Slavic myths - fairy-tale creatures. Mythical Slavic creatures Mythical animals of the ancient Slavs

An important part of Slavic culture are myths and legends passed down from generation to generation. They store ideas about the world, history and the wisdom of the people. The gods and creatures of Slavic mythology are the personification of knowledge about the world of our ancestors.

Slavic gods and deities

Like many ancient peoples, the Slavs endowed natural phenomena with divine guises, trying to explain what they did not understand. Gods in ancient Slavic myths and legends are the embodiments of various spheres of human life, phenomena associated with the forces of nature, fears and desires, ideas about the universe.

Belbog

In the beliefs of the Slavs it appears as a personification:

• Sveta;
• virtues;
• happiness;
• positive human feelings;
• wealth;
• fertility.

Belbog is considered one of the most influential and powerful gods in ancient Slavic mythology. He is often contrasted with Chernobog - the gloomy and gloomy embodiment of darkness.

I usually depict Belun as a good-natured old man with a long snow-white beard, wearing simple peasant clothes. In this guise, he appears to people, helps them harvest crops, and find the way home for travelers lost in the forest. The abode of the god of light is located on the top of a sacred mountain, eternally sanctified by the warm rays of the Sun.

Stable expressions associated with the name of this god appeared among the people.

When a person felt a surge of energy and was in a good mood, he said: “It was as if he had become friends with Belbog himself.”

In Rus', Veles has always been considered one of the most significant and respected gods. He took part in the creation of the world - he gave the world movement. Veles made it so that day began to give way to night, he created time itself, the change of seasons. Thanks to him, there is a balance between good and bad. He also has the following responsibilities:

• wildlife conservationist;
• giver of good luck;
• patron of wanderers, traders, scientists and creators;
• the master of the afterlife, Nav, the judge of the souls of dead people.

Veles is able to take on the guise of wild animals and appear to people in this form. Popular Slavic talismans - and

The first son of the supreme creator god Svarog is Dazhdbog. It is responsible for sunlight and warmth. Dazhdbog has many other names. Among them:

• Radegast;
• Dab;
• Svarozhich;
• Radigosh.

It is believed that the lion is a sacred animal of the Sun God, so on the frescoes he is depicted as a beautiful young man riding in a chariot drawn by huge lions.

According to legends, the solar god protects those who are getting married. He accompanies the wedding procession of the newlyweds and gives them joy. Newlyweds were given among the Slayan runes

Clear weather and a calm, pleasant wind are reflected in the image of the ancient Slavic god Dogod. He is a tall and slender young man with long curly light brown hair and bright blue eyes. The god is dressed in simple robes of silver and blue colors, which the Slavs associated with a quiet wind and tranquility. On his head you can see a wreath of cornflowers.

Some people claimed that Dogoda has colorful wings on his back. He flies above the human world among the clouds and gives him his warm smile.

The Slavs loved and honored this god and dedicated songs and dances to him.

Kolyada

A wise and powerful god named Kolyada gladly shared sacred knowledge with people. He taught them the divine laws of life, told them about the structure of the world, and created the first calendar.

Kolyada is also the god of feasts and leisure. In his honor, people from ancient times go to visit each other on Christmas night and tell carols - ritual poems and songs,

One of the greatest gods of the Slavic pantheon is the little-known younger brother of the god Rod, the patron of universal wisdom Kryshen. His birth had a special purpose - the god Kryshen was destined to save humanity and return fire to them by fighting the powerful Chernobog. Brother Rod entered into a fight to the death with the god of darkness off the coast of the Arctic Ocean and won.

The son of the beautiful goddess Lada has many names:

• Lubitsch;

Lel is the embodiment of burning passion and is distinguished by her good-natured but frivolous character. He takes the form of a handsome young man with blond curls who can shoot sparks from his hands. This god is able to ignite the flame of passion in the hearts of lovers and take the form of the sacred bird stork. The most famous amulet is the Lada amulet.

Autumn

After the god Kolyada passed on his sacred knowledge to people, his younger brother Ovsen took responsibility for the embodiment of this wisdom. He is also considered the personification of human faith in a bright future. They believe that Ovsen is the one who boldly steps into the unknown and leads people.

Ozem

According to legends, the god Ozem lives in the underworld with his pale-faced beauty Sumerla. They are the owners of all underground treasures, metals and precious stones, which they carefully protect from greedy people. Contrary to their own expectations, possessing treasures does not bring happiness to Ozem and Sumerla, but only anxiety and fear of losing them. The only time when they can feel calm and sleep without fear is winter, when snow protects their untold wealth.

The underground lords have their own servants and scouts: snakes, moles, rats and mice.

The most famous and powerful son of Svarog is Perun - the god of thunder and lightning. Perun has a hot-tempered and unbalanced character. When he gets angry, he rains lightning from the sky.

For his strength and courage, Perun is considered the patron saint of warriors and everyone whose work is related to weapons. He protects true warriors, helps them win and save their lives. This is a just god who can punish anyone who breaks the law.

According to one legend, Perun gave his sacred shield to people to protect them from Chernobog. He protects the inhabitants of the human world of Reveal.

Since ancient times, the Slavs worshiped the god of thunder and lightning, prayed to him asking for protection, strength and support,

The god Rod is considered the progenitor of all gods and the creator of the human world. He created the Earth and everything on it. He is also the father of Svarog - the supreme god who completed the creation of the Rod.

Semargl

When Svarog struck sparks from the sacred stone of Alatyr with a hammer, the god of fire Semargl was born from this flame. He protects family hearths and monitors the harvest. Semargl can take the form of a sacred winged dog.

The god of fire stands guard all year round, holding a sword in his hands that burns with a bright flame. He protects the world of people from evil, but on the day of the autumn equinox he leaves his post and follows his beloved Bathing Suit. It is believed that at this time all evil spirits come out.

The embodiment of the wind is Stribog, born from the breath of the creator Rod. Stribog is usually depicted as a good-natured old man with thick gray hair who lives somewhere on the edge of the forest. He is able to control the winds, create storms, and turn into a bird. Sailors and farmers turned to the help of the wind god.

Stribog has many sons, who are the embodiments of different winds:

• Whistling is a violent and strong wind;
• Podaga is a hot and dry wind that lives in desert areas;
• Dogoda is a light summer breeze that plays with hair;
• Siverko is a cold and harsh north wind.

In addition to the main wind gods, there are known references in legends to the gods of the western, eastern, southern, day, and night winds.

