235. "Let my people go!" and “Am Yisrael Chai! / The people of Israel are alive!” "Let my people go!" and "Am Yisrael Chai!" is, respectively, the motto and anthem of the movement in support of Soviet Jews. The first phrase reproduces Moshe's demand to Pharaoh (Shemot, 7:16) and is often found

LAMEDOVNIKI
There are on earth - and always have been - thirty-six righteous, whose purpose is to justify the world before God. These are lampshades. They don't know each other, and they're all very poor. As soon as a person suddenly finds out that he is a Lamedian, he immediately dies, and another one takes his place, even if at the other end of the earth. Without knowing it, they are the secret pillars that support our world. Without their intercession, God would have destroyed the human race. They are our saviors and they don't know it themselves.
This mystical belief of the Jews was expounded by Max Brod.
Its distant roots can be seen in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Genesis, where the Lord declares that he will not destroy the city of Sodom if there are ten righteous people there. The Arabs have a similar image - kutbs.

LAMIA
According to the Roman and Greek classics, lamias lived in Africa. Above the belt they have uniforms beautiful woman, the lower half is serpentine. Some called them witches, others - evil monsters. They are deprived of the ability to speak, but they can whistle melodiously. They lure travelers in the desert and devour them.
They are of divine origin - they are the descendants of one of the many love affairs of Zeus. Robert Burton, in that part of his "Anatomy of Melancholy" (1621), which deals with love passion, tells the story of a lamia who took on human form and seduced a young philosopher "no less beautiful than she." She took him to her palace in the city of Corinth. The magician Apollonius of Tyana, invited to the wedding, named her lamia true name, and in an instant both the lamia and the palace disappeared. Shortly before his death, John Keats (1795-1821), inspired by Burton's story, wrote a poem on this subject.

LAMASHTU
Lamashtu - in Akkadian mythology, a lion-headed demon woman rising from underworld, sending diseases to people, kidnapping children; demon of childhood diseases. Depicted breastfeeding a pig and a dog. Its attributes are often a comb and a spindle. In Sumerian mythology, she approximately corresponded to Dimma.

LAM
In Bulgaria, this monster with the body of a snake and the head of a dog is widely known. Lamya, shrouded in a black cloud, descends on fields and orchards, devouring the crops of fields and orchards. The image of Lamy is connected by deep roots with the ancient Greek Lamia.

A LION
The lion, like the eagle, is an animal that symbolizes dominance, often appears in heraldry and is characterized in fables as the “king of beasts.” Astrologically associated as a constellation with the “planets” of the Sun, its symbolic features also have a solar character.

LEVIATHAN
"Wriggling Beast". The mythical sea monster, whose image passed from Babylon and Canaan as the personification of all the forces of evil. God created Leviathan to "play with him"; he had many heads; he was destroyed by God prehistoric times. Huge eyes allow you to see through the dark water column. in double row the sharpest teeth sparkle in a huge mouth. Long thin neck crowned with a huge elongated head.

LEUCROTH
In the multi-volume natural history» Pliny the Elder, who lived in Rome in the 1st century, tells the following about Leukrot. She lives in India. The growth of Leucrot from a donkey. Her hind legs are those of a deer. Lion's chest, horse's head. The mouth is up to the ears, and in the mouth instead of teeth there is one solid bone plate. Leukrota makes sounds reminiscent of human voice and runs extremely fast.

LEMURS
Ghosts appearing in the form of vampires and sucking blood from living people. The ancients assumed that the souls of people after death wander the earth, embarrassing the peace of the inhabitants. Good spirits were called Lares familiares (Family Lares (lat.), Evil ones were called Lemures.
It was the custom of the Romans to hold festivals in their honor in May called "lemurii" or "lemuralia". The celebrations lasted three days, during which the temples of the gods were closed and weddings were prohibited. There was a custom to throw black beans on the graves of the dead or burn them, as it was believed that lemurs could not stand this smoke. They also uttered magic words and beat the cauldrons and drums, believing that the spirits would leave and never return to disturb people on earth.

LEPRICON
Small gnome-like creatures that lived in the hills of Ireland. They are said to each have a pot of gold or grant three wishes. If a person is lucky and he caught the Leprechaun, then he can force him to show the place where his gold is hidden. But beware, catching a Leprechaun is not easy because he is smart. But once caught - never look into his eyes, he will disappear, you just have to blink.

LERNEAN HYDRA
A monster with a snake body and nine dragon heads. The hydra lived in a swamp near the city of Lerna. She crawled out of her lair and destroyed entire herds.

LIFTS
Children of goblin and kikimora. They love to play pranks, knock travelers off the road, confuse paths, pour dust on their heads and wrap them in cobwebs.

LESTRIGON
The Lestrigons are a mythical tribe of cannibal giants that lived in eastern Sicily. In their country there were such short nights that the shepherd leading his flock to pasture in the morning met another shepherd who drove his cattle into the stall at night.

LETAVITSA
For Russians: an evil spirit in the form of a flying star, which on Earth takes the form of a person who enchants with magical charms. Letvitsy are female and male. The latter in Little Russia is called peristoli. They believe that these creatures appear to girls and boys in solitude. When a star falls, they say "The ram broke his head, and you too!" In addition, they carry a bow with them. Having fallen ill from the spell of the letavitsa, they are treated with the juice of herbs: troyada, delyana and trojan.

LETAVETS
Letavets, flyer - a snake or unclean in the form of a snake among the ancient Slavs, visiting women (including turning into dead or absent husbands)
According to a message from Nizhny Novgorod province, “the flyers seem to be yearning for the dead or for those who are away, taking on the appearance of those others. Volatile unequal size, come from a goose or less; the flight is slow and like a wave, they are red in color, like hot coals; over the place where they fly, crumble bright stars, and therefore otherwise called loose "
In 1709, a court case was heard in the Kamenets magistrate on the charge of the petty bourgeois Kletskaya “in connection with the Lyatavian”: “At the trial, Kleikaya tried to justify herself, denying the rumors spread by her: “I didn’t say anything about the Lyatavets and I don’t know anything about this subject” ” 3. Antonovich, who brings this evidence, notes that "Lyatavets - a flying evil spirit - is one of the superstitious explanations for shooting stars."

FLYER
A snake or an unclean one in the form of a snake among the ancient Slavs, visiting women (including turning into dead or absent husbands).

Leshy
The forest goblin lives in a forest thicket. He knows how to turn around, appears in the form of a decrepit old man, or a tree, a bear. Sometimes he screams in the forest and scares people. Goblin is a wolf and bear shepherd, all the animals in the forest obey him. He guards the forest and forest animals, because lumberjacks and hunters are afraid of him. Goblin either as tall as grass, or as tall as a pine, and usually a simple peasant, only his caftan will be wrapped around right side and the shoe is shod on the contrary; his eyes burn with green fire, Leshy's hair is long gray-green, his face has neither eyelashes nor eyebrows. The appearance is similar to a man, but only covered from head to toe with hair. He tries to pretend to be a man to the one he meets, but it is easy to expose him when you look through the right ear of the horse.
Goblin loves to fool travelers and knocks them off the path, confusing paths and starting to drive in circles.
Leshy can go around a careless person, and he will rush about inside for a long time. magic circle, unable to cross the closed line. But Goblin, like all living things, nature knows how to repay good for good. And he needs only one thing: that a person, entering the forest, respects the forest laws, and does not harm the forest. And Goblin will be very happy if you leave him delicacies somewhere on a stump that do not grow in the forest, a pie, a gingerbread, and say thank you aloud for the mushrooms and berries.
Leshy was the rightful master of the forests. But at the same time, he did not hesitate to leave his territory and annoy people in their homes. They say that goblin lived in the forest in a hut, married lost girls, and led the most ordinary household. Only they didn’t have to sow, reap, or milk cows. The goblins got the necessary belongings and food in the village: they looked which of the housewives did not bless the food, who was too lazy to cross household utensils and clothes, who does not read a prayer before milking or sowing - and then they stole all this unblessed good. However, lone goblin lived in dense reeds or forest slums, and mostly had fun confusing people.
It is best for a person not to meet with a goblin. Is he in different types, being essentially a wingless, incorporeal and hornless spirit. His favorite appearance is a decrepit old man, suddenly for no reason - for no reason at all appearing in front of a traveler in the forest. Can he act in absentia, uttering wild, terrifying cries, why man goes astray and then wanders for a long time. Satisfied that the joke was a success, the goblin laughs heart-rendingly and claps his hands, which, no doubt, does not add joy to the lost. The following method was considered by the people to be the only remedy against these evil machinations: having discovered that the paths-roads are lost, you should turn out and put on absolutely all the clothes inside out - and then the spell is dispelled, and the unfortunate traveler manages to leave the terrible forest ... They obey God Yarila and his father - Veles.

LI ZHU
Li Zhu - in ancient Chinese mythology, a three-headed man guarding on sacred mountain Kunlun is a magical fuchangshu tree, on which the wonderful langan stone ripens.

