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Slavic horror stories. Magical creatures and gods in Slavic mythology Ancient Slavic creature mythology

"Slavic monsters"- Agree, it sounds crazy. , goblin, water - 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, we often remember zombies or dragons, although in our mythology there are such ancient creatures, 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 Russia. 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.

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 common Slavic fairy-tale "menagerie" - in different places they spoke 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 the ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keikos, having learned about the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her 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. In the 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 of 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. Its exact 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 Russia.

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.

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, an evil spirit, a powerful wizard, or a unique kind of undead.

It is indisputable that Koschey owned very strong magic, shunned people and often did the 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).

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, 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", 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 the lower spirits of nature (for example, good "shorelines"), 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.

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.

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).

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 is very different from the Slavic bestiary from the more "mundane" collections of monsters from other cultures.
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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. Do not 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.

Mermaids, goblin, mermen - they are all familiar to us from childhood and make us remember fairy tales.
When it comes to magical monsters, we often think of zombies or dragons, although there are such ancient creatures in our mythology, in comparison with which monsters can seem like small dirty tricks.
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 common Slavic fairy-tale "menagerie" - in different places they spoke about completely different creatures. The Slavs did not have sea or mountain monsters, but forest and river evil spirits were abundant.
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

Alkonost - In Byzantine and Russian medieval legends, a wonderful bird living in Iria - a Slavic paradise.
According to the ancient Greek myth, Alcyone, the wife of the Thessalian king Keikos, having learned about the death of her husband, threw herself into the sea and was turned into a bird, named after her alcyone (kingfisher). The word “Alkonost” entered the Russian language as a result of a distortion of the old saying “Alcyone is a bird”.
Bird Alkonost. Splint

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.
In the Orthodox tradition, Alkonost is considered a divine messenger - she lives in heaven and descends to convey the highest will to people.

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).
Baba Yaga, bone leg. Witch, Ogre, and First Woman Pilot

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 bewitched - you can enter it only by saying: “Hut, hut, turn to me in front, and back to the forest.”
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 eager for supplies and from large predators.

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).
Baths were in Rome and in Turkey. But the bannik is only among the Slavs

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 CHELIK (man of steel)

Auka in Slavic legends and beliefs is a forest spirit that never sleeps and is always willing to play a trick on a passer-by or a misguided mushroom picker.
At first glance, the auk looks quite harmless: it is a small forest creature of small size with a round, bulging abdomen. Auka's favorite pastime has always been jokes and practical jokes - in winter he fools a person lost in the forest, responds with a hawk from several sides at once and can imperceptibly lure him into a real wilderness, from where it will be very difficult to get out.

In order not to get into such a situation, you should listen carefully and distinguish a familiar person from the forest evil spirits by voice.
However, despite this characteristic, Auka is very good-natured. If you re-read the old Russian legends, this is easy to see. In the hut of the forest spirit, which is usually located in a dense thicket, it is warm even in the most severe frost. Auka not only leads people off the road (he confuses the tracks and takes a person far away from the road) - he loves to joke, joke, but can often scare.

ghouls

Vurdalak- (Vrykolak, Vurkolak and Vukod lak) (Russia, Bohemia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro) - a dead vampire, a werewolf in Slavic mythology, a werewolf man with a supernatural ability to turn into wild animals, often hunting for blood sucking from his victims as a vampire .

"Ghoul"

Poor Vanya was a coward:
Since he is late at times,
Covered in sweat, pale with fear,
Walked home through the cemetery

Poor Vanya is barely breathing,
Stumbling, wandering a little
over the graves; suddenly he hears
Someone's bone, grumbling, gnaws

Vanya became; - can't move.
"God!" - the poor man thinks, -
That's right, it gnaws at the bones
Red-lipped ghoul.

Woe! small I am not strong;
The ghoul will eat me completely,
If the earth itself is a grave
I won't eat with prayer."

What? Instead of a ghoul -
(Imagine Vanya's anger!)
In the darkness before him is a dog
A bone gnaws at the grave.

A.S. Pushkin

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. If people established normal relations with him, fed him (left a saucer of 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 farm, warned of danger
Brownie. In the houses they were rarely called "brownies", preferring the affectionate "grandfather"

The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He was presented as a little old man, similar in face to the head of the family. By his liking, he is an eternal troublemaker, grouchy, but caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with Domovoi, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped keep the house in order and warned of impending misfortune. Moving from house to house, Domovoy was always invited to move with his family with the help of a conspiracy.

FIREBIRD

An image familiar to us from childhood, a beautiful bird with bright, dazzling fiery feathers (“like a fire 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 Russia.
Firebird - a symbol of fire and fulfillment of desires

KIKIMORA (shishimora, mara)

Kikimora swamp - in Slavic mythology - Evil, swamp spirit. A close friend of the goblin. Lives in a swamp. He likes to dress up in moss furs and weave forest and marsh plants into his hair. But she rarely shows herself to people, because she prefers to be invisible and only screams from the swamp in a loud voice. A little woman steals little children, drags careless travelers into a quagmire, where she can torture them to death.

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.
Old kikimora. In everyday life - an ugly, evil woman

Kikimora in the house portend trouble); hostile to men.
Here is a small conspiracy: from Kikimora
Harness the firewood at exactly noon, but don’t look at what’s happening. Bring firewood to the hallway, spread a fur coat on them with fur up. Take an old broom and sweep the hut with it, on the ceiling, under the roof and say up to 3 times: “Honest house, holy corners! night, at any hour, at any time, for endless years, from now to eternity.
Throw a handful of earth three times over the shoulder at the entrance to the firewood, and spit three times; after that, bring firewood, and a fur coat into the forest.

KASHCHEI IMMORTAL (Kashchey)

Immortality, and far from absolute, was Koshchei's "brand" feature. 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).

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.
Famously - in the traditions and legends of the Eastern Slavs, this creature symbolizes an evil fate.
Likha's appearance is frightening - most often it is a thin, crooked, one-eyed woman of great stature or a one-eyed giant.
Lives in a large hut that stands in a dense and dark forest. Often also settles in an old abandoned mill. Instead of a bed, he has a large pile of human bones: according to some reports, this creature does not disdain cannibalism and is able to devour any living creature that comes under its arm.

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.

Some beliefs called mermaids the lower spirits of nature (for example, good “shores”), which have nothing to do with drowned people and willingly save drowning people.
The “tree mermaids” living in the branches of trees also differed. 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.

DREKAVAK (drekavats)

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.
Sirin bird on a grape tree. Drawing on a chest, 1710

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.
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 is very different from the Slavic bestiary from the more “mundane” collections of monsters from other cultures.
Among the Slavic "monsters" there are very few monsters as such. The ancestors of the Slavs 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.

In the culture of each nation, there are their own legends that explain the emergence of life and the creation of the world. Slavic mythology is a unique phenomenon. Despite the fact that no written evidence of its existence has survived to this day, we still believe in ancient folk superstitions and adhere to many rituals that were invented in pagan times. Slavic mythology, creatures and gods, evil monsters, good fairies and insidious spirits take us to an amazing, bright and fantastic world.

Roots of Slavic mythology

The ancient Slavs had a clear idea of the structure of the divine world. The center of life was a magical island - Buyan, whose name can often be found in folk tales. The endless ocean foams around him. A mighty oak grows in the center of the magical land. A wise raven lives on its branches, and an insidious serpent lives in thick grass. A life-giving stream flows nearby and there is a sacred stone.

Once the Universe was divided into 2 worlds: the earthly one, where mortal people live, and the heavenly one, invisible to the human eye, whose inhabitants are the almighty gods, their helpers and enemies - magical spirits.

In Slavic mythology, several categories of magical creatures can be distinguished:

the highest deities endowed with great power and controlling life on earth;
warrior gods - protecting the world and people from dark forces;
divine forces that command the natural elements and are responsible for certain crafts;
spirits - malicious and good creatures living in a certain place (forest, water, earth, house);
magical creatures are magical animals, helpers of the gods;
mythological characters - inhabitants of the magical world.

In the old days, Russians believed that the gods watch how a person lives, help or punish him. The fate of any living being was in the hands of the celestials. The mythical Thunderers, who control the elements (fire, water, air, earth) and natural phenomena (rain, drought, hurricane), were revered especially strongly. These gods were prayed to grow crops, feed the family and not die of hunger.

In ancient Russia, people brought sacrifices to the gods as a gift, hoping for protection from evil forces.

Mythical spirits were feared and respected. According to popular beliefs, the happiness of a person depended on them. They had their own magical powers and were able to get rid of diseases, give a rich and happy life. If the spirits were angry, they could severely punish fools who dared to challenge them.

Russian people attributed human character traits to spirits: mercy, deceit, kindness, cunning.

To this day, not a single written evidence has survived that would contain texts and images of the heroes of Slavic myths. The only source in which there are legends associated with pagan beliefs is Old Russian literature.

Even after the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus and the prohibition of the pagan pantheon of gods, the Slavs retained and transferred their views to the new faith, thanks to which many saints who began to pray in churches borrowed character traits from their predecessors. For example, the old Slavic Perun began to bear the name of St. Elijah, the god of the sun and spring Yarilo - George, and the wisest god Veles turned into a revered church Saint Blaise.

Divine pantheon among the Slavs

Rod was considered the main ancient deity among the Slavs - the ruler of heaven and earth, who gave people life. From the name of God came the word "genus", uniting such concepts as family, people and homeland. This deity was revered by many ancient peoples. People believed that he sits on a cloud and throws thunderstorms to the ground - this is how a new life is born.

