Leshy: master of Russian forests. The goblin sits on a stump, enthusiastically reading the problem What does a goblin look like?
Lyrics of the song Arkona - Leshy
Like on a dark night
A guy went out into the forest to wander,
He sees Leshy sitting
Yes, he famously repeats the word:
“Why not in broad daylight?
Come to me if you dare!”
And he went, came,
The guy sat down next to Leshiy.
I did it!
Goblin - squinty eye
Asked a question
Yes, not simple, dashing!
"Why under the moon
Oh, how the guy jumped up,
Oh, how Leshy dragged me away
Eh, oh, yes to your little world,
Eh, come back
No stake, no yard
Oh, oh, this is not with me!
Get out of the forest at night!
Don't walk on the moon in the forest!
Under the old pine tree
Goblin - squinty eye
Translation of the song Arkona - Leshy
Like on a dark night
A guy went out into the forest to wander,
He sees Leshy sitting
Yes, he famously repeats the word:
“Why not in broad daylight?
Come to me if you dare!”
And he went, came,
The guy sat down next to Leshiy.
I did it!
Goblin - squinty eye
Asked a question
Yes, not simple, dashing!
"Why under the moon
Have you come to disturb my forest peace?”
Oh, how the guy jumped up,
I couldn’t escape - the Leshy dragged me away!
Oh, how Leshy dragged me away
Yes, into your little world - your own little corner!
Eh, oh, yes to your little world,
Naviy corner so that it works for future use!
Eh, come back
You will be an old grandfather in many years!
How, after a hundred years, he returned as an old man,
No stake, no yard
Is it time to face death?
Oh, oh, this is not with me!
It was true, no, but the moral is wise:
Get out of the forest at night!
Don't walk on the moon in the forest!
Under the old pine tree
Yes, Leshy sits - his eye is slanted, dashing!
Goblin - squinty eye
Let him guard his forest mansion.
The goblin has the appearance of a peasant or an old man with a white beard, dressed in ordinary peasant clothes, but some details emphasize his otherworldly nature: his right hem is wrapped behind his left, his left bast shoe is put on his right leg, and his right one is on his left, and when he sits down, always crosses his left leg over his right. Sometimes it was believed that Leshy was never belted. His clothes are white, red, black or green.
A characteristic feature of Leshy is his ability to change his height. It can be level with the treetops or below the grass. The goblin can turn into any animal and any bird, into a tree, bush or mushroom. In the Northern Russian tradition, the appearance of Leshy is usually associated with various weather phenomena, especially a whirlwind or a sharp wind. Leshy's habitat is the entire forest, but his favorite places are snags, uprooted trees, and forest huts. The goblin guards the forest and has complete control over everything that is there. The goblin guards and herds herds of forest animals and is the leader over all wolves. He often drives herds of hares, wolves, squirrels, field mice and rats from place to place. Most of all, he loves the bear, and when he drinks wine, which he is a big fan of, he certainly treats the bear too. The latter watches over the goblin when he goes to sleep intoxicated, and protects him from attacks by the merman. According to K.D. Loginovsky, collected in Transbaikalia, “for services, the goblin demands payment from people in the form of vodka treats.”
The goblin, at will, drives squirrels, arctic foxes, hares, and field mice from one forest to another. According to Ukrainian belief, a polysun, or forest man, drives hungry wolves with a whip to where they can find food. According to folk stories, goblins love a card game where the bets are squirrels and hares. So the mass migrations of these animals, for which it is difficult to find a reasonable explanation, turn out to actually be the payment of a gambling debt. According to “Northern Tales” by N. E. Onchukov, the forest man’s food is “hare and squirrel beef.” Also, wild apple trees are called “leshovka,” suggesting that the wood goblin grows these apple trees for himself. The horse senses the devil earlier than the rider or driver and may suddenly stop or rush to the side in fear. The goblin is at enmity with dogs tamed by humans, although sometimes he has his own dogs, small and colorful.
Some goblins live alone, others live in families, and they build spacious houses in the forests where their wives manage and their children grow up. The home of the goblin is a log hut in a dense spruce forest far from human settlements. In some places, it is believed that goblin live in entire villages. Sometimes in large forests there live two or three goblins, who sometimes quarrel among themselves when dividing up forest dachas (Arkhangelsk province). Quarrels lead to fights, goblin beat each other with hundred-year-old trees, which they uproot, and hundred-year-old stones, knocked off the rocks. They throw stones and tree trunks 50 miles or more. Battles between goblin and merman are also frequent, mainly at night. In the Russian North, the expression “the devil has stepped” is noted about something that was done poorly.
Other leshii kidnap or lure girls and women to themselves and live with them. The children of Leshy are considered to be babies abducted before baptism. It is believed that the wives of Leshy come from the souls of the girls he ruined, who were cursed by their parents. To bring back the people whom Leshy had taken away, treats were placed for him at crossroads: lard, a pot of porridge, pancakes. They wrapped the food in a clean rag with a red thread, bowed on four sides without crossing themselves, and asked Leshy to return his relative.
Leshy is also credited with kidnapping children:
But everywhere he hung in the way, and the devil’s pranks were evil!
If he drives away an animal, he won’t be found; he will put rats in traps.
And how many children did he take to his place during the Kaisky portage!
It was not from the rains, but from bitter tears that the entire Kama region got wet.
Leshy lure children who have a bad life in their family with a kind attitude, so they call the goblin “good uncle.” Sometimes goblins take children with them, and the latter become wild and cease to understand human speech and cease to wear clothes. In return for the kidnapped baby, goblins sometimes put a bundle of straw or a log in the cradle, and sometimes they leave their offspring, ugly, stupid and gluttonous. Having reached the age of 11, the changeling runs away into the forest, and if he remains among people, he becomes a sorcerer.
Leshim also really like to sing, sometimes for a long time and at the top of their lungs (like a storm), accompanying themselves by clapping their hands.
According to Polish belief, the goblin likes to sit on old dry trees in the form of an owl, and therefore peasants are afraid to cut down such trees. According to Russian belief, the goblin also likes to hide in the hollows of such trees. There is a saying about this: “Out of an empty hollow is either an owl, an owl, or Satan himself.” Les spend most of their time in trees; swinging and “fooling around” is their favorite pastime, which is why in some provinces they gave it the name “zybochnik” (from zybka, cradle). The procession of the goblin is accompanied by the wind, which covers his tracks. In this way, the goblin is reminiscent of the forest elves of Swedish folklore.
Since Leshy was considered the owner of all animals and game, the hunter could not hunt without an agreement with him, otherwise he would be left without prey or die. In those areas where cattle were grazed in the forest, the shepherd had to enter into an agreement with Leshi for the right to graze cattle on his land. To do this, the shepherd went into the forest at midnight and called Leshy. The shepherd had to keep the fact of the agreement in the strictest confidence, otherwise Leshy could kill him.
For violation of the contract, Leshy punishes the shepherd and harms him or his livestock. The shepherd could beg forgiveness from Leshy by kneeling in the forest and bringing a gift in the form of bread, a glass of vodka or money. If the shepherd breaks his promise to give Leshy one cow from the herd, Leshy kills him. If a person loses his way out of the forest because of the jokes of a devil, he falls into another world, and may remain there forever. To return home, you need to turn everything in the world upside down, change the usual concepts that no longer save you, agree to step on the path of the “other” world... Then the devil accepts you as one of his own and lets you go. People turned their clothes inside out, changed their shoes from their left foot to their right, turned their insoles inside out, turned their hats backwards, and tried to say prayers. But goblin never offended small children who, by chance or by the curse of their parents, found themselves in the domain of the forest owner. Children, most often, see both worlds, and therefore they are “related” to both people and spirits. Most likely, the goblin, fooling their heads and confusing their tracks, could take a person from the real world to a parallel world or neighboring area, where everything is almost the same as at home, but the native village may not exist, etc. You can easily get rid of the leprosy of the devil, of course, first of all with prayer and the sign of the cross, and then with the help of well-known techniques that are taught from childhood, according to the commandments of our fathers and great-grandfathers. Thus, a person who is lost is recommended to sit down on the first deck, take off his clothes and turn them inside out, and then put them on himself in this form. It is also necessary to put the left bast shoe on the right leg or the right mitten on the left hand.