LIDERK
Hungarian evil spirit main feature which is that he sucks people's blood. Appears in different guises: woman, man, animal or bright light(such as a wandering light or a fading candle, sometimes a luminous body that looks like a person in outline). Unlike a werewolf, a leader cannot change into any creature at will. Leaderk is many-sided, but thanks to magical power he can only be seen in one guise at a time. The leader turns into an incubus when dealing with women, and a succubus when dealing with men. Sexual contacts with the leader often end for the partner in death from exhaustion. To escape from him, you need to tie a garter around the doorknob and use against him the standard drug in these cases - garlic.

LIZUN
The spirit that lives behind the stove or in the underground of the house, brownie.
Lizun is one of the taboo names of the house spirit, which, according to legend, licks, licks people's hair, cattle hair at night, licks dishes left anywhere. Lizun can resemble a furry animal: “And then once he (Lizun) began to lick me on the head with such a harsh tongue.” What do you think parables are? I grabbed him by the fur. Cat and more! And the cats in our house, I must say, have not happened for a long time. I see it's not good. Let's read a prayer and be baptized. Fortunately, his hands were not taken away, he forcibly disowned.
The peasants frightened the children with a mysterious shaggy lizun: “The lizun lives under the stove, there in the kitchen, in the closet. Don't cry, the slime will eat you there. Lizun lives underground.
Lizun, which lives under the stove and comes out when no one is around (may appear in the baths), scared the kids in the Smolensk region, as well as in the Yaroslavl, Tver, Kostroma provinces. “There were more slimes. They tell us: “Don’t go late!” - Someone yellow is looking out the window in the bathhouse! Such an animal, four legs, yellow. You were just given to us, it really happened.
In the Smolensk region, a lizun is a “baby scarecrow”, but a lizun is also a “sheaf of flame fire”.

LILITH
"For before Eve there was Lilith," says the Hebrew text. The legend of her inspired the English poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) to write the poem "Eden Bower". Lilith was a snake, she was Adam's first wife and gave him "glittering sons and radiant daughters" ("sparkling sons and radiant daughters"). God created Eve later; in order to take revenge on the earthly wife of Adam, Lilith persuaded her to taste the forbidden fruit and conceive Cain, brother and murderer of Abel. This is the original form of myth followed by Rossetti. During the Middle Ages, it changed under the influence of the word "layil", which in Hebrew means "night". Lilith was no longer a snake, but the spirit of the night. Sometimes she is an angel in charge of the birth of people, sometimes she commands demons who attack travelers sleeping alone or wandering along the roads. In the popular imagination, she appears as a tall, silent woman with black flowing hair.

LLAMHIGIN-I-DUR
Llamhigin-i-dur - in Welsh folklore, water fairies, whose nickname means "water jumpers". They tear fishing nets, devour sheep that accidentally fall into the water; they also emit heart-rending cries, frightening the fishermen, who freeze in a daze: then the jumpers grab them and drag them to the bottom. Jumpers look like huge toads with wings and a tail.

LEADWORM
This creature is a "relative" of the dragon, but it has no legs, but only wings.

LOBASTS
Along the banks of the rivers, in the reeds, mermaids-lobastes (albastes) live, they are more dangerous than ordinary mermaids, because they are older, more experienced and stronger. Unlike ordinary mermaids, lobastes often appear as undead - terrible half-dead old women.

PANTS
Patchwork, patchwork - special kind mermaids.
"Patch" means both "talk", "crack", and "tickle". Patchwork “means actually: glossy, i.e. tickling, tickling. In our sources (referring mainly to the regions of Ukraine and Belarus), one cannot fail to notice the desire to single out the shawl in a special category of mermaids who torture the people they meet with tickling.
Patchwork - mermaids, the souls of girls who died in winter, spring or summer. In the fields, they “tickle” (tickle) boys and girls to death.
According to the beliefs of many provinces of Russia (rarely - Siberia and the north), mermaids try to lure a person to themselves, and then they can tickle, torture him to death (in northern Russian and Great Russian believe such actions are more often attributed to the goblin).
In order to protect themselves from ticklish mermaids, in the period from about the Trinity to the beginning of Peter's Lent, they tried not to go alone into the forest or to the water, as well as into the field sown with rye, especially after sunset; worn with herbs repelling mermaids (garlic, wormwood, etc.). The weeks before and after Trinity were considered the most dangerous. Although ideas about tickling mermaids are common, the name shawl is more typical for the southern, southwestern regions of Russia.

LYARVA
According to Slavic beliefs, an evil spirit, a monster, an inhabitant of hell, a product of a spirit that did not receive a proper burial. They roam at night and send madness on people. Having moved into female body they become dissolute and walking girls who are not responsible for their actions.

MAVKI
AT Slavic mythology- like to appear at full moon. He unbelts himself so that he does not value either protective garlic or wormwood grass. And he will not be afraid to step over the iron chain. Mavkas splash in the river and then crawl out onto the shore to comb their green curls, and travelers are asked to lend them their mushroom for this business. If you give it to impudent and wet girls, they will comb their hair and return to the river in peace, and the comb will have to be thrown away, otherwise you will go bald later. If you do not give, to be greedy, then the Mavkas will be tortured to death.
In general, the mavkas are beautiful, as beautiful as they have never been in life. Some fearmen are just for this and drown themselves. Only this beauty is deceptive. The mavka will turn its back on you, and you will see lungs turned green without air, an unbeatable heart, sore intestines - such disgusting! A resourceful guy, however, can laugh off the mawks, only this is all hope.

MAGOG
The rich imagination of geographers was fed by biblical references to the giant Gog, from whom the translators made two monstrous peoples - Gog and Magog. According to legend, Alexander the Great drove these peoples behind an iron wall, and when they cut through it and break out, the end of the world will come. It is no wonder that all the wild conquerors who came to Europe: the Huns, the Mongols, and then the Turks, were considered the same Gog and Magog.

MAKARA
In Indian mythology, there is a sea monster - a chimera with the head of a crocodile, the body of a dolphin (or shark) and a fish tail. Makara can also move on land - for this she has paws (two or four).
Makara is associated mainly with the deities of water - together with the thymintals, he is part of the retinue of the lord of the underwater kingdom of Varuna and is even considered his mount. In the II century BC, images of this chimera were often found in sculptural compositions.

MAMAI
Fantastic horror story that scares children.
The word "mama" is borrowed from Turkic languages and can be used in a generalized sense "carrier of evil" (obviously, in connection with memories of the Tatar - Mongol yoke). Mamai is a mysterious being, in the guise of a terrible stranger. Most often, mamai is compared with a beech, similar in quality.

MAMON
A demonic creature, a demon, a fantastic beast that lives underground.
"There is a mammoth animal of extraordinary size, which walks underground as if under water."
The mention of lawless Mammon, forcible and found mammon - dangerous demonic creatures - is found in conspiracies and historical and literary monuments. In the "Prayer of the Archangel Michael from the osprey" ( late XIX c.) speaks of Mammoth - "damned demon".
In the apocrypha, the demonic character of Mamon is one of the representatives of the “demonic power” that opposes God and angels. This image, apparently, arose as a result of the popular rethinking of the gospel image of mammon (the deity of wealth). In Russian dialects mammon ~ "the name of the deity of wealth among some ancient peoples"; mamon in many regions of Russia also means "stomach, belly" mamonit "-" seduce, overeat. Serving "the unrighteous Mammon from time immemorial was opposed to the service of Christ (cf. "Work for the unrighteous Mammon" - "The Word of John Chrysostom about games and dancing").
In the beliefs of the peasants of Siberia, the image of Mammon - a demonic creature - merged with the image of a mammoth - a huge beast: “A mammoth-beast walks underground like a fish in water; if it goes out into the ravine, it dies.”
In folk beliefs, the mammoth is an animal that lived on earth in ancient times. Often mammon is represented as continuing to live underground and under water, hidden from human eyes. Mammon is endowed with a special destructive (and creative) power. With one of his movements, he changes the landscape, paves the channels of rivers, and so on.
“Mammoths lived only from the beginning of the century - for a very short time. From them went convicts and rivers. Wherever the mammoth goes, large rivers flowed in his footsteps; wherever he throws his eye, small rivers and springs begin from there. Now mammoths live underground.”
In the vicinity of Semipalatinsk, they said that the mammoth was a huge animal - “it could not even carry its body due to the weight. Then he threw a part of his body into himself and a hazel grouse was formed from this part. Mammoth meat was white. The same color was transferred to the hazel grouse.
It is obvious that the image of a mammoth was formed under the influence of ideas about real mammoths, on the one hand, and about fantastic animals, including “antediluvian” ones, on the other hand, it resembles an indirka.
Peasant stories about mammoths are very lively and detailed: “The mammoth in its appearance and structure resembles a bull or an elk, but its size is much larger than these animals: the mammoth is five to six times larger (the largest elk. The mammoth has two huge horns on its head : the horns are so smooth, pink and clean, slightly curved, like those of a bull, but not branched, like those of an elk. Its hooves are cloven. How and what the mammoth eats ~ it is not known that it eats some kind of compound that looks like a stone. The mammoth lives exclusively in the ground and, moreover, at a considerable depth "not far from the banks of a large river, the mammoth digs a lair-cave in the ground and goes to drink from there).
Mammoth doesn't like sunlight... In all summer months, the mammoth hides in the ground. In winter, when the river water is covered from sunlight by thick ice and snow, the mammoth likes to spend time in the river itself, under the ice. Often in winter you can see wide cracks on the ice of the river, penetrating the entire thickness of the ice, and sometimes you can see that the ice on the river is split and crushed into many medium-sized ice floes - all these are visible signs and results of the mammoth's activity: the animal played out and diverged with its legs and back breaks the ice."