Ancient Russian legends have preserved legends about bright deities (Yasuns) living high in the sky, and dark magicians (Dasuns) inhabiting the lower world. The pantheon in the mythical beliefs of the Slavs is represented by deities related to the main luminary, and the so-called functional gods.

How many seasons, so many guises of the sun god. In turn, 4 deities changed their power over the world. Kolyada reigned in winter, Yarilo came in spring, Dazhbog ruled the world in summer, and in autumn a period began during which Svarog became the main one. The day when the gods succeeded each other depended on the position of the sun in the sky. Ancient people carefully tracked the movement of space bodies.

The gods responsible for various natural elements and patrons of crafts included Tara, Volokh, Chislobog, Indra, Radogost, Ruevit, and others.

Perun is the mighty leader of all gods. The Thunderer moved on a golden chariot, armed with fiery arrows and an axe. If he was angry and angry, clouds would gather in the sky and thunder would be heard. Perun was a wise leader of the divine army. He brought light to the earth, protecting people from evil forces and misfortunes.
Veles is an evil deity who rules over the earth and water elements. Ancient people believed that he wanted to seize power over the world, therefore he was at enmity with the Thunderer Perun, who protects people from evil spells. Veles fought his dark side all the time, patronized people involved in art, supported talents, protected wanderers. He possessed great inner strength and wisdom, was one of the most powerful gods. Despite the fact that Veles was considered not very good, many revered him. As a sign of respect, people built temples where they worshiped this god.
Mara is the mistress of death. This goddess was considered the most just. They turned to her for help in witchcraft and divination, the souls of dead people obey the goddess. Although the Slavs were afraid of this goddess, they represented her in the form of a young and beautiful girl. The tall, stately, black-haired queen of the underworld was the epitome of restraint and coldness. The Slavs believed that Mara comes to the world of people in winter, when snow falls on her, and ice binds human hearts. With the advent of spring, it was customary for the Slavs to burn an effigy of Mary. Today, these traditions are embodied in another holiday - Maslyanitsa. The main symbol of the goddess is a frozen running water stream, which embodied the energy sleeping in every living being.
Yarilo - the name of this deity was associated among people with awakening after a long stagnation, he embodied a beautiful, life-affirming spring. The Sun God illuminated the world, exuding unprecedented strength and vitality. By his nature, Yarilo was a sincere, joyful and active deity, so he was portrayed as a young man with blue eyes and blond hair. The reckless god of the Sun embodied the image of youth, which is characterized by fleeting hobbies and love.
Stribog - was considered one of the main divine beings. He controlled the air elements. In his submission were ethers - incorporeal spirits, as well as birds - faithful magical assistants. God descended to earth in the form of a Stratim bird. The Slavs represented Stribog as a gray-haired man who possesses inner strength and unprecedented physical strength. Stribog was armed with a golden bow. You could recognize him by the sky-colored clothes. Plowmen and sailors especially respected the god of the wind.
Lada is the mistress of love. This goddess was the embodiment of beauty, joy and happiness. She protected comfort in every family. Another goddess, Makosh, was considered the mistress of the house. Lada is a symbol of a girl preparing for marriage, blossoming for love. The goddess was young, beautiful and cheerful, and it is easy to recognize her among others by her long green hair. Faithful companions of Lada are butterflies of amazing beauty.

In Slavic myths, gods, like people, know how to love, hate and be friends. In many legends, good opposes evil, and solar forces do not allow darkness to devour the world.

Mythical creatures

In Slavic mythology, many creatures are not only helpers of the gods, but they themselves have magical abilities. People were afraid of evil monsters and believed in the kindness of spirits.

Bestiary - a collection of ancient beliefs that has come down to our days, describes mythical creatures in the form of intelligent animals. Some human imagination awarded various virtues - loyalty, courage and courage, others - pettiness, malignancy and envy.

The giant serpent Aspid - this creature was at the head of the dark army. Aspid looked intimidating - a huge flying monster, with a beak and two long trunks. His wings were on fire. The beast dwells in the sky alone, as no one can bear a creature with such a black heart. He is invulnerable, he cannot be defeated even by the most powerful weapons. Aspid was capable of insidious deeds, he was eaten by inner anger, which pushed him to crime.
The Gamayun bird is the singer of divine news. The Slavs loved this creature very much. Only a select few could see it. The magic bird had a good disposition, acting honestly and fairly towards people. Gamayun is a very smart creature who knows the answers to all questions, deep secrets and knowledge are open to him. The bird acted as a wise adviser, the main thing was to ask the right question. A magical creature lives on Buyan Island. The ancient Slavs believed that Gamayun is an animal with the head of a beautiful girl and a bird's body.
Yusha is a snake that carries the planet. Although this creature was of an intimidating gigantic size, it had a kind disposition. Yusha has much in common with the Scandinavian Jermungand. Our ancestors believed that the serpent was wrapped around the planet and did not allow it to fall into the abyss. As long as the creature holds the earth, stability and tranquility reign in the world. According to beliefs, if a mythical creature in a dream tossed or sighed, earthquakes occurred.
Ghoul - this is how the Slavs generally called the malicious creatures that frightened them. Once they were people who strayed from the righteous path and stepped onto the dark side. After death, they turned into monsters capable of harming a person. It's not easy to fight a ghoul. This will require not hefty strength, agility and magical weapons made of silver. According to another version, ghouls are dead people who have not found rest and are not properly buried. To protect themselves from these evil creatures, our ancestors wore a red woolen thread. They used fire and magic spells. Ghouls are alien to feelings of compassion and pity. They killed people by drinking their blood.
The fiery falcon Rarog is a magical creature depicted on the coat of arms of the Slavs. This bird was not chosen by chance. Falcons never attack their enemies from behind and never harm an opponent they have defeated. In Slavic mythology, Rarog is a divine messenger. He was the first to learn important news and bring them to the world of people. This amazing bird helped to communicate with each other and with divine beings.
Giant Gorynya - this mythical creature helped create the world. He stands guard over the underworld, carefully watching so that not a single evil spirit breaks free. The name of this creature embodied an allegory - as huge as a mountain. The Slavs believed that power without the mind is worthless and brings only misfortune and destruction. In the myths Gorynya, responsibly approaching the task entrusted to him, saves the world from chaos.

The world of spirits among the Slavs

According to the ancient Slavs, fields, forests, water and air were inhabited by various spirits.

They embodied various fears and information about the world around them.

Kikimora. Evil spirit in the mythology of the Slavs. The souls of dead people became kikimors, they did not want to leave this world, so they settled in human housing, scared and did nasty things. Evil spirits lived in the basement. They loved to make noise and scare the owners of the house. Kikimora could attack a person in a dream, from which he began to choke. To protect themselves from the evil spirit, the ancient Slavs read magic spells and prayers.
Goblin. Our ancestors were afraid of the goblin and treated him with apprehension, expecting meanness. The spirit of the forest has never attacked people for fun and offended them. He made sure that wanderers did not violate the rules of forest life. To teach the violator a lesson, the goblin lured him into an impenetrable thicket, from where he was not able to get out on his own. The traveler could ask for help from the forest spirit. They portrayed the spirit in the form of a little old man, overgrown with herbs and moss. Goblin possessed magical abilities and easily reincarnated as forest creatures. Birds and animals were his faithful companions. Before going to the forest to hunt, the Slavs cajoled the goblin, leaving gifts for him.
Water. The ruler of the reservoirs likes to dive deeper into the pool. This spirit lives in bad water. In beliefs, the merman is described as a shaggy and bearded old man with green hair and a large tummy. All of it is smeared with mud. The lord of the river waters is hostile towards people, so he arranged all sorts of dirty tricks for them. To appease the spirit, it was necessary to sing beautifully on the shore of the reservoir.
Mermaids. Spirits of drowned girls. With their beautiful appearance and charming voice, they lured travelers deep into the river waters. Slavic mermaids differ from similar mythical creatures invented by other nations. They are young and beautiful, outwardly similar to the most ordinary girls (without a fish tail). On a moonlit night, they like to frolic on the shore, seducing wanderers.
Brownie. A spirit invisible to the human eye that lives in people's homes. He protects the family from troubles and misfortunes, helps to manage the household. The brownie's favorite place is behind the stove. The ancient Slavs revered and respected this spirit, and were also afraid: if he was angry, he could do harm. It was customary to cajole a brownie with delicious gifts and bright objects. When moving to a new home, the spirit must be taken with them.
Babai. Spirit that appears at night. This is a malevolent creature that lives in dense thickets near rivers and lakes. At night, the babai gets out and sneaks up to people's homes. At the door, he makes noise, groans, screams and scares small children who are mischievous and do not want to sleep. Babai can kidnap a child.

Conclusion

Orally transmitted Slavic myths have survived to this day. They tell about an amazing and magical world inhabited by omnipotent deities, fabulous creatures and capricious spirits. Ancient legends are an inexhaustible source of folk rituals and beliefs, pagan ideas about the structure of the world, magical symbols. Slavic mythology does not lose its popularity. Many people today worship the ancient gods.

Slavic mythical creatures

Almost the only section of Slavic mythology that is easily accessible for study is demonology - a set of ideas about lower mythological creatures. Folklorists and ethnographers draw information about them from a variety of sources, primarily from their own field records of conversations with carriers of traditional culture and works of a special folklore genre - short stories dedicated to encounters with evil spirits that happened to the narrator himself or to someone else (in the first case they are called blades of grass, in the second, when talking about a third person, they were called blades).