If two or three are in trouble, then they should all change clothes, having first turned them inside out (in this case, it is recommended to imitate the custom of the same devil, who has everything inside out and inside out). You can get out of trouble in the same way by saying the goblin’s favorite saying, which lucky people managed to overhear from him from afar: “I walked, found, lost,” or shout: “Sheep’s face, sheep’s wool,” and the goblin will immediately disappear shouting: “Ah.” , guessed it!”
It is believed that what belongs to the goblin is surrounded by an invisible wall, “closed”, dragging it into the “other” world, and only the sorcerer can see where the missing animals or things are. To find a lost animal, you need to go out without looking back at the intersection of the forest road, leave two eggs on it and ask the first person you come across (who will be the goblin) where to look for the loss.
The goblin walks through the forest at night until the first rooster crows, after which he sleeps in a forest hut. In the summer, Leshy celebrates a wedding, during which a storm arises in the forest. The goblin go underground for the winter on St. Valentine's Day. Erofey (4/17.X) and appear again in the spring, when the snow begins to melt and the earth opens up.
In general, being afraid of the evil and unexpected plans of the goblin, the forest people are not averse to laughing at him, and all baptized Rus' considers using his name as a dirty word as their first pleasure (“Go to the goblin,” “The goblin would crush you,” etc.).
It is not for nothing that the myth of goblin has existed on Earth for millennia. According to popular views, the goblin serves as an unconscious weapon of punishment for a person’s voluntary and involuntary sins. For example, a goblin carried away a man in front of everyone because he was swearing obscenely while climbing the bell tower. The goblin punishes even more strongly for uttering curses, and if it happens, for example, that a woman in labor, having lost all patience in the throes of childbirth, curses herself and the child, then the child is considered the property of the goblin - as soon as the last sound of the uttered curse has died down. The goblin takes the child promised to him into the forest immediately after birth, placing in its place a “forest child” - sick and restless. If, by some miracle, the sworn child manages to be baptized earlier, so that it is impossible to take him right away, then the goblin waits until seven years of adolescence and then lures him into the forest (the goblin is given one minute a day when he can lure a person).
In the forest, the damned do not live long and soon die. And if it happens that one of them, through the intense prayers of his mother, survives, then he is found in the most pitiful form: he walks wild, does not remember what happened to him, and remains completely indifferent to everything that may await him when living together with people.
Village rumors very persistently attribute to goblin a passion for women and often accuse them of kidnapping girls. They are credited with wives of the same breed as themselves (leshachikha, lesukha) and cubs (leshenya).
In ancient times, at the beginning of summer, shepherds made an agreement with the goblin: do not suck milk from cows, do not drive cattle into swamps, etc. If the agreement was violated, they wrote a complaint against the offender on a wide board and hung it from a hollow tree in the thicket - let Grandfather Lesovik will figure it out.
Goblin(master of the forest, forest spirit, leshak, forest man, forest grandfather) - the spirit, owner of the forest in the mythological ideas of the Slavic peoples.
This is the main owner of the forest, he makes sure that no one harms anyone on his farm. He treats good people well, helps them get out of the forest, but he treats not-so-good people badly: he confuses them, makes them walk in circles. He sings in a voice without words, claps his hands, whistles, hoots, laughs, cries.
Goblin can appear in various plant, animal, human and mixed forms, and can be invisible. Most often it appears as a solitary creature. For the winter it leaves the forest, falling underground. As the owner, he takes care of the forest, protects it, and is the patron of forest animals. Many forest sounds, especially those caused by the wind, are attributed to the goblin.
The attitude of the people towards the goblin was ambivalent: he is both an evil spirit and a just spirit. Leshys do not so much purposefully harm people as play pranks and jokes, but they do it rudely and evilly: they scare people with laughter and clapping their hands, lead them astray, hide objects, etc. A goblin can punish a person for inappropriate behavior. Success in hunting and successful grazing of livestock depend on the goblin; for this, hunters and shepherds needed to enter into an agreement with him. The goblin can kidnap livestock and people. He is able to predict the future. Sometimes the goblin accepted help from a person.
The word goblin most often used in Russian in relation to this character meant forest, wooded (for example, “goblin land”). Hence other names for the goblin, common in different regions - leshak, forester, forester, forester / lisun (polisun), forest and even forest, and in polite addresses to him - righteous forest, honest forest, forest grandfather, forest uncle, forest dweller , forest owner. Female goblin are called leshachikha, leshikha, lesanki/lisunki, lesovki, lesovikhi. The children of goblin are lesheviks, leshachata.
In many places, goblin are considered and called “wild men” (wild men) and “ticklers,” the latter due to the fact that goblin can tickle people to death. In this they are similar to mermaids, that is, to the hostage dead.
Ideas about the origin of goblin are blurred. It is widely believed that cursed people, those who died unbaptized, or children who were exchanged by evil spirits become goblin. In popular Christianity, goblins were viewed as forest devils - creations of the devil, or as Adam's children who were not presented to God.
The Vologda version of the legend talks about the goblin as the spawn of the devil:
There was only God and the devil on earth. God created man, and the devil tried to create, but he created not a man, but a devil, and no matter how hard he tried and worked, he still could not create a man, all of his devils came out. God saw that the devil had already created several devils, became angry with him and ordered Archangel Gabriel to overthrow Satan and all evil spirits from heaven. Gabriel overthrew. Whoever fell into the forest became a goblin, whoever fell into the water became a merman, whoever fell into a house became a brownie. That's why they have different names. And they are all the same demons.
- Dilaktorsky P. From the traditions and legends of the Kadnikovsky district of the Vologda province // Ethnographic review. M., 1899. No. 3
The Belarusian version produces goblin from the “twelve pairs of children” of Adam and Eve. When God came to see the children, the parents showed him six pairs, and six others were “shown under an oak tree.” From the six pairs presented to God came people, and from the others - evil spirits, which are not inferior to them in number.
One of the Mansi legends says that when creating man, the gods used clay and larch. People created from larch scattered through the forests with great speed and called them “menkws” (goblins); they are strong and do not drown in water. And the slow creatures molded from clay became ordinary people, whose lifespan is short: “If a person falls into the water, he drowns, it becomes hot, and water comes out of him.”
External signs
The appearance of the goblin indicates his otherworldly nature and connection with the forest. As the personification of the forest, it can take on a variety of images associated with it. The idea of it is syncretic: it is at the same time a many-sided spirit, an animal, a plant, and a person.
According to some beliefs, the growth of a goblin varies depending on the vegetation surrounding it: in the forest it is as tall as the tallest trees, and in a clearing it is as tall as the grass. At the same time, the goblin can be either higher or lower than the forest at will. The goblin was often represented as a giant capable of stepping over rivers. In the Russian North, there was an idea that goblin are divided according to size into wood goblins, boletus goblins and moss goblins.
A goblin can appear as a phytoanthropomorphic creature with a preponderance of traits in one direction or another in each implementation. It happens that this is a completely plant object - a tree (revered trees are pine, spruce, birch, oak, indicating demonic aspen, etc.), bush, stump, leaf, moss, etc. Then human characteristics begin to appear in them: shape, branches like hair. On the other hand, anthropomorphism can dominate, and the connection with vegetation is manifested in significant detail: long, scraggly green hair like the branches of a tree or bush, a lichen beard, moss-covered clothing with a woody color and texture, a moss-covered face, skin thick as bark. Finally, plant traits can be reduced to attributes: green twigs woven into the hair of a leprechaun, a club or batog in the hands, a green beard and green eyes. The association with the forest is complemented by the ability of the goblin to whip a person with twigs, make noise, buzz, and crack trees.
A goblin can also appear as a zooanthropomorphic creature, again with a different proportion of characteristics. This can be an animal, both wild - a bear, wolf, crow, magpie, etc., and domestic - a dog, black cat, horse, black goat, etc.. The goblin often appears as a half-man, half-goat (like a devil): black fur all over the body, small, curled horns (the goblin kings have golden ones), hooves, long hair on the head and a long beard. Or is it a person with signs of an animal: hairiness, clothes made of animal skin, animal sounds, claws on hands and feet, hooves, tail, wings, horse bridles, etc. An animal can accompany the devil: a black dog, a black goat.
