buried in this cemetery. Protects the bodies of the buried, in this cemetery, from all encroachments and evil spirits.
"Settled" - a ghost that appears every time, in the same place. This kind of thing can happen anywhere. The ghost owes its origin to some tragic event at this place, for example, someone's death that occurred at this very place. It becomes, as it were, a "visible memory" of this event.
"Hangman" - this is the name of the ghost of a man hanged for a crime committed by him. According to legend, they remain at the place of execution.
"Crossroads" - in the old days - a crossroads - a favorite place of execution, where the ghosts of the executed remain after death.
"Shadows of the Dead" - dark, obscure silhouettes, in the form of which the souls of the dead are alive.
"Dispersing" - "settled" ghosts often dissipate and disappear over time. However, there are stories of ghosts dating back at least 1600 years in some places.
"Double" - a ghost - an exact copy of a living person. An omen of impending doom. In Russian mythology - Nameless.

reptiles- Slavic concept of unclean animals. Reptiles include mainly reptiles (primarily snakes) and amphibians (frogs, turtles, etc.) and some other animals (mice, snake-like fish - loach, eel, etc.), worms, caterpillars. Reptiles are closely associated with demonic characters and are mainly associated with the underworld, they live in the earth, therefore they are often blind, in a hole, underground or under the threshold of a house. Often associated with the soul of an ancestor - "great-shura". Various ritual methods of their expulsion and numerous prohibitions and amulets are known, but they themselves often perform the functions of a talisman and patron.

GAME- Russian name for some witches. The thing puts its body under the mortar, and the magpie itself flies into the chimney, which is why the magpie itself is called the thing (like a crow - a prophetess). The little thing steals a child from the womb of a sleeping mother, and instead of the kidnapped child, puts a golik, a smut or a piece of bread in the womb. Pregnant women, so that the Veshchitsa does not replace the child, go to bed in the absence of her husband, putting on something from her husband's clothes or girding herself with her husband's belt. Gizmos are sometimes called demons of fate, spirits that predict troubles and misfortunes.

WILD BABA- Russian assistant to witches and sorcerers. She is sent to people to do various dirty tricks. For women in labor, young mothers, they replace children with their own witches, who live longer than seven years, and are very angry and stupid. Wild Baba sucks the blood of small children, which makes them turn pale and wither. Wild Baba - the flyer is a golden-haired beauty in a dream or in reality to young men. She also charms the married so that they leave their wives, and until the Wild Baba leaves the man, no force will return him to his wife.

LETAVITSA- Russian variety of Wild Baba. It flies with the help of boots - fast walkers, but if they are removed, it loses supernatural strength, obediently follows the person who took off her boots, and faithfully serves him. You can find her in a field or in a garden where peas grow, to which she is a great hunter.

FAMOUSLY- Slavic embodiment of an evil share, grief. Appears in the form of a thin woman without one eye, a meeting with her can lead to the loss of an arm or death. Sometimes Likho will bypass the sinner, he will fall on a good, hardworking person: and his house will burn down, and his fields will be beaten with hail, and he himself will not know where to go from the disease, but Likho still sits on his neck, his legs dangling.

FEVER- Russians, 9 or 12 sisters who live in the gloomy dungeons of Hell and appear as evil, ugly virgins, starved, always feeling hungry, sometimes blind and armless. The eldest, Nevea (dead) - commands the sisters: Shaking (Shaking), Fire (Fiery), Ledeya (Chill, Znobeya, Znobushka), Oppression, Breast, Deaf, Lomeya (Bone Breaker), Fluffy, Yellow, Korkusha (Korcheya), Looking .

LYARVA- an astral being generated by our passions and bad feelings. Once summoned, Larva lives semi-consciously, striving to satisfy the desire that gave rise to her. The stronger and longer the desire that gave birth to Lyarva, the more vital it is. The life of Lyarva is supported by the nervous force of a person and therefore it sticks to the one who created it. If a person gets rid of such a desire, Tol Ljarva may soon collapse, but, clinging to life, she can separate from the person who gave birth to her and, traveling in the astral plane, surrounding the morally weak, incites them to increase degradation, feeding on their falls of feelings from unrighteous deeds, and continuing to live.