It cannot be denied that the Slavs at the end of the pagan period, like other Indo-European peoples, rose from the lowest stage of demonology, associated with magic, to the highest forms of religion. However, we know very little about this. The world of spirits and magic underlay the religious worldview of the Slavs from ancient times to the end of the pagan period.

Julius Klever. Thaw

Having adopted Christianity mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries, and in some places even later, the Slavs, of course, did not immediately become “good Christians”. The ancient pagan beliefs were held on for a long time and stubbornly, so that the church everywhere was forced to fight both with them, and in general with what was called "dual faith" in Russia. From these sources we can best know what paganism was like, its rites and cults.

Heinrich Semiradsky. The funeral of a noble Rus

Slavic folklore is also of exceptional importance for restoring the picture of the ancient pagan religion. The folklore material is supplemented by the sources mentioned above so weightily that we can attribute a significant part of modern Slavic demonology to the pagan period and supplement it with ancient sources. We know that even now popular beliefs remain the same as they were a thousand years ago, and recognizing their general ancient character, we have the right to consider individual phenomena that accidentally did not find confirmation in ancient sources as ancient, pagan.

The Slavs inspired the forces of nature around them. All this, be it trees, springs or mountains, they honored not because they were objects of dead nature, but because they spiritualized them. The Slavs put into them ideas about living beings - spirits, which they revered and which, therefore, in cases of need, they asked for help, they thanked them and at the same time were afraid, trying to avert their influence from themselves.

Most of these demons belong to the category of the souls of deceased ancestors, but along with them there are a number of other demons that cannot be attributed to this category. These, in particular, include beings that personify celestial bodies and natural phenomena, such as thunder and lightning, wind, rain and fire.

The main and most numerous group of Slavic demons in their origin is, undoubtedly, the souls of ancestors, who over time were transferred from the immediate environment of a person to other places intended for them and endowed with certain functions.

We know that the Slavs believed in the afterlife of the soul, not only by analogy with other peoples, but also directly from a number of testimonies from ancient sources and many remnants associated with ancient beliefs that have survived to this day. The whole complex funeral rite speaks in favor of this. This is the sacrifice of women, young men, horses and dogs, the custom of putting food in the grave, feast, as well as a number of ancient beliefs that have survived to the present about the departure of the soul from home and returning it back (vampirism), about the participation of the soul in feasts and drinking parties in honor of dead ancestors, about preparing a bath for the ancestors, etc.

The belief in the afterlife is also evidenced by the ancient Slavic ideas about Navi and paradise. Nav means the deceased and the residence of the dead, as well as paradise, the idea of \u200b\u200bwhich, as the dwelling place of the soul of the dead, in all likelihood, existed already in the pagan period.

From this belief in the afterlife arose among the Slavs and the belief in the afterlife of the ancestors and their reverence associated with this.

Masudi says about the Slavs that they burn their dead and worship them, and in Russia in the 11th-12th centuries, ideas about the spirits of ancestors living in dwellings (khoromozhitel) were witnessed, where even a bath was prepared for them and a fire was made so that they could warm themselves.

In Russia, there are also evidence of swindlers, coastlines, ghouls and ghouls, brownies, devils, etc. All this is supplemented by a large amount of later data from Slavic folklore from the 14th century to the 20th century about many small domestic and widespread demon spirits, numerous names and the existence of which since ancient times, although not always attested, but which we can still safely admit, since they are always only an expression of the pre-Christian, pagan cult of the souls of dead ancestors.

Among these small demonic spirits, which lived either in a house near the hearth or under the threshold, or in the forest, in water or in grain, in ancient times, there undoubtedly existed a grandfather and a woman, and besides them, divas, a horomulator, were also directly attested. brownie, goblin, pestilence, ghoul, ghoul, sinister, dragon, noon, imp, as well as a house snake, called in Russia and Poland wretched.

Most often, already from the 11th century, coastlines with a twist appear, and then mermaids and pitchforks. Along with pitchforks, there are a number of similar creatures in nature: all kinds of “wild men” and “wild women” living in forests, along roads, in grain, in water, wind, flame, appearing at certain times of the day (for example, at noon or in the evening) and bearing various names accordingly.

It is difficult to say to what extent all of them are direct personifications of the souls of dead ancestors or the personification of the forces of nature. The creatures that personified atmospheric phenomena among the ancient Slavs: the sun, the moon, the stars, as well as the wind, lightning and thunder, can rather be considered a direct personification of the forces that they contained and affected a person.

Nikolai Pimonenko. Ford. Fragment

The veneration of animals was also widespread, but there is very little news about this. We only know that many beliefs were associated with a rooster and a hen (and these beliefs have largely retained their magical functions to this day) and that among the Baltic Slavs, horses were dedicated to the main gods Svyatovit in Arkona and Svarozhich in Retra, which accompanied the oracle.

One can only guess about the veneration of the bull as a symbol of fertile power.

There is no reliable news about totemism among the Slavs, that is, about the veneration by the Slavs of certain animals as a totem. It is interesting, however, that several ancient Slavic tribes had names derived from the names of animals, and that in many places the ancestor of the clan was revered in the form of a snake that lived under the threshold of a dwelling or under a hearth.

Alkonost

Alkonost is a bird of paradise with a maiden's head in Russian art and legends. Often mentioned and depicted along with Sirin, another bird of paradise.

The image of Alkonost goes back to the Greek myth about the girl Alcyone, who was turned by the gods into a kingfisher. Its name and image, which first appeared in translated monuments, are the result of a misunderstanding: probably, when rewriting the "Shestodnev" of John of Bulgaria, which refers to the kingfisher - Alcyone, the words of the Slavic text "Alcyone is a bird of the sea" turned into "alkonost".

Ivan Bilibin. Alkonost

The earliest depiction of Alkonost is found in a book miniature of the 12th century. Legends tell that Alkonost lays eggs in the depths of the sea in the middle of winter. In this case, the eggs lie in the depth for 7 days, and then float to the surface. During this time, the sea is calm. Alkonost then takes the eggs and hatches them on the shore. A crown is usually depicted on the head of Alkonost.

In Russian lubok paintings, Alkonost is depicted with a female breast and hands, in one of which she holds a paradise flower or an unfolded scroll with a saying about retribution in paradise for a righteous life on earth.

Alkonost

The singing of Alkonost is so beautiful that the one who hears it forgets about everything in the world. There is a caption under one of the popular prints with her image: “Alkonost stays near paradise, sometimes it happens on the Euphrates River. When in singing he emits a voice, then he does not feel himself. And whoever is close then will forget everything in the world: then the mind departs from him, and the soul leaves the body.

The legend about the Alkonost bird echoes the legend about the Sirin bird.

The Euphrates River is sometimes called the Alkonost's habitat, sometimes the Buyan Island, sometimes just the Slavic paradise - Iriy.

Anchutka - in East Slavic mythology, an evil spirit, one of the most ancient names for a demon, the Russian version of an imp. According to the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language by V.I. Dahl, anchutkas are imps.

Anchutka appears to be without fingers or fingers, which usually characterizes evil spirits. There is a tale that the footless anchutka is because "once a wolf chased him and bit off his heel."

Anchutkas are bath and field. According to legend, they, like any evil spirits, instantly respond to the mention of their name. Therefore, it is believed that it is better to keep quiet about them, "not that this fingerless, fingerless one will be right there."

Nikolai Nevrev. Spinner

According to the legend, bathing anchuts are "shaggy, bald, frighten people with moans, darken their minds, and are good at changing their appearance." Field - "sprouts are very tiny and more peaceful." It is believed that they live in every plant and are called according to their habitat: potato, hemp, flax, oatmeal, wheat, horns, etc.

It is also believed that the water also has its own anchutka - an assistant to the water or swamp. The legend endows him with an unusually ferocious disposition, in addition, he also seems to be nasty.

According to the legend, if a swimmer suddenly has a cramp, he should know that this is a water anchutka grabbed his leg and wants to drag him to the bottom. That is why, since ancient times, "every swimmer is advised to have a safety pin with him: after all, evil spirits are afraid of iron to death."

A. M. Remizov wrote: “Every bath has its own baennik. If you don't get along, he screams like a peacock. The baennik has children - bathing anchuts: they themselves are small, black, hairy, hedgehog legs, and their head is naked, like a Tatar, and they marry kikimors, and the same pranks themselves that your kikimors. Soul, a fearless girl, went to the bath at night. “I,” he says, “I’ll sew a shirt in the bathhouse overnight and turn back.” In the bathhouse she put coals on a trough, otherwise she couldn't see the sewing. Hastily sweeps away his shirt, from the lights she can see. By midnight, close anchutki and left. Looks. And they are small, black, at the trough of coal - u! - inflate. And they run and they run. And the Soul sews for itself, it is not afraid of anything. Be afraid! They ran and ran, they surrounded her and carnations in her hem and well, hammered. Carnation will drive in: “So. You won’t leave!” Another one will knock: “So. You won’t leave!” - “Ours,” they whisper to her, “Our soul, you won’t leave!” And Soul sees that she really can’t leave, she can’t get up now, the whole hem is nailed to the floor, but the girl is quick-witted, she started a small shirt from herself pull down with a sundress. And as soon as she let it all down, she got out of the bathhouse with an embroidered shirt, and right there at the threshold she collapsed into the snow. Needless to say, they love to play tricks on the anchutka, and it’s always a pleasure to play along with the girl. They gave the soul in marriage. They heated a bathhouse for a bachelorette party, and the girls and the bride went to wash, and the anchutkas are their own concern, they are right there, and well, enrage the girls. The girls from the bathhouse, naked, into the garden, and poured out onto the road and let's get mad: the one who dances and sings what is in her voice, who knows what, who ride each other on horseback, and squeal, and giggle like a Merinya. Barely calmed down. I had to solder fresh milk with honey. They thought that the girls had eaten henbane, looked - they were not found anywhere. And it is they, these yagat anchutes, tickled the mustaches of the girls!