The anthropomorphic image of the devil predominates. It can be either a giant or an ordinary-looking person. Often the goblin appears in the form of a relative, neighbor, acquaintance, and the deception is revealed only upon arrival home, when it turns out that the person encountered at that time was in a completely different place, and can take on the image of a deceased person. It is common to imagine a goblin as an old man with long gray disheveled (or combed to the left) hair and a long gray (sometimes green) beard, green eyes (or unnaturally pale, even white, or lead-blue, or shiny). The human image of a goblin is characterized by the desire to hide one’s face, the reluctance to look into the eyes of the interlocutor, the absence of eyebrows and eyelashes, and sometimes nostrils or the right ear, or one eye (or bulging eyes, or the right eye is always motionless and larger than the left, or eyes are larger than human ones ), blue blood and, as a result, blue skin (sometimes the blue color is transferred to clothing), lack of shadow; when the goblin sits, he crosses his left leg over his right. According to some northern tales collected by P. N. Rybnikov, the blood of a goblin is dark, and not light, like that of people, which is why it is also called “blue-shaped” (“blue” in ancient times meant “dark”). Belarusians believed that the goblin had a long face, flattened with the edge forward, a long wedge-shaped beard, one eye and one leg, with the heel forward.
If the goblin has clothes, then they are turned inside out, wrapped around the left hem on the right, the shoes are mixed up, and he himself, as a rule, is not belted: “The goblin rushes through his forests like mad, quickly, barely traceable and always without a hat,” often with a huge club in hand. Described as pointed-headed, wedge-shaped and shaggy, with hair combed to the left. Tough, but can be killed with a gun. According to other sources, he is an ordinary old man, small, stooped, with a white beard. Novgorodians assured that this old man wears white clothes and a large hat, and when he sits down, he crosses his left leg over his right.
The goblin is dressed like an ordinary person. He often appears in the form of a forester or a soldier. Usually he wears a Siberian jacket, an army jacket, a gray homespun woolen caftan, leather or fur clothes. But the most typical thing for a goblin is white clothing like a robe or cassock, with wide sleeves and also a wide and white hat. According to some versions, he is always belted, and according to others, he is always without a belt. His typical shoes are bast shoes, sometimes huge ones; often he is caught weaving them or picking at them while sitting on a stump in the light of the moon. Sometimes he wears clothes that are not typical for the forest, for example, in a black suit. The left hem of his clothes is tucked over the right - like women's, while the right hem can be “tucked in”, the shoes are mixed up - he is wearing the wrong feet. In later tales, the goblin is dressed in modern clothes: a cap, boots or boots, etc. The goblin usually holds a whip, batog, club or purse in his hands. The devil is often seen naked.
The leshachiha also appears in various guises. She may look like an ordinary woman, but with ragged clothes and loose hair with green branches woven into it. Or like a tall, decrepit old woman, leaning on a stick and rocking as if in a doze. Afanasyev, in his work “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature,” also provides information about venisons: “The popular imagination gives them such huge and long breasts that they are forced to throw them over their shoulders and only then can they walk and run freely.” And the imp sitting on its back, which sucks the breast, is hidden and warmed by the long hair of the female leprechaun. These women are overgrown, shaggy, and have matted hair.
The goblin has enormous power. He may be very heavy, so much so that the horse is unable to pull the cart on which he sits; his hand is also heavy. The goblin may be invisible to people, it may suddenly or gradually disappear. A strong wind accompanies a goblin walking in front and behind, by the direction of which one can determine where it is going. This wind covers up the traces of the goblin, therefore, according to one version, no one saw them (but in other stories the goblin leaves traces).
Lifestyle
Some goblins live alone, others live in families, and they build spacious houses in the forests where their wives manage and their children grow up. The home of the goblin is a log hut in a dense spruce forest far from human settlements. In some places, it is believed that goblin live in entire villages. Sometimes in large forests there live two or three goblins, who sometimes quarrel among themselves when dividing up forest dachas (Arkhangelsk province). Quarrels lead to fights, goblin beat each other with hundred-year-old trees, which they uproot, and hundred-year-old stones, knocked off the rocks. They throw stones and tree trunks 50 miles or more. Battles between goblin and merman are also frequent, mainly at night.
Leshy can be found throughout the forest. But they live in forest slums, in the heart of the forest. From places visited by humans, the home of the goblin is protected by impenetrable forest and dead wood, and swamps that do not freeze even in winter. Together with the “owner” his animals and birds live. Forest animals come there before they die. The goblin can also live on old dry trees (spruce, willow), in a hollow, in a hummock, in the roots of an upturned tree, in snags, in forest huts, occasionally in a secret cave and even underground. Near the lair of a devil, a person will certainly get lost. More often, the goblin appears to be a solitary creature, in each forest there is only one goblin (large forests can be divided into areas, each of which has its own goblin). But in a number of mythological stories, goblin can gather together, live in families and even villages similar to those of humans: the houses of goblin are covered with leather, they are guarded by dogs, and the farm contains livestock; there are stories that goblin have governors and kings (in Russian conspiracies the head of the goblin was called Musail-les, and in the Russian North - Honest Les).
As an owner, the goblin takes care of the forest and protects it. The goblin is the shepherd of all forest inhabitants, and therefore he is depicted as an old man with a whip in his hands. He herds animals, takes care of their food, protects them from hunters, and saves them from fires. The goblin disposes of the animals under his control as his property, for example, he can lose them at cards to another goblin - this served as a mystical explanation for the mass migrations of animals: squirrels, hares, etc. But the goblin is often presented as the patron of only one or several species of wild animals, in in the Russian tradition, these are most often bears and especially wolves (in the latter case, the goblin can be embodied as a white wolf - the leader).
All the phenomena caused by gusts of wind in the forest are attributed to the goblin: howling, cracking of trees, rustling of leaves - this is the goblin whistling, clapping his hands, laughing, singing, making animal sounds. The goblin often repeats the words spoken by a person - like an echo, which in the forest is considered the response of the goblin. The goblin loves to hang and swing on tree branches, which is why in some places it is called the zybochnik (zybka - cradle, cradle). He often sits on a tree or stump and weaves bast shoes or makes crafts from wood. In some regions, falling trees and hurricane winds tearing off roofs were associated with weddings of goblin. Goblin can be at enmity with each other (it is said that goblin fight with each other, using trees and boulders as weapons), with devils, water creatures, field creatures and brownies.
The goblin, at will, drives squirrels, arctic foxes, hares, and field mice from one forest to another. According to Ukrainian belief, a polysun, or forest man, drives hungry wolves with a whip to where they can find food. According to folk stories, goblins love a card game where the bets are squirrels and hares. So the mass migrations of these animals, for which it is difficult to find a reasonable explanation, turn out to actually be the payment of a gambling debt. According to “Northern Tales” by N. E. Onchukov, the forest man’s food is “hare and squirrel beef.” Also, wild apple trees are called “leshovka,” suggesting that the wood goblin grows these apple trees for himself. The horse senses the devil earlier than the rider or driver and may suddenly stop or rush to the side in fear. The goblin is at enmity with dogs tamed by humans, although sometimes he has his own dogs, small and colorful.
Leshim also really like to sing, sometimes for a long time and at the top of their lungs (like a storm), accompanying themselves by clapping their hands.
According to Polish belief, the goblin likes to sit on old dry trees in the form of an owl, and therefore peasants are afraid to cut down such trees. According to Russian belief, the goblin also likes to hide in the hollows of such trees. There is a saying about this: “Out of an empty hollow is either an owl, an owl, or Satan himself.” Les spend most of their time in trees; swinging and “fooling around” is their favorite pastime, which is why in some provinces they gave it the name “zybochnik” (from zybka, cradle).