MONGUS
In Mongolian mythology, they are animal-like huge monsters living on the edge of the earth in hard-to-reach places. They attack dwellings, taking people and livestock with them. Various heroes are fighting with them, including Geser.

MANDRAKE
Like "boramets", the plant called madragora borders on the animal kingdom, for when it is uprooted, it screams; this cry can drive those who hear it crazy ("Romeo and Juliet", IV, 3). Pythagoras calls him "anthropomorphic"; the Roman agronomist Lucius Columella is a semi-human (semi homo), and Albert the Great even wrote that mandrakes, like people, are of different sexes. Before him, Pliny wrote that a white mandrake is a male, and a black one is a female. And also that the pickers of the mandrake draw three circles around it with a sword and must look to the west; the smell of its leaves is so strong that people become dumb from it. Whoever uproots it will face terrible disasters: in the last book of the Jewish War, Josephus advises using a specially trained dog for this. Pulling out the plant, the dog dies, but its leaves are used to make drugs, witchcraft and laxatives.
The humanoid form of the mandrake gave rise to the belief that it grows at the foot of the gallows. Brown ("Pseudodoxia epidemica" ("Pseudo-science of superstitions" (lat.)), 1646) speaks of the fat of the hanged; the popular novelist Hans Heinz Evers ("Alraune", 1913) is about sperm. In German mandrake - "Alraune"; they used to say "Alruna", this word comes from the word "rune", which meant a secret, something secret, and then became the name of the letters of the ancient Germanic alphabet.
In Genesis 30:14 there is a curious reference to the fruitful power of the mandrake. In the 12th century, a Jewish-German commentator of the Talmud wrote the following paragraph: "Something like a rope extends from the root in the earth, and with this rope is attached to the navel - like a pumpkin or watermelon - an animal called "yadu" a, but "yadu" a "in everything is similar to a man: the same face, body, arms and legs. It uproots and destroys everything where that rope reaches. It is necessary to cut this rope with an arrow, and then the animal dies. "
The doctor Discorides identifies the mandrake with the "circe", or the plant of Circe, about which we read in the song of the tenth "Odyssey": everything is possible".

MANticore
Manticore is the most bloodthirsty and dangerous of fictional creatures. She has the body of a lion human face, Blue eyes and a voice similar to the sound of a flute. But its main and most terrible features are three rows of teeth in its mouth, a poisonous sting at the end of the tail, like a scorpion, and poisoned spikes on the tail, which the manticore can shoot in any direction. Finally, “manticore” translated from Farsi means “cannibal”.
We meet the first mention of the manticore in the books of the Greek doctor Ctesias, already well known to the reader. Thanks to Ctesias, many Persian myths became known to the Greeks. Further Greek and Roman descriptions repeat the main features of the manticore given by Ctesias - a lion's body covered with red hair, three rows of teeth and a tail with a poisonous sting and poisoned spikes. Aristotle and Pliny directly refer to Ctesias in their writings.
However, the most complete ancient description manticore made in the II century AD. e. Elyan. He gives some curious details: “Everyone who approaches her, she strikes with her sting ... The venomous spikes on her tail are comparable in thickness to a stalk of reeds, and are about 30 centimeters long ... She is able to defeat any of the animals, except for the lion." Although it is clear that Aelian, like Aristotle and Pliny, drew his knowledge of the manticore from Ctesias, he adds that detailed information about this monster is contained in the work of the historian Cnidus. In the 2nd century A.D. e. Philostratus of Lemnos mentions the manticore as one of the miracles about which Apollonius questions Iarchus on the hill of the wise.
Although the manticore is rarely mentioned in ancient scientific books, its descriptions abound in medieval bestiaries. From there, the manticore migrated to natural "; unscientific works and folklore works. In the XIII century, Bartholomew of England wrote about it, in the XIV century - William Caxton in the book “Mirror of the World”. In Caxton, the manticore's three rows of teeth become "a palisade of huge teeth in her throat" and her flute-like voice becomes "a sweet serpentine hiss with which she draws men to her to devour them." This seems to be the only time a manticore has been confused with a siren.

MANIA
In Russian superstitions - a ghost, an unclean spirit in the form of a falling star.
Manya, like man, is an “imagining”, “alluring” creature, correlated with an unclean spirit, a ghost, but having a number of specific characteristics in beliefs.
V.Dal reports that a maniac is “a ghost”, a vision, a spirit”; manya - "ugly old woman with a stick." She "roams the world, looking for the son she killed"
So we can divide these unclean spirits into male and female. Manya and man.
In the north, northeast of Russia and in Siberia, manya is a ghost, most often in the guise of an old, frail woman.

MANIAC
In the central and south Western Russia a maniac is called a shadow, a vision, as well as a spirit that takes the form of a shooting star (you can see it at the end of February).
Maniacs - ghosts of an indefinite appearance, could, according to legend, be shown to women working in the field - reapers and on the day of Kirik and Julitta, July 28. "Whoever reaps on Kirik and Julitta sees a maniac."

MARA
Ghost, vision; spirit in the form of a woman, appearing in the house.
Mara - spirit in form tall woman or, on the contrary, a hunched old woman, but almost always with long flowing hair. In the Yaroslavl region, Mara was represented as a beautiful girl in white. According to the beliefs of the Tula province of the Olonets Territory, the mara is “black”, dressed in rags and even shaggy: “They used to scare children with a grandmother and a special mara, put a fur coat upside down and say:“ Here is a grandmother or a special mara is coming. "" In some places, the mara is likened kikimore brownie: she lives invisibly in the hut, most often behind the stove, hence the names “mara zapetselnaya, zapechnaya”, cf. “hairy mara ... sits in the house behind the stove.” home, quietly stealing things.
Becoming visible at night (as well as remaining invisible), mara spins or tears, confuses tow, yarn, not blessed by the mistresses. “As long as you don’t spin all the yarn, Mara will confuse everything overnight.”
The peasants of the Kaluga province believed that Mara sews and spins on lunar days; but does it "not good." Mara is dangerous for children: in the Vologda region, as in some other regions of Russia, children were frightened by “grandmother Mara”, “baking mara”.
Creatures similar to mara - the spirit that appears in the house, are in the beliefs of other peoples. The names of such creatures are also similar, apparently ascending to a single root. This is the mara of Ukrainians - “a ghost, a ghost, an evil spirit of mora of Serbo-Croats -“ a brownie ”; mira among the Czechs - "kikimora, a nightmare"; mora, zmora Poles - "nightmare. The ancient Norse mara means "house spirit tormentor", etc.
According to the materials so far available, the mara of Russian beliefs is not so much embodied nightmare, how much fate is embodied, a “spinning deity”, broadcasting changes in the fate of the inhabitants of the house, as well as a disastrous ghost for children.

MARA (Goblin)
Mares are called goblins who sit on the chest of the sleeping at night and begin to choke them. If Mary good mood, it is limited to sending a bad dream. It was from the nickname of these creatures that the word "nightmare" arose. Mary - the spirits of abandoned girls who are looking for unfaithful lovers in order to avenge their grievances. And since they do not know where to look for those, they take revenge on everyone.

JELLYFISH
She was one of the three Gorgon sisters. They had snakes for hair, bronze hands and golden wings. Sometimes they are depicted with a snake tail instead of legs. Anyone looking at them must look away to avoid turning to stone. They were the daughters of a sea god and a sea monster. The sisters' names were Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa. Medusa was later killed by Perseus (Greek hero).

MEMOZINA

MERROW
Merrow are water fairies in Irish folklore. Merrow women, distant relatives of the sea maidens, are real beauties, but with fish tails instead of legs and webbed fingers. Merrow are fearful, for their appearance heralds a storm, but they are much more sympathetic than other faeries to people and often fall in love with mortals. Children from such marriages are born with fish scales instead of skin. Sometimes merrow come ashore in the form of small horses, and under water they are allowed to live by red caps with feathers. If you steal such a hat, the merrow will no longer be able to return to the sea. Merrow men are real freaks, they have green skin, red aquiline noses and pig eyes. However, they are no less friendly than women.