Horse

One of the sons of the creator Rod is Khors. He protects the heavenly body and is responsible for sunlight. Khorsa is considered a kind, hardworking and cheerful god. He is always next to his brother Dazhdbog.

In ancient Slavic mythology, Chernobog is the embodiment of everything negative:

• cold;
• death;
• disease;
• dark;
• destruction;
• madness.

He is depicted with long black hair, black eyes, and black clothes. Chernoboga is the only one to whom blood sacrifices are made. People fear his wrath and ask for mercy.

Yarilo

God Yarilo in ancient Slavic legends is depicted as a man with thick red hair. He is dressed all in white and rides on a snow-white horse with a golden mane. His head is often decorated with a wreath of the first spring flowers. Yarilo is of great importance for Slavic culture:

• the herald of the beginning of spring;
• the personification of spring warmth and light;
• the embodiment of fertility and love.

Mythical creatures in Slavic legends

The ancient Slavic bestiary is rich in images of mythical creatures. In old legends you can often find references to extraordinary creatures, the images of which are based on the images of animals, birds, and people.

One of the most striking and widespread mythical images in Slavic culture. Alkonost is depicted as a huge bird with the head of a beautiful girl. According to legends, these miracle birds have an unusually beautiful voice. When Alkonost sings, people's hearts skip a beat with delight. The mythical bird lives in heaven - in the paradise of Iriy.

Russian people have always honored and respected mothers for their dedication, care and sincere love. The power of motherhood became the basis for the mythical image of Arys-field.

According to legend, a widower married a witch who hated his own daughter. The man married the girl to a kind young man, and over time they had a son. This did not calm the evil and envious witch. She converted her stepdaughter in Arys-Pole, drove her out into the forest and, with the help of witchcraft, replaced her with her own daughter. Only she did not want to look after the child and feed him.

Then the young man’s mother noticed that something was wrong, took the child and called Arys-Pole. The mother came running from the forest, took off the lynx skin and fed the baby. Her husband saw this, stole the skin and burned it, thanks to which the girl returned to her original appearance. When everyone found out the truth about what happened, the witch was burned at the stake as punishment.

Vodyanoy, an evil mythical creature, lives in rivers and lakes. The merman is often depicted as a disgusting old man. Sometimes his image is supplemented with elements of the external appearance of an animal or fish.

The Vodyanoy lives in his underwater palace made of shells and stones. He is surrounded by fish and mermaids - the souls of drowned women. It is believed that in his kingdom live cattle that come out of the water at night and graze in the forest.

The image of a person capable of turning into a wolf has existed for many centuries in the myths and legends of different peoples and cultures. In Slavic mythology, such a creature has many names:

• werewolf;
• wolfhound;
• ghoul;
• Vovkulak.

To take on the image of a beast, the wolfdog must perform a somersault over an old stump or aspen stake driven into the ground. According to ancient legends, eclipses occur when a werewolf eats the Moon or the Sun.

Gamayun

Another image of a divine bird with the head of a beauty is Gamayun - a messenger between the worlds of gods and people. If a person saw a sacred bird and heard its cry, then soon he will find his happiness.

In Slavic legends he appears as a positive but mischievous character. Features of this mythical creature:

• The brownie likes the house to be clean. He gladly helps hardworking owners, cleans, corrects their small mistakes, and helps maintain order.
• He is particularly thrifty and does not like waste.
• The home spirit treats the livestock with special love and attention, takes care of them and makes sure that the animals do not get sick.

Despite the fact that brownies are good-natured, they can mock owners they don’t like, and then...

Spirits especially do not like lazy, dissolute and alcoholics. They can tickle them in their sleep, throw them off the bed or even strangle them, throw things around, make noise and break dishes.

Brownies live behind the stove. If the owner of the house decides to make peace with the little spirit, all that is needed is tobacco, bread, beautiful fabric, etc.

If the brownie likes the mistress of the house, then he tries in every possible way to make her work easier. At night, he braids the girl’s little braids and amuses himself that he was able to decorate his favorite.

Sinister

Sinister is an evil spirit that brings problems and troubles to people. There are several options for depicting evil spirits in legends. Some believe that evil spirits are the spirits of poor old people who settle in human houses and doom their inhabitants to eternal poverty. They are sometimes described as evil brownies - little spirits who live behind the stove and bring misfortune to the inhabitants of their home.

One of the most famous and widespread creatures in folk tales is considered to be the Leshiy - the spirit of the forests. This is an ambiguous and multifaceted image; you can find a large number of descriptions of Leshy’s appearance and behavior. Often the forest spirit is described as an old man with long, green hair, dull eyes and sharp nails. He can be of the human race, or he can become either a giant or a dwarf. Leshy wears the simplest peasant clothes, and sometimes goes barefoot.

The main occupation is to protect the forest from any harm and confuse travelers. He can take on the forms of animals and birds, scare a person lost in the forest with sounds, screams, rustling, hit him with tree branches, etc. Some legends say that forest spirits can tickle him to death.

Sometimes Leshy kidnap human girls and marry them. Children are born to them, and they remain forever living in the forest. It is dangerous to walk along the paths in the forest at night, as you may stumble upon a wedding procession of spirits.

The spirits that live in the forest are on hostile terms with the merman and brownies.

Mavki

In ancient Rus' they believed that stillborn children and dead infants became Mavkas. The image of the forest spirit Mavka has much in common with the mermaid. Usually Mavka is depicted as a beautiful girl in a white shirt or a small child. These spirits live in the forest. They lure people into the thicket, lead them astray, mock and sometimes kill.

Conclusion

Old Russian myths and legends are replete with a large number of different deities and evil spirits, which are usually the embodiment of one or another natural force, sphere of people’s lives. Gods can be friendly or hostile towards people. Russian mythological creatures are distinguished by their unusual appearance, reminiscent of animals and people at the same time. Mostly, they are the personification of human fears.

It is known that before the advent of Christianity, our ancestors were pagans. We'll talk about the gods they worshiped another time. But, besides the gods, in the beliefs of the Slavs there were a lot of creatures inhabiting almost everything that surrounded a person. The Slavs considered some to be kind, because they coexisted peacefully with people, helped them and protected them in every possible way. Others were considered evil because they harmed people and were capable of murder. However, there was a third group of creatures 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 way of life. Thus, some creatures outwardly resemble animals, others resemble people, and others do not resemble anyone else. Some of them live in forests and seas, others live directly next to people, sometimes even in their homes. In Slavic mythology, there is no classification of creatures, but their appearance, way of life, ways of appeasing certain creatures or how to survive encounters with 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 are familiar with some from childhood, from fairy tales and stories. Here are some of these creatures.