The goblin’s favorite saying is: “I walked, I found, I lost.” Confusing people and confusing them is a common trick of the spirit. If the “goblin bypasses” a person, then the traveler will suddenly lose his way and may “get lost in three pines.” Ways to dispel the devil's confusion: the person led by him should not eat anything or carry with him a linden branch (lutovka) peeled from the bark; you can also put on all your clothes inside out or change your shoes - put your left shoe on your right foot and vice versa, turn the insoles over - then the traveler can find the way from the forest. In addition, this spirit loves to scream in a scary voice and whistle, thereby scaring people. The “Novgorod Collection” for 1865 reports that “the forest people... love to sing songs, clap their hands, laugh and groan.” According to information from the Arkhangelsk province, the goblin “screams in different voices: in a child’s voice, in a woman’s voice, in a man’s voice, neighs in a horse’s voice.” He also “crows like a rooster, crows like a chicken, a cat, a small child.” But according to popular belief, only the goblin whistles in the forest, and it is dangerous for a person to whistle, since the goblin will be offended. When the Mansi sing about menkws (goblins), they make strong body movements, whistling, stomping, “as forest deities usually do.” There is an opinion that the Russian “pandemonium,” which the Orthodox Church opposed in ancient times, originates from the imitation of forest Slavic deities in pagan times.
Leshy and man
A figurine of a goblin from the Zaslavye Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve in Belarus. The life of a peasant was closely connected with the forest and depended on it. The entire cycle of agricultural work was carried out in the forest (while maintaining slash-and-burn agriculture), cattle were grazed in the forest, wood was harvested for construction and heating, hunting and fishing, collecting mushrooms and berries; forestry trades included racing tar, resin, burning charcoal , roads passed through the forest, and finally, various pagan rituals were performed in the forest. But although the forest was actively used by man, adjacent to the space he had developed, it nevertheless remained beyond his control. It was perceived as an alien and dangerous territory, a place of accumulation of evil spirits, a different world.
Hence the attitude towards the goblin as a forest owner was ambivalent among the people. On the one hand, he was considered a dangerous evil force hostile to man. On the other hand, he was often contrasted with “real” devils: his negative actions are caused not by the goal in itself to destroy a person, but by the desire to punish (even death) for inappropriate behavior in the forest (and sometimes the rules of human society). According to popular beliefs, goblins do not so much purposefully harm people as play pranks and jokes, but they do it rudely and evilly: they scare people with laughter and clapping their hands, lead them astray, hide hats and baskets, quietly put them to sleep on an anthill, force them to climb a tree. , under the guise of a glass of vodka, they bring a fir cone, remove the wheels from the cart, etc. But at the same time, the goblin was also perceived as a kind and fair spirit who would not simply harm a person; he can help pick mushrooms or berries, show the way if asked, or take care of a lost child. Success in hunting and successful grazing of livestock depend on the goblin. Many mythological stories tell about the confrontation between man and the devil, about the search for a compromise between them.
According to folk etiquette, when going into the forest one should pray and ask the “owner” for permission to enter it. The devil's consent had to be asked for any activity in the forest. When going into the forest, you cannot say that you are going for a short time - this is not up to the person to decide, but to the devil. It is very dangerous to receive a curse from a relative before going into the forest - the goblin believed that the cursed people were promised to him. The goblin does not like it when people scold, make noise, and even more so whistle in the forest - this is his prerogative, he may be offended and will hasten to respond with his own destructive whistle. You should not imitate the echo and respond to an unfamiliar voice - it may turn out to be a devil. By protecting the forest, the goblin can prevent a person from cutting down trees (hides axes, scatters logs), much less maim them unnecessarily, and hunt (deflects a shot, deprives them of accuracy and the ability to shoot in general, lures them into impassable places). A person who is left to spend the night in a forest hut without asking (“Let him, master, not live forever, but spend one night.”), the goblin tries to scare him with noise, the cries of animals and birds, opening doors, etc., and drive him out, maybe even kill him. You cannot sleep on the trail for the night, as a goblin walking along it or a whole wedding of goblin could run over you. The goblin loves to warm itself by a human fire, but, when angry, it can scatter or trample it. A goblin could scare a person half to death if he behaved badly in the forest, confuse him with visions, or send him sick.
To summon the goblin, you need to chop young birch trees, put them in a circle with the tops in the center, stand in the circle, take off your cross and loudly shout “Grandfather!” You can also use a dull ax to cut down a pine tree in the forest so that when it falls, it knocks down two aspen trees, stand on them facing north and call the devil. On the night of Ivan Kupala, June 24 (July 7), you can cut down an aspen tree so that it falls to the east, stand on a stump facing east, bend down, look between your legs and say: “Uncle Goblin! Show yourself to be neither a gray wolf, nor a black raven, nor a fire spruce, show yourself as I am.” It was believed that you could also summon a devil with the words “Come tomorrow!” You can see a goblin that is simply invisible or its true appearance by looking through the horse’s right ear, as well as using a harrow or a clamp.
Success in fishing depends on the goblin; it is he who distributes the gifts of the forest among people. For a successful hunt, you can conclude an agreement with the goblin: bring him a gift - an Easter egg, bread and salt (with your hair or nails), etc.; or a sacrifice - your blood (from a finger) or the first prey; or write a contract in blood on paper or a leaf of a plant. The gift is left in the roots of an uprooted tree or at the crossroads of forest roads, and the person must remove the belt (amulet) and cross (renunciation of Christianity). The goblin himself can indicate to the hunter how to conclude an agreement. A person promised to fulfill certain conditions, for example, not to take more than a certain amount of prey or not to go hunting on certain days, etc. A deal with a goblin meant that the hunter put himself in his power and, with the consolidation of Christianity, was increasingly equated with selling your soul to the devil. The agreement with the goblin must be kept secret. In addition, to consolidate good luck in the hunt, conspiracies were used to appeal to the devil. Fulfilling the agreement, the forest owner brings a “herd” of animals under the hunter’s gun or drives them into his traps, and always makes the shot accurate. A person who violates a contract or its secret is deprived of the protection of the devil and may suffer serious punishment - illness or even death.
It was believed that livestock in forest areas was grazed not so much by a shepherd as by a goblin. To protect the cattle from the devil, at the beginning of the season, the shepherd makes a ritual “roundabout” (“release”) of the cattle - he walks around the herd three times with magical objects, casting a spell. If the vacation is carried out with mistakes, then the goblin, offended by the use of magic against him, may try to take revenge on the people - to destroy as much livestock as possible, which is why the peasants preferred an agreement with him to the ritual of releasing against the goblin. For the latter, it was necessary on Yegoriya, April 23 (May 6), or around Nikolin's day, May 9 (22), for ritual purposes, go around the herd with a cross, drive it into a hollow, and sit down on an aspen stump or a fallen birch tree and call the devil using a magical formula, promising him an offering - an Easter egg, bread and salt, or one or two cows. You don’t have to call the goblin, but simply put a gift for him under the birch tree, which will “look” at you. The cow promised to the goblin was considered “bequeathed” - it was supposed to disappear in the forest during the season. The agreement with the goblin was concluded using a strictly defined conspiracy formula, but, for a number of reasons, no one was able to write down its text. Also, to secure the agreement, the shepherd left a locked lock in the forest; it was believed that when the cows were grazing, the goblin unlocked it, and when they had to go to the village, he locked it. After the conclusion of the agreement, the goblin regularly grazed the cattle - either himself, or obliged his assistant or the goblin to do this. After this, the shepherd didn’t even need to go into the forest with the cows - he went about his business all day, distracted only by pasturing and corralling the cattle. Moreover, the shepherd could, at his own request, blow the trumpet and call any cattle from the forest. The shepherd who entered into an agreement with the goblin was subject to certain restrictions: he was not allowed to look after the cattle in the forest, beat them, kill forest animals, break trees, pick berries (especially black ones) and mushrooms, swear in the forest, cut hair and nails, give them to other people. your pipe and batog, touching other people (shaking hands, eating from the same dishes, washing together in a bathhouse, sleeping with your wife), seeing the dead and newborns; It was also prohibited during the season to sell livestock from the herd, comb wool from sheep, and violate the integrity of the fence. Violation of these taboos led to the breaking of the contract, which led to the death of the cattle, and even the shepherd.