Auka is a forest spirit, akin to the goblin. Just like the goblin, he loves to play pranks and joke, lead people through the forest. If you shout in the forest, it will come around from all sides. You can, however, get out of trouble by saying the favorite saying of all the goblin: "Walked, found, lost."

But once a year, all methods of dealing with forest spirits turn out to be useless - on October 4, when the goblin rages.

“Auku, tea, you know? Auka lives in a hut, and his hut is with golden moss, and his water is all year round from spring ice, his pomelo is a bear’s paw, smoke comes out of the chimney briskly, and Auka is warm in frosts ... Auka is intricate: he knows a lot of tricky tricks , joker, build a monkey, turn over with a wheel and want to scare, the Indian is scary. Yes, he is Auk, to scare.

Baba is the progenitor. Initially, a positive deity of the Slavic pantheon, the guardian (if necessary, militant) of the family and traditions. During the period of Christianity, all pagan gods, including those who protected people (shores), were given evil, demonic features, ugliness in appearance and character. Baba Yaga, mermaids, goblin, etc., did not escape this.

Baba Yaga is an old sorceress, endowed with magical powers, a witch, a werewolf. By its properties, it is closest to a witch. Most often - a negative character.

Baba Yaga has several stable attributes: she knows how to conjure, fly in a mortar, lives in the forest, in a hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a fence of human bones with skulls.

She lures good fellows and small children to her and roasts them in the oven. She pursues her victims in a mortar, chasing it with a pestle and sweeping the trail with a broom (broom).

There are three types of Baba Yaga: the giver (she gives the hero a fairy-tale horse or a magical object), the kidnapper of children, the warrior Baba Yaga, fighting with whom “not for life, but for death”, the hero of the fairy tale passes to a different level of maturity.

The image of Baba Yaga is associated with legends about the hero's transition to the other world (Far Far Away). In these legends, Baba Yaga, standing on the border of the worlds (bone leg), serves as a guide that allows the hero to penetrate into the world of the dead, thanks to the performance of certain rituals.

Viktor Vasnetsov. Baba Yaga

Thanks to the texts of fairy tales, it is possible to reconstruct the ritual, sacred meaning of the actions of the hero who comes to Baba Yaga. In particular, V. Ya. Propp, who studied the image of Baba Yaga on the basis of a mass of ethnographic and mythological material, draws attention to a very important detail. After recognizing the hero by smell (Yaga is blind) and finding out his needs, she always heats the bathhouse and evaporates the hero, thus performing a ritual bath. Then he feeds the visitor, which is also a ritual, “mortuary”, treat, which is not permissible for the living, so that they do not accidentally enter the world of the dead. This food "opens the mouth of the dead." And, although the hero does not seem to have died, he will be forced to temporarily “die for the living” in order to get into the “thirtieth kingdom” (another world). There, in the “thirtieth kingdom” (the afterlife), where the hero is on his way, many dangers always await him, which he has to foresee and overcome.

Ivan Bilibin. Baba Yaga

M. Zabylin writes: “Under this name, the Slavs revered the infernal goddess, depicted as a monster in an iron mortar, having an iron staff. They made a bloody sacrifice to her, thinking that she was feeding her two granddaughters, who were attributed to her, and enjoying the shedding of blood. Under the influence of Christianity, the people forgot their main gods, remembering only minor ones, and especially those myths that have personified phenomena and forces of nature, or symbols of everyday needs. Thus, Baba Yaga turned from an evil hellish goddess into an evil old witch, sometimes a cannibal, who always lives somewhere in the forest, alone, in a hut on chicken legs.<…>In general, there are traces of Baba Yaga only in folk tales, and her myth merges with the myth of witches.

Babai (babayka) is a night spirit.

Among the ancient Slavs, when the time for a night's sleep comes, a babai from the garden or from the coastal thickets comes under the windows and guards. He will hear whims and children's crying - it makes noise, rustles, scratches, knocks on the window.

The name "babai" apparently comes from the Turkic "baba", babai - old man, grandfather.

This word (perhaps also as a reminder of the Tatar-Mongol yoke) denotes something mysterious, not quite definite in appearance, undesirable and dangerous.

In the beliefs of the northern regions of Russia, the babai is a terrible, lopsided old man. He roams the streets with a stick. Meeting him is dangerous, especially for children.

A similar character is present in ancient Egyptian mythology: Babai is a demon of darkness.

Bagan is the patron spirit of cattle, protecting it from painful seizures and multiplying offspring, and in case of his anger, Bagan makes females barren or kills lambs and calves at their very birth.

Belarusians separate a special place for him in cow and sheep stables and arrange a small manger filled with hay: this is where the bagan settles.

They feed the calving cow with hay from his manger as a healing medicine.

Sergei Vinogradov. Autumn

Baechnik (perebaechnik) - an evil domestic spirit. A baechnik appears after scary stories told at night about all kinds of evil spirits.

He walks barefoot so that it is not audible how he stands over a person with his arms outstretched above his head (he wants to know if he is scared or not). He will move his hands until the story is told in a dream, and the person wakes up in a cold sweat. If at this time you light a torch, then you can see the fleeing shadows, this is he, the baechnik. Unlike a brownie, it’s better not to talk to a baechnik, otherwise you can get dangerously ill.

There are usually four or five in a house. The most terrible is the mustachioed bastard, his mustache replaces his hands.

You can protect yourself from the interloper with an old spell, but, unfortunately, it has long been forgotten.

Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bath, according to the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, frightening people and demanding sacrifices that he must leave in the bath after washing. Often a bannik is represented as a small but very strong old man with a shaggy body.

Ivan Bilibin. Bannik

In other places, the bannik was represented as a huge black peasant, always barefoot, with iron hands, long hair and fiery eyes. He lives in a bathhouse behind a stove or under a shelf. However, some beliefs draw a banner in the form of a dog, cat, white bunny and even a horse's head.

Bannik's favorite pastime is to burn people with boiling water, throw stones in the stove, and also knock on the wall, frightening the steamers.

Victor Korolkov. baennik

Bannik is an evil spirit, he is very dangerous, especially for those who violate the rules of behavior in the bath. It doesn’t cost him anything to steam a person to death, flay a living person, crush him, strangle him, drag him under a hot stove, push him into a barrel from under the water, and prevent him from leaving the bathhouse. There are some pretty scary stories about it.

“It was in a village. The woman went to the bath alone. Well, then from there - once - and runs out naked. Runs out covered in blood. She ran home, her father: what, they say, happened? She can't say a word. While she was being soldered with water ... her father ran into the bathhouse. Well, they wait an hour, two, three - no. They run into the bathhouse - there his skin is stretched on the heater, but he himself is not there. This is a banner! My father ran with a gun, managed to shoot twice. Well, apparently, he angered the bannik very much ... And the skin, they say, is so stretched on the stove ... "

“So the old people told us: “Children, if you bathe in the bathhouse, don’t rush one another, otherwise the bathhouse will crush.” Here was such a case. One man was washing, and the other said to him: “Well, why are you there, soon or not?” - He asked three times. And then a voice from the bathhouse: “No, I’m only skinning him!”

Well, he was afraid right away, and then he opened the door, and the guy who was washing had only legs sticking out! His bannik dragged into this slot. So tight that the head is flattened. Well, they pulled him out, but the bannik didn’t have time to peel him off.

Bannik can take on very unexpected images - a traveler, an old man, a woman, a white cow, shaggy people. Baths were generally considered unclean structures. They do not have icons and do not make crosses, but they often guess. They don’t go to the bath with a cross and a belt, they are removed and left in the house (women do the same when washing floors). Everything from which they wash - basins, tubs, tubs, gangs, ladles in baths - is considered unclean. You can’t drink water in the bathhouse and from the washstand, and even rinse the dishes with the latter.

To appease the bannik, they leave him a piece of rye bread with a large amount of coarse salt. So that the bannik does not harm at all, they take a black chicken, strangle it and bury it under the threshold of the bath.

Konstantin Makovsky. Christmas divination

A bannik in a female guise is called a bannikha, a baynitsa, a banyan mother, an obderiha. Obderikha is a shaggy, terrible old woman. May also be shown naked or as a cat. Lives under the shelf.

Another version of the bannik woman is Shishiga. This is a demonic creature that pretends to be a friend, and by luring you into a bathhouse to take a steam bath, it can steam you to death. Shishiga is shown to those who go to the bath with bad intentions, without prayer.

Bannik participates in Christmas divination. At midnight, the girls approach the open doors of the bathhouse with their skirts up. If the bannik touches with a shaggy hand, the girl will have a rich groom, if she is naked, she will be poor, and if she is wet, she will be a drunkard.

Any evil spirits are very afraid of iron, and the banner is no exception.