Alkonost

Alkonost is half-bird, half-man. The alconost has a bird's body, with beautiful iridescent plumage. His head is human, often wearing a crown or wreath, and the 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 nesting site, or is nearby when the bird sings its song. Protecting herself or her chicks, the half-bird, half-human is capable of plunging everyone around her into unconsciousness.

Anchutka

Anchutka is a little evil spirit. The height of the anchutki is only a few centimeters, 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 one should not say the name of this evil spirit out loud, since the anchutka will immediately respond to it and end up right in front of the one who said it.
Anchutka can live almost anywhere: most often the spirit can be found in a field, in a bathhouse or on a pond; it also prefers to settle closer to people, but avoids meeting with stronger creatures. However, different habitats impose characteristics on the appearance and behavior of evil spirits, so three main subspecies of anchutki can be distinguished: bathhouse, field, water or swamp. Field anchutki are the most peaceful, they do not appear to people unless they themselves call them. The bathhouse and swamp anchutka love to play pranks, but their jokes are evil and dangerous, often leading to the death of a person, so the swamp anchutka can grab a swimmer by the leg and drag him to the bottom. Bath anchoots often scare people with their moans, appear to them in various forms, and can simply make a person fall asleep or lose consciousness.
Anchutka is capable of becoming invisible. In addition, this evil spirit can take any form and, for example, turn into both an animal and a man. Another ability of the spirit is the ability to instantly move in space.
Anchutki 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 release you. But it is very difficult to completely get rid of anchutkas, so if they have chosen a place or building, then you can drive them out of there only by destroying the building in fire and covering the ashes with salt.

Babai

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

Baba Yaga

A fairy-tale Russian character who lives in a dense forest; witch. The image of Baba Yaga is considered to be a transformation of the image of an archaic deity, which once dominated the rites of initiation and dedication (initially, perhaps, such a deity 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 it with a pestle and covering her tracks with a broom. He loves to feast on human flesh - small children and good fellows. However, in some fairy tales, Baba Yaga is not evil at all: she helps a good young man by giving him something magical or showing him the way to him.
According to one version, Baba Yaga is a guide to the other world - the world of ancestors. She lives 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 like a passage into this world; That’s why you can’t enter it until it turns its back to the forest. And Baba Yaga herself is a living dead. The following details support this hypothesis. Firstly, her home is a hut on chicken legs. Why exactly on legs, and even “chicken” ones? It is believed that “kuryi” is a modification of “kurnye” over time, that is, fumigated with smoke. The ancient Slavs had the following custom of burying the dead: they erected a “death hut” on smoke-fuelled pillars, into 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 - burying the dead in domovinas - special houses placed on high stumps. Such stumps have roots that extend outward and really look somewhat like chicken legs.

Bannik

Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bathhouse. The bannik looks like a small, skinny old man with a long beard. He has no clothes on, but his whole body is covered with broom leaves. Despite its size, the old spirit is very strong; it can easily knock down a person 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, and can also throw hot stones from the stove or scald with boiling water. If the bannik is angered, the spirit is even capable of killing a person by strangling his enemy in the bathhouse or flaying him alive. An angry bannik can also kidnap or replace a child.

Bannik is a very “social” spirit: he often invites other evil spirits to visit him to “take a steam bath”; he arranges such meetings at night after 3-6 shifts of bathers; it is dangerous to enter 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, which is why they should not go to the bathhouse alone. But what angers the bannik the most is when a pregnant woman enters the bathhouse; under no circumstances 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 bathhouse. Women Banniki - Obderihi are able to change their appearance, turning into a cat or even a person.
In addition, the bannik is capable of revealing to people their future.
If you follow the basic rules, the bannik will never attack a person. But if the bannik is angry, then you can appease him: leaving the spirit a piece of rye bread generously sprinkled with coarse salt, in some cases it is necessary to sacrifice a black chicken, burying it under the threshold of the bathhouse. If, nevertheless, the bathhouse man 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.

Berendey

Berendeys - in Slavic mythology - people who turn into bears. As a rule, these were quite powerful 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 falling into the water. Belief in beregins (“those who live on the shore”, “protectors”) was, apparently, quite widespread in Ancient Rus'.
It is difficult to judge what the bereginians were like based on rather fragmentary evidence. Some researchers see them as “predecessors” of mermaids or identify them with mermaids. Indeed, bereginii are definitely associated with water; They, apparently, also control some significant aspects of people's lives. Therefore, the assumption of a connection between beregins and mermaids is not unfounded.

Water

The merman cannot be called either evil or good - he is a willful spirit guarding his pond, which, however, does not mind playing tricks on those who come 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 remain at the bottom of the reservoir, and with the rising of the moon it rises to the surface. The spirit prefers to move around the pond on horseback, mostly swimming on catfish.
The spirit lives in large freshwater bodies of water: rivers, lakes, swamps. However, sometimes it comes onto land and appears in nearby villages. On reservoirs for housing, the merman prefers to choose the deepest places or places with a strong circular current (whirlpools, places near water mills).
The vodyanoy jealously guards his pond and does not forgive those who treat him disrespectfully: the guilty spirit is capable of drowning or severely injuring. However, the merman can also reward people: it is believed that the merman can give a good catch, but he is also capable of leaving the fisherman without a single fish at all. The spirit also loves to 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 a merman has many wives - mermaids. Dragged to the bottom by spirit, people remain in the service of the waterman, entertaining the owner of the reservoir in every possible way and carrying out various assignments, however, you can buy him off, but the price will be commensurate - you will have to give up your first-born.
It is almost impossible to fight a merman in his native element, but you can scare him away from you with iron or copper, which in the end will only anger him more. Therefore, in ancient times they preferred not to anger the merman, and if he got angry, they tried to appease the spirit by throwing bread into the water, or sacrificing a black animal

Werewolf

A werewolf is a person who can transform into a wolf (bear). You can become a werewolf voluntarily or against your will. Sorcerers often transform themselves into werewolves 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, the sorcerer just needs to somersault over a stump, or 12 knives stuck into the ground with the tip, and if during the time the magician was in the guise of a beast, 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 being cursed, then the cursed person 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 ritual in every possible way.
Werewolves do not have supernatural durability and can be killed with ordinary weapons, but upon death, werewolves turn into ghouls and rise again to take revenge on their killer. To prevent such treatment from happening, the werewolf needs to stuff three silver coins into his mouth at the moment when he is dying, or pierce his heart with a hawthorn stake when the werewolf is in human form.