The goblin could steal livestock from people, especially those that had been cursed and sent “to the goblin.” The goblin could punish for a careless attitude towards livestock left unattended with the words that they would not go anywhere - after all, this is not up to the person, but the goblin. The cattle could be lost if they ended up in the place where the goblin had passed. The goblin could “tie” the cattle to a tree, so that it could not move away from it, although it ate all the grass around and was starving. Or even “close” (“hide”) the animal, as if placing it in another world, and people searching can hear a cow bell somewhere nearby. Or the goblin takes the animal to a remote, hard-to-reach place. The goblin could send wild animals - wolves, bears - to the cattle that the bad shepherd was tending. To find the missing cattle, the peasants undertook not only the usual searches, but also performed the ritual of “tasting” (“turning away”): at night or early in the morning they went to the crossroads of forest roads (or sent a “knowledgeable” person), where they tried to negotiate with the goblin. To do this, they presented him with a gift - an egg, bread with salt, etc., wrapped in a clean piece of cloth, tied with a red thread, they prayed to him or threatened him with magic (“cross” all the roads in the forest, tie up all the trees) or with the intercession of saints. If the missing cattle was not “bequeathed” to the goblin, then it either returned soon on its own, or the goblin told where it could be found, or told about its fate (killed by animals, stolen by one of the people, not walking in the forest). The goblin could also injure cattle.
The goblin is considered as the root cause of a person's wandering in the forest, and therefore it is also called fornication, connecting rod, manilo and driver. The man cannot find the way, because the goblin has “bypassed” him, as if he has closed him in with an invisible circular line. The one who “crosses the trail of the devil” will get lost and will fall on his path. The goblin can close the path with an obstacle-obsession: a windbreak, a river, etc. Or it can also close the missing person himself - people hear that he is somewhere nearby, but they cannot find him. A goblin can “tie” a person to the tree in which he lives, in which case the traveler, wandering, always returns to him. He can falsify signs: pretend to be a landmark along which a person noticed the path, or a tree on which moss or short, sparse branches grow not on the north side, as expected, but on the south. A goblin can lead a hunter into a thicket, pretending to be an elusive animal, sometimes an outlandish one. Or it can start with the voice of a friend, a crying child or a dying person. A lost person finds himself in an unfamiliar place, which in everyday terms is understood as inaccessible, and in mythological terms as another world. The goblin can take the form of an acquaintance or simply an unknown fellow traveler and, distracting with conversations or promising to show places rich in mushrooms or berries, leads to an impassable place, after which it disappears. Its appearance in such cases is usually associated with the fact that the person dreamed of a traveling companion. Also, pretending to be a familiar person, a goblin can loom ahead at a distance, not allowing itself to be caught up and not responding. This companion disappears suddenly, often on the border with the cultural world - when crossing a bridge or fence.
To get rid of the spell of the devil, a lost person needs to take off all his clothes and put them on the other way around: inside out, backwards to front, swap shoes, turn over the insoles, etc. While undressing, you need to swear loudly and beat your clothes on a tree, and when getting dressed - read a prayer (the 90th Psalm is best) and say a spell. Likewise, if you get lost while riding a cart, you should re-harness the horses in reverse. You could also try to leave the forest backwards, following your own tracks. A. N. Afanasyev assumed that having changed clothes in this way, a person would not go in the direction in which the goblin was leading him, but in the opposite direction, and would come out onto the road. N.A. Krinichnaya pointed out that such dressing up helps to move from the other world to the diametrically opposite one, that is, the human one. E. L. Madlevskaya pointed out that after changing clothes, the goblin stops seeing the person. You can also simply ask the devil to show the way. To find a person missing in the forest, people performed the same ritual of “tasting” (“turning away”) as in the case of a missing pet, only the gifts were somewhat more valuable - not only bread and salt, but also pancakes, pies, a pot of porridge, a piece of lard. If it was possible to come to an agreement with the goblin, then he would show the missing person the way or even lead him out of the forest himself, or “open” him to those looking for him - the missing person could end up in the place where they had already searched for him to no avail. The relatives also sought help against the goblin from the brownie, turning to him and “barking” into the trumpet.
Like other demonic characters, the goblin can kidnap people. People of any age and gender can fall apart. Most often, the reason for abduction is a curse, especially a parental one, in the form of a message “to the devil.” If a cursed child can be baptized, the goblin waits until he turns 7 years old, after which he lures him into the forest.
Leshy also lure children who have a bad life in their family with a kind attitude, so they call the goblin “good uncle.” Can kidnap babies. In exchange for the kidnapped child, goblins sometimes put a “changeling” in the cradle - a bundle of straw, a log or a block of wood, sometimes they leave their brainchild, ugly, stupid and gluttonous, taking on the image of the kidnapped child, but distorted, ugly, the changeling is angry, yells a lot, can’t do anything. walks or talks, shows no signs of intelligence; after some time, as a rule, he dies or upon reaching 11 years of age, the changeling runs away into the forest, and if he remains among people, he becomes a sorcerer. The goblin raise the kidnapped children: according to some stories, they receive secret knowledge and become sorcerers and healers, and according to others, they run wild, cease to understand human speech, cease to wear clothes, and become overgrown with moss and bark. Often they become invisible to people, although they themselves see their relatives, hear their conversations, experience separation, but cannot open up. According to N.A. Krinichnaya, they seem to dissolve in nature. The goblin take the kidnapped girls as wives and can have children with them. If a woman living in a village gives birth to a devil, then her child soon disappears. A goblin can also kidnap a person for the purpose of turning him into a slave. According to other stories, “kidnapped” (lost) people die from exhaustion, hunger, falling into a hole or falling into a quagmire.
You can protect yourself from kidnapping immediately after the curse, using Christian (pray, cross, remember God, perform a prayer service) or pagan means (say “mind me,” cast a spell, perform a ritual of “tasting”), or even simply by catching up in time and catching up "carried away" into the forest. There are chances to return someone who has already been taken to another world, but usually only at a certain moment (prompted by the sorcerer or random) after some time has passed after the loss. There was a belief that in order to return home, a kidnapped person should not eat the food of the goblin (but in other stories, people treated themselves to the goblin and returned, but the food they took with them turned into pine cones, moss, etc.). A goblin could return a person he had abducted long ago if another person helped him. Those who return from the devil change. They avoid people, learn to speak again, and become mentally damaged. Or, on the contrary, they become focused and serious, acquire the ability to perform witchcraft, predict their own and others’ fates, and communicate with spirits (goblin, brownies). Those who return are drawn back to the forest. They do not tell everything about their stay with the devil, since they could pay with their lives for this. For girls, the effect of abduction wears off after marriage. They note the connection between abduction and death, and forests with the kingdom of the dead.
To get rid of the goblin, if he is perceived as an evil spirit, prayer, the sign of the cross, mentioning God can help, but in cases where the goblin is perceived as an ancient deity, swearing is more effective, and you can also try to make the goblin laugh. To end a conversation with a goblin, you need to say the “back word,” that is, the one that he (or the person himself) said first, as if closing the verbal circle. Salt and fire, a circle outlined by a “magical” object, a lutoshka (a linden stick peeled from the bark), and a firebrand serve as amulets against the devil. The goblin is afraid of dogs with light spots above their eyes (since they supposedly can see evil spirits) and calico cats. You can drive away a goblin with a backhand blow. He is afraid of firearms, especially those loaded with copper button bullets.
The goblin can predict the fate of the person he meets. It was believed that on Maundy Thursday you could come to the forest, sit on an old birch tree and ask the devil who appeared about the future. The ritual of fortune telling was widespread, most often on Christmastide, at night in the forest, usually at a crossroads. Fortune tellers drew three fence circles around themselves with a magical object (poker, torch, etc.) or outlined the skin of an animal, on which they sat, placed a piece of bread and sometimes other objects next to them and asked the devil what would happen next year. The answer was various forest sounds in which people “felt” meaning. It was believed that the goblin agreed to answer only three questions. For non-compliance with the ritual, the fortuneteller could pay severely.