OZEVA- a state of sudden indifference to everything, laziness, burden. It comes from the evil eye or words spoken by someone in their hearts about another with annoyance, malicious hatred, or from yawning and stretching when overcoming laziness on someone, for example, when such a spell text is pronounced: "Laziness is a burden, go to Fedot , from Fedot to Yakov, from Yakov to everyone.

cat eye

A stone that was considered indispensable in the treatment of fears. It is now known that those who wear it can be cured of mental disorders, depression, excessive aggressiveness, phobias, fears, skin diseases. It perfectly helps the healing of wounds, bruises, fractures, with all colds and contributes to the acquisition of persistent protective reactions by the body. It relieves fatigue well, so you can keep items made of this stone in plain sight in your home. The stone has the ability to predict the state of health and life events: it becomes different to the touch. The cat's eye has a beneficial effect on various internal organs, promotes concentration, restores the body's strength and relieves pain. The owner gives great endurance and patience. Develops will. It was considered a necessary amulet stone for warriors.

From the book Nano Dictionary of Memorizing English Words "The best of the first" author Diborsky Sergey

Eye - eye Application Memo from the so-called "body-oriented series" These are words that refer to certain parts of the body. Dictionary Word - eye Translation - eye Pronunciation (approx.) - "ay" Memory story The eye is a very important human organ.

From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (GL) of the author TSB

Eye The eye is an organ of perception of light irritation in some invertebrates (in particular, in cephalopods), all vertebrates and in humans. In most invertebrates, the function of glaucoma is performed by less complex organs of vision, such as compound eyes. At

From book Ambulance. A guide for paramedics and nurses author Vertkin Arkady Lvovich

15.1. Eye burns From the point of view of the etiopathogenetic effect on the organ of vision and therapeutic tactics, burns are divided into chemical (caused by acids or alkalis), thermal and combining both damage factors. Chemical burns occur not only on

From the book How to read a person. Facial features, gestures, postures, facial expressions author Ravensky Nikolai

Shine of the eyes Shine indicates the "life" of the eyes. Eyes without shine will appear glassy, ​​inanimate, devoid of fire. These properties reflect the degree of self-control of the individual, and the brilliance of the eyes - his internal energy. All people are able to concentrate their

From the book A Million Meals for Family Dinners. Best Recipes author Agapova O. Yu.

Facial expressions of the eyes In tradition different peoples many unusual abilities were associated with a certain color or shape of the eyes. Among the Eastern Slavs, the most important thing was how a person looks. A person could be enlisted as a sorcerer if he looked unkindly, frowningly, although he

From the book of Miracles: A popular encyclopedia. Volume 1 author Mezentsev Vladimir Andreevich

About the color of the eyes Who's eyes turn red - quick-tempered; this goes back to the corresponding state, since those who lose their temper in anger redden their eyes. Who has black eyes - timid; Black is known to denote shyness. Who has eyes that are not quite black, but closer to brown,

From the book Home Directory of Diseases author Vasilyeva (comp.) Ya. V.

From the book Dictionary of Slavic Mythology author Mudrova Irina Anatolyevna

"Eye" of a typhoon In Japanese myths, one of the important places belongs to the god of storms. He is depicted as a terrible dragon rushing across the sky among darkness and furious waves. With his only eye, he looks out for prey below - something that can be brought to destruction. In this

From the book The Complete Symptom Handbook. Self-diagnosis of diseases author Rutskaya Tamara Vasilievna

EYE DISEASES Asthenopia Asthenopia (visual fatigue) can occur when unfavorable factors affect the activity of one or both devices. To a much greater extent, this applies to the oculomotor apparatus.

From the book Complete Medical Diagnostic Handbook author Vyatkina P.

Falcon's Eye The name of the stone is associated with the prevailing idea of ​​the Falcon as a kind, luminous force. It is used ethnoscience. With it, you can get rid of nervousness, suspicion, improve the activity of the nervous system and protect yourself from

From the book The Great Atlas of Healing Points. Chinese medicine for health and longevity the author Koval Dmitry

From the book Cool Encyclopedia for Girls [Great tips on how to be the best in everything!] author Vecherina Elena Yurievna

Eye diseases Headache can also come to the fore with eye disease. Symptoms. Suddenly, severe and persistent headaches appear in the orbit, forehead, which can radiate to the ear or teeth. Sometimes pain is felt in the entire half of the face, less often in

From the book Handbook for women after forty. Home Encyclopedia author Danilova Natalya Andreevna

