Aleksey Poskrebyshev

In Slavic folklore, the rusalka is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melusine and the Germanic Nixie. Folklorists have proposed a variety of origins for the entity, including that they may originally stem from Slavic paganism, where they may have been seen as benevolent spirits. Rusalki appear in a variety of media in modern popular culture, particularly in Slavic language-speaking countries, where they frequently resemble the concept of the mermaid.

The origin of the tales is unknown. The archetype may contain elements derived from the 12th-century pagan Cuman-Kipchak (Polovtsian) leader Khan Konchak, who is recorded in The Tale of Igor's Campaign; over time a balanced view of the non-Christian Cuman Khan may have been distorted or caricatured by Christian Slavic writers.

By at least the 18th century, and likely earlier, Koschei's legend had been appearing in Slavic tales. For a long period no connection was made with any historical character

Koschei (Russian: Коще́й, tr. Koshchey, IPA: [kɐˈɕːej]), often given the epithet "the Immortal", or "the Deathless" (Russian: Коще́й Бессме́ртный), is an archetypal male antagonist in Russian folklore.

The most common feature of tales involving Koschei is a spell which prevents him from being killed. He hides his soul inside nested objects to protect it. For example, the soul (or in the tales, it is usually called "death") may be hidden in the needle that is hidden inside the egg, the egg is in the duck, the duck is in the hare, the hare is in the chest, the chest is buried or chained up on a far island. Usually he takes the role of a malevolent rival father figure, who competes for (or entraps) a male hero's love interest.

There are two different kinds of Kikimoras. The one that comes from the forest is married to the Domovoi. The other one comes from the swamp (Russian: кики́мора боло́тная) and is married to Leshy. It is said that she can be identified by her wet footprints. When home builders wanted to cause harm to someone buying a house, they would bring in Kikimora. Once she is inside, it is difficult to get her to leave.

The swamp Kikimora was usually described as a small, ugly, hunchbacked, thin, and scruffy old woman with pointed nose and disheveled hair. She was said to use moss and grass as her clothes. It was believed that she frightens people, knocks travelers off the road or even drowns them. She also kidnaps children.

There is a Russian bylichka about one swamp Kikimora, who loved to brew beer. Her name was Baba Bolotnitsa (Russian: Ба́ба-боло́тница). When she was brewing beer, fog rose over the river (or swamp).

When the house is in order, Kikimora looks after the chickens and housework. If not, she whistles, breaks dishes, and makes noises at night. She also comes out at night to spin thread.

Features and behaviours

It is a common belief that mora enters the room through the keyhole, sits on the chest of the sleepers and tries to strangle them (hence moriti, "to torture", "to bother", "to strangle"). To repel moras, children are advised to look at the window or to turn the pillow and make a sign of cross on it (prekrstiti jastuk); in the early 19th century, Vuk Karadžić mentions that people would repel moras by leaving a broom upside down behind the door, or putting their belt on top of their sheets, or saying an elaborate prayer poem before they go to sleep.

There are two different kinds of Kikimoras. The one that comes from the forest is married to the Domovoi. The other one comes from the swamp (Russian: кики́мора боло́тная) and is married to Leshy. It is said that she can be identified by her wet footprints.

Kikimora (Russian: кики́мора, IPA: [kʲɪˈkʲimərə]) is a legendary creature, a female house spirit in Slavic mythology. Her role in the house is usually juxtaposed with that of the domovoy, where one of them is considered a "bad" spirit, and the other, a "good" one. When the kikimora inhabits a house, she lives behind the stove or in the cellar, and usually produces noises similar to those made by the mice in order to obtain food. Kikimory (in plural) were the first traditional explanation for sleep paralysis in Russian folklore.

Modern sightings

Though the creature is used in precautionary tales for children, there are adults who still believe in its existence. According to the guide of a reporter of Duga magazine, numerous villagers on the mountain of Zlatibor report seeing it, and many inhabitants claim to have heard it.

Some modern sightings happened:

In 1992, it was reported that in the Krvavica, the villagers found remains of an animal unlike any known from the area, and claimed it was a drekavac. It was described as looking like a dog, but with a "snake-like" head and hind legs "similar" to those of a kangaroo. Later, it was revealed to be just a rotten carcass of a fox;

In 2003, in the village of Tometino Polje near Divcibare, a series of attacks on sheep occurred, with some villagers concluding that they had been perpetrated by a drekavac. Other villagers disagreed, seeing as the attacks took place in the daytime, as opposed to night, when the drekavac is supposedly more active.

The drekavac was originally thought to have come from the souls of sinful men, or from children who died unbaptised.

It was popularly believed to be visible only at night, especially during the twelve days of Christmas (called unbaptised days in Serbo-Croatian) and in early spring, when other demons and mythical creatures were believed to be more active. When assuming the form of a child, it predicts someone's death, while in its animal form, it predicts cattle disease. The drekavac is believed to avoid dogs and bright light. Also, it is believed that if the shadow of drekavac falls upon some person then that person will turn sick and die.

In his esoteric cosmography Roza Mira (1997), Daniil Andreev maintains that Sirins, Alkonosts, and Gamayuns are transformed into Archangels in Paradise.

Gamayun is a prophetic bird of Russian folklore. It is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge and lives on an island in the mythical east, close to paradise.[citation needed] She is said to spread divine messages and prophecies, as she knows everything of all creation, gods, heroes, and man. Like the Sirin and the Alkonost, other creatures likewise deriving ultimately from the Greek myths and siren mythology, the Gamayun is normally depicted as a large bird with a woman's head.[citation needed] In the books of the 17th-19th centuries, Gamayun was described as a legless and wingless bird, ever-flying with the help of a tail, foreshadowing the death of statesmen by her fall.

By extension, the word ghoul is also used in a derogatory sense to refer to a person who delights in the macabre or whose profession is linked directly to death, such as a gravedigger or graverobber.

Early etymology

Ghoul is from the Arabic غُول ghūl, from غَالَ ghāla, "to seize". In Arabic, the term is also sometimes used to describe a greedy or gluttonous individual. See also the etymology of gal and gala: "to cast spells," "scream," "crow," and its association with "warlike ardor," "wrath," and the Akkadian "gallu," which refer to demons of the underworld.

The term was first used in English literature in 1786 in William Beckford's Orientalist novel Vathek, which describes the ghūl of Arabic folklore. This definition of the ghoul has persisted until modern times with ghouls appearing in popular culture

Ghoul (Arabic: غول, ghūl) is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid originating in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh. In modern fiction, the term has often been used for a certain kind of undead monster.

By extension, the word ghoul is also used in a derogatory sense to refer to a person who delights in the macabre or whose profession is linked directly to death, such as a gravedigger or graverobber