White wives and virgins

White wives and maidens are beautiful nymphs of the waters (that is, rain sources), appearing in summer in light, snow-white cloudy tissues illuminated by the bright rays of the sun; in the winter months they dress in black mourning veils and are subjected to evil charm. They are condemned to stay in enchanted (captured by evil spirits) or underground castles, in the bowels of mountains and in deep springs, protect the treasures hidden there - countless riches in gold and precious stones, and impatiently wait for their deliverer. A severe test is imposed on the deliverer: he must hold the maiden by the hand and maintain strict silence, not being afraid of diabolical visions, with his kiss he destroys the influence of witchcraft. On certain days of the year, these wives and maidens are shown not far from their dwellings to the eyes of mortals, mostly innocent children and poor shepherds, they are usually shown in the spring, when May flowers bloom, at such a time, with which the thought of the coming or already come awakening of nature from winter is combined. sleep.

Bereginya

Beregini - guardians of rivers, reservoirs, spirits related to water.

The original name of the Great Goddess is lost in the depths of millennia. There is a lot of evidence that in ancient times the Great Goddess was called Beregina, and the word "beregina" meant "land". Thus, the Goddess of the Earth, which in embroideries is often replaced by the image of a Birch, was called Bereginya, that is, the Earth. Among the Eastern Slavs, she was also called Zhitnaya Baba, Rozhanitsa, Earth, Lada, Glory.

The well-known Kiev fibula (a metal fastener for clothes) depicts the Great Goddess in a wide skirt, with her hands passing into the heads of horses. Before us is both the goddess and representatives of the solar luminary (horses and solar disks are its symbols). Next to the female figurine, a man is depicted, whose hands also pass into female heads. Near his feet were two horses. The male figure personified the solar deity fertilizing the earth.

Victor Korolkov. Bereginya

Beregini are considered good spirits. They help people get to the shore safe and sound, protect them from the tricks of the Waterman, devils and kikimors.

Beregini appear on Mermaid Week, sit on the shore and comb their green braids, weave wreaths, somersault in rye, arrange round dances and lure young guys to them. At the end of the Mermaid Week, the coastlines leave the earth. On the day of Ivan Kupala, they arranged a farewell.

From the point of view of chronology, the worship of coastlines, as well as ghouls and vampires, belongs to the most ancient period, when nature in the human mind was differentiated not according to such concepts as groves, springs, sun, moon, fire and lightning, but only according to the principle of relation to to humans: evil vampires who need to be driven away and cajoled by victims, and good coasters who need to be “put down”, and not only as a thank you, but also so that they actively show their benevolence towards a person.

Demons in Slavic mythology are evil spirits hostile to people. According to pagan beliefs, demons caused minor harm to people, could cause bad weather and send troubles that lead people astray. The pagan Slavs believed that the earth remained under the power of demons throughout the winter, and thus, in Slavic dualistic mythology, demons were the personification of darkness and cold.

In Christianity, the word "Demon" has become synonymous with the word "Demon". Christian chroniclers sometimes refer to pagan deities with the same word.

Goddesses are female mythological characters of Western Slavs.

They are depicted as old ugly women with a large head, sagging breasts, swollen belly, crooked legs, black fanged teeth (less often in the form of pale young girls).

Often they are attributed lameness (a property of evil spirits).

They can also appear in the form of animals - frogs, dogs, cats, be invisible, appear as a shadow. They could be women in childbirth who died before the ceremony of entering the church over them, children abducted by the goddesses, dead women, women who got rid of the fetus or killed their children, suicide women, perjurers who died during childbirth.

Their habitats are ponds, rivers, streams, swamps, less often ravines, burrows, forests, fields, mountains. They appear at night, in the evening, at noon, during bad weather.

Their characteristic actions are washing linen, baby diapers with loud blows of rollers, they drive and beat a person who interferes with them, dance, bathe, beckon and drown passers-by, dance them, lead them astray, spin yarn, comb their hair, come to women in labor, beckon them, they call with them, charm them with their voice, look, kidnap women in labor, pregnant women.

They replace children, throwing their freaks in their place, turn kidnapped children into unclean spirits, torment people at night, crush, choke them, suck the breasts of children and men, send damage to children. They are also dangerous for livestock: they frighten and destroy livestock on pastures, drive horses, braid their manes.

Vladimir Menk. Morning in the swamp

Fedor Vasiliev. Swamp in the forest. Autumn

Pain-head

Pain-boshka is a forest spirit that lives in berry places. This spirit is crafty and cunning.

He appears before a man in the form of a poor, infirm old man and asks for help in finding his lost bag. You can’t give in to his requests - you will start thinking about the loss, your head will ache, you will wander through the forest for a long time.

"Quiet! Here is Boly himself! - I felt it, it suits: it will hurt, trouble! The whole emaciated, dwarf, sallow, like a fallen leaf, bird's lip - Pain-boshka, - a pointed nose, he was handy, and his eyes seemed sad, cunning, cunning.

(A. M. Remizov. "To the Sea-Ocean")

Bolotnik

Swamp (bog, swamp, swamp, marsh grandfather, swamp jester) - the owner of the swamp.

It was believed that the swamp was a creature sitting motionless at the bottom of the swamp, covered with mud and algae, snails and fish scales. According to other legends, this is a man with long arms and a twisted tail, overgrown with wool. Sometimes he pretends to be an old man and walks along the shore of the swamp.

Bolotnik lives in a swamp with his wife, a swamp. From the waist down, she looks like a beautiful girl, but instead of legs she has goose paws covered with black down. The swamp sits in a large water lily to hide these paws, and weeps bitterly. If a person comes to console her, the swamp will pounce on her and drown her in the swamp.

According to legend, the swamp lures people into the quagmire with groans, laughter or roars, and then drowns them, dragging them to the bottom by the legs.

Bosorkun

Bosorkun (vitryannik) is a mountain spirit.

Together with a strong wind, it flies on crops, destroys them, and causes drought. It causes damage to people and animals - it causes sudden illnesses and ailments (for example, a cow's milk will be mixed with blood or completely disappear).

The Hungarians have a similar mythological character - a bosorkan, a witch, an ugly old woman with the ability to fly and turn into animals (dog, cat, goat, horse). It can cause drought, send damage to people and animals. Bosorkan harms people mainly at night, and the time of their special activity is Ivan's Day (June 24), Lutsa's Day (December 13) and St. George's Day - May 6 (April 23, Old Style), the patron saint of cattle.

Vazila (stable, herdsman) - the patron spirit of horses, he is represented in a human form, but with horse ears and hooves.

According to the ancient belief of the Belarusians, every owner has his own Vazila, who takes care of the reproduction of horses and protects them from diseases and seizures. Vasila is always present at the so-called lodging places, when horses graze in large herds. At these lodgings, the presence of Vazila is especially necessary to protect the horses from the attack of wolves and other predatory animals. As a result of this belief, Belarusian shepherds often carelessly spend the night in parties or sleep, not at all looking after the master's herd entrusted to them and leaving the horses to Vazila's vigilance.

Vazils are evil and kind, quarrel among themselves, reconcile, and it happens that they quarrel not for life, but for death.

Vedogoni

Vedogoni are souls that live in the bodies of people and animals, and at the same time house geniuses that protect family property and housing.

Each person has his own vedogon; when he sleeps, the vedogon leaves the body and protects his property from thieves, and himself from the attack of other vedogons and from magic spells.

If a vedogon is killed in a fight, then the person or animal to which it belonged immediately dies in his sleep. Therefore, if it happens to a warrior to die in a dream, then they say that his vedogon fought with the vedogons of enemies and was killed by them.

Among the Serbs, these are souls that produce whirlwinds with their flight.

For Montenegrins, these are the souls of the dead, house geniuses who protect the housing and property of their blood relatives from the attack of thieves and alien vedogons.

S. Ivanov. Scene from the life of the Eastern Slavs

Fedor Vasiliev. Village

“Here, you fell asleep happy, and your Vedogon came out as a mouse, wandering around the world. And he doesn’t go anywhere, what mountains, what stars! Take a walk, look at everything, come back to you. And you will get up in the morning happy after such a dream: the storyteller will put together a fairy tale, the songwriter will sing a song. This is all Vedogon told you and sang - both a fairy tale and a song.

(A. M. Remizov. "To the Sea-Ocean")

In Slavic mythology, witches are sorceresses who have entered into an alliance with the devil or other evil spirits in order to gain supernatural abilities. In different Slavic countries, witches were given different guises. In Russia, witches were represented as old women with disheveled gray hair, bony hands, and huge blue noses.

They flew through the air on pokers, brooms, in mortars, etc., went to dark deeds from their homes without fail through chimneys and, like all sorcerers, could turn into different animals, most often forty, pigs, dogs, cats . Such witches could be beaten with anything, but pokers and tongs bounced off them like balls until the roosters crowed.

A sleeping witch can see a tail, when she wakes up she hides it. It was also thought that the hair on the body of a witch does not grow like that of ordinary people: she has overgrown legs, a mustache on her upper lip, her eyebrows are fused, and a thin strip of hair runs along the entire ridge from the back of the head to the waist, but there is no pubic hair and under the armpits.

A funny incident is described in the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper: “... at the beginning of 1899, one woman (named Tatyana), whom everyone considers a witch, was almost killed. Tatyana had a fight with another woman and threatened her that she would spoil her. And this is what happened later because of the women’s street squabble: when the peasants came together to shout and turned to Tatyana with a strict request, she promised them to “turn everyone into dogs.”

One of the men approached her with a fist and said:

“Here you are, a witch, and speak my fist so that it does not hit you.”

And hit her on the back of the head. Tatiana fell, and as if on cue, the rest of the men attacked her and started beating her.

It was decided to examine the woman, find her tail and tear it off.