MINOTAUR
Minotaur - the bull of Minos, king of Crete, according to legend, was a half-man, half-buffalo, which is remembered mainly in connection with the myths about the exploits of Theseus. Although there are images of the Minotaur related to the archaic period in history Ancient Greece, the first mentions of him in the ancient sources that have come down to us are made by Apollodorus and Plutarch.
Special interest to the myth of the Minotaur, apparently, nourished the Etruscans. During excavations in Etruria (modern Tuscany), numerous images of mythological scenes were found, belonging to a fairly wide time range. The Etruscans often twisted the meaning of Greek myths and legends in a peculiar way. For example, the victor sitting on the back of the Minotaur with a bow in his left hand, depicted on the Castellan mirror, is not Theseus, but Hercules (Hercules). Another object, an Etruscan black vase from the Louvre, again depicts Hercules with a lion skin on his shoulders, who beats the Minotaur with a club.
In ancient times, there was no consensus about the appearance of the Minotaur. Apollodorus believes that he had the body of a man and the head of a bull. Diodorus agrees with him. However, on a black amphora from Vulci, the Minotaur is depicted with a tail and a spotted skin like that of a leopard. The Roman authors seem to have had an even more vague idea of ​​the Minotaur than the Greeks. Pausanias finds it difficult to say who the Minotaur was - a man or a beast. Catullus simply calls him a "wild monster", and Virgil - "a hybrid descendant with a dual nature." For Ovid, the Minotaur is a “monster with a dual essence” (in “Metamorphoses”) and a “half-man-half-bull” (in “Heroids”). In an indefinite image of a half-man, half-bull, the Minotaur also passed into the art of medieval Europe.

MOGUL
In Slavic mythology - huge bird, which has great power. It intoxicates with its sweet song and beckons into the realm of death. Apparently an analogue of this bird is the sweet-voiced Sirens from Greek mythology.

MOKRUHA
In Slavic mythology - a hooligan household spirit that leaves wet place where he sits.

SEA PEOPLE
Water creatures are a variety of supernatural creatures that symbolize even more than fish (which were also often given fantastic view), the life-giving force of wet elements, which is mainly associated with the "feminine side" of the cosmos

MEMOZINA
Water spirit in the form of a woman.
Mentions of memosines, half-fish half-women, are most often found in the beliefs of the southwestern regions of Russia. Memosines (the head, hands and belly are female, and instead of legs - a fish tail) resemble pharaohs; they are considered descended from people who drowned during the persecution of Jews going through the Red (Red) Sea. “These memosins are also remarkable in singing, they are so beautiful that when they sing, the sea ceases to worry and a person can be heard forever. Presumably, in this memosins are similar to sirens, who also had a bewitching voice.

SEA MAID
The one who believes that sea maidens and mermaids are one and the same is mistaken. Mermaids only live in Slavic lands. The difference between them is very simple: mermaids live in fresh water, and sea maidens live in salt water. These are real beauties, but instead of legs they have fish tails. Often you can see them sitting on the shore and combing their wonderful hair with golden combs. People who hear their songs lose their will, and the sea maidens drag them to the bottom, where they devour them. Their skin is almost transparent, they throw their long breasts over their shoulders, their hair color changes from dark green to dazzling gold. They have the ability to shapeshift. If you catch a sea maiden, she will promise to fulfill any wish in order to free herself. Sea maidens fulfill their promises honestly, but desires are fulfilled in a very peculiar way.

SEA HUSBAND
The wives of sea maidens look much less attractive and much less interested in the affairs of mortals. They have long hair and beards, sharp green fangs, they are all very old men. They are harsh husbands and, if hungry, can even swallow their own children. It is the sea men who send storms, raise waves and break ships if someone dares to offend their wives. All real navigators know how to propitiate the men of the sea. Sacrifices are offered to them, the bodies of the dead in the sea are entrusted to their care. Only the captain who has good relations with the men of the sea will bring his ship to the port safe and sound. Possessing the ability to shapeshift, sea men often turn into bulls, fish, horses, and even people. True, some sea men take as their wives not sea maidens, but ordinary mortals.

SEA SNAKE
One of the most vicious sea monsters. Even experienced and brave sailors are afraid to sail in the places where these creatures live. Its dimensions are grandiose, it is several times longer than the big ship, with his head he is able to reach the top of the mast. Lives at great depths, but sometimes rises to the surface and woe to the ship that is nearby. The snake coils around the ship and drags it to the bottom. There is a belief that you can pay off a snake by bringing him a human sacrifice, it is better if it is an innocent girl. He moves in jerks, throwing his body forward, ring after ring. Some argue that the sea serpent simply glides over the waves.

ANT LION
The ant lion is an unimaginable monster, described by Flaubert in the following lines: "In front is a lion, in the back is an ant with the genitals inside out." The history of this monster is very strange and tragic. "The physiologist says: he has the muzzle (or front part) of a lion and the back part of an ant. His father eats meat, but his mother eats grain. And when they give birth to an ant lion, this creature is two-natural: he cannot eat meat, because it is contrary to nature his mother cannot eat even grain, for it is contrary to the nature of his father, therefore he perishes for want of food."

MURIANA
Murians are in Cornish fairy folklore. It is believed that these are former celestials who were not very good. According to Cornish beliefs, ants are murians for heaven and not bad enough for hell, therefore they remained on earth. Murians gradually decrease in size to ants, after which they disappear to no one knows where. That is why the Cornish believe that crushing an ant is bad luck. There is another version: murians are werewolves capable of transforming into animals and birds. However, they resorted to transformations so often that they violated a certain physical law, and therefore now they become smaller with each transformation. Murians have very beautiful outfits - wonderful bright green shirts, sky-blue jackets, cocked hats on the heads of men and hats on the heads of women, clothes are embroidered with lace and hung with bells. Murians help those people whom they favor, often look into the houses of the poor, amuse the bedridden with jokes. As soon as they appear, a floral aroma spreads in the air and a wonderful melody is heard.

MSHANK
Bryozoans strictly adhere to the old way of life and insist that mortals should live according to the customs of their ancestors: not to strip the bark from trees, not to bake cumin seeds into bread, and not to tell their dreams. Those who follow these rules can count on the help of bryozoans: if they are fed, they will bring good luck.
Bryozoans not only help around the house, but also share secret knowledge. They know all medicinal herbs and plants. In particular, they know where the wonderful flower of "no-pain" grows, which helps women in childbirth. Bryozoans cure even those from whom doctors retreat. They turn tree leaves into gold and give people skeins of wool that never run out.
They are two to three feet tall. Dressed in outfits made of moss, due to which they can often be confused with trees. Their faces are wrinkled, their bodies are hairy, their skin is gray. The bryozoans are ruled by "grandmother", a gray-haired old woman, as old as the earth itself.

MYNGUTZZ
AT Central Asia Dungans live in Kazakhstan and northwest China. And in the Dungan legends and tales, the monster Mynguzzy lives. Mynguzi is almost the same as the Mongolian mongoose, a many-headed humanoid giant, but the Dungan monster has one of the heads of a horse.

MYANDASH
On the territory of Udmurtia, in the region of Perm, archaeologists have long found bronze plaques, the earliest of which date back to the 1st-2nd centuries AD. These small medallions depict a strange creature: a man with the head of an elk or deer, with wings and three-toed bird paws. This is Myandash.
Once upon a time, Myandash taught the Saami to hunt, set up ambushes, and set traps. But he did not order to kill the leader and the sleeping deer. The Saami believe that their entire family descended from Myandash. And this, the old people say, is not a fairy tale, but a trap - true truth! As long as Myandash is alive, both the earth and people are alive. And as the thunder god Thiermes catches up with him, then the world will end. “When Tiermes strikes with the first arrow, all the rivers will flow back, fire will pour out of the mountains, the sea will dry up. When the second arrow pierces the black forehead between the golden horns, the fire will engulf the earth, the ice will boil. And when Tiermes plunges a knife into the heart of Myandash, all the stars will fall, the moon will go out, the sun will drown, and the earth will turn to dust.
Let's hope that the god of thunder will never catch up with Myandash.
There is no unambiguous data on the origin of Myandash himself. Some say that he was born from a woman and a wild deer. Others believe that he came down from the sky. The Saami have a belief that butterflies are celestial deer.

NAVI
Spirits of death, spirits of dead foreigners. It was believed that they could send diseases to people and livestock, as well as natural disasters.
At night, the Naviyas rush through the streets, striking everyone who leaves the house. People were dying from their wounds. Then the Navi began to appear on horseback during the day, but were invisible. To save from navi, it was necessary not to leave the house. To protect the dwellings, amulets, charmed objects, etc. were needed. People's clothing included special embroidery with protective marks against navy.
Navi could have been propitiated. They were invited to bathe in a bath, under a canopy of which or on the roof they left food for them. They represented navy in the form of birds or in the form of some creatures with thick hair and a tail. Similar ideas about navy were preserved in the minds of people until the twentieth century.
Existed at Eastern Slavs even a special "navi day" for the remembrance of the dead, it was celebrated on Thursday during the Easter week, as well as at the beginning of autumn. It was believed that on this day the navia come out of the graves and go to their descendants for a memorial meal.
A special treat was prepared for the navi, which was placed on the table in the room, then the windows were opened.