The goblin could freely communicate with people: come to a tavern and drink vodka, hire a person as a worker, etc. There are stories about how the goblin accepts help from a person and generously thanks him: the goblin asks to teach him how to play the accordion; the goblin asks the woodcutters to treat him to pies; the midwife helps the goblin in childbirth, the hunter frees the goblin tied up by his fellows, and he, as a sign of gratitude, becomes a soldier in his place; a woman took care of a naked child of a goblin lying in the forest, for which the goblin gave her coals that turned into coins; a man helps the devil to cope with the devils with prayers.
Leshy is the ruler of forest animals. Most of all he loves the bear, and when he drinks wine, which he is a big fan of, he certainly treats the bear too. The latter watches over the goblin when he goes to sleep intoxicated, and protects him from attacks by the merman. According to K.D. Loginovsky, collected in Transbaikalia, “for services, the goblin demands payment from people in the form of vodka treats.”
In the Russian North, the expression “the devil has stepped” is noted about something that was done poorly.
Leshy in the folk calendar
Leshy can be found at any time of the day. There is a belief that at midnight goblins come out to play, run with the first roosters to the “nearest inch” and make noise there until the second roosters, after which they disperse. Like other spirits, goblin celebrate the arrival of spring and Easter (the best gift for a goblin is an Easter egg). In the summer, goblin noisily celebrate weddings.
In the folk month "Kupala Night" on June 24 (July 7) was considered the time when all kinds of evil spirits, including the devil, become active and play pranks. And on the night under “Agatho the Ogumennik” August 22 (September 4) According to legend, goblins came out of the forest into the field, ran through villages and villages, scattered sheaves on the threshing floors and generally committed all sorts of outrages. To protect the humens, the villagers went out to the fences, armed with a poker with sheepskin coats turned inside out in their clothes, and drew a circle around the sheaves with a poker, as if closing them with a fence, so that he would not scatter them, raising a whirlwind. Also, a special “urgent day” of the goblin was considered September 14 (27)(Exaltation), the day when the leshaks drove forest animals to special places and it was dangerous to get in their way. “On Erofey,” as the peasants believed, “the goblin part with the forest.” On this day October 4 (17) the spirit falls underground (pulling it out seven spans), where it hibernates until spring, but before winter the goblin go on a rampage, “fooling around in the forests”: they wander, scream, laugh, clap their hands, break trees, drive animals into their holes and rage. Superstitious Russian men and women did not go into the forest on this day: “The goblin is not his brother: he will break all the bones no worse than a bear.” However, not all goblin disappear for the winter; in some areas winter blizzards are attributed to them.
About the disappearance of goblin
By the second half of the 20th century, people had the idea that goblins began to appear much less frequently, or even disappeared altogether. But, nevertheless, the goblin remains one of the most popular characters in epic tales to this day.
One of our correspondents innocently and frankly reported - with a guarantee for his entire area - the following: “This trash has now disappeared. Our grandfathers used to say that in those days when there were more forests and swamps with bogs, it’s better not to walk at night into the forest: this rubbish will meet you, and that’s all.”
- Maksimov S.V. Collection op. St. Petersburg, 1912. T. 18. P. 87
Now, according to foreigners, there are much fewer of them than there were before, which can be explained by the appearance of firearms, which the menkws (goblins), especially those loaded with copper bullets, are most afraid of
- Gondatti N.L. Traces of paganism among foreigners of North-Western Siberia - M., 1888. P. 34
Related characters
“A forest miracle, caught in the spring.” Drawing of a popular print from the 18th century. The goblin shows some signs of the thunder god Perun: in a storm he knocks down trees, sings and makes noise, laughs like thunder, while the little goblin run out to play. Sometimes the goblin is directly depicted as the ruler of the elements. As the patron saint of shepherds and domestic animals, the goblin has a possible connection with the “cattle god” Veles (Volos) and the Christian saints, to whom the functions of the latter were transferred in dual faith.
The goblin has a close relationship with the spirit-owner of the fields - the field one: the separation of the field goblin from the goblin is assumed in the process of people moving away from slash-and-burn agriculture (separation of the field from the forest) and re-merging with it when the mythological tradition dissolves. The image of the goblin as the patron of wolves is successively associated with the South Slavic character called the wolf shepherd, the Ukrainian fox and the Russian Yegor the Brave. The motif of tickling to death unites goblin and Russian wild men - furry creatures that live in the forest. Belarusians believed that, in addition to ordinary goblin, there are forest goblins who live in the virgin forest and destroy people who penetrate there. The above-mentioned names of the goblin fornication (Ukrainian) Russian, manilo, etc. and boletus or boletus (the old man is the owner of mushrooms, living under them and feeding on them) in some places can be considered as separate characters. The images of the “evil” goblin and the devil were mutually influenced.
The Russian image of the goblin influenced the images of the forest spirits of the Russian peoples: arzyuri among the Chuvash, vorsa among the Komi, nyulesmurt among the Udmurts, pitsen among the West Siberian Tatars, shurale among the Kazan Tatars and Bashkirs and others. Similar characters in other mythologies are Greek satyrs, Roman fauns, German forest (Waldleute, Holzleute), and moss (German) Russian. (Moosleute) people.
13.06.2016 13:16
The goblin is a famous character, references to whom are often found in Slavic mythology. Who is the goblin and what does he do?
The women's online magazine “100 Worlds” will tell you about the beliefs about this mysterious creature that have come down to our times from the folklore of our ancestors.
← Picture from the site drevnerus.ru. The author of the drawing has not been identified.
Who is the devil?
Goblin also has other names - forester, forester. As the name suggests, the goblin is a creature that lives in the forest. Thus, the goblin is the spirit that is the owner of the forest.
The owner of the forest is the patron of the entire forest kingdom. Legends about the goblin say that this spirit is a kind of king for all the inhabitants of the forest - the goblin commands the animals of the forest, and also controls the natural forces in the territory of its possessions. In addition, this forest spirit also controls other evil spirits living in the forest, who become suicides or people kidnapped by the goblin. The image of a goblin is often associated with the wind blowing through the trees - it is believed that strong gusts of wind accompany the forest king as he walks around his kingdom.
According to legends, the goblin protects his kingdom and makes sure that everything is safe in the forest. Accordingly, he can punish those who cause some harm to his forest. However, at the same time, a devil cannot be called a good spirit - he often mocks people who appear in the forest for no reason. However, the desire to mock people for fun is typical of many mythological characters - it is not without reason that nature spirits are representatives of evil spirits.
What does a goblin look like?
There is no consensus on what appearance the owner of the forest has. 
It is believed that the forester can have not only a different appearance, but also a different size - he can be either a dwarf or as tall as a tree. There are beliefs about the goblin that say that the height of the forest king depends on where he walks - if he walks between the trees, he becomes as tall as them, and if the goblin walks through the grass, he becomes no taller than the surrounding grass.
Sometimes it can be found in the form of a creature covered with branches and leaves, resembling a stump or bush. A goblin can be a dwarf or a giant; he can take on the appearance of various animals and birds that live in the forest, and also shout in different voices, including a human voice. And, of course, the spirit of the forest can also take the form of a person, turning into a gray-haired old man, a man without eyebrows or eyelashes, or even appearing in the guise of a person familiar to the forest guest. However, since the goblin is an “unclean” spirit, it usually has small horns and dark hair on its body, like a devil.
When the forest goblin approaches, the wind always rises - from the whirlwind that blows through the treetops, one can understand that the forest goblin is close. It is believed that the goblin goes in the direction of the wind, leaves no traces, and does not cast a shadow.
Illustration from the site http://paranormal.org.ru
What does a goblin do and why is it dangerous?
According to ancient legends, the goblin lives in a hut, where he does household chores, like a person. He can live either alone or in a family - legends about the goblin say that a woodsman can have a wife and children. At the same time, this representative of evil spirits loves to drink vodka and play cards, which is worth knowing about a person who is going to the forest - with these things you can appease the devil by presenting him with a gift.
As noted above, the forest king protects his forest from intruders, but he can mock or even harm a peaceful person. A goblin can appear in human form and loom before a forest visitor's eyes, causing a person to want to catch up with him - but this will not work. It’s not for nothing that they say “the devil leads.” A goblin who meets a person in his kingdom can confuse him, lead him astray, forcing him to walk in circles in the forest and confuse the roads so that the unfortunate man cannot get back out.