Volot

Volots are a small race of mighty giants that inhabited the territory of ancient Rus'. The Volots were once one of the most widespread 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 mountain areas or hard-to-reach forest thickets for housing; they settle much less often in steppe areas.
Outwardly, a volot is no different from a human, if you do not take into account its gigantic size.

Gorynych

Another well-known fairy tale character. Serpent-Gorynych is the general name for dragon-like creatures. Although he does not belong to dragons, and according to the classification he belongs to snakes, Gorynych’s appearance has many draconic features. Outwardly, the Serpent-Gorynych looks like a dragon, but has many heads. Different sources indicate a different number of heads, but most often three heads are found. However, a larger number of heads rather indicates the fact that this serpent had already repeatedly participated in battles and lost heads, in the place of which a larger number of new ones grew. Gorynych’s body is covered with red or black scales, the serpent’s paws have large copper-colored claws with a metallic sheen, and he himself is large in size and has an impressive wingspan. The Serpent-Gorynych is capable of flying and spewing fire. Gorynych's scales cannot be pierced by any weapon. His blood can burn, and blood spilled on the ground burns it out so that nothing grows in that place for a long time. Zmey-Gorynych is able to regrow lost limbs, he is able to regrow 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 serpents and makes him closer to dragons.

Gamayun

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

Brownie

The brownie is a kind spirit, the keeper of the house and everything that is in it. The brownie looks like a small old man (20-30 centimeters tall) with a large beard. It is believed that the older the brownie, the younger he looks, since they are born old men and die babies. The god Veles patronizes the brownies, from whom the spirits inherited 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 home, choosing secluded places to live: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind a chest, in a corner, or even in a chimney.
The brownie takes every possible care of his home and the family that lives in it, protecting them from evil spirits and misfortunes. If a family keeps animals, then the brownie will look after them; the kind spirit especially loves horses.
The brownie loves cleanliness and order in the house, and does not like it when the inhabitants of the house are lazy. But the spirit dislikes it much more when the inhabitants of the house begin to quarrel with each other or treat it with disrespect. An angry brownie begins to let him know that the person is wrong: he knocks on doors and windows; interferes with sleep at night, making terrible sounds or screams, sometimes even wakes a person up, pinching him painfully, after which large and painful bruises remain on the body, which hurt more, the more angry the brownie is; and in extreme cases, the spirit is capable of throwing dishes, writing bad messages on the walls and starting small fires. However, the brownie will not cause serious harm to a person, and sometimes the spirit living in the house plays pranks without any particular reason.

Firebird

The Firebird is a bird the size of a peacock, and in appearance it most closely resembles a peacock, only it has bright golden plumage with a tint of red. The firebird cannot be picked up with bare hands, as its plumage burns, and the firebird is not surrounded by fire. These birds spend most of their lives locked up, either in Iria or 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 firebirds' favorite food is fruit; they love apples, especially golden ones.

Sinister

Sinister is an evil spirit that brings poverty to the house in which it has settled. These spirits are subordinate to Navya. Sinister is invisible, but he can be heard, sometimes he even talks to the people in whose house he has settled. It is difficult for an evil spirit to get into the house, since the brownie does not let him in, but if he has managed to slip into the home, it is very difficult to get rid of him. If the evil spirit has made its way into the house, then it shows great activity; in addition to conversations, the spirit can climb on the inhabitants of the house and ride on them. Often evil spirits live in groups, so that in one house there can be up to 12 creatures.

Indrik Beast

Indrik - the beast - In Russian legends, Indrik acts as “the father of all animals.” It can have one or two horns. In Russian fairy tales, Indrik is portrayed as an opponent of the serpent who prevents him from taking water from the well. In fairy tales, the image of an indrik represents a fantastic animal that the main character hunts. In some fairy tales, he appears in the royal garden instead of the firebird and steals golden apples.

Kikimora

Kikimora is an evil spirit that sends nightmares to people. In appearance, the kikimora is very thin and small: her head is the size of a thimble, and her body is thin as a reed; she wears neither shoes nor clothes and remains invisible most of the time. During the day, kikimoras are inactive, but at night they begin to play pranks. For the most part, they do not cause serious harm to humans, mostly they just play small pranks: they sometimes knock on something at night, or they begin to creak. But if the kikimora dislikes 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. The kikimora's favorite pastime is spinning yarn: sometimes he sits in the corner at night and starts working, and so on until the morning, but there is no sense in this work, he only tangles the threads and breaks the yarn.
Kikimoras prefer human houses as a habitat, choosing secluded places to live: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind a chest, in the corner. Often kikimors are taken as wives by brownies.
Sometimes kikimoras appear before people's eyes, foreshadowing imminent misfortunes: if she cries, then trouble will soon happen, and if she spins, it means that soon one of the inhabitants of the house will die. The prediction can be clarified by asking the kikimora, then she will definitely answer, but only by knocking.

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 recordings of conversations with representatives 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 someone else (in the first In this case they are called bylinki, in the second case, when we are talking about a third person, they are called byvalshchina).

It cannot be denied that the Slavs, at the end of the pagan period, like other Indo-European peoples, rose from the lowest level 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 until 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, naturally, did not immediately become “good Christians”. Ancient pagan beliefs were maintained for a long time and stubbornly, so that the church everywhere was forced to fight both with them and in general with what in Rus' was called “dual faith.” From these sources we can best learn what paganism was like, its rituals and cults.

Henryk Semiradsky. Funeral of a noble Russian

Slavic folklore is also of exceptional importance for restoring the picture of ancient pagan religion. The folklore material is supplemented by the sources mentioned above so significantly 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 to be ancient, pagan.

The Slavs spiritualized the forces of nature around them. They honored all this, be it trees, springs or mountains, not because they were objects of dead nature, but because they spiritualized them. The Slavs invested in them ideas about living beings - spirits, whom they revered and which, therefore, in cases of need they asked for help; they thanked them and at the same time were afraid of them, trying to ward off their influence.

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

The main and most numerous group of Slavic demons in origin are, 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 entire 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, funeral feasts, as well as a number of ancient beliefs that have survived to this day about the departure of the soul from home and its return back (vampirism), about the participation of the soul in feasts and drinking bouts in honor of deceased ancestors, preparing a bath for 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 location of the dead, as well as paradise, the idea of ​​which, as the place of residence of the souls of the dead, most likely existed already in the pagan period.

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

Masudi says about the Slavs that they burn their dead and worship them, and in Rus' in the 11th–12th centuries, ideas about the spirits of ancestors living in dwellings (khoromozhitel) were attested, where even a bathhouse was prepared for them and a fire was lit so that they could warm up.