NAGA
Nagas belong to Indian mythology. These are snakes, which, however, can take on human form. In one of the books of the Mahabharata, Ulupi, the daughter of the king of the Nagas, falls in love with Arhuna, but he wants to keep his vow of chastity; the girl reminds him that it is his duty to help the unfortunate, and the hero devotes one night to her. When the Buddha, sitting under a fig tree, indulged in meditation, it began to rain heavily with wind; then a compassionate naga wrapped itself around him seven times and covered his seven heads with his family, like a roof. The Buddha converted the naga to his faith.
In the Handbook of Indian Buddhism, Kern defines nagas as cloud-like serpents. They live deep underground, in underground palaces. Members of the Great Wheel sect say that the Buddha preached one law for men and another for the gods, and this last - esoteric - was kept in heaven and in the palaces of snakes, which a few centuries later passed it on to the monk Nagarjuna.
Here is a legend recorded in India by the pilgrim Fa Shen at the beginning of the 5th century: King Ashoka came to the lake, near which there was a tower. He wished to destroy it in order to build another, higher one. A certain brahmin persuaded him to enter the tower, and when the king entered, the brahmin said: My human form is an illusion, in fact I am "naked", a dragon. For my sins, I am doomed to live in this terrible body, but I keep the law commanded by the Buddha and hope for redemption. You can destroy this sanctuary if you think you can build a better one.
The Brahmin showed the king the ritual vessels. The king looked at them and was horrified, for they were completely different from those that people make, and abandoned his intention.

NAIAD
Each river, each spring or stream had its own boss - a naiad. No statistics covered this cheerful tribe of patronesses of waters, prophetesses and healers, every Greek with a poetic streak heard the carefree chatter of naiads in the murmur of the waters. They refer to the descendants of Oceanus and Tethys; number up to three thousand. Naiads are very ancient creatures. One of the naiads - Menta - bore the name of Kokekhida and was associated with water realms of the dead and is the beloved of Hades. The waters of the springs where the Naiads live have purifying properties and even have the ability to give immortality and youth.

NEREIDS
The daughters of the sea god Nereus lived in the palace of their father - in the depths of the sea. There they spun on golden spinning wheels, and at their leisure they danced in time with the waves, rode on the backs of dolphins, moonlit nights came ashore, sang songs and danced, competed with newts - fish-tailed monsters.

Nymphs
Paracelsus limits their possessions to the elements of water, the ancients, however, believed that the whole world was inhabited by nymphs. They gave the nymphs different names according to their habitations. Dryads, or Hamadryads, lived in trees, were invisible and died with the trees. Other nymphs were considered immortal or, as Plutarch briefly mentions, lived for nine thousand seven hundred and twenty years. Among them were Nereids and Oceanids - they owned the seas. The nymphs of lakes and springs were called naiads, the nymphs of caves were called oreads. There were also nymphs of the hollows, called napei, and nymphs of the groves - alseids. The exact number of nymphs is unknown; Hesiod calls the number three thousand. They were strict beautiful young women; their name, perhaps, means only "a girl of marriageable age." The one who saw them could go blind, and if he saw them naked, he died.

NGYLEKA
Ngyleka - in Samoyedic mythology (among the Nenets) invisible evil spirits subordinate to Nga and related to lower level pantheon. At the behest of Nga Ngylek, diseases are sent to people. The term "Ngyleka" is etymologically connected with the root ("bottom"), which reflects their connection as an evil inclination with the underworld. In the mythologies of other Samoyedic peoples, Ngyleka correspond to Enets amuke (amuli), Nganasan ngamteru, one of the categories of Selkup vines.

NEAC TA
Neak Ta - in Mon-Khmer mythology, the guardian spirits of the area among the Khmers (Kampuchea). They live in high places in villages and in reservoirs. Each Neak Ta is associated with a local cycle of myths. The cult of Neak Ta has a pronounced agrarian-magical character. In ancient times, the veneration of Neak Ta gave rise to the royal cults of the mountain.

HEAVENLY COCK
As the Chinese believed, the heavenly rooster is a bird with golden feathers that sings three times a day. The first time the sun takes its morning dip in the ocean waters; the second - when the sun is at its zenith, and the third - when it sets in the west. The first song shakes the heavens and awakens people. This rooster is the ancestor of "Yan", the masculine principle of the universe. It has three paws and nests in a fu-san tree that is hundreds of miles high and grows in the edge of the dawn. The voice of the heavenly rooster is incredibly loud, the posture is majestic. It lays eggs that hatch into red-scalloped chicks; every morning they answer his song. All roosters on earth are descendants of the celestial rooster, which is also called the "bird of dawn".

UNSEENY YARD
Unseelie Court - In Scottish folklore, fairies are divided into the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court. It is impossible to negotiate with the fairies who belong to the Unseelie Court, it is not worth even trying. The most cruel among them are the sluagh, the dead, who roam the earth, kidnapping mortals. And they force the abducted to spoil cattle and mark people with elven marks. An encounter with a faerie from the Unseelie Court always portends death.

NEMEAN LION
Nemean lion - huge lion, twice the size of an ordinary lion and having a skin impenetrable by arrows. He lived in the Nemean mountains in Argolis and devastated the Nemean valley. The offspring of Echidna and Typhon, the brother of Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, the eagle of Zeus, Orff, the Sphinx and Chimera. He was strangled by Hercules (the first labor).

NESSIE
Nessie lives in the Caledonian Loch Ness. She has a long body and no less long neck, three humps on her back and a rough skin. She behaves quite friendly and so far has not attacked anyone. Nessie is a timid creature, she prefers to hardly appear on the surface. It feeds mainly on livestock.

NIBELUNG
The Nibelungs are the descendants of the zwerg Nibelung, glorious in that he slew a dozen giants with his own hand. Their nickname means "children of mist and darkness". The Nibelungs guard innumerable treasures underground. In the Nibelungenlied, the Nibelungs are first called the giants, endowed with extraordinary strength, then the Burgundian kings, in whose hands the treasure falls, which the giants had previously owned.

NIKS
Nixes - in the folklore of the Germanic peoples of the fairies, who guard the waterways (rivers and streams) in Magic Land let in those who should and who should not be driven away. They also seduce young girls, who are lured by stories of countless treasures in their underwater dwellings. They often play on their golden violins and lutes the melody of the elven king, which enchants mortals. Some tales say that the nyx suck the souls out of people and, like the merrow, imprison them in cages. The character of the nixes is changeable: either they swim to the surface and sing, or they raise storms and demand revenge on those who offended them. They help people - in particular, they buy grain at fairs and thereby raise the price of it. If they are given a black or white goat or a chicken, they can teach a person to play the violin.
To protect yourself from nyxes, you should always carry something iron with you - for example, a knife. And so that they do not take you by surprise in the water, you must repeat, before climbing into the water, such a saying: “Nixes, thieves, you are in the water. and I'm dry. Nixes, thieves, you are on land, and I am in the water.
They appear to people as handsome young men with curly golden hair, dressed in green shirts with aprons, red stockings and blue pants. They have red caps on their heads. Nixes can be identified by wet stains on aprons and shirts and green teeth. They have the ability to shapeshift, they can turn into horses and bulls. The Manx nixes come out of the water on a full moon, with the drowned trailing behind them.

NORA
In some Hungarian regions there are legends about supernatural being named Nora. True, belief in him is common among national minorities, so it is believed that he Slavic origin. At night, when everyone is asleep, the burrow jumps onto the chest of the victim and begins to suck blood or milk. Burrow victims can be identified by chest markings. To protect yourself from a hole, it is enough to rub the chest with garlic.

NORN
In the medieval mythology of the Scandinavians, the norns are the same as the parks. Snorri Sturluson, who early XIII centuries has streamlined this chaotic mythology, informs us that there are three main norns and that their names are Past, Present and Future. It can be assumed that the last indication is a nuance or addition inspired by Christianity - the ancient Germans did not have a penchant for such abstractions. Snorri describes to us three maidens sitting by a spring under the Yggdrasil tree, which is the whole world. They inexorably spin the thread of our destiny.
Time (which is their essence) led to the oblivion of the Norns, but in 1606 William Shakespeare wrote a tragedy about Macbeth, where they appear in the first scene. These are three witches who predict their fate to the warriors. Shakespeare calls them "weird sisters", prophetic sisters, parks. The Anglo-Saxons had Waird - the silent goddess who commands the immortals and mortals.