Diseases of the eyes Points on the head Tian-zhu (“support of the sky”) is located on the occipital border of hair growth, in a depression at the outer edge of the trapezius muscle 1.3 cun outward from the middle of the spinal column (Fig. 2.10, a). Rice. 2.10, and Fig. 2.10, except for diseases of the eyes, the point is used,

From the book Where did the words come from author Ushakova Olga Dmitrievna

Eye makeup “The eyes are the mirror of the soul”, so it is natural that special attention has always been paid to their design. Eye makeup includes makeup not only for the eyelids and eyelashes, but also for the eyebrows. First, if necessary, tint the eyebrows with a contour pencil or

From the author's book

Gymnastics for the eyes 1. With eye fatigue, such an exercise relieves stress well: from time to time you need to carefully peer at some point in the distance (it is advisable to look at green color), then quickly look at an object nearby.

From the author's book

Eye A very long time ago, the word eye in Russian meant simply a ball or a round stone. But to designate the eye, then the word eye was used, which still lives in poetic speech, as well as in proverbs and sayings. Today the word eye has lost its original

It was bad with evil spirits in Rus'. Bogatyrs in recent times divorced so much that the number of Gorynychs fell sharply. Only once flashed Ivan a ray of hope: an elderly peasant who called himself Susanin promised to lead him to the very lair of Likha One-Eyed ... But he stumbled only on a rickety ancient hut with broken windows and a broken door. On the wall was scrawled: “Checked. Leech is not. Bogatyr Popovich.

Sergey Lukyanenko, Yuly Burkin, Ostrov Rus

"Slavic monsters" - you must admit, it sounds wild. Mermaids, goblin, mermen - they are all familiar to us from childhood and make us remember fairy tales. That is why the fauna of "Slavic fantasy" is still undeservedly considered something naive, frivolous and even slightly stupid. Now, when it comes to magical monsters, we often think of zombies or dragons, although there are such ancient creatures in our mythology, compared with which Lovecraft's monsters may seem like petty dirty tricks.

The inhabitants of the Slavic pagan legends are not a joyful brownie Kuzya or a sentimental monster with a scarlet flower. Our ancestors seriously believed in the evil spirits that we now consider worthy only of children's horror stories.

Almost no original source describing fictional creatures from Slavic mythology has survived to our time. Something was covered with the darkness of history, something was destroyed during the baptism of Rus'. What do we have, besides vague, contradictory and often dissimilar legends of different Slavic peoples? A few references in the works of the Danish historian Saxo Grammar (1150-1220) - times. "Chronica Slavorum" by the German historian Helmold (1125-1177) - two. And finally, we should recall the collection "Veda Slovena" - a compilation of ancient Bulgarian ritual songs, from which one can also draw conclusions about the pagan beliefs of the ancient Slavs. The objectivity of church sources and annals, for obvious reasons, is in great doubt.

Book of Veles

The "Book of Veles" ("Book of Veles", Isenbek's tablets) has long been passed off as a unique monument of ancient Slavic mythology and history, dating from the period of the 7th century BC - 9th century AD.

Her text was allegedly carved (or burned) on small wooden planks, some of the "pages" were partially rotted. According to legend, the “Book of Veles” was discovered in 1919 near Kharkov by a white colonel Fyodor Izenbek, who took it to Brussels and handed it over to the Slavist Mirolubov for study. He made several copies, and in August 1941, during the German offensive, the plates were lost. Versions were put forward that they were hidden by the Nazis in the “archive of the Aryan past” under Annenerb, or taken out after the war to the USA).

Alas, the authenticity of the book initially caused great doubts, and recently it was finally proved that the entire text of the book is a falsification made in the middle of the 20th century. The language of this fake is a mixture of different Slavic dialects. Despite the exposure, some writers still use the "Book of Veles" as a source of knowledge.

The only available image of one of the boards of the "Book of Veles", beginning with the words "We dedicate this book to Veles."

The history of Slavic fairy-tale creatures may be the envy of another European monster. The age of pagan legends is impressive: according to some estimates, it reaches 3000 years, and its roots go back to the Neolithic or even the Mesolithic - that is, about 9000 BC.