But this is not the worst thing he can do. 
this representative of evil spirits. Beliefs about the goblin tell us that the forest spirit destroys cattle from settlements located near the forest - it sets forest predators on the herds or lures them into the forest thicket. In addition, the goblin steals babies from people, replacing them with logs or his own children, who have an ugly appearance. It happens that the goblin even steals young women who become his wives and bear children from him.
Thus, the owner of the forest is a very dangerous creature, capable of doing both harmless weirdness and mischief, and seriously harming people.
Is it possible to appease a devil and how to behave in the forest?
It is believed that the spirit of the forest can be appeased so that it acts strangely, does not scare or lead people into the forest, and you can even negotiate with it so that it helps - for example, it shows the way out of the forest or provides assistance in hunting.
Ancient beliefs about the goblin teach us that if a person is going to the forest, then first of all he should pray in order to protect himself from the spell of the forest spirit. And when entering the forest, you should ask permission from the forest owner and tell him what exactly you are going to do on the territory of his property - permission should be asked for absolutely all actions. Otherwise, the goblin will actively prevent a person from doing what he came for - hiding the axes of those who came for firewood, disabling the guns of hunters and frightening them in every possible way.
In addition, when entering the forest, you cannot say that you are going into the forest for a short time - this may anger or amuse the forest owner, which may make him want to teach the impudent person a lesson. After all, how much time to spend in the forest is not decided by the person, but by the devil. And you shouldn’t go into the forest if you had a quarrel with someone before and someone cursed you - the goblin takes such words seriously, believing that the “cursed” people belong to him.
According to ancient superstitions, once you are in the forest, you must not make noise, shout or treat the nature of the forest carelessly - for noise and disrespect, the goblin can punish the uninvited guest. And under no circumstances should you imitate the sounds of the forest, laugh at the echo, and especially whistle - only the king is allowed to whistle in the forest. And if you hear an unfamiliar voice in the forest, then you should not answer it - it may turn out to be the cry of a devil.
If you are going to camp in the forest for the night, then keep in mind that the goblin likes to warm itself by the fire, and therefore can look at the light. And if something pisses him off, he will trample the fire and generally scatter everything in your camp. In addition, legends about the goblin warn that you should not set up camp on a path or at a crossroads of paths - at night a forest warrior or even a whole family of a goblin may pass through this place, moving with a wedding or funeral procession.
In general, if you want to appease the devil, then you should behave politely in the forest and treat everything that surrounds you with respect. And, of course, you can bring gifts to the goblin - as already mentioned, the forester is partial to alcoholic beverages.
What to do if the goblin causes harm?
If a person nevertheless happened to encounter the aggression of a forest spirit, then in this 
In this case, it is worth praying - like any other representative of evil spirits, the goblin will be afraid of the mention of God and the saints. In addition, swearing has a frightening effect on the devil - according to the legends of our ancestors, many representatives of evil spirits can be scared away precisely by obscene language. Probably, swearing is an understandable language for them, that’s why they are “unclean”.
In addition, you can make a devil laugh - then he will leave the person alone. And if you need to end a dialogue with a goblin, then you should say the word with which the dialogue began (say “back word”) - in this way, as it were, the verbal circle will close.
In addition, there is an opinion that the goblin is afraid of dogs and cats, and can also be afraid of a sharp blow and salt.
Interestingly, in case a person falls under the spell of a devil, there is an interesting method of combating the evil power of this spirit. Legends about the goblin say that if a person gets lost in the forest, he should strip naked, during which he should scream, swear and shake off his clothes by hitting a tree. Then you should get dressed, putting everything on in reverse: turn your clothes inside out, change your shoes, etc., and at the same time you should pray.
Have you presented the picture? Do not laugh! And then suddenly the goblin will be offended.
If someone you know is lost in the forest, then in this case you need to offer the devil a gift and ask him to let the person go back. And if he does not understand in an amicable way, threaten him with violence through magic and prayers. In this case, by the way, prayers also need to be used.
It is interesting to note that previously people themselves sometimes pestered the devil, since it was believed that this representative of evil spirits could help in various fortune-telling. However, given the nature of the devil, such activities are clearly very risky.
Well, dear readers of the women's online magazine “100 Worlds,” are you still not afraid to go into the forest? Fairy tales are fairy tales, but who knows what the dense thickets and dark crowns conceal within themselves, in which the wind quietly rustles, where a terrible silence hangs at night...
Anastasia Cherkasova,
Online magazine "100 worlds"
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The goblin is the owner of the forest in the mythological beliefs of the Slavic peoples. A frequent character in Russian fairy tales. Other names: forester, forester, leshak, forest uncle, lisun (polisun), wild peasant and even forest. The spirit’s place of residence is a deep forest thicket, but sometimes also a wasteland.
He treats good people well, helps them get out of the forest, but he treats not-so-good people badly: he confuses them, makes them walk in circles. He sings in a voice without words, claps his hands, whistles, hoots, laughs, cries.
A folk legend talks about the goblin as a spawn of the devil: “There was only God and the devil on earth. God created man, and the devil tried to create, but he did not create a man, but a devil, and no matter how hard he tried and worked, he still could not create a man, all the devils came out of him. God saw that the devil had already created several devils, became angry with him and ordered Archangel Gabriel to overthrow Satan and all evil spirits from heaven. Gabriel overthrew. Whoever fell into the forest became a goblin, whoever fell into the water became a water goblin, whoever fell into a house became a brownie. That's why they have different names. And they are all the same demons.”
The Belarusian version produces goblin from the “twelve pairs of children” of Adam and Eve. When God came to see the children, the parents showed him six pairs, and six others were “shown under an oak tree.” From the six pairs presented to God came people, and from the others - evil spirits, which are not inferior to them in number.
Goblins are also born from the marriage of the devil with an earthly witch, sometimes from people who have committed a serious crime or died without a cross on their neck, etc. In some regions, the goblin is considered the devil’s grandfather and is called the “devil’s grandfather.”
Often, in the ideas of the people, the goblin already has a dual character: he is either a strong, terrible spirit, or a simple folk devil, a stupid one, whom a smart man can easily deceive.
The goblin looks like a person, but his appearance is described in different ways. According to some indications, the goblin's hair is long gray-green, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows on his face, and his eyes are like two emeralds - they burn with green fire.
Victor Korolkov. Awakening of Leshy
He can appear to people in different forms, but most often he appears to people as a decrepit old man or a shaggy monster with goat legs, horns and a beard. If the goblin has clothes, then they are turned inside out, the left hem is wrapped around the right, the shoes are mixed up, and he himself is definitely not belted. Described as pointed-headed, wedge-shaped and shaggy, with hair combed to the left. This forest spirit is credited with the ability to shapeshift, so it can also appear in the form of a wild animal.
According to other sources, he is an ordinary old man, small, stooped, with a white beard. Novgorodians assured that this old man wears white clothes and a large hat, and when he sits down, he crosses his left leg over his right.
According to some northern tales, the goblin looks like a person, only his blood is dark, and not light, like that of people, which is why he is also called “blue-shaped.”
In the forest, the goblin appears as a giant, whose head reaches the tops of the trees, and in the clearings it is barely taller than the grass. “The goblin rushes through his forests like mad, quickly, barely traceable and always without a hat,” often with a huge club in his hands.
Tough, but can be killed with a gun.
Some goblins live alone, others live in families, and they build spacious houses in the forests where their wives take care of themselves and their children grow up. The home of the goblin is a log hut in a dense spruce forest far from human settlements. In some places, it is believed that goblin live in entire villages. Sometimes in large forests there live two or three goblins, who sometimes quarrel among themselves when dividing up forest dachas. Quarrels lead to fights, goblin beat each other with hundred-year-old trees, which they uproot, and hundred-year-old stones, knocked off the rocks. They throw stones and tree trunks 50 miles or more. Battles between goblin and merman are also frequent, mainly at night.
Belarusians believed that in addition to the “ordinary” goblin, there were also forest goblins - the owners of the forest, a huge virgin forest. Pushchevik - shaggy, all overgrown with moss, as tall as the tallest tree - lives in the thicket itself and destroys people who dare to penetrate there.