In Russia, perepluts, beregins, ghouls and ghouls, brownies, devils, etc. are also attested. All this is supplemented by a large amount of later data from Slavic folklore from the 14th century to the 20th century about the many small domestic and common spirit demons, 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 deceased ancestors.

Among these small spirit-demons, who lived either in the 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, a diva, a housekeeper, brownie, goblin, pestilence, ghoul, ghoul, evildoer, dragon, midday, imp, as well as the house snake, which was called wretched in Russia and Poland.

Most often, since the 11th century, beregins with a twisted figure 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” that live in forests, near roads, in grain, in water, wind, flame, appearing at certain times of the day (for example, at noon or in the evening) and accordingly bearing different names.

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

Nikolay Pymonenko. 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 the rooster and hen (and these beliefs have largely retained their magical functions to this day) and that the Baltic Slavs dedicated horses 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 information about totemism among the Slavs, that is, about the Slavs’ veneration 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 localities the ancestor of the clan was revered in the form of a snake that lived under the threshold of a dwelling or under the hearth.

Alkonost

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

The image of Alkonost goes back to the Greek myth about the girl Alcyone, who was transformed 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 “Six Days” of John of Bulgaria, where we are talking about the kingfisher - alkyon, the words of the Slavic text “alkyon is a bird of the sea” turned into “alkonost”.

Ivan Bilibin. Alkonost

The earliest image of Alkonost is found in a book miniature of the 12th century. Legends say that Alkonost lays eggs into the depths of the sea in the middle of winter. In this case, the eggs lie in the depths 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 Alkonost's head.

In Russian popular prints, Alkonost is depicted with a woman’s breasts and hands, in one of which she holds a paradise flower or an unfolded scroll with a saying about reward in paradise for a righteous life on earth.

Alkonost

Alkonost’s singing is so beautiful that those who hear it forget about everything in the world. There is a caption under one of the popular prints with her image: “Alkonost resides near paradise, sometimes on the Euphrates River. When he gives up his voice in singing, then he doesn’t even feel himself. And whoever is close then will forget everything in the world: then the mind leaves him, and the soul leaves the body.”

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

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

Anchutka is an evil spirit in East Slavic mythology, one of the most ancient names for a demon, the Russian version of an imp. According to V. I. Dahl’s Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, anchutki are little devils.

Anchutka appears to be footless or fingerless, which usually characterizes evil spirits. There is a tale that the heelless man is anchutka because “one day a wolf chased him and bit off his heel.”

Anchutkas come in bathhouses and field ones. According to legend, they, like all evil spirits, instantly respond to the mention of their name. Therefore, it is believed that it is better to keep quiet about them, “otherwise this footless, fingerless one will be right there.”

Nikolay Nevrev. Spinner

Bath anchutkas, according to legend, “are shaggy, bald, scare people with their moans, darken their minds, and are good at changing their appearance.” Field ones are “very tiny sprouts and more peaceful.” It is believed that they live in every plant and are named according to their habitat: potato plants, hemp plants, flax plants, fescue plants, wheat plants, horn plants, etc.

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

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

A. M. Remizov wrote: “Every bathhouse has its own baennik. If you don’t get along, he screams like a peacock. The baennik has children - bathhouse anchutki: they themselves are small, black, shaggy, with hedgehog legs, and a bare head, like a little Tatar boy, and they marry kikimores, and they are the same pranks as your kikimores. Soul, a fearless girl, went to the bathhouse at night. “I,” he says, “will sew a shirt overnight in the bathhouse and come back.” She put a coal pot in the bathhouse, otherwise she couldn’t see how to sew. She quickly sweeps off her shirt, she can see from the lights. It was close to midnight and the Anchutkas went out. Looks. And they are small, black, near the coal pot - oh! - inflate. And they run and run. And the Soul sews for itself and is not afraid of anything. You'll be afraid! They ran and ran, surrounded her and pounded nails into her hem. Gvozdik will hammer: “Okay.” You won’t leave!’ Another one will hammer in: ‘So. You won’t leave!” - “Ours,” they whisper to her, “Our Soul, you won’t leave!” And the Soul sees that she really can’t leave, she can’t get up now, the whole hem is nailed to the floor, but the quick-witted girl began to take off a little shirt from herself go down with a sundress. And when she took it all down, she left the bathhouse with an embroidered shirt, and then at the threshold she fell into the snow. Needless to say, they love to play pranks, and they always love to play along with a girl. They gave the Soul in marriage. They heated up a bathhouse for the bachelorette party, and the girls and the bride went to wash themselves, and the Anchutki - they have their own concern, they are right there, and well, piss off the girls. The girls came from the bathhouse naked into the garden, and poured out onto the road and let’s go wild: who dances and sings to the best of their abilities, who ride on each other’s horses, and squeal and giggle like little mermaids. They were barely humbled. I had to drink it with fresh milk and honey. They thought that the henbane girls had eaten too much, looked and couldn’t find them anywhere. And it was them, these yagaty anchutki, who tickled the girls’ mustaches!”

Auka is a forest spirit, related to the goblin. Just like the goblin, he loves to play pranks and jokes, and lead people through the forest. If you shout in the forest, it will come back from all sides. You can, however, get out of trouble by saying the favorite saying of all the devils: “I walked, I found, I lost.”

But once a year, all methods of fighting forest spirits turn out to be useless - October 4, when the goblin goes berserk.

“Auku, tea, you know? Auka lives in a hut, and his hut is covered with golden moss, and his water is from spring ice all year round, his broom is like a bear's paw, smoke comes out of the chimney briskly, and in cold weather Auka is warm... Auka is inventive: he knows a lot of tricky troubles , joker, he will make a monkey, turn over like a wheel and want to scare, it’s kind of scary. Yes, he’s Auka to scare.”

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

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

Baba Yaga has several stable attributes: she can cast magic, fly in a mortar, lives in the forest, in a hut on chicken legs, surrounded by a fence made 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 them with a pestle and covering 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, Baba Yaga the warrior, fighting with whom “to the death”, the hero of the fairy tale moves to a different level of maturity.