Baba screamed with a good obscenity and defended herself so desperately that many had their faces scratched, others had their hands bitten.

The tail, however, was not found.

Her husband ran to Tatyana's cry and began to defend, but the peasants began to beat him too. Finally, the heavily beaten, but never ceasing to threaten woman was tied up, taken to the volost and put in a cold room. In the volost they were told that for such deeds all peasants would be punished by the zemstvo chief, since now they are not ordered to believe in sorcerers and witches.

John Waterhouse. magic circle

Returning home, the peasants announced to Tatyana's husband, Antipas, that they would probably decide to send his wife to Siberia and that they would agree to this and give their sentence if he did not put out a bucket of vodka to the whole society.

While drinking, Antip swore and swore that not only did he not see, but never even noticed any tail on Tatiana in his life.

At the same time, however, he did not hide the fact that his wife threatened to turn him into a stallion whenever he wanted to beat her.

The next day, Tatyana came from the volost, and all the peasants came to her to agree that she would not conjure in her village, spoil no one, and not steal milk from the cows. For yesterday's beatings, they generously asked for forgiveness. She swore that she would fulfill the request, and a week later an order was received from the volost, in which it was said that such stupid things should not happen in the future, and if something like this happens again, then those responsible for this will be punished by law and, moreover, this will be brought to light. to the attention of the landlord.

The peasants listened to the order and decided with the whole world that the witch must have bewitched the authorities, and that therefore, henceforth, you should not reach him, but you need to deal with your own court.

Various deformities were considered signs of a witch: two rows of teeth, a hump, stoop, lameness, a hooked nose, and bony hands. In the Russian North, they believed that the most powerful, "inveterate" witches were overgrown with moss. The witch gives herself away with an unusual look - she cannot look a person straight in the eyes, so her eyes run around, and in the pupils the image of a person is upside down.

Often a witch harms by spoiling livestock and taking milk from other people's cows. She does this in different ways: “The shepherd was tending his horses, and his godfather came into the field and dragged a rag along the grass. And the shepherd sees this and thinks: “Why are you pulling a rag? I'll try that too tomorrow." He took a rag, dragged it along the grass and said: “What to the godfather, then to me, what to the godfather, then to me.” He said three times, pulled the rag over the grass and went home. He comes home, sees - and milk is pouring from the ceiling, it has already flowed around. He does not know what to do. He ran to his godfather: “Go do something, you know!” - “What is it?” - “What you did, I did it too - I pulled a rag, now milk is pouring from the ceiling.” She ran, held this rag, and the milk stopped flowing. She tells him: “Look, don’t tell anyone.”

Slavs. Illustration from "Costume History"

“Three people were grazing horses on Kupala, and then they look - a pig is running. One got up and ran after her. And the pig turned into a woman - she ran to collect dew. Then this man recognized in her his godfather and said: “What is a godfather, then to me.” And milk poured over the man. It was a witch, she stole milk.

“People said: the neighbors were like that. One bathes in milk, while the other has nothing. “Well, what to do,” say the husband and son, “we will go to the barn to spend the night.” So they went to the barn to catch the witch. Closed from inside. Here she comes, that witch, and let's open the door. And they took an ax with them. And as she began to open the door, it was no longer her hand, but a paw like that of a dog. So, they chopped off this paw with an axe. And in the mornings, that neighbor always came to them, and here - what is it? - there is none. They came to the neighbors, they asked, and they were told: “She is ill.” They looked at her, and her hand was cut off. It turns out that she turned into a dog at night.

The witch can turn into any creature and into any object, but most readily turns into a cat, dog, pig, hare, big toad, from birds - a crow, an owl or a magpie. It was believed that the witch loves to turn around in a wheel, a ball of thread, a haystack, a stick, a basket.

According to Russian legend, when women suspected of witchcraft were burned under Ivan the Terrible, two of them flew into the chimney in magpies, and the tsar himself tried to curse them. According to the historian Tatishchev, in 1714 a woman was sentenced to death for witchcraft and for turning into a magpie.

Bats, a black cat lived next to witches in fairy tales, pomelo and magical herbs were certainly present. The witch could take the form of a young attractive girl.

To communicate with evil spirits, witches flew to the Sabbath riding a broomstick, a goat, a pig, into which they could turn a person. Witches were considered especially dangerous during the calendar holidays, when their intervention could damage the harvest and the well-being of the whole society. The ancient Slavs believed that on these holidays, witches can be seen rushing in a storm along with all evil spirits.

In Ukraine, they say that witches, devils and other evil spirits flock to Kyiv, to Bald Mountain. In other places - that Sabbaths take place at crossroads, field boundaries, on old trees (especially on oaks, birches and pears). In Polissya they say this: “And where my neighbor lived on a farm, in the middle of the field there was a big pear, old, wild. And to this pear, you know, witches from Russia flew in. They flew to her either as devils, or as such birds, and danced on her.

In order to get to the sabbath, witches rub themselves with a special ointment from various witchcraft herbs, the composition of which is known only to them. However, they say that this ointment is brewed from the blood of babies, dog bones and cat brain. Having smeared herself under the armpits with ointment, the witch sits on a broomstick, a poker, a bread shovel or a birch stick and flies out through the pipe. In order not to stumble on a tree, mountain or other obstacle in flight, the witch must say: “I’m leaving, I’m leaving, I don’t hurt anything.” Many legends are still known about this.

“One potter was traveling and asked to spend the night in one house. They put him on the bench. The hostess thought that he was sleeping, but he was looking: a lot of grandmothers came, the lamp was lit, and he closed his eyes and looked. Doors do not open, and there are fewer and fewer of them. When none were gone, he looked into the stove, and he was sucked into the chimney, and he ended up near the tar (where tar used to be made) on the willow, where the witches flocked, they flew on birch sticks.

Very often in stories they tell about a soldier who stopped for the night in a house whose mistress turned out to be a witch. “One soldier was standing in the apartment of a widow who was a witch. One night, when he was lying in bed, pretending to be asleep, women began to converge in the hut to his mistress.

They were learned witches, and his mistress was born a witch.

They prepared some kind of ointment and put it on the stove. One after another, women came up, smeared themselves under the armpits and immediately flew out into the chimney.

After all the women had flown away, the soldier, without thinking twice, smeared himself with ointment and felt himself carried out into the chimney and carried through the air. But since he did not quite correctly cast the spell, during the flight he came across either a dry tree, or a thorny bush, or a rock, and flew to Bald Mountain all beaten.

The hostess looked around, saw him among the devils and sorcerers, and shouted:

“What did you get here for? Who asked you?“

Then she brought him a horse and ordered him to go back, but she warned that this horse should not be said “whoa” or “but”. The soldier immediately got on his horse and turned back home, but, flying over the forest, he thought: “What kind of fool would I be if I didn’t say “whoa” or “but” to the horse, and shouted at the horse: “but!” the same minute he flew down into the thicket of the forest, and the horse immediately turned into a birch stick. Only on the fourth day did the soldier make his way to his apartment.

In Ukrainian and Belarusian judicial documents of the 17th-18th centuries, there are many accusations of women of flying to the Sabbath and communicating with evil spirits there.

“The defendant said that when her neighbor, having cooked some kind of porridge, gave her food, she, together with others, turned into a magpie, flew to a neighboring village and bathed in the pond here. There were about thirty more unfamiliar women here, they had their own boss - "a German with shaggy hair." Then all the witches went to the closet of the witch's house and had a council among themselves. When the rooster crowed, they again found themselves in their village. A certain Marianna Kostyukova testified that she had flown along with the women, among whom was one chief who anointed them under the armpits with some kind of ointment. All of them flew to Mount Shatria before the day of Ivan Kupala. There they saw a lot of people. They saw a devil in the form of a pan in Shatriya in German clothes, in a hat and with a cane. The violin was played by a horned devil, the “pan” himself and his children were also horned. "Pan" danced with them in turn. They had fun until the first roosters, and then flew back. They flew high - above the forests.

Firs Zhuravlev. Spinner

It was believed that a witch for her sins and connection with evil spirits is punished with a heavy death. It was believed that she could not die until the ceiling in the house was taken apart or one board was broken out of the roof. After death, the witch's body swells so that it does not fit in the coffin, and milk flows from her mouth or from her clothes. The witch must be buried face down. The coffin with her body cannot be carried along the road, but one should move to the cemetery bypassing - backyards and vegetable gardens. A witch often has a toad or a mouse in her coffin, which cannot be driven out of there, because they embody an evil spirit that has come for the witch's soul. Dogs run behind her coffin during the funeral procession, which then seek to dig up the grave. Witches do not know peace in the next world and come out of the graves to harm people, turning into "mortgaged" dead.

From "Domostroy" we learn that women-sorceresses went from house to house, treated various ailments, guessed, carried news - and were accepted quite willingly. “Stoglav” says that the litigants, as soon as it reached the field (i.e., before the duel), called for the help of the Magi - “and at that time, the Magi and sorcerers, from demonic teachings, do help for them, beat wonders, and look at the planets , and they look for days and hours ... and hoping for those charms, the slanderer and the tattletale do not put up, and they kiss the cross, and on the poly beat, and, having slandered, they die. As a result, the contemporary "Stoglav" decree requires, under fear of disgrace and spiritual prohibition, that they would not go to sorcerers and astrologers.

Peasant girls confided their secrets to village witches-witches, and they offered their services to them.