The goblin is the king over the forest animals. Most of all, he loves the bear, and when he drinks wine, which he is a big fan of, he certainly treats the bear too. The latter watches over the goblin when he goes to sleep intoxicated, and protects him from attacks by the merman.
The goblin, at will, drives squirrels, arctic foxes, hares, and field mice from one forest to another. According to Ukrainian belief, a polysun, or forest man, drives hungry wolves with a whip to where they can find food.
According to folk stories, goblins love a card game where the bets are squirrels and hares. So the mass migrations of these animals, for which it was difficult to find a reasonable explanation, turn out to actually be the payment of a gambling debt. Leshim also really likes to sing; he sometimes sings for a long time and at the top of his lungs, accompanying himself by clapping his hands.
The horse senses the devil earlier than the rider or driver, and may suddenly stop or rush to the side in fear. The goblin is at enmity with dogs tamed by humans, although sometimes he has his own dogs, small and colorful.
Wood goblins spend most of their time in trees; swinging and “fooling around” is their favorite pastime, which is why in some provinces they gave it the name “zybochnik” (from zybka, cradle). According to popular belief, the goblin likes to sit on old dry trees in the form of an owl, and therefore peasants are afraid to cut down such trees. The goblin also likes to hide in tree hollows. There is a saying about this: “Out of an empty hollow is either an owl, an owl, or Satan himself.”
In the folk month, the Kupala night on July 7 was considered the time when all kinds of undead, including the goblin, become active and play pranks. And on the night of Agathon the Ogumennik (September 4), according to legend, goblins came out of the forest into the field, ran through villages and hamlets, scattered sheaves on the threshing floors and generally committed all sorts of outrages. To protect the humens, the villagers went out to the fences, armed with a poker with sheepskin coats turned inside out. Also, September 27 (Exaltation) was considered a special “urgent day” for the goblin, the day when the leshaks drove forest animals to special places and it was dangerous to get in their way. On Erofey, as the peasants believed, the goblin parted with the forest. On this day (October 17), the spirit falls underground (pulling it out seven spans), where it hibernates until spring, but before wintering, the goblin go on a rampage, “fooling around in the forests”: wandering, screaming, laughing, clapping their hands, breaking trees, driving away the animals go into their holes and go wild. Superstitious Russian men and women did not go into the forest on this day: “The goblin is not his brother: he will break all the bones no worse than a bear.” However, not all goblins disappear for the winter; in some areas winter blizzards are attributed to them.
The attitude of the devil towards people is mostly hostile. He tries to confuse the traveler in the forest, intentionally moving road signs from one place to another or throwing himself over a tree that serves as a sign; sometimes he takes on the appearance of a familiar person and, starting a conversation, imperceptibly takes the traveler away from the road; sometimes he cries like a child or groans. , like a dying man, in the thicket of a forest, in order to lure a compassionate man there and tickle him to death, accompanying the action with loud laughter.
Stories about a forest owner leading a man off the road are found in the Northern Russian lives of saints of the 15th–17th centuries. In the life of Euphrosynus of Pskov, this is described as follows: “Once upon a time, Saint Euphrosynus went to a secluded monastery, which stood separate from the monastery, and met the devil, who took the form of a familiar plowman, who expressed a desire to go with him. The devil walked quickly and ran ahead all the time. All the way he kept the monk busy with conversations, telling the blessed one about the shortcomings in the house and about the misfortunes that he suffered from a certain person. The saint began to teach him about humility. The saint was carried away by the conversation and did not notice how he got lost. He could not recognize the place where he was. His companion volunteered to take him to the monastery, but led him further astray. The day was dying out, evening came. The saint knelt down and began to read “Our Father.” His guide began to quickly melt and became invisible. And the monk saw that he was in an impenetrable thicket on the steep side of a mountain above an abyss.”
People often go crazy over the jokes of the devil. According to a belief recorded in the Olonets province, every shepherd must give the devil a cow for the summer, otherwise he will become embittered and spoil the entire herd. In the Arkhangelsk province they thought that the goblin, if the shepherds managed to appease him, tended the village flock. The hunters also brought the goblin an offering in the form of a piece of bread or a pancake, which they placed on a stump.
In conspiracies pronounced for success in animal catching, there were also appeals to the goblin. Only sorcerers dare to get acquainted with the goblin. In the Novgorod province, shepherds who know the secret hire a goblin to herd the flock and protect it from animals.
The goblin's favorite saying is: “I walked, I found, I lost.” Confusing people and confusing them is a common trick of the spirit. If a goblin “goes around” a person, then the traveler will suddenly lose his way and may “get lost in three pines.” Ways to dispel the devil's confusion: the person led by him should not eat anything or carry with him a linden branch peeled from the bark; you can also put on all your clothes inside out or change your shoes - put your left shoe on your right foot and vice versa, turn the insoles over - then the traveler will be able to find the way out of the forest .
It announces its presence by “hooking”. When a person approaches, they laugh, clap their hands, and if they see a woman, they strive to drag her to them. He often steals girls to be his wives. A distinctive feature of this kind of cohabitation was that, as a rule, children were rarely born from goblin. In some areas of the Tula province they told how girls themselves ran away into the forest, and after a few years returned with a lot of money. It happens that a goblin comes up to the woodcutter's fires to warm itself, although in these cases it tends to hide its face from the fire.
Leshy is also credited with kidnapping children. Leshy lure children who have a bad life in their family with a kind attitude, so they call the goblin “good uncle.” Sometimes goblins take children with them, and the latter become wild and cease to understand human speech and cease to wear clothes. In return for the kidnapped baby, goblins sometimes put a bundle of straw or a log in the cradle, and sometimes they leave their offspring, ugly, stupid and gluttonous. Having reached the age of 11, the changeling runs away into the forest, and if he remains among people, he becomes a sorcerer.
Anyone who wants to get along with a goblin must perform a certain ritual of initiation into another world. The key turns out to be aspen, as a kind of “anti-tree” associated with the demonic and other world (an aspen stake driven into the grave of a witch or a “wandering” dead person, as well as legends that Judas hanged himself on a “bitter tree” of aspen, which is why she time trembles). So, two aspen trees were required, not cut down with an ax and not broken by hand. Therefore, anyone who wants to get along with a goblin must go into the forest, cut down a pine tree with a blunt ax (a dull ax designed for chopping wood, cutting ice or bones), but so that when it falls, it drops at least two small aspen trees. You should stand on these aspen trees, turning your face to the north, and say: “Giant forester, a slave (name) has come to you with a bow: make friends with him. If you want, then go as you please, and if you want, whatever you want.”
The goblin, like the brownie, can also be seen sitting under three arranged harrows; they consist of many crosses, therefore the unclean one cannot do anything to the observer. The Arkhangelsk spell to summon a goblin is also similar to the spell of a brownie: “Uncle goblin, show yourself not to be a gray wolf, not a black raven, not a fire spruce, show yourself as I am.”
In the Totemsky district of the Vologda province, as T. A. Novichkova writes, “against the leprosy of goblin they wrote petitions to the chief forest owner on huge sheets of birch bark with charcoal, they were nailed to the trees and they did not dare touch or look at them. Such petitions were written by those whom the goblin had bypassed and led into an impenetrable thicket, or who had lost a horse or cow in the forest.”
An example of one such “petition” addressed to three kings and written on birch bark has reached us. These kinds of texts were written from right to left (usually only the beginning, and the rest was finished) in three copies, one was tied to a tree in the forest, the other was buried in the ground, and the third was thrown into the water with a stone. The contents of the letter are as follows.
“I am writing to the king of the forest, to the queen of the forest, with small children, to the king of the earth and to the queen of the earth, with small children, to the king of the water and to the queen of the water, with small children. I inform you that the servant of God (such and such) has lost a brown (or some kind of) horse (or cow, or other livestock, indicate with signs). If you have it, then send it without delaying an hour, not a single minute, not a single second. And if, in my opinion, you don’t do it, I will pray for you to the Holy Great Martyr of God Yegor and Queen Alexandra.”
After this, the missing cattle must come to the owner’s yard.