There was no pan-Slavic fairy-tale "menagerie" - in different localities they talked about completely different creatures. The Slavs did not have sea or mountain monsters, but forest and river evil spirits were abundant. There was no megalomania either: our ancestors very rarely thought about evil giants like the Greek Cyclopes or the Scandinavian Etuns. Some wonderful creatures appeared among the Slavs relatively late, during the period of their Christianization - most often they were borrowed from Greek legends and introduced into national mythology, thus creating a bizarre mixture of beliefs.

Alkonost

According to ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keik, having learned about the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her name alcyone (kingfisher). The word "Alkonost" entered the Russian language as a result of a distortion of the old saying "Alcyone is a bird."

Slavic Alkonost is a bird of paradise with a surprisingly sweet, euphonious voice. She lays her eggs on the seashore, then plunges them into the sea - and the waves calm down for a week. When the chicks hatch from the eggs, a storm begins. AT Orthodox tradition Alkonost is considered a divine messenger - she lives in heaven and descends to convey the highest will to people.

Asp

A winged snake with two trunks and a bird's beak. He lives high in the mountains and periodically makes devastating raids on villages. It gravitates towards rocks so much that it cannot even sit on damp ground - only on a stone. Asp is invulnerable to conventional weapons, it cannot be killed with a sword or arrow, but can only be burned. The name comes from the Greek aspis, a poisonous snake.

Auka

A kind of mischievous forest spirit, small, pot-bellied, with round cheeks. He does not sleep either in winter or in summer. He likes to fool people in the forest, responding to their cry "Ay!" from all sides. Leads travelers into a dense thicket and throws them there.

Baba Yaga

Slavic witch, popular folklore character. Usually depicted as a nasty old woman with disheveled hair, a hooked nose, a "bone leg", long claws, and several teeth in her mouth. Baba Yaga is an ambiguous character. Most often, she performs the functions of a pest, with pronounced inclinations towards cannibalism, however, on occasion, this witch can voluntarily help a brave hero by questioning him, steaming in a bathhouse and bestowing magical gifts (or providing valuable information).

It is known that Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest. There stands her hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls. It was sometimes said that instead of constipation, there were hands on the gate to Yagi's house, and a small toothy mouth served as a keyhole. The house of Baba Yaga is enchanted - you can only enter it by saying: "Hut-hut, turn your front to me, and back to the forest."
Like Western European witches, Baba Yaga can fly. To do this, she needs a large wooden mortar and a magic broom. With Baba Yaga, you can often meet animals (familiars): a black cat or a crow helping her in witchcraft.

The origin of the Baba Yaga estate is unclear. Perhaps it came from the Turkic languages, perhaps it was formed from the old Serbian "ega" - a disease.

Baba Yaga, bone leg. A witch, an ogre, and the first woman pilot. Paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov and Ivan Bilibin.

Hut on kurnogs

A forest hut on chicken legs, where there are no windows or doors, is not fiction. This is how the hunters of the Urals, Siberia and the Finno-Ugric tribes built temporary dwellings. Houses with blank walls and an entrance through a hatch in the floor, raised 2-3 meters above the ground, protected both from rodents hungry for supplies and from large predators. Siberian pagans kept stone idols in similar structures. It can be assumed that the figurine of some female deity, placed in a small house “on chicken legs”, gave rise to the myth of Baba Yaga, who hardly fits in her house: her legs are in one corner, her head is in another, and her nose rests into the ceiling.

Bannik

The spirit living in the baths was usually represented as a little old man with a long beard. Like all Slavic spirits, mischievous. If people in the bath slip, get burned, faint from the heat, scald with boiling water, hear the crackling of stones in the oven or knocking on the wall - all these are the tricks of the bannik.

In a big way, a bannik rarely harms, only when people behave incorrectly (wash themselves on holidays or late at night). Most of the time he helps them. Among the Slavs, the bath was associated with mystical, life-giving forces - they often took birth or guessed here (it was believed that the bannik could predict the future).

Like other spirits, the bannik was fed - they left him black bread with salt or buried a strangled black chicken under the threshold of the bath. There was also a female variety of a bannik - a bannitsa, or obderiha. Shishiga also lived in the baths - an evil spirit that appears only to those who go to the bath without praying. Shishiga takes the form of a friend or relative, calls a person to bathe with her and can steam to death.

Bash Celik (Man of Steel)

A popular character in Serbian folklore, a demon or evil sorcerer. According to legend, the king bequeathed to his three sons to give their sisters to the one who first asks for their hand. One night, someone with a thunderous voice came to the palace and demanded the younger princess as his wife. The sons fulfilled the will of their father, and soon lost their middle and older sisters in this way.