One girl, who served with a rich merchant, complained: "He promised to marry, but he deceived." “And you bring me only a piece of his shirt. I will give it to the church watchman to tie a rope on this tuft, then the merchant will not know where to go from longing, ”such was the witch’s recipe. Another girl wanted to marry a peasant who did not like her. “Get me the stockings off his legs. I will wash them, I will say water at night and I will give you three grains. Give him that water to drink, throw grain under his feet when he rides, and everything will be fulfilled.

Village witches were simply inexhaustible in inventing various recipes, especially in love affairs. There is also a mysterious talisman, which is extracted from a black cat or from frogs. From the first, boiled to the last degree, an “invisible bone” is obtained. A bone is equivalent to walking boots, a flying carpet, a hospitable bag and an invisibility cap. Two “lucky bones” are taken out of the frog, which serve with equal success for both love spells and lapels, i.e., causing love or disgust.

In Moscow, according to researchers, in the 17th century, on different sides, there lived witches or sorceresses, to whom even boyar wives came to ask for help against the jealousy of their husbands and consult about their love affairs and about means of how to moderate someone else's anger or harass enemies. In 1635, one “golden” craftswoman dropped a scarf in the palace, in which the root was wrapped. On this occasion, a search was appointed. When asked where she took the root and why she went to the sovereign with it, the craftswoman answered that the root was not dashing, but carried it with her from “heart pain, that her heart was sick”, she complained to one wife that her husband was dashing before her, and she gave her a reversible root, and ordered to put it on a mirror and look into the glass: then her husband would be affectionate to her, and in the royal court she did not want to spoil anyone and did not know other homies. The defendant and the wife to whom she referred were exiled to distant cities.

Another similar case was in 1639. The craftswoman Daria Lomanova sprinkled some kind of powder on the queen's trail and said: if only I could touch the royal and queen's heart, and others are cheap to me. She was interrogated, and she admitted with tears: she went to a fortune-teller woman, that she turns people and takes away the heart and jealousy from husbands to their wives, this woman slandered her about salt and soap and ordered salt to be given to her husband in nature, and to wash herself with soap, and said that after that her husband would be silent, no matter what she did, even if she loved with others.

And the same sorceress gave the said salt to another craftswoman - so that her husband would be kind to the children. Darya Lomanova also brought a torn collar from her shirt to the witch woman, and she burned the collar on the hearth of the stove and, asking: “Is the name Avdotya the right one?” merciful to Daria and her petitions.

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A) Mythical animals and birds Alkonost. Asp. White horse. Basilisk. Spindle. Visa. Gamayun. Hydra. Gorgonia. Griffin. Grumant dog. The Dragon. Endrop. Zinsky puppy. Serpent. Indrik is a beast. Kagan. Kitovras. Whale fish. Krak. Lama. Melusina. Mravoliov. Nagai. Tawny owl. Onocrotal.

It is known that before the advent of Christianity, our ancestors were pagans. We will talk about the gods they worshiped another time. But, in addition to the gods, in the beliefs of the Slavs there were a lot of creatures inhabiting almost everything that surrounded a person. Some Slavs were considered kind, because they peacefully coexisted with people, helped them and protected them in every possible way. Others were classified as evil, because they harmed people and were capable of killing. However, there was a third group of beings that could not be classified as either good or evil. All known creatures, although they are representatives of small species, are still represented by more than one individual.

Mythological creatures differ from each other in appearance, abilities, habitat and lifestyle. So some creatures outwardly look like animals, others look like people, and still others do not look like anyone else. Some of them live in forests and seas, others live directly next to a person, sometimes even in their homes. In Slavic mythology, there is no classification of creatures, but their appearance, lifestyle, ways of appeasing certain creatures or how to survive when meeting representatives of species dangerous to humans are described in some detail.

It is impossible to describe all the creatures from fairy tales and myths, but we have known some of them since childhood, from fairy tales and stories. Here are some of these creatures.

Alkonost

Alkonost is a half-bird, half-human. The body of the Alkonost is birdlike, with beautiful iridescent plumage. His head is human, often wearing a crown or a wreath, and Alkonost also has human hands. By its nature, the alkonost is not aggressive and does not pose a direct danger to humans, but, nevertheless, it can accidentally harm him if he comes too close to the nest, or is nearby when the bird sings its song. Protecting itself or its chicks, the half-bird-half-human is able to plunge everyone around into unconsciousness.

Anchutka

Anchutka is a small evil spirit. Anchutkas are only a few centimeters tall, their bodies are covered with hair and are black in color, and the heads of these evil spirits are bald. A characteristic feature of the anchutka is the absence of heels. It is believed that it is impossible to pronounce the name of this evil spirit aloud, since the anchutka will immediately respond to it and will be right in front of the one who said it.
Anchutka can live almost everywhere: most often the spirit can be found in a field, in a bathhouse or in a pond, he also prefers to settle closer to people, but avoids meeting with stronger creatures. However, a different habitat imposes features on the appearance and behavior of evil spirits, so three main subspecies of anchutes can be distinguished: bath, field, water or swamp. Field anchuts are the most peaceful, they do not appear to people if they themselves do not call them. Bath and marsh anchutkas love to play pranks, but their jokes are evil and dangerous, often leading to the death of a person, so a marsh anchutka can grab a swimmer by the leg and drag him to the bottom. Bath anchutes often frighten people with moans, appear to them in various forms, and can simply make a person fall asleep or lose consciousness.
Anchutka is able to become invisible. In addition, this evil spirit can take any form and, for example, turn into both a beast and a man. Another ability of the spirit is the ability to instantly move in space.
Anchutkas are afraid of iron and salt, if an evil spirit has grabbed you, then you need to poke it with something iron and then it will immediately let you go. But it is very difficult to completely get rid of anchutes, so if they have chosen a place or building, then you can only drive them out of there by destroying the building on fire and covering the ashes with salt.

Babai

Yes, yes, the same Babai, who scared many in childhood. The name "babay", apparently, came from the Turkic "baba", babai - an old man, grandfather. This word (perhaps also as a reminder of the Tatar-Mongol yoke) denotes something mysterious, not quite definite in appearance, undesirable and dangerous. In the beliefs of the northern regions of Russia, the babai is a terrible, lopsided old man. He roams the streets with a stick. Meeting him is dangerous, especially for children. Babayka is a rather universal children's monster, which is still popular today. Even modern mothers and grandmothers can sometimes tell a naughty child that if he does not eat well, then a grandmother will take him. After all, he walks under the windows, as in ancient times.

baba yaga

A fabulous Russian character living in a dense forest; witch. The image of the Baba Yaga is considered to be a transformation of the image of an archaic deity who once dominated the rites of initiation and initiation (originally, such a deity may have had the appearance of a female animal)
Let's answer the question: who is the fabulous Baba Yaga? This is an old evil witch who lives in a deep forest in a hut on chicken legs, flies in a mortar, chasing her with a pestle and covering her trail with a broom. He likes to feast on human flesh - small children and good fellows. However, in some fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not at all evil: she helps the good fellow by giving him something magical or showing the way to him.
According to one version, Baba Yaga is a guide to the other world - the world of ancestors. She lives somewhere on the border of the worlds of the living and the dead, somewhere in the "far away kingdom". And the famous hut on chicken legs is, as it were, a gateway to this world; therefore it is impossible to enter it until it turns its back to the forest. Yes, and Baba Yaga herself is a living dead. The following details speak in favor of this hypothesis. Firstly, her dwelling is a hut on chicken legs. Why exactly on legs, and even "chicken ones"? It is believed that "chicken" is a modified "chicken" over time, that is, fumigated with smoke. The ancient Slavs had such a custom of burying the dead: a "hut of death" was placed on the pillars fumigated with smoke, in which the ashes of the deceased were placed. Such a funeral rite existed among the ancient Slavs in the 6th-9th centuries. Perhaps the hut on chicken legs points to another custom of the ancients - to bury the dead in domovins - special houses placed on high stumps. In such stumps, the roots come out and are really somewhat similar to chicken legs.

Bannik

Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bathhouse. The bannik looks like a little skinny old man with a long beard. He has no clothes on, but his whole body is plastered with leaves from a broom. Despite its size, the old spirit is very strong, it can easily knock a person down and drag him around the bathhouse. Bannik is a rather cruel spirit: he loves to scare those who come to the bathhouse with terrible screams, he can also throw hot stones from the stove or scald them with boiling water. If the bannik is angered, then the spirit can even kill a person by strangling his enemy in the bath or tearing his skin alive. An angry bannik can also kidnap or replace a child.

Bannik is a very “social” spirit: he often invites other evil spirits to “take a steam bath”, he arranges such meetings at night after 3-6 shifts of bathers, it is dangerous to go to the bathhouse on such days. Bannik generally doesn't like it when people disturb him at night.

Most of all, the spirit loves to scare women, so they should not go to the bathhouse alone. But most of all, the bannik is angry when a pregnant woman enters the bathhouse; in no case should such expectant mothers be left in the bathhouse unattended by men.
Bannik is able to become invisible and instantly move in space within his bath. Women banniki - obderikhs are able to change their appearance turning into a cat or even a man.
In addition, the bannik is able to open people to their future.
If you follow the basic rules, then the bannik will never attack a person. But if the bannik got angry, then he can be appeased: leaving a piece of rye bread abundantly sprinkled with coarse salt for the spirit, in some cases it is necessary to sacrifice a black chicken, burying it under the threshold of the bath. If, nevertheless, the bannik attacked you, then you need to run out of the bathhouse with your back forward and call the brownie for help: “Father, help me out! ..”. This spirit is also afraid of iron.

