Myth and Lore

Sudice (Slavic Mythology)

2013-08-17T09:31:00.002-07:00

Also known as: Sudicky, Suđaje ; Rodzanice, Narecznice, Sudiczki (Polish Mythology)

As Slavic mythology tells, the Sudice are spirits of fate and judgement.

A common story tells of three elder women spinners who approach babies' cradles and read their fates. One woman has an enlarged bottom lip from continuously salivating thread, the second woman has an inch-wide thumb for holding the thread's knots, and the third has a massive foot for pedaling the spinning wheels.

Valac

2012-10-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

Also known as: Ualac, Valak, Valax, Valu, Valic, Volac

Valac is referred to as the Mighty Great President of Hell.
30-38 legions of demons are under his command.
Gives true answers about finding hidden treasures.
Reveals where serpents can be seen, and delivers them harmless to the summoner.
Appears as a small poor boy with angel wings riding on a two-headed dragon.

Valac's Seal

Provides lucky numbers.
He moves and flies very fast.
Usually departs through the ceiling after summoning

Bremusa (Greek Mythology)

2012-07-26T14:41:00.001-07:00

Bremusa was one of 12 Amazonian warriors.

Her name means "Raging Female".

She was born in Themiskyra in 1204 BC and fought with Penthesilea.

She was killed outside of Troy in the Trojan Wars; she was killed by Cretan army leader, Idomeneus.

Nuriel (Jewish Theology)

2012-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

"I did lift you up on loving eagle's wings, I have brought you back to me".

Nuriel, is an angel in Jewish mythology. He is referred to as the "fire of the lord" and is the angel responsible for hailstorms and protecting the fire within. In the Syriac Book of Protection, Nuriel is characterized as a "spellbinding power" and is grouped with Michael, Shamshiel, Seraphiel, and other great angels.

Nuriel is the mystical fifth angel who helps humans calibrate the vibrations of Uriel, Raphael, Gabriel & Mikael. Nuriel is often seen in the form of an Eagle.
He is very large, reaching up to 5.6 km in height
Leads an army of 500,000 angels, all created from water and fire.

Jewish Legend--

Nuriel is encountered by Moses in the 2nd heaven. Moses issues from the side of Chesed and Nuriel issues from the side of Geburah, in the form of an eagle.

In gnostic lore, Nuriel is one of seven subordinates to Jehuel, prince of fire.

Nuriel is also effective as a charm for warding off evil. His name is found engraved on oriental and Hebrew amulets, notably those worn by pregnant women.

Birth of Paul Bunyan (Maine)

2012-04-25T14:44:00.002-07:00

Retold by S. E. Schlosser

Now I hear tell that Paul Bunyan was born in Bangor, Maine. It took five giant storks to deliver Paul to his parents. His first bed was a lumber wagon pulled by a team of horses. His father had to drive the wagon up to the top of Maine and back whenever he wanted to rock the baby to sleep.

As a newborn, Paul Bunyan could hollar so loud he scared all the fish out of the rivers and streams. All the local frogs started wearing earmuffs so they wouldn't go deaf when Paul screamed for his breakfast. His parents had to milk two dozen cows morning and night to keep his milk bottle full and his mother had to feed him ten barrels of porrige every two hours to keep his stomach from rumbling and knocking the house down.

Within a week of his birth, Paul Bunyan could fit into his father's clothes. After three weeks, Paul rolled around so much during his nap that he destroyed four square miles of prime timberland. His parents were at their wits' end! They decided to build him a raft and floated it off the coast of Maine. When Paul turned over, it caused a 75 foot tidal wave in the Bay of Fundy. They had to send the British Navy over to Maine to wake him up. The sailors fired every canon they had in the fleet for seven hours straight before Paul Bunyan woke from his nap! When he stepped off the raft, Paul accidentally sank four war ships and he had to scramble around sccooping sailors out of the water before they drowned.

After this incident, Paul's parents decided the East was just too plumb small for him, and so the family moved to Minnesota.