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

Victor 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 ends up with 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 clarifying his needs, she always heats the bathhouse and evaporates the hero, thus performing a ritual ablution. Then he feeds the newcomer, which is also a ritual, “mortuary” treat, inadmissible to 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 to the living” in order to get to the “thirtieth kingdom” (another world). There, in the “thirtieth kingdom” (the underworld), where the hero is heading, many dangers always await him, which he has to anticipate 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 with an iron staff. They offered her a bloody sacrifice, thinking that she was feeding it on her two granddaughters, whom they attributed to her, and at the same time enjoying the shedding of blood. Under the influence of Christianity, the people forgot their main gods, remembering only the secondary ones, and especially those myths that have personified phenomena and forces of nature, or symbols of everyday needs. Thus, Baba Yaga from an evil hellish goddess turned into an evil old witch, sometimes an cannibal, who always lives somewhere in the forest, alone, in a hut on chicken legs.<…>In general, traces of Baba Yaga remain only in folk tales, and her myth merges with the myth of witches.”

Babai (babayka) is a night spirit.

Among the ancient Slavs, when it was time to sleep at night, a babay from the garden or from the coastal thickets came under the windows and kept watch. He will hear whims and children's crying - noise, rustling, scratching, knocking on the window.

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

This word (perhaps as a reminder of the Tatar-Mongol yoke) denotes something mysterious, not entirely clear in appearance, unwanted and dangerous.

In the beliefs of the northern regions of Russia, a babai is a terrible lopsided old man. He wanders 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 them from painful attacks and multiplying the offspring, and in case of his anger, Bagan makes females infertile or kills lambs and calves at their very birth.

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

They feed the hay from his manger to the calving cow as if it were a healing medicine.

Sergey Vinogradov. Autumn

Baechnik (perebayechnik) is an evil household spirit. The storyteller appears after telling scary stories about all kinds of evil spirits at night.

He walks barefoot so that no one can hear how he stands over a person with his arms outstretched above his head (he wants to know whether he is scared or not). He will move his hands until he dreams about what he has said and the person wakes up in a cold sweat. If you light a torch at this time, you can see shadows running away; that’s him, the storyteller. Unlike the brownie, it is better not to talk to the storyteller, otherwise you can get dangerously ill.

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

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

Bannik is a spirit that lives in the bathhouse, in the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, frightening people and demanding sacrifices, which he must leave in the bathhouse after washing. Bannik is often 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 man, always barefoot, with iron hands, long hair and fiery eyes. He lives in the bathhouse behind the stove or under the shelf. However, some beliefs depict the bannik in the form of a dog, cat, white bunny and even a horse's head.

The bannik's favorite pastime is to burn people with boiling water, throw stones in the stove, and also knock on the wall, scaring those steaming.

Victor Korolkov. Baennik

Bannik is an evil spirit, he is very dangerous, especially for those who violate the rules of behavior in the bathhouse. It costs him nothing to steam a person to death, rip the skin off a living person, crush him, strangle him, drag him under a hot stove, push him into a water barrel, and prevent him from leaving the bathhouse. There are some pretty scary stories about this.

“It happened in one village. The woman went to the bathhouse alone. Well, then - once again - she runs out naked. She runs out covered in blood. She ran home and her father said to her: what happened? She can't say a word. While they were sealing her off with water... my 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 and managed to shoot twice. Well, apparently, he made the bannik very angry... And the skin, they say, is so stretched on the heater..."

“So the old people told us: “Guys, if you wash in the bathhouse, don’t rush each other, otherwise the bathhouse will crush you.” This was the case. One man was washing himself, and another said to him: “Well, what are you doing there, soon or not?” - He asked three times. And then a voice from the bathhouse: “No, I’m still just ripping him off!”

Well, he was immediately afraid, and then he opened the door, and the guy who was washing himself had only his legs sticking out! He dragged his banner into this gap. It's so crowded that my head is flattened. Well, they pulled him out, but they didn’t have time to rip off his banner.”

Bannik can take on very unexpected images - a passing person, an old man, a woman, a white cow, shaggy people. Baths were generally considered unclean structures. There are no icons in them and they don’t make crosses, but they often tell fortunes. People do not go to the bathhouse with a cross and a belt; they are removed and left in the house (women do the same when washing the floors). Everything that is used for washing - basins, tubs, tubs, gangs, ladles in baths - is considered unclean. You cannot drink water in the bathhouse or from the washstand, and even use the latter to rinse dishes.

To appease the bannik, they leave him a piece of rye bread with a lot of coarse salt. To prevent the bathhouse from causing any harm at all, they take a black chicken, strangle it and bury it under the threshold of the bathhouse.

Konstantin Makovsky. Yuletide fortune telling

Bannik in female form is called bannika, baynitsa, baennaya mother, obderikha. Obderiha is a shaggy, scary old woman. May also appear naked or in the form of a cat. Lives under the shelf.

Another version of the bannik woman is Shishiga. This is a demonic creature that pretends to be familiar, 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 bathhouse with bad intentions, without prayer.

Bannik takes part in Christmas fortune-telling. At midnight, girls approach the open doors of the bathhouse, lifting up their skirts. If the banner is touched with a shaggy hand, the girl will have a rich groom, if he is naked, he will be poor, and if he is wet, he will be a drunkard.

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

White wives and maidens

White wives and maidens are beautiful nymphs of waters (i.e., rain springs), appearing in the summer in light, snow-white cloudy fabrics, 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 depths of mountains and in deep springs, they protect the treasures hidden there - countless riches in gold and precious stones, and are impatiently waiting for their deliverer. A difficult test is imposed on the deliverer: he must hold the maiden by the hand and maintain strict silence, not being afraid of devilish visions; with his kiss he destroys the influence of witchcraft. On certain days of the year, these wives and maidens appear not far from their homes to the eyes of mortals, mainly innocent children and poor shepherds; they usually appear in the spring, when the May flowers bloom, at a time with which the thought of the coming or already occurring awakening of nature from the winter is connected sleep.

Bereginya

Beregini are the guardians of rivers, reservoirs, spirits related to water.

The original name of the Great Goddess is lost in the depths of millennia. There is much evidence that in ancient times the Great Goddess was called Bereginya, and the word “Bereginya” meant “earth”. Thus, the Goddess of the Earth, which in embroidery is often replaced by the image of the Birch, was called Bereginya, i.e. the Earth. Among the Eastern Slavs, she was also called Zhitnaya Baba, Rozhanitsa, Earth, Lada, Slava.

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

Victor Korolkov. Bereginya

Beregini are considered good spirits. They help people get to the shore safe and sound, protect them from the pranks of Vodyanoy, devils and kikimoras.

Beregini appear on Rusalnaya Week, sit on the shore and comb their green braids, weave wreaths, tumble in the rye, organize round dances and lure young guys to them. At the end of Rusal Week, the beregins leave the earth. On the day of Ivan Kupala they were given a farewell.