Soon the brothers came to their senses and went in search of them. The younger brother met a beautiful princess and took her as his wife. Looking out of curiosity into the forbidden room, the prince saw a man in chains. He introduced himself as Bash Chelik and asked for three glasses of water. The naive young man gave the stranger a drink, he regained his strength, broke the chains, released his wings, grabbed the princess and flew away. Saddened, the prince went in search. He found out that the thunderous voices that his sisters demanded as wives belonged to the lords of dragons, falcons and eagles. They agreed to help him, and together they defeated the evil Bash Chelik.

This is how Bash Celik looks like in the view of V. Tauber.

Ghouls

The living dead rising from their graves. Like any other vampires, ghouls drink blood and can devastate entire villages. First of all, they kill relatives and friends.

Gamayun

Like Alkonost, a divine bird woman whose main function is the fulfillment of predictions. The proverb “Gamayun is a prophetic bird” is well known. She also knew how to control the weather. It was believed that when Gamayun flies from the direction of sunrise, a storm comes after her.

Gamayun-Gamayun, how long do I have left to live? - Ku. - Why so ma ...?

Divya people

Demihumans with one eye, one leg and one arm. To move, they had to fold in half. They live somewhere on the edge of the world, multiply artificially, forging their own kind from iron. The smoke of their forges carries with it pestilence, smallpox and fevers.

Brownie

In the most generalized view - a domestic spirit, the patron of the hearth, a little old man with a beard (or all covered with hair). It was believed that every house has its own brownie. In the houses they were rarely called "brownies", preferring the affectionate "grandfather".

If people established normal relations with him, fed him (left a saucer with milk, bread and salt on the floor) and considered him a member of their family, then the brownie helped them do minor housework, watched the cattle, guarded the household, warned of danger.

On the other hand, an angry brownie could be very dangerous - at night he pinched people to bruises, strangled them, killed horses and cows, made noise, broke dishes and even set fire to the house. It was believed that the brownie lived behind the stove or in the stable.

Drekavak (drekavac)

A half-forgotten creature from the folklore of the southern Slavs. His accurate description does not exist - some consider it an animal, others a bird, and in central Serbia there is a belief that the drekavak is the soul of a dead unbaptized baby. They only agree on one thing - the drekavak can scream terribly.

Usually drekavak is the hero of children's horror stories, but in remote areas (for example, mountainous Zlatibor in Serbia), even adults believe in this creature. Residents of the village of Tometino Polie from time to time report strange attacks on their livestock - it is difficult to determine what kind of predator it was by the nature of the injuries. The villagers claim to have heard eerie screams, so the drekavak must have been involved.

Firebird

An image familiar to us from childhood, a beautiful bird with bright, dazzling fiery feathers (“like the heat burns”). The traditional test for fairy-tale heroes is to get a feather from the tail of this feathered one. For the Slavs, the firebird was more of a metaphor than a real being. She personified fire, light, the sun, perhaps knowledge. Its closest relative is the medieval Phoenix bird, known both in the West and in Rus'.

It is impossible not to recall such an inhabitant of Slavic mythology as the Rarog bird (probably distorted from Svarog - the blacksmith god). The fiery falcon, which may also look like a whirlwind of flame, Rarog is depicted on the coat of arms of the Rurikids (“Rarogs” in German) - the first dynasty of Russian rulers. The highly stylized diving Rarog eventually began to look like a trident - this is how the modern coat of arms of Ukraine appeared.

Kikimora (shishimora, mara)

An evil spirit (sometimes the brownie's wife), appearing in the form of a little ugly old woman. If a kikimora lives in a house behind a stove or in an attic, then he constantly harms people: he makes noise, knocks on walls, interferes with sleep, tears yarn, breaks dishes, poisons livestock. It was sometimes believed that infants who died without baptism became kikimora, or evil carpenters or stove-makers could let the kikimora into the house under construction. Kikimora, living in a swamp or in a forest, does much less harm - basically it only frightens stray travelers.

Koschei the Immortal (Kashchei)

One of the old Slavic negative characters well known to us, usually represented as a thin, skeletal old man with a repulsive appearance. Aggressive, vindictive, greedy and stingy. It is difficult to say whether he was the personification of the external enemies of the Slavs, evil spirit, a powerful wizard, or a unique variety of undead.