OANN
The allegory of Oanna, Annedot, reminds us of the "Dragon" and "King Serpents"; about the Nagas, who in Buddhist legends instruct people of wisdom on lakes and rivers, and in the end become converts of the good Law and Arhats

WEREWOLF
A real werewolf can physically transform into a wolf (or other animals). This change can occur either at the will of the werewolf, or involuntarily, caused, for example, by certain lunar cycles or sounds (howling). Werewolves are not subject to aging and physical diseases due to the constant regeneration (renewal) of tissues. Therefore, they are practically immortal. However, they can be killed by mortally wounding the heart or brain, or by other means that damage the heart or brain (for example, by hanging or strangulation).
Although a werewolf is essentially a wolf, while in wolf form, he nevertheless retains human abilities and knowledge that help him kill. Things like prey selection, trap avoidance, and human cunning become apparent when investigating cases involving werewolves.

OVINNIK
In Slavic beliefs, he is the head of the barn and barn. Good spirit. He looks after the cattle, combs the manes of his favorite horses. It makes sure that the fox does not drag away small ducklings and chickens.

OGR
Large, bestial men of low intelligence who roam the expanses of many legends. More akin to trolls and giants, these creatures are often at war with the hero and personify evil. They say they don't mind eating a human.

ODRADEK
At first glance, the creature called "odredek" resembles a flat toothed thread spool and really seems to be wrapped in threads, or rather, scraps of threads of the most different varieties and flowers, tangled and in some places twisted. But an ordradek is not just a coil, because a small wooden peg sticks out of the middle of the star and another stick is attached to it at a right angle. Thanks to this stick and one of the teeth of the coil itself, this creature can stand on two legs, as it were.
I really want to believe that once it had a reasonable form, justified by some purpose, and now it represents a fragment of something. Any close study of this contraption is impossible, since the odradek is very mobile and is not given in the hands.
He usually hides in the attic, or on the stairs, in the hallway, or in the hallway. Sometimes month after month passes, and the odradek does not appear anywhere; apparently, he moves to other houses for a while, because after a while he returns home again.

ONOCENTAURS
The classic centaur is a creature with the torso and legs of a horse and human head and hands. However, there are many variations of its appearance. The centaur could also be winged. In all these cases, he remained a man-horse. In the Middle Ages, the onocentaur (a combination of a man and a donkey), the bukentaur (a buffalo man) and the leontocentaur (a lion man) appeared. AT Indian art known image of a man with the legs of a buffalo (or horse) and the tail of a fish. To refer to creatures that do not look like a horse, but retain the features of a centaur, the term “centauroids” is used in the scientific literature.
The image of the centaur, apparently, arose in Babylon in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Kassite nomads who came to Mesopotamia from Iran around 1750 BC. e., waged a fierce struggle with Egypt and Assyria for dominion in the Middle East. Along the borders of their empire, the Kassites erected huge stone statues of guardian gods, among them centaurs. One of them depicted a winged creature with a horse's body, two faces - a human, looking forward, and a dragon, looking back, and two tails (horse and scorpion); in the hands - a bow with a stretched bowstring. Another famous monument- a sculpture of a classical centaur without wings with one head and one tail, ready to shoot at the enemy from his bow. Of course, the fact that the Kassites depicted the centaur in their sculptures does not mean at all that they invented it, but since the Kassite empire ceased to exist by middle of XII century BC e., we can rightfully assert that the history of the centaur has more than three thousand years.

OOROBOS
A snake biting its own tail. Symbol of Eternity and Rebirth

entangle
Braid - according to Russian beliefs - fantasy creature, "braiding" people.
In South Siberian beliefs, braid - "a monster that looks like a man and feeds on his blood." The braid "guards the wanderers from the tree and, rushing at them, first braids them with his arms and legs, and then, biting through his neck, sucks out the blood."
Undoubtedly, this speaks of a direct resemblance to a vampire. This is also seen by O. Gulyaev, who reported information about braiding, (Gulyaev, 1848). Let us clarify, however, that the motif of "braiding people" is not characteristic of all-Russian beliefs about ghoul vampires.

EAGLE
The eagle is the “king of birds”; it is known as a symbol of unlimited power and defense, therefore, first of all, as a heraldic symbol used in many coats of arms and state emblems, and due to its symmetrical style, it often has two heads (double-headed eagle).

ORC
A very stupid and vicious creature, extremely bloodthirsty, simply beyond measure. They are afraid of sunlight and live underground or in the depths of mountains, in dark damp caves, coming to the surface only at night. Orcs usually serve dark forces. According to Tolkien, orcs are elves reborn into evil creatures, who have gathered the most disgusting qualities in themselves. These are warriors, they prefer scimitar and spear. Orcs always attack in squads. They look terrible. Fanged, vicious muzzles, eyes burning with sinister fire, and marsh-brown skin.

PATA-KABUSYA
District in the northwest Samara region. Flying lights - flying evil spirits.
According to ancient beliefs, Pata-Kabusya lives in a large moss swamp. If someone in the village dies a violent death and is not buried according to the rite. Pata-Kabusya can pour in. "A sheaf of fire flies in the form of a snake, the head is thick and thinner towards the tail, and flies straight into the village." There she resurrects the dead, and then, moving around the neighborhood, takes him to her swamp.
There is a vague belief that Pata Kabusa needs the dead for some mysterious battle with some "enemy at the end of time".

PEGASUS
winged horse. Son of Poseidon and Medusa the Gorgon. Born from the body of a Gorgon killed by Perseus.
Pegasus ascended to Olympus, where he delivered thunder and lightning to Zeus. Pegasus is also called the horse of the muses, as he knocked Hippocrene out of the ground with a hoof - the source of the muses, which has the ability to inspire poets. Pegasus, like a unicorn, can only be caught with a golden bridle.

PERI
In mythology, predominantly female good or evil spirits associated with the water element and fertility. They often show favor to a person, become the wives of heroes, endow a person with the gift of foresight of the future, and heal him of illnesses.

PACK
Puck is the most famous of the hobgoblins in English folklore. Like all other hobgoblins, pucks have the ability to shapeshift; in addition, they willingly help people by doing the same work as brownies. However, pak were often identified with demons. Pak's favorite pastime is to knock travelers out of the way. Like other hobgoblins, pakis do not tolerate unfaithful lovers. Like a brownie, a pack can be driven away by offering him a gift new clothes(and making such a gift, as they say, is tempting - after all, paki, as stated in fairy tales, walk around naked).

PELICAN
The pelican in common zoology is a water bird with a wingspan of about six feet and a very long beak, the lower part of which is widened to form a pouch for accumulating fish. The pelican is legendary so large, and, accordingly, its beak is shorter and sharper. According to folk etymology, pelicanus is "white-haired": the feathers of a real pelican are white, while those of the legendary are yellow, and sometimes green. (The true etymology of the word "pelican" is the Greek "hack with an axe", for its long beak was likened to the beak of a woodpecker.) But his habits are even more amazing than his appearance.
The mother caresses the chicks with her beak and claws so zealously that she kills them. Three days later, the father appears and, in despair at the death of his offspring, tears his chest with his own beak. The blood from his wounds resurrects the dead chicks. This is how the medieval "bestiaries" tell, but St. Jerome, in his commentary to the 101st psalm ("I became like a pelican in the desert; I became like an owl in the ruins"), attributes the killing of the brood to the snake. The fact that the pelican tears open its chest and feeds its cubs with its own blood is said in a common version of this legend.
The blood that brings the dead back to life brings to mind communion and crucifixion - thus, in the famous verse from "Paradise" (XXV, 112), Jesus Christ is called "nostro Pelicano" ("Our Pelican" (Latin)) - the Pelican of mankind. The Latin commentary of Benvenuto de Imela interprets this as follows: "He is called the Pelican, for he opened his chest for our salvation, like a pelican resurrecting dead chicks with the blood of its chest. The pelican is an Egyptian bird."
The pelican is often found in church symbols; it is still depicted on tabernacles. In the "bestiary" of Leonardo da Vinci, the pelican is described as follows: "He dearly loves his chicks and, finding them in the nest killed by a snake, tears open his chest and, washing them with his blood, brings them back to life."

pixie
The growth of pixies of outwardly attractive fairies can be anything - from a span to a normal human. They have red hair and a snub nose; they walk in green jackets, they wear caps on their heads, which are closed by narrowed eyes, afraid of sunlight. Pixies are said to transform into hedgehogs during the day. Their favorite pastime is to knock travelers out of the way. In addition, pixies steal horses, especially foals. The most reliable way to drive pixies away is to turn your jacket inside out or show them an iron cross. However, pixies are quite friendly. They take care of abandoned graves, leave flowers on them, help around the house, doing the same work as brownies. True, they quickly get bored with work, and they leave it at the first opportunity. Some say that pixies are the spirits of children who died before baptism; others - that these are the spirits of druids or pagans who departed to another world before the coming of Christ, and therefore did not go to either heaven or hell.