Berendei

Berendey - in Slavic mythology - people who turn into bears. As a rule, these were quite strong sorcerers, or people bewitched by them. Such a werewolf could be disenchanted either by the sorcerer himself, who cast the werewolf curse, or by the death of this sorcerer.

Beregini

Beregini - in Slavic mythology, good water spirits, in the guise of women. They live along the banks of rivers, predict the future, and also save small children left unattended and fallen into the water. Belief in beregini (“those who live on the shore”, “protectors”) was, apparently, quite common in Ancient Russia.
It is difficult to judge what the coastlines were from rather fragmentary evidence. Some researchers see them as "predecessors" of mermaids or identify them with mermaids. Indeed, the coastlines are definitely associated with water; they, apparently, are also subject to some essential aspects of people's lives. Therefore, the assumption of a connection between coastlines and mermaids is not unreasonable.

Water

The water one can not be called either evil or good - it is a masterful spirit guarding its reservoir, which, however, does not mind playing a trick on those who came there. The merman looks like an old man with a large beard and a fish tail instead of legs, the old man's hair has a green tint, and his eyes look like fish. During the day, the merman prefers to stay at the bottom of the reservoir, and with the rising of the moon rises to the surface. The spirit prefers to move around the reservoir on horseback, mainly swimming on a catfish.
The spirit lives in large freshwater reservoirs: rivers, lakes, swamps. However, sometimes he goes to land and appears in the nearest villages. On reservoirs for dwelling, the merman prefers to choose the deepest places or places with a strong circular current (whirlpools, places near water mills).
The water man jealously guards his reservoir and does not forgive those who treat him disrespectfully: a guilty spirit can drown or severely cripple. However, the merman can also reward people: it is believed that the merman can bestow a good catch, but he can also leave the fisherman without a single fish at all. He loves the spirit and play pranks: he scares people at night with strange screams, he can pretend to be a drowned man or a baby, and when he is pulled into a boat or pulled ashore, he will open his eyes, laugh and flop back into the water.
Mermen live in families, usually the merman has many wives - mermaids. People dragged to the bottom by the spirit remain at the service of the water man, entertaining the owner of the reservoir in every possible way and performing various tasks, however, you can pay him off, but the price will be commensurate - you will have to give your firstborn.
It is almost impossible to fight the merman in his native element, but he can be scared away from himself with iron or copper, which in the end will only anger him more. Therefore, in ancient times they preferred not to anger the water man, and if he was already angry, then they tried to appease the spirit by throwing bread into the water, or sacrificing a black animal

werewolf

Volkolak - a person who can turn into a wolf (bear). You can become a wolfman voluntarily and against your will. Sorcerers often transform themselves into werewolves in order to gain the power of the beast. They are able to transform into a wolf and back into a human at will. To do this, it is enough for the sorcerer to roll over a stump, or 12 knives stuck into the ground with a point, and if during the time that the magician was in the guise of an animal, someone takes out at least one knife from the ground, then the sorcerer will no longer be able to return back to human form.
A person can turn into a werewolf even after a curse, then the damned one is not able to regain his human appearance. However, he can be helped: in order to remove the curse from a person, he must be fed with consecrated food and put on a robe woven from nettles, while the werewolf will resist this rite in every possible way.
Werewolves do not have supernatural survivability and can be killed with conventional weapons, but when they die, werewolves turn into ghouls and rise again to take revenge on their killer. To prevent such a conversion, the werewolf needs to stuff three silver coins into his mouth at the moment when he dies, or pierce the heart with a hawthorn stake when the werewolf is in human form.

Volot

Volots - a small race of mighty giants that inhabited the territory of ancient Russia. Volots were once one of the most common races, but by the beginning of the historical era they had practically died out, forced out by people. Giants are considered the ancestors of the Slavs, which is confirmed by the appearance of heroes in the human race. Volots try not to contact or interfere with people, settling in hard-to-reach places, preferring to choose high-altitude areas or hard-to-reach forest thickets for housing, much less often they settle in the steppe regions.
Outwardly, the Volot is no different from a person, if you do not take into account its gigantic size.

Gorynych

Another well-known fairy-tale character. Serpent-Gorynych - the general name of dragon-like creatures. Although he does not belong to dragons, but according to the classification he belongs to snakes, there are many dragon features in the appearance of Gorynych. Outwardly, the Serpent-Gorynych looks like a dragon, but it has many heads. Different sources indicate a different number of heads, but three heads are most common. However, a greater number of heads rather indicates the fact that this serpent has repeatedly participated in battles and lost its heads, in the place of which a greater number of new ones grew. Gorynych's body is covered with red or black scales, on the paws of the serpent there are large copper-colored claws with a metallic sheen, he himself has a large size and an impressive wingspan. Zmey-Gorynych is able to fly and spew fire. The scales of Gorynych cannot be pierced by any weapon. His blood is capable of burning, and the blood spilled on the ground burns it out so that nothing grows in that place for a long time. Zmey-Gorynych is able to grow lost limbs, he is able to grow even a lost head. He also has intelligence and is able to imitate the voices of various animals, including the ability to reproduce human speech, which distinguishes him from snakes and makes him closer to dragons.

Gamayun

Gamayun is a half-bird, half-human. The body of the hamayun is bird-like, with bright motley plumage, and the head and chest are human. Gamayun is the messenger of the gods, so she spends almost her entire life traveling, predicting people's fate and conveying the words of the gods.
By nature, the gamayun is not aggressive and does not pose a direct danger to humans, but has a difficult character and therefore behaves somewhat arrogantly, treating people as beings of a lower order.

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: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind the chest, in the corner, or even in the chimney.
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, especially the good spirit loves horses.
The brownie is very fond of cleanliness and order in the house, and does not like it when the inhabitants of the house are lazy. But the spirit does not like much more when the inhabitants of the house begin to quarrel with each other or treat him disrespectfully. An angry brownie begins to let you know that the person is wrong: he knocks on doors, windows; interferes with sleep at night, making terrible sounds or screams, sometimes even wakes up a person, pinching him painfully, after which large and painful bruises remain on the body, which hurt the more, the more angry the brownie is; and in extreme cases, the spirit is capable of throwing dishes, writing bad graffiti on the walls, and starting small fires. However, the brownie will not cause serious harm to a person, and sometimes the spirit that lives in the house plays pranks for no particular reason.

Firebird

The Firebird is a bird the size of a peacock, and in appearance it most of all resembles a peacock, only it has a bright golden plumage with overflowing red. The firebird cannot be taken with bare hands, as its plumage burns, while the firebird is not surrounded by fire. These birds spend most of their lives locked up in Iria, in private hands they are kept mainly in golden cages, where they sing songs all day long, and at night these amazing birds are released to feed. The favorite food of firebirds is fruits, they are very fond of apples, especially golden ones.

Sinister

Sinister - an evil spirit that brings poverty to the house in which he settled. These spirits are subordinate to the Navi. Sinister is invisible, but you can hear him, sometimes he even talks to the people in whose house he settled. It is difficult for an evil spirit to get into the house, since the brownie does not let him in, but if he managed to slip into the dwelling, then it is very difficult to get rid of him. If the evil one has made his way into the house, then he is very active, in addition to talking, the spirit can climb on the inhabitants of the house and ride on them. Sinisters often settle in groups, so there can be up to 12 creatures in one house.

Indrik Beast

Indrik the beast - In Russian legends, Indrik is the father of all beasts. It may have one or two horns. In Russian fairy tales, Indrik is depicted as an opponent of the snake, which interferes with taking water from the well. In fairy tales, the image of the indrik denotes a fantastic animal that the main character gets. In some fairy tales, he appears in the royal garden instead of a firebird and steals golden apples.

kikimora

Kikimora is an evil spirit that sends nightmares to a person. In appearance, the kikimora is very thin and small: her head is the size of a thimble, and her body is as thin as a reed, she does not wear shoes or clothes and remains invisible most of the time. During the day, kikimors are inactive, and at night they begin to play pranks. For the most part, they do not cause serious harm to a person, basically they only arrange small pranks: either they knock with something at night, or they begin to creak. But if the kikimora disliked one of the family members, then the pranks will become much more serious: the spirit will begin to break furniture, break dishes, and harass livestock. Kikimora's favorite pastime is to spin yarn: sometimes he sits in a corner at night and starts working, and so on until the morning, but there is no sense in this work, he only confuses the threads and breaks the yarn.
Kikimoras prefer human houses as a habitat, choosing secluded places for living: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind the chest, in the corner. Often kikimors are taken as wives by brownies.
Sometimes kikimoras are shown to people's eyes, foreshadowing imminent misfortunes: so if she cries, then trouble will happen soon, and if she spins, it means that soon one of the inhabitants of the house will die. The prediction can be clarified by asking a kikimora, then she will definitely answer, but only with a knock.

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Slavic horror stories. Magical creatures and gods in Slavic mythology Ancient Slavic creature mythology

Alkonost

Asp

Auka

Hut on kurnogs

Bannik

Bash Celik (Man of Steel)

Ghouls

Gamayun

Divya people

Brownie

Drekavak (drekavac)

Firebird

Kikimora (shishimora, mara)

Koschei the Immortal (Kashchei)

Goblin

famously one-eyed

Mermaid

Sirin

Nightingale the Robber (Nightingale Odikhmantievich)

Roots of Slavic mythology

Divine pantheon among the Slavs

Mythical creatures

The world of spirits among the Slavs

Conclusion

What else to read

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