It is undeniable that Koschey owned a very strong magic, shunned people and often engaged in a favorite thing for all the villains in the world - he kidnapped girls. In Russian science fiction, the image of Koshchei is quite popular, and he is presented in different ways: in a comic light (“Island of Rus” by Lukyanenko and Burkin), or, for example, as a cyborg (“The Fate of Koshchei in the Cyberozoic Era” by Alexander Tyurin).

Koshchei's "trademark" feature was immortality, and far from being absolute. As we all probably remember, on the magical island of Buyan (capable of suddenly disappearing and appearing in front of travelers) there is a large old oak tree on which a chest hangs. There is a hare in the chest, a duck in the hare, an egg in the duck, and a magic needle in the egg, where Koshchei's death is hidden. He can be killed by breaking this needle (according to some versions, by breaking an egg on Koshchei's head).

Koschey as presented by Vasnetsov and Bilibin.

Georgy Millyar is the best performer of the roles of Koshchei and Baba Yaga in Soviet movie fairy tales.

Goblin

Forest spirit, protector of animals. Appears as a tall man with a long beard and hair all over his body. In fact, not evil - he walks through the forest, protects him from people, occasionally shows himself in front of his eyes, for which he can take on any appearance - a plant, a mushroom (a giant talking fly agaric), an animal or even a person. Leshy can be distinguished from other people by two signs - his eyes burn with magical fire, and his shoes are worn backwards.

Sometimes a meeting with a goblin can end badly - it will lead a person into the forest and throw it to be eaten by animals. However, those who respect nature can even befriend this creature and get help from it.

famously one-eyed

The spirit of evil, failure, a symbol of grief. There is no certainty about Likh's appearance - it is either a one-eyed giant, or a tall, thin woman with one eye in the middle of her forehead. Famously, they are often compared with the Cyclopes, although apart from one eye and high growth, they have nothing in common.

The proverb has come down to our time: "Do not wake Likho while it is quiet." In the literal and allegorical sense, Likho meant trouble - it became attached to a person, sat on his neck (in some legends, the unfortunate tried to drown Likho by throwing himself into the water and drowned himself) and prevented him from living.
Likha, however, could be disposed of - deceived, driven away by willpower, or, as it is occasionally mentioned, transferred to another person along with some kind of gift. According to very gloomy prejudices, Likho could come and devour you.

Mermaid

In Slavic mythology, mermaids are a kind of mischievous evil spirits. They were drowned women, girls who died near a reservoir, or people bathing at inopportune hours. Mermaids were sometimes identified with "mavki" (from the Old Slavonic "nav" - a dead man) - children who died without baptism or were strangled by their mothers.

The eyes of such mermaids burn with green fire. By their nature, they are nasty and evil creatures, they grab bathing people by the legs, pull them under water, or lure them from the shore, wrap their arms around them and drown them. There was a belief that the laughter of a mermaid could cause death (this makes them look like Irish banshees).

Some beliefs called mermaids lower spirits nature (for example, good "shores"), which have nothing to do with drowned people and willingly save drowning people.

There were also "tree mermaids" living in the branches of trees. Some researchers rank as mermaids middays (in Poland - lakanits) - lower spirits, taking the form of girls in transparent white clothes, living in the fields and helping the field. The latter is also a nature spirit - it is believed that he looks like a little old man with a white beard. Polevoi lives in cultivated fields and usually patronizes peasants - except when they work at noon. For this, he sends noondays to the peasants so that they will deprive them of their minds with their magic.

Mention should also be made of the crowberry - a kind of mermaid, a baptized drowned woman who does not belong to the category of evil spirits, and therefore is relatively kind. Vodyanitsy love deep pools, but most often they settle under the mill wheels, ride them, spoil the millstones, muddy the water, wash out the pits, tear the nets.

It was believed that the waterwomen were the wives of watermen - spirits appearing in the form of old men with a long green beard made of algae and (rarely) fish scales instead of skin. Buggy-eyed, fat, creepy, merman lives at great depths in pools, commands mermaids and other underwater inhabitants. It was believed that he rides around his underwater kingdom on catfish, for which this fish was sometimes called the "devil's horse" by the people.

The merman is not malicious by nature and even acts as the patron of sailors, fishermen or millers, but from time to time he likes to play pranks, dragging a gaping (or offending) bather under water. Sometimes the merman was endowed with the ability to shapeshift - turning into fish, animals, or even logs.