SHADOW EATER
There is a curious literary genre, which arose in different eras and among different peoples, not connected with each other: a dead man's guide to unearthly limits. Swedenborg's "Heaven and Earth", the Gnostic writings, the Tibetans' "Bardo Tbodol" (a title which, according to Ivens-Wentz, should be translated "Liberation through Listening on the Posthumous Plain"), and the Egyptian Book of the Dead do not exhaust the list. similar writings. In the last two "coincidences and differences" received the attention of scientists, but it will be enough for us to repeat here that for the Tibetan leadership, the other world is just as illusory as the local one, and for the Egyptians - it is real and objective.
In both texts there is a tribunal of the gods, with some of the gods having monkey heads; in both, merit and sin are weighed. AT " book of the dead"on the scales there is a feather and a heart; in the Bardo Tbodol" there are white and black pebbles. The Tibetans have demons who act as ferocious executioners, the Egyptians have a Shadow Eater.
The deceased swears that he did not make anyone starve or cry, he never killed or forced to kill, he did not steal funeral food, he did not forge measures, he did not take milk from the mouth of a child, he did not drive animals from the pasture, he did not put God's birds in cages.
If he lies, then the forty-two judges give him to the Shadow Eater, "who has in front of a crocodile, the body of a lion, and the rump of a hippopotamus." He is assisted by another beast, Babai, of whom we only know that he is terrible and that Plutarch identifies him with the titan, the father of the Chimera.

PONY
Ponyo - in Mongolian mythology, spirits serving Erlik Khan. There are 100,000 of them in total, they carry out his sentences. These same ponies run around the earth and grab the souls of the dead, dragging them to the righteous judgment.

POLEVIK
When they began to clear forests and plow land for fields, pastures and new lands, they came into contact with other "small" deities - Poleviks. In general, many beliefs and signs are associated with the grain field. So, until the last century, the division of agricultural crops into "male" and "female" survived. For example, only men sowed corn, carrying seed grain in special bags made from old trousers. Thus, they, as it were, entered into a "sacred marriage" with a plowed field, and not a single woman dared to be present at the same time. But the turnip was considered a "feminine" culture. And women sowed it, trying to transfer to the Earth part of their reproductive power. Sometimes people met an old man in the field, unprepossessing in appearance and utterly snotty. The old man asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a man did not disdain, he suddenly had a purse of silver in his hand, and the old Field worker disappeared. Thus, our ancestors expressed the simple idea that the Earth generously endows only those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
The peasants of the Tula province believed that shaggy fields or meadows live underground, in holes, but come out of there at noon and before sunset. At this time, they are dangerous, they can “inspire illness, fever in a person.

POLKAN
In Slavic mythology, half-man, half-horse. In the original version, Polkan's name is a Russified form of the Italian word "policano" - half-dog. On numerous popular prints, Polkan is represented as a traditional centaur. He acts as an antagonist of the protagonist and dies at his hands.

NOON
He is entertained by the fact that he fools the travelers by sending them various references and hallucinations and troubles.
The working day in the villages began early, but it was better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs had a special mythical creature that strictly looked after that no one worked at noon. This is Noon. She was imagined as a girl in a long white shirt, or vice versa - a shaggy, terrible old woman. Noondays were afraid: for non-compliance with custom, she could punish, and cruelly - now we call it sunstroke. There are also givings, if you meet a noon at noon, then she will begin to guess riddles and if you do not answer, then she will tickle a person to death.

GHOSTS
Visible only partially in the normal spectrum are the souls of long-dead people. According to the stories, they cause unaccountable fear or give various warnings to the living.
Ghosts are most often found in ruins, cemeteries, crossroads, swamps, or in abandoned houses. It was believed that ghosts usually appear near water - on bridges and near water mills. According to folk beliefs Slavs, ghosts are generally hostile to humans. They can scare, lure, deprive of memory, send diseases.
It is believed that not everyone can see the ghost, and meeting with him is a bad omen not only for the one who sees it, but also for his entire family. According to folk beliefs, you can’t talk to ghosts, as well as turn your back on him. Also, you should not go back, you just need to keep moving, as if not noticing the cast. In this case, you need to turn all the clothes inside out or put on a hat back to front.
The cross, holy water, branches of mistletoe or consecrated willow were considered to be ghost charms. In addition, to get rid of the ghosts, one had to say a prayer or simply hit the ghost backhand with the right hand.

BIRD SCOP
Mythical properties were attributed to the mythical bird Osprey from Slavic mythology - it was said that there is such a deadly bird, whose claws are stuffed with poison, and anyone could become its victim. Apparently, the intrigues of the birds explained in the old days the effects of unknown deadly diseases, therefore - with time and the progress of medicine - they forgot about the bird in order.

Alkonost (alkonos) - a fabulous bird of paradise, in apocrypha and legends a bird of sadness and sadness. Featured on popular prints with wings and human hands, body and face of a woman. The image of Alkonost goes back to Greek myth about Alcyone, who threw herself into the sea and was turned by the gods into a kingfisher. Alkonost carries eggs on the seashore and, plunging them into the depths of the sea, makes it calm for six days. Hearing the singing of this bird forgets about everything in the world.

BABA YAGA - an old forest sorceress, a witch, a sorceress. The character of oriental tales and Western Slavs. Lives in the forest, in a "hut on chicken legs." One of her legs is made of bones, she sees badly, she flies around the world in a mortar. You can trace parallels with other characters: a witch - a way to move, the ability to transform; the goddess of animals and the forest - life in the forest, the complete subordination of animals to her; mistress world of the dead- a fence of human bones around the hut, skulls on stakes, a deadbolt - a human leg, constipation - a hand, a lock - teeth. In most fairy tales, she is the opponent of the hero, but sometimes his assistant and giver.

BEREGINI - air maidens protecting people from ghouls. The Slavs believed that beregini live near the house and protect the house and its inhabitants from evil spirits. Cheerful, playful and attractive creatures, singing enchanting songs with delightful voices. early summer in the moonlight, they circle in round dances on the banks of reservoirs. Where the coast ran and frolicked, there the grass grows thicker and greener, and in the field bread will be born more abundantly.

BESITSY-TRYASAVITSA - spirits of diseases. At first, it was called fever, and then other diseases. There are 7, 10, 40, 77, but most often 12 diseases in conspiracies. Bessy-shakers are serious diseases, they were considered "daughters of King Herod" and were depicted as naked women of a devilish appearance with wings. Their names correspond to the functions: Shaking, Ogneya, Ledeya (sends chills), Gnetei (lies on the ribs and womb), Grynusha or Khripusha (lays on his chest and comes out with a cough), Deaf (aches his head and lays his ears), Lomeya (bones and body aches), Puffy, Zhelteya (sends jaundice), Korkusha (sends cramps), Looking (does not let you sleep, deprives you of your mind), Nevea (catch a person - do not live for him).

GODDESSES - mythological characters of the Western Slavs. Terrible in appearance: old ugly lame women with large heads, sagging breasts, swollen belly, crooked legs, black fanged teeth; according to beliefs, they kidnap and replace children. They can appear in the form of frogs, dogs, cats, appear as a shadow, but most often they are invisible to people. Dead women in childbirth, suicidal women, girls who got rid of the fetus, child killers become goddesses. They live in caves, swamps, ponds, ravines. Appear at night in bad weather.

BOLOTNITSA (wilderness, shovel) - a drowned maiden living in a swamp. Her black hair is tossed over her bare shoulders and trimmed with sedge and forget-me-nots. Disheveled and unkempt, pale-faced with green eyes, always naked and ready to lure people to her only to, without any particular guilt, tickle to death and drown them in a quagmire. Swamplands can send crushing storms, heavy rains, destructive hail to the fields; steal threads, canvases and canvases from women who fell asleep without prayer.

WALKERS - among the ancient Slavs, the spirits of the guards of the fords, pretty girls with long hair. According to legend, Brodnitsy live with beavers in quiet backwaters. They guard the fords made of brushwood, correct them, guard them. When the enemy stealthily steals up, the Wanderers imperceptibly destroy the ford, directing the enemy into a swamp or a whirlpool.

WITCH - according to ancient legends, a woman who sold her soul to the devil. In the south, this is a more attractive woman, often a young widow; in the north - an old woman, fat as a tub, with gray hair, bony hands and a huge blue nose. It differs from other women in that it has a small tail and has the ability to fly through the air on a broomstick, a poker, in a mortar. He goes to his dark deeds without fail through the chimney, can turn into different animals, most often a magpie, a pig, a dog and a yellow cat. It gets older and younger with the month. On Sila August 12, witches die after drinking milk. famous place gathering of witches for a sabbath on Kupala night - in Kyiv on Bald Mountain.

It was believed that an ordinary woman could acquire her supernatural properties through connections with evil spirit. The nature of such a connection could be different: an evil spirit, the devil, the spirit of a dead person, was infused into a woman (at her request or against her will); woman entered into love affair with a demon, a flying kite; or she entered into an agreement with evil spirits for the sake of acquiring certain supernatural powers etc. Such duality was understood in folk beliefs as a kind of double-mindedness, that is, as the presence in real woman two souls - human and demonic (it is the second, "impure" soul that leaves the body of a witch woman during her sleep and flies to harm people.