From a chronological point of view, the worship of the coast guards, as well as ghouls and vampires, dates back 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 a person: evil vampires who need to be driven away and appeased with victims, and good beregins who need to “put needs”, and not only as gratitude, but also so that they actively show their goodwill 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 led people astray. The pagan Slavs believed that the earth remained under the rule 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 use the same word to designate pagan deities.

Goddesses are female mythological characters of the Western Slavs.

They are depicted as old ugly women with large heads, saggy breasts, swollen bellies, crooked legs, black fanged teeth (less often in the guise of pale young girls).

They are often 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 labor who died before the ritual of entry into the church was performed on them, children abducted by goddesses, dead women, women who got rid of the fetus or killed their children, women who committed suicide, perjurers who died during childbirth.

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

Their characteristic actions are washing clothes, baby diapers with loud blows of rollers, chasing and beating the person who interfered with them, dancing, bathing, beckoning and drowning passers-by, dancing them, leading them astray, spinning yarn, combing hair, coming to women in labor, beckoning them, they call them with them, charm them with their voice and gaze, and kidnap women in labor and pregnant women.

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

Vladimir Menk. Morning in the swamp

Fedor Vasiliev. Swamp in the forest. Autumn

Boli-boshka

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

He appears before a person in the form of a poor, weak old man and asks for help finding his lost bag. You can’t give in to his requests - you’ll start thinking about the loss, you’ll get a headache, and you’ll wander through the forest for a long time.

"Quiet! Here comes Boli-boshka himself! – I sensed it, coming: he’s going to get into trouble, he’s in trouble! All emaciated, dwarf, as pale as a fallen leaf, a bird’s lip - Boli-boshka, - a pointed nose, handy, and the eyes seem sad, cunning, cunning.”

(A. M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”)

Swampman

Bolotnik (marsh, bolotnyak, bolotyanik, swamp dedko, swamp jester) is the owner of the swamp.

It was believed that the swampman 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 curled tail, covered with hair. Sometimes he pretends to be an old man and walks along the shore of the swamp.

The swampman lives in a swamp with his wife, a swampwoman. From the waist down she looks like a beautiful girl, but instead of legs she has crow's feet covered with black down. The swamp girl sits in a large water lily to hide these paws and cries bitterly. If a person comes to console her, the swamp woman will attack and drown her in the swamp.

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

Bosorkun

Bosorkun (vitryanik) – mountain spirit.

Together with a strong wind, it flies into 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 disappear completely).

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

Vazila (stable keeper, herd keeper) is the patron spirit of horses; he is represented in human form, but with horse ears and hooves.

According to the ancient belief of Belarusians, every owner has his own Vazila, who takes care of the reproduction of horses and protects them from diseases and seizures. Vazila is always present at the so-called overnight camps, when horses graze in large herds. At these overnight stays, the presence of Vazila is especially necessary to protect the horses from attacks by wolves and other predatory animals. As a result of this belief, Belarusian shepherds often carelessly spend the night partying or sleeping, not at all looking after the herd entrusted to them and leaving the horses to the vigilance of Vazila.

Vazils can be evil and good, they quarrel with each other, make peace, and sometimes they quarrel to the death.

Vedogoni

Vedogoni are souls that live in the bodies of people and animals, and at the same time house geniuses, protecting 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 attacks of other vedogons and from magic spells.

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

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

Among the Montenegrins, these are the souls of the deceased, house geniuses, protecting the housing and property of their blood relatives from attacks by thieves and alien witches.

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 it doesn’t go anywhere, to what mountains, to what stars! He’ll take a walk, see everything, and come back to you. And you will get up in the morning happy after such a dream: the storyteller will tell a fairy tale, the songwriter will sing a song. Vedogon told you all this and sang it to you - both a fairy tale and a song.”

(A. M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”)

In Slavic mythology, witches are sorceresses who 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 appearances. In Rus', 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 on dark deeds from their homes through chimneys and, like all sorcerers, could turn into different animals, most often in forty, pigs, dogs, cats . Such witches could be hit with anything, but pokers and grips would bounce off them like balls until the roosters crowed.

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

A funny incident was described in the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper: “...at the beginning of 1899, a woman (named Tatyana) was almost killed, whom everyone considered to be a witch. Tatyana had a fight with another woman and threatened her that she would ruin her. And this is what happened later due to a street women’s squabble: when the men started shouting 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, speak to my fist so that it doesn’t hit you.”

And hit her on the back of the head. Tatyana fell, and, as if on cue, the other men attacked her and began beating her.

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

The woman screamed obscenities and defended herself so desperately that many had their faces scratched, others had their hands bitten.

The tail, however, was not found.

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

John Waterhouse. Magic circle

Having returned home, the men announced to Tatiana’s husband, Antip, that they would probably decide to send his wife to Siberia and that they would agree to give their sentence if he did not expose buckets of vodka to the whole society.

While drinking, Antip swore and swore that not only had he not seen, but never in his life had he even noticed any tail on Tatyana.

At the same time, however, he did not hide the fact that his wife threatens to turn him into a stallion every time he wants to beat her.

The next day Tatyana came from the volost, and all the men came to her to agree that she would not cast magic in her village, would not spoil anyone, and would not take 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, which said that such nonsense would not happen in the future, and if something like this happened again, then those responsible for it would be punished by law and, in addition, it would be reported to the attention of the zemstvo chief.

The peasants listened to the order and decided with the whole world that the witch had probably bewitched the authorities, and that therefore in the future they should not go to him, but should deal with it in their own way.”

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

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

Slavs. Illustration from “The History of Costume”

“Three people were herding horses at Kupala, and then they saw a pig running. One stood up and ran after her. And the pig turned into a woman - she ran to collect dew. Then this man recognized his godfather in her and said: “What’s good for godfather, so is for me.” And milk poured onto the man. It was a witch, she stole milk.”

“People said: the neighbors were like that. One is bathing in milk, and the other has nothing. “Well, what should we do,” say the husband and son, “we’ll go to the barn to spend the night.” So they went to the barn to catch the witch. Locked from the inside. Here she comes, that witch, and let’s open the door. And they took an ax with them. And when she began to open the door, it was no longer her hand, but her paw, like a dog’s. So, they hit this paw with an ax and chopped it off. And in the mornings that neighbor always came to them, and then - what’s wrong? - she’s not there. They came to the neighbors and asked, and they were told: “She’s lying sick.” 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 any object, but most willingly she turns into a cat, a dog, a pig, a hare, a large toad, and among birds - a crow, an owl or a magpie. It was believed that the witch liked to turn herself into a wheel, a ball of thread, a haystack, a stick, or a basket.