Bannik (Slavic Mythology)

2012-04-17T08:50:00.001-07:00

Bannik is the bathhouse spirit of Slavic culture. The third bath was always left for the Bannik, where he took the opportunity to invite demons and other spirits to accompany him during his bath. No christian imagery was allowed, as it offended the Banniks guests. If they were disturbed, the Bannik had the tendency to poor boiling water on them, suffocate them in steam or kill them through strangulation.

As a result, Slavic peasants did not hang icons in the bathhouse or wear crosses into the bath; they also avoided bathing alone or at night. When a child was born in the bathhouse, the mother and baby were watched carefully, to prevent the bannik from carrying away the unbaptized infant.

Abilities
The Bannik had the ability to predict the future. One consulted him by standing with one's back exposed in the half-open door of the bath. The Bannik would gently stroke one's back if all boded well; but if trouble lay ahead, he would strike with his claws.

Tribute
Slavic bathhouses resemble saunas, where birth often occurs. Pleasing the Bannik was very important. To please the bannik, peasants often thanked him upon exiting the bathhouse.
They also left offerings of:

soap
water
fir branches

Like most household spirits, the bannik could tell fortunes. During the Yuletide season, girls and young women would gather in the bathhouse to consult the bannik about the new year by allowing him to touch them from behind. A warm, soft touch foretold happiness; a cold, prickly touch was a warning of ill fortune.

Family
Sometimes the bannik had a female companion, known as the bannaia or bainikha.

Ovinnik (Slavic Mythology)

2012-04-16T20:57:00.002-07:00

Ovinnik is a spiteful spirit who is known for burning down houses and barns by setting fire to the grain.

Often taking form of a black cat, he would be found in barns. If he became angry (as has easily was) he would set the barn on fire, often with the owner inside.

To please him, peasants would offer him roosters and bliny.

On New Year's Eve, the touch of an Ovinnik would determine their fortune for the New Year. A warm touch meant good luck and fortune, while a cold touch meant unhappiness.

Bauk (Slavic Mythology)

2012-04-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

A bauk is an animal-like creature that hides in dark or abandoned places, waiting patiently for lone wanders to pass by. When a victim is present, the creature will grab and drag its prey into the darkness where it devours and feasts.

A bauk can be scared away with light and noise.

They have been related to the imp and goblin.

"The Leshy" (Slavic Folklore)

2012-04-16T20:13:00.002-07:00

Title: The Leshy
Author: William Ralston Shedden-Ralston

Translator: Ralston, William Ralston Shedden, 1828-1889

A certain priest's daughter went strolling in the forest one day, without having obtained leave from her father or her mother--and she disappeared utterly. Three years went by. Now in the village in which her parents dwelt there lived a bold hunter, who went daily roaming through the thick woods with his dog and his gun. One day he was going through the forest; all of a sudden his dog began to bark, and the hair of its back bristled up. The sportsman looked, and saw lying in the woodland path before him a log, and on the log there sat a moujik plaiting a bast shoe. And as he plaited the shoe, he kept looking up at the moon, and saying with a menacing gesture:--

"Shine, shine, O bright moon!"

The sportsman was astounded. "How comes it," thinks he, "that the moujik looks like that?--he is still young; but his hair is grey as a badger's."

He only thought these words, but the other replied, as if guessing what he meant:--

"Grey am I, being the devil's grandfather!"

Then the sportsman guessed that he had before him no mere moujik, but a Léshy. He levelled his gun and--bang! he let him have it right in the paunch. The Léshy groaned, and seemed to be going to fall across the log; but directly afterwards he got up and dragged himself into the thickets. After him ran the dog in pursuit, and after the dog followed the sportsman. He walked and walked, and came to a hill: in that hill was a fissure, and in the fissure stood a hut. He entered the hut--there on a bench lay the Léshy stone dead, and by his side a damsel, exclaiming, amid bitter tears:--

"Who now will give me to eat and to drink?"

"Hail, fair maiden!" says the hunter. "Tell me whence thou comest, and whose daughter thou art?"

"Ah, good youth! I know not that myself, any more than if I had never seen the free light--never known a father and mother."