Over time, the image of the water as the patron of rivers and lakes has changed - he began to be seen as a powerful "sea king" living under water in a chic palace. From the spirit of nature, the water one turned into a kind of magical tyrant, with whom the heroes of the folk epic (for example, Sadko) could communicate, conclude agreements and even defeat him with cunning.

Vodyanyye as imagined by Bilibin and V. Vladimirov.

Sirin

Another creature with the head of a woman and the body of an owl (owl), which has a charming voice. Unlike Alkonost and Gamayun, Sirin is not a messenger from above, but a direct threat to life. It is believed that these birds live in "Indian lands near paradise", or on the Euphrates River, and sing such songs for the saints in heaven, upon hearing which, people completely lose their memory and will, and their ships are wrecked.

It is not difficult to guess that Sirin is a mythological adaptation of the Greek sirens. However, unlike them, the Sirin bird is not a negative character, but rather a metaphor for the temptation of a person by all sorts of temptations.

Nightingale the Robber (Nightingale Odikhmantievich)

The character of late Slavic legends, a complex image that combines the features of a bird, an evil wizard and a hero. The nightingale the robber lived in the forests near Chernigov near the Smorodina River and for 30 years guarded the road to Kyiv, not letting anyone in, deafening travelers with a monstrous whistle and roar.

The Nightingale the Robber had a nest on seven oaks, but the legend also says that he had a tower and three daughters. The epic hero Ilya Muromets was not afraid of the adversary and knocked out his eye with an arrow from a bow, and during their fight the whistle of the Nightingale the Robber knocked down the entire forest in the district. The hero brought the captive villain to Kyiv, where Prince Vladimir, for the sake of interest, asked the Nightingale the Robber to whistle - to check whether the rumor about the super-abilities of this villain is true. The nightingale, of course, whistled, so much so that he almost destroyed half the city. After that, Ilya Muromets took him to the forest and cut off his head so that such an outrage would not happen again (according to another version, the Nightingale the Robber later acted as an assistant to Ilya Muromets in battle).

For his first novels and poems, Vladimir Nabokov used the pseudonym Sirin.

In 2004, the village of Kukoboy (Pervomaisky district of the Yaroslavl region) was declared the "homeland" of Baba Yaga. Her "birthday" is celebrated on July 26th. Orthodox Church came out with a sharp condemnation of the "worship of Baba Yaga."

Ilya Muromets is the only epic hero canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Baba Yaga is found even in Western comics, for example - "Hellboy" by Mike Mignola. In the first episode of the computer game Quest for Glory, Baba Yaga is the main plot villain. In the role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade, Baba Yaga is a vampire of the Nosferatu clan (distinguished by ugliness and secrecy). After Gorbachev left the political arena, she came out of hiding and killed all the vampires of the Bruja clan that controlled the Soviet Union.

* * *

It is very difficult to list all the fabulous creatures of the Slavs: most of them have been studied very poorly and are local varieties of spirits - forest, water or domestic, and some of them were very similar to each other. In general, the abundance of non-material beings greatly distinguishes the Slavic bestiary from more "mundane" collections of monsters from other cultures.
.
Among the Slavic "monsters" there are very few monsters as such. Our ancestors led a calm, measured life, and therefore the creatures that they invented for themselves were associated with elemental elements that were neutral in nature. If they resisted people, then, for the most part, only protecting mother nature and tribal traditions. The stories of Russian folklore teach us to be kinder, more tolerant, love nature and respect the ancient heritage of our ancestors.

The latter is especially important, because ancient legends are quickly forgotten, and instead of mysterious and mischievous Russian mermaids, Disney fish girls with shells on their breasts come to us. Don't be ashamed to study Slavic legends- especially in their original versions, not adapted for children's books. Our bestiary is archaic and in a sense even naive, but we can be proud of it, because it is one of the most ancient in Europe.

Liked the article? Share with your friends:

Facebook

Twitter

My world

In contact with

Google+

26.07.2020

Psychology of communication

The most interesting:

What is the symbolic meaning of the color of the trinity icon

Vanga's predictions over the years about Russia and the world, determining fate by the date of birth of Edgar Cayce about the financial well-being and integrity of Russia

Online fortune-telling "Yes - No", free virtual fortune-telling