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

In fairy tales, bats and a black cat lived next to witches; broomsticks and magical herbs were certainly present. The witch could take the form of a young attractive girl.

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

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

In order to get to the Sabbath, witches rub themselves with a special ointment made 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 ointment under her arms, the witch sits on a broom, poker, bread shovel or birch stick and flies out through the pipe. To avoid bumping into a tree, mountain or other obstacle while flying, the witch must say: “I’m leaving, I’m leaving, I won’t hit anything.” Many tales 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 watching: a lot of money came, the lamp was lit, and he closed his eyes and looked. The doors don't open, and there are fewer and fewer of them. When there was none left, he looked into the stove, and he was pulled into the chimney, and he ended up near the tar factory (where tar was previously made) on a willow tree, where the witches flocked, they flew in on birch sticks.”

Very often, stories tell about a soldier who stopped for the night in a house whose owner turned out to be a witch. “One soldier stood 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 come to his mistress’s hut.

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

They prepared some kind of ointment and put it on the stove. One after another, women came up, smeared themselves under their arms 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 into the chimney and carried through the air. But since he didn’t pronounce the spell quite correctly, during the flight he bumped into a dry tree, a thorny bush, or a rock and flew to Bald Mountain all beaten up.

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

“Why did you come here?” Who asked you?“

Then she brought him a horse and told him to go back, but warned him that he couldn’t say “whoa” or “but” to this horse. The soldier immediately mounted his horse and turned home, but, flying over the forest, he thought: “What kind of fool would I be if I didn’t tell the horse “whoa” or “but,” and he shouted at the horse: “but!” That very minute he flew down into the thicket of the forest, and the horse immediately turned into a birch stick. It was only on the fourth day that the soldier arrived at his apartment.”

In Ukrainian and Belarusian court documents of the 17th–18th centuries, many accusations of women of flying to the Sabbath and communicating with evil spirits were preserved.

“The defendant said that when her neighbor, having cooked some porridge, gave her something to eat, she and the others, turning into a magpie, flew to the neighboring village and swam in the pond here. There were about thirty other unfamiliar women here, they had their own boss - a “shaggy German.” Then all the witches went to the closet of the house that belonged to the witch and had a council among themselves. When the rooster crowed, they found themselves back in their village. A certain Marianna Kostyukova testified that she flew with the women, among whom there was one main one, who anointed them under their arms with some kind of ointment. They all flew to Mount Shatriya before the day of Ivan Kupala. There they saw a lot of people. We saw a devil in Shatriya in the form of a gentleman in German clothes, in a hat and with a cane. The horned devil played the violin, the “master” himself and his children also had horns. “Pan” danced with them in turns. We had fun until the first rooster crowed, and then flew back. We flew high, above the forests.”

Firs Zhuravlev. Spinner

It was believed that a witch was punished with a heavy death for her sins and connection with evil spirits. They believed that she could not die until they dismantled the ceiling in the house or broke out one board from the roof. After death, the witch's body swells so much that it does not fit into the coffin, and milk flows from her mouth or clothes. A witch must be buried face down. The coffin with her body cannot be carried along the road, but should be taken around the cemetery - through backyards and vegetable gardens. A witch often has a toad or a mouse in her coffin, which cannot be driven out because they embody the evil spirit that has come for the witch’s soul. During the funeral procession, dogs run behind her coffin and then try to dig up the grave. Witches do not know peace in the next world and come out of their graves to harm people, turning into “hostage” dead.

From Domostroy we learn that women-witches went from house to house, treated various ailments, told fortunes, carried news - and were received quite willingly. “Stoglav” says that the litigants, as soon as it came to the field (i.e., before the legal duel), called upon the Magi for help - “and in those days the Magi and Sorcerers from demonic teachings create aid for them, beat magicians, and look at the planets , and they watch for days and hours... and relying on those enchantments, the slanderer and the sneaker are not reconciled, and they kiss the cross, and pour on the butts, and, having slandered, they die.” As a result, the modern “Stoglava” decree demands, under fear of disgrace and spiritual prohibition, that one should not go to sorcerers and astrologers.

The peasant girls confided their secrets to the village witch-witches, and they offered them their services.

One girl who served a rich merchant complained: “He promised to marry me, but he deceived me.” “Just bring me a scrap from his shirt. I’ll give it to the church watchman so that he can tie a rope around this strand, then the merchant won’t know where to go from his melancholy,” this was the witch’s recipe. Another girl wanted to marry a peasant who didn't like her. “Get me the stockings from his legs. I will wash them, speak water at night and give you three grains. Give him that water to drink, throw some grain at his feet as he drives, and everything will be fulfilled.”

Village soothsayers were simply inexhaustible in inventing various recipes, especially in love affairs. Here is a mysterious talisman, which is obtained from a black cat or from frogs. From the first, boiled to the last degree, an “invisible bone” is obtained. The bone is equivalent to walking boots, a flying carpet, a bread-sweet bag and an invisible hat. Two “lucky bones” are taken out of the frog, serving with equal success for both love spells and lapels, i.e., evoking love or disgust.

In Moscow, according to researchers, in the 17th century, women-witches or witches lived on different sides, to whom even boyar wives came to ask for help against the jealousy of their husbands and to consult about their love affairs and about means of how to moderate the anger of others or torment their enemies. In 1635, one “golden” craftswoman dropped a scarf in the palace in which a root was wrapped. A search was ordered for this incident. The craftswoman, when asked where she got the root and why she went with it to the sovereign, answered that the root was not dashing, but carried it with her because of “heartache, that she was sick with her heart,” she complained to one wife that her husband was dashing before her, and She gave her the root to turn, and told her to put it on the mirror and look at it in the glass: then her husband would be kind to her, but she didn’t want to spoil anyone in the royal court and didn’t know any other sidekicks. The defendant and the wife she referred to were exiled to distant cities.

Another similar case happened in 1639. The craftswoman Daria Lomanova sprinkled some powder on the queen’s footprint and said: if only I could touch the heart of the king and the queen, and others are cheap to me. She was interrogated, and she confessed with tears: she went to a woman who was a fortune teller, who turns people over and takes away the hearts of husbands towards their wives and takes away jealousy, this woman told her about salt and soap and ordered her to give salt to her husband in food, and to wash herself with soap, and said that after that her husband would remain silent, no matter what she did, even if she made love with others.

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

The Creatures of El Cuero According to legend, the waters of Chile and Argentina are inhabited by creatures called El Cuero, which means “skin” in Spanish. El Cuero is something similar to the skin of a huge bull, along the edges of which there are processes resembling claws