"Well, get ready as soon as you can. I will take you back to Holy Russia."

So he took her away with him, and brought her out of the forest. And all the way he went along, he cut marks on the trees. Now this damsel had been carried off by the Léshy, and had lived in his hut for three years--her clothes were all worn out, or had got torn off her back, so that she was stark naked but she wasn't a bit ashamed of that. When they reached the village, the sportsman began asking whether there was any one there who had lost a girl. Up came the priest, and cried, "Why, that's my daughter." Up came running the priest's wife, and cried:--

"O thou dear child! where hast thou been so long? I had no hope of ever seeing thee again."

But the girl gazed and just blinked with her eyes, understanding nothing. After a time, however, she began slowly to come back to her senses. Then the priest and his wife gave her in marriage to the hunter, and rewarded him with all sorts of good things. And they went in search of the hut in which she had lived while she was with the Léshy. Long did they wander about the forest; but that hut they never found.

Leshy (Slavic Mythology)

2012-04-16T20:11:00.000-07:00

Other Names: Lešy, Lesovik, Lesovy, Lesny, Lešak, Lesnik, Lesun (all revolving around the term "forest")

A misguided traveler serves as perfect game for a Leshy's evil tricks. As big as a tree or as small as a leaf, these shape-shifting spirits wander the woods, protecting the animals and tormenting the humans.

A Leshy is a spirit of the Slavic forests. They serve as the protectors of the various forests and its animals, having a close bond with gray wolves and often being accompanied by bears. They naturally are the form of a large human-looking being, but can shape-shift into any plant or animal. They have long hair and beards made of living grass and vines. In the center of a forest, they are a tree-like giant, who camouflage nicely with their long limbs, grassy eyebrows, and no detectable shadows. However, their eyes are always apparent, as they are very bright and green. As they wander away from the center of their forests, they grow smaller. By the time they have reached the forest's edge, their tiny enough to hide under leaves.

'Innocent' Tricksters
Although, lore describes these spirits as non-evil, they are very mischievous as they wander around the forests. Most commonly they will engage in misleading travelers on wrongful paths deeper into their kingdom of trees. The will eventually let most travelers go.

A leshy has the ability to imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers.They will cry out and get their victims to wander deeper into forests or caves. Being tickled to death by a Leshy has been known to happen. This is most likely because they don't know when "to much fun" is enough and wind up killing their victims accidentally.

Leshies have also been known to remove signs and steel axe heads from woodcutters.

Escaping a Leshy:

If you get lost, sit under a tree and put your clothes on backwards. Put your left shoe on your right foot, and a Leshy's respect will be gained, releasing you from their evil games.
The sign of the cross often works
If all else fails, set the forest ablaze behind you and don't look back; he will soon be to concerned with putting out the fire and will forget why his mischief fell upon your poor soul.

Pacts
If a person manages to befriend a leshy, they will in return receive the secrets of magic. Farmers and shepherds would often make pacts with the leshy to protect their crops and sheep. A common way of attaining a pact is one would offer their cross from around their neck and share communion with the Leshy after church.

Leshy's have been known to keep cattle from wandering too far into the forests and getting lost.

Territorial Spirits
If more than one leshy inhabits a forest, they will fight for territorial rights. The evidence is in the fallen trees scattered about and scared animals.

Not Alone
Their wives are referred to as leshachikha or leszachka and their children are called leshonky. A leshy and his family live together in the forest performing their mischievous deeds together.

Other Facts:

Controls the mass migration of animals
Has blue blood
A leshy has also possesses the ability to make travelers sick.

Folklore Tales

The Leshy

Joint-Eater

2012-03-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Celtic mythology

Also known as: Alp-Luarchra

A Joint-eater is a type of fairy who sits invisibly and consumes half of their victim's food.

A man haunted by a joint-eater will never grow fat, because the pith or quintessence of the food is consumed by the fairy.People who consume newts are thought to be plagued in this way.

A folk remedy states that to rid one's self of a Joint-Eater, one should eat a large quantity of salt beef, without drinking anything, and then lay by a running stream with mouth wide open. After a long wait, the Joint-Eater will become thirsty, and will jump into the stream to drink.

Góntia

2012-03-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Also Known As: Guntia

Góntia was a Celtic goddess. Her name may be etymologically related to the Celtic word condate ("confluence"). She may have been the tutelary deity of the river Günz, which is near Günzburg in Germany. She also appears to be connected with the Belgian city Ghent.

Fachen

2012-03-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

Celtic Mythology

Also known as: Fachan, Fachin, Peg Leg Jack

A Fachen is a creature with only half a body in Scottish and Scots-Irish folklore. Supposedly its appearance, which includes a mane of black feathers tufted at the top and a very wide mouth, is so frightening that it induces heart attacks. It can destroy an orchard with a chain in its strong, singular, withered arm, in a single night.

A story in John Francis Campbell's Popular Tales of the West Highlands features a Fachen named Nesnas Mhiccallain being defeated in a race by the story's hero, Murachadh Mac Brian, who became king of Ireland. In Popular Tales of the West Highlands the Fachen is described as follows:

Ugly was the make of the Fachin; there was one hand out of the ridge of his chest, and one tuft out of the top of his head, it were easier to take a mountain from the root than to bend that tuft.

It is also known as Direach Ghlinn Eitidh, or the Dwarf of Glen Etive.

Elatha

2012-03-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Celtic Mythology
Also known as: Alathan, Ealadha, Elada

Father: Dalbaech

Children: Bres (by Eri of Tuatha Dé Danann), Dagda, Ogma, Delbaeth, (by unknown)

Was a prince of the Fomorians and the father of Bres. He was remarkably handsome, with a known sense of humor and nobility

He was one of the Fomorian leaders who took part in the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh. During this battle, Elatha looked over Dagda's magic Harp.

Elatha and Bres
Bres mother, Eri, told him that his father was Elatha, one of the Kings of the Fomorians; that he had come to her one time over a level sea in a great vessel that seemed to be of silver; that he himself had the appearance of a young man with yellow hair, his clothes decked with gold and five rings of gold around his neck. She had refused the love of all the young men of her own people, had given him her love and cried when he had left her.

Before he left he had given her a ring from his own hand and had bade her give it only to the man whose finger it would fit. Eri brought out the ring and put it on the finger of Bres and it fitted him well. She and Bres and some of their followers then set out of the land of the Fomorians. At long last they came to that faraway land.

Elatha the local King saw the ring on Bres’s hand and asked him the whole story and said that Bres was his own son. Elatha then asked Bres what it was that drove him out of his own country and his own kingship. Bres answered truthfully: “Nothing drove me out but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their treasures from the people and their jewels and their food itself. And there were never taxes put on them before I was their King. And still I am come to look for fighting men that I may take Ireland by force”. Elathan listened and then bade him go to the chief King of the Fomorians, Balar of the Evil Eye.

Ethniu

2012-03-12T12:37:00.002-07:00

Cian finds Ethniu

Celtic Mythology

Also known As: Eithne, Ethliu, Ethlinn

Father: Balor

Children: Lugh

Being the daughter of Fomorian warlord, Balor, Ethniu's life was made very rough. She was imprisoned in a tower on Tory Island away from the grasps of any man after her father had a vision that he would be killed by his own grandson.

After many years, Ethniu is seduced by Cian of Tuatha Dé Danann, in her own chambers after Balor makes the mistake of stealing Cian's magical cow. Out for revenge, Cian got into the tower by the help of a druid.

Ethniu gives birth to triplets, but is stripped of her children by her father. Balor sends one of his men to drown all three children in the waters nearby. The man drowns two of them, but when dealing with the third baby he grew careless and threw the it into the water, assuming it would drown. The baby is saved by the druid Birog (who was the same druid who helped Ciad early on). Fearful, Ethniu gives the baby to Cian, who then gives the baby to his brother, Gavida.

The boy, known as Lugh, grows up with one main mission, to kill Balor.

Nemed

2012-03-12T11:58:00.001-07:00

Also Known As: Nemedh, Nemhidh or Neimhidh

Grandfather: Piamp

Father: Agnoman of Scythia
Children: Starn, Artur, Fergus Lethderg

Nemed, meaning "holy" or "privileged," was a leader of the Nemedians, who were the third group of inhabitants on Ireland (following Fomoairans and Patholon).

Nemed sailed to Ireland when he received word that the land had been vacant for nearly thirty years, following the plague that supposedly killed all of the previously inhabitants. Taking his four sons and chieftains Starn, Iarbonel the Soothsayer, Annind, and Fergus Red-Side, he embarked on a journey to Ireland with a fleet of 44 ships, which took a year and a half. By the time of their arrival, only one ship was still present. His wife, Macha, died two weeks after they arrived, in 2350 BC.

Upon arrival Nemed and his men were surprised to see that Ireland was still in fact inhabited, by the Fomorians. Territory clashes arose from the two sides. Nemed won the battle of Ros Fraechain against Gann and Sengann, two kings of the Fomorians, who were both killed. He won three more battles against the Fomorians, at Badbgna in Connacht, Cnamros in Leinster (in which Artur, Nemed's first son born in Ireland, died), and Murbolg in Dal Riada (where his son Starn was killed by the Fomorian Conand).

When Nemed died of plague, his people were enslaved by the Fomorians.

He is featured in The Book of Invasions.

Conand

2012-03-12T11:00:00.001-07:00

Also Known As: Conann and Conaing

Conand was a leader of the Fomorians who lived in a massive glass tower (Tor Conaind) on Tory Island. He enslaved the followers of Nemed, demanding a huge tribute of their produce and children. Eventually Nemed's son, Fergus Lethderg, led a rebellion of nearly 60,000 men to fight back. They invaded Tory Island, killing Conand and destroying his tower.

Freybug

2012-03-12T09:33:00.002-07:00

A freybug is a monstrous Black Dog that was referred to in medieval English folklore (Norfolk). Matching the size of a calf, this beast's prey was typically drunks wandering home after leaving the taverns of small England towns. Wandering travelers along vacant country roads also were known to victim to these mysterious and stealthy beasts.

The name "Freybug" is mentioned in an English manuscript from 1555.

The name has been reused in Final Fantasy XI.

Werewolf

2012-03-12T08:45:00.000-07:00

The term "werewolf" is used to describe a human who has the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse and/or lycanthropic affliction via a bite or scratch from a werewolf, or some other means. This transformation is often associated with the appearance of the full moon, as popularly noted by the medieval chronicler Gervase of Tilbury, and perhaps in earlier times among the ancient Greeks through the writings of Petronius.

Werewolves are often attributed superhuman strength, speed, and senses, far beyond those of both wolves and men. The werewolf is generally held as a European character, although its lore spread through the world in later times. Shape-shifters, similar to werewolves, are common in tales from all over the world, most notably amongst the Native Americans, though most of them involve animal forms other than wolves.

Werewolves are a frequent subject of modern fiction, although fictional werewolves have been attributed traits distinct from those of original folklore. For example, the ideas that werewolves are only vulnerable to silver bullets or that they can cause others to become werewolves by biting or wounding them derive from works of modern fiction. Werewolves continue to endure in modern culture and fiction, with books, films and television shows cementing the werewolf's stance as a dominant figure in horror.

Types of Werewolves
lycanthropy
Kurtadam (Asia)

Werewolf's in History

1550 BC – King Lycaon of Arcadia serves human flesh to the god Zeus and is transformed into a wolf as punishment. The term “Lycanthrope” is derived from this story.

440 BC – In “Histories of Herodotus“, the traveller Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC – 425 BC) writes of the Neuri people, who transform into wolves once a year.

400 BC – A victorious Olympic boxer by the name of Damarchus, an Arcadian of Parrhasia, is said to have transformed into that of a wolf at the sacrifice of Lycaean (Wolf) Zeus, and nine years after he became a man again.

37 BC – Roman poet Virgil (70 BC – 19 BC), in the “Eclogues”, tells of the change of Moeris to the form of a wolf by the use of herbs.

2 BC – 8 AD – Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 AD) writes “Metamorphoses” including a verse about Lycaon, who is transformed into a wolf by the god Zeus.

60 – “Satyricon“, by Roman writer Petronius (27-66 AD), contains a detailed account of a soldier who is a werewolf.

432 – St. Patrick arrives in Ireland

970 – A man named Baianus is believed to be able to turn himself into a wolf through the arts of necromancy.

1020 – First use of the word “werewulf” recorded in English

1101 – Death of Vseslav Bryachislavich, the most famous ruler of Polotsk, believed by many to be a werewolf.

1182 – Welsh historian Giraldus Cambrensis (1146 – 1223) encounters Irish werewolves who transform during the Yuletide feast. The werewolves were reportedly natives of Ossory, whose people had been cursed by St. Natalis for their wickedness.

1194-1197 – Guillaume de Palerne composed.

1198 – Marie de France composes Bisclavret.

1250 – Lai de Melion composed.

1502? 1521? – The three werewolves of Poligny, Pierre Bourgot, Michel Verdung (or Udon), and Philibert Mentot are burnt at the stake being werewolves.

1541 – In Pavia, Italy, a farmer in the form of a wolf is said to have torn many men in the open country to pieces. After being captured, he assures his captors that the only difference between himself and a natural wolf, was that in a true wolf the hair grew outward, whilst in him it struck inward. In order to put this assertion to the proof, the magistrates cut off his arms and legs, and he dies from wounds.

1555 – Olaus Magnus records strange behavior of Baltic werewolves.

1573 – Gilles Garnier, the Werewolf of Dole, is burnt at the stake.

1578 – Jacques Rollet goes on trial in Paris. He was found guilty of being a werewolf.

1588 – The Werewolf of Auvergne is burned at the stake.

1589 – Peter Stubb is executed in Germany after terrorizing the countryside near Cologne in the form of a wolf.

1590 – Michel Jaques confesses to becoming a wolf seven or eight times after anointing himself with an unguent given to him by the devil.

1598 – The “Werewolf of Châlons“, known also as the “Demon Tailor”, was arraigned in France on December 14, on murder charges.

1598 – The same year, the Gandillon family, a sister, brother and two of the man’s children were tried together in France.

1598 – Jacques Roulet, a begger, is arrested in Caude in the vicinity of Angers, France for being a werewolf.

1602 – Michée Bauloz, along with Jeanne de la Pierre and Suzanne Prevost are condemned.

1603 – Teenage Jean Grenier tried as werewolf and is sentenced to life imprisonment.

1623 – There are a series of court trials in which eighteen men and thirteen women are tried for lycanthropy.

1692 – An 80-year-old man named Thiess is tried in Jurgenburg, Livonia. He confesses to being a werewolf. Judges sentence Thiess to ten lashes for acts of idolatry and superstitious beliefs.

1764 – 1767 – The Beast of Gévaudan terrorizes the former province of Gévaudan, in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France. There were over 100 victims.

1812 – Grimm Brothers publish their version of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

1824 – Antoine Leger tried for werewolf crimes and sentenced to lunatic asylum.

1852 – Traveling vendor Manuel Blanco Romasanta confesses to the murders of thirteen people. Romasanta was tried in Allariz and eluded capital punishment by professing he was a werewolf.

1865 – “The Book of Were-Wolves” is written by the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould. Still considered one of the leading books on werewolf history.

1920 – Right-wing terror group “Operation Werewolf” established in Germany.

1933 – British Occult writer and clergyman Montague Summers publishes “The Werewolf.” He is still known today for his ridiculous writings on witches, vampires, and werewolves.

1941 – The film “The Wolf Man” starring Lon Chaney Jr. is released.

1948 – Robert Eisler delivers his lecture “Man into Wolf: An Anthropological Interpretation of Sadism, Masochism, and Lycanthropy” to the Psychiatric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, England.

1981 – The film “An American Werewolf in London” is released and includes first four-footed werewolf.

1989 – The first sighting of the beast of Bray Road.