Most typical characteristics witches: high degree harmfulness in relation to people and livestock, the ability to select in their favor all types of economic benefits (milk cows, fat of foreign pigs, eggs poultry, honey from other people's apiaries, harvest from the fields, etc.). All witches are characterized by the ability to send damage, natural disasters, and diseases. Such properties as the ability to shapeshift, to fly to the Sabbath, and the calendar timing of its harmful activation act as universal ones.

According to Polissya testimonies, after the day of Ivan Kupala, witches can no longer harm.

external sign that distinguished the witch from ordinary people, Siberians considered an inverted reflection of a person or object in her pupils. it constant attention to the features of the eyes or gaze of a witch is characteristic of many Slavic traditions. The Poles believed that the "enchantress" can be recognized by the inflamed, reddened eyes, by the watery or "running" eyes, by the wild look.

VILA (samovil) - female spirits, beautiful girls with flowing hair in light clothes, living in the mountains. Pitchforks have wings, they fly like birds, they own wells and lakes, they are able to "lock" them. If you take away the wings from the Vil, they lose their ability to fly and become ordinary women. Whoever takes away the clothes from the Wil, to him they obey. They treat people friendly, help the offended and orphans, they know how to heal, predict the future.

VODYANITSA - the wife of the waterman, but a drowned woman from the baptized, and therefore does not belong to the undead. Also called - a joke, a joke. Vodyanitsy prefer forest and mill whirlpools, but most of all they love the fall under the mills, where the rapids muddy the water and wash out the pits. Under the mill wheels, they seem to usually gather for the night along with the water ones. Waterworts are harmful: when they splash in the water and play with the running waves or jump on the mill wheels and spin with them, they tear the nets, spoil the millstones.

HAIR - in the mythology of the Slavs, the image of the constellation Pleiades. Later name: Volosozhar, Stozhary, Vlasozhely, Baba. According to ancient legends, women of one of the clans during the attack of the enemy turned into a “heavenly herd” so as not to be captured. The radiance of this constellation portends good luck in hunting, the multiplication of livestock. AT starry nights Shepherds went out into the street, stood on wool and prayed that there would be more sheep than stars in the sky. Volosi - the wives of the god Volos, the patron saint of cattle breeding.

GORGONIA (maiden Gorgoniya) - in Slavic book legends, a maiden with hair in the form of snakes comes from ancient medusa gorgon. The face of Gorgonia is beautiful, but deadly, she knows the language of all living beings. Heroes are trying to get the head of Gorgonia in order to get a wonderful tool that gives victory over any enemy, but only the strongest and most courageous succeed. Iconography of the Gorgonian head - feature popular Byzantine and Old Russian amulets - "serpentines

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DANA - Slavic goddess of water. The fair-faced girl is a river murmuring her cheerful song. She will give a drink to a tired traveler, and wash the wound of a warrior, and, having risen into the sky, will fall like a blessed rain on the fields. She was revered as a bright and kind goddess, giving life to all living things. From the name of Dan comes the name of the Dnieper (Danapris), Dniester, Danube, Dvina, Donets. The word Dana is complex: YES (“water”) plus NA (“nenya”), means “Water is Mother”. The refrain of the song "Dana, sheedy, ready, Dana" is "Dana, she creates, she creates a river, Dana." Special honors were paid to this goddess during the Kupala holidays.

DENNITSA - the image of the midday dawn (stars) in Slavic mythology. Star-Dennitsa - sister (according to other legends, mother or daughter) of the sun, beloved of the month. The sun is jealous of Dennitsa for the month and does not allow them to meet. Dennitsa portends the sunrise, leads the sun to the sky and melts in its bright rays. At night Dennitsa shines brightest of all, helps the moon.

DIDILIA - the goddess of childbirth, growth, vegetation, the personification of the moon. She was sacrificed and asked to give children. She was depicted in different ways: a young woman, with her head wrapped in a cloak, with a lit torch in her bare hands (a torch is a symbol of the beginning of a new life); woman preparing to give new life, with flowers, in a wreath. The image of Didilia was often used famous artists.

DODOLA - a character of South Slavic mythology, the goddess of rain, the wife of a thunderer. AT magical rites In order to cause rain among the southern Slavs, ritual actions are performed by priestesses of the goddess (six girls aged 12 to 16 years) - dodolitsy. They decorate them with wreaths, pour water on them, bring them bread. At the same time, dodolits sing, turning to the goddess with a request to send rain. Dodola is akin to the goddess Didilia.

FIREBIRD - in Slavic fairy tales a wonderful bird that flies from another (thirtieth) kingdom. This kingdom is fabulously rich lands, which were dreamed of in ancient times, for the color of the Firebird is golden, a golden cage, beak, feathers. It can be assumed that the Firebird is associated with other mythological characters: Rahorn, Fire Serpent. Sometimes in fairy tales the Firebird acts as a kidnapper.

ZHELIA - the goddess of sorrow and pity among the ancient Slavs, the messenger of the dead. Beautiful unearthly beauty and sad. A pale face is set off by long black hair. Together with his sister Karna, he flies over the battlefield and notifies who will be killed. And after the battle, he sits with his head bowed and, hugging his knees with his hands, mourns for the dead. According to the existing custom, the dead soldiers were burned - Zhelya carried their ashes in the horn.

ZHIVA (Zhivana, Siva) - "giving life", the goddess of life, she embodies the life force and opposes the mythological incarnations of death. AT right hand holds an apple, in the left - grapes. Alive is in the form of a cuckoo. In early May, sacrifices are made to her. The girls honor the cuckoo - the spring messenger: they baptize her in the forest, make friends with each other and curl wreaths on a birch.

KARNA (Karina) - the goddess of sorrow, the weeping goddess of the ancient Slavs, the sister of Zhelya. If a warrior dies far from home, Karna is the first to mourn him. According to the legends, weeping and sobbing can be heard over the dead battlefield at night. This goddess Karna in black long clothes performs a difficult female service for all wives and mothers. Other Russian "kariti" - to mourn. Text hidden

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→ KOSTROMA - in East Slavic mythology - the embodiment of spring and fertility. In the rites of seeing off spring, it is a young woman wrapped in white sheets, with an oak branch in her hands, walking accompanied by a round dance. They also made a scarecrow of Kostroma from straw and arranged a ritual funeral (burned, torn to pieces) with ritual mourning. The ritual also symbolized the rebirth of nature. Kostroma was buried on Spirits Day - the first Monday after Trinity.

LADA - goddess of love, patroness of marriages, hearth, goddess of youth, beauty, fertility. Femininity itself, tender, melodious, fair-haired; in white clothes - she will bring the guy to the sweet one on Kupala night in a round dance; and stepdaughter wicked stepmother hide under the branches when she gathers to meet her friend. In young families, the hearth supports: it’s about to go out, and Lada throws up a twig, waves her clothes - the hearth flares up, touches the hearts of the unreasonable with warmth, and again harmony in the family.

LETAVITSA - the spirit of dawn. At night, it flies or sits somewhere on the branches, brings the day closer. Charms night owls with his girlish beauty. She is shod in red boots with which she flies; they are for her, that the wings are light, they have all the strength of the flyer. Only those who can force themselves not to look at her boots or take them off will not succumb to the charms of the flyweed. If this spirit of dawn is left without boots - manage it as you wish. Letavitsa disappears with the sunrise.

FEVER - the demon of disease. Appears to be a bare-haired woman with a diabolical appearance. Mentioned in Slavic apocrypha and in conspiracies. Often, our ancestors, in order to appease and not attract Fever, called her affectionately friendly words: kindness, kumoha, sister, aunt, guest, guest. The images of diseases are weakly expressed in Slavic tradition and therefore are not reflected in rites and rituals.

MAKOSH (Mokosh, Makesha) - Slavic deity, patroness women's work, spinning and weaving. Also agricultural deity, mother of the harvest, goddess of abundance. Poppy flower - heady, like love. From the name of this bright flower, which the girls embroidered on wedding towels - the name of the goddess. Makosha - female deity life force. The only female deity whose idol stood on a hilltop in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir.
Among some northern tribes, Makosh is a cold, unkind goddess.

MAVKI (navki, mevki) - in East Slavic mythology, evil spirits, often deadly. According to Ukrainian beliefs, children who died before baptism turn into Mavok: the name Mavka is derived from “nav” (Navka), which means the embodiment of death. Mavki are incorporeal and are not reflected in the water, they have no shadow, they have no back, so all the insides are visible. Mavkas and mermaids are not the same thing, they have many differences.

MARA (maruha, mora) - in Slavic mythology, the deity of evil, enmity, death. Later, the connection with death is lost, but the harmfulness of the deity is obvious (pestilence, darkness). The northern Slavs of Mar have a rude spirit, a gloomy ghost that is invisible during the day, and does evil deeds at night. Most willingly, Mara lives in dark and damp places, in caves under washed-out shores. in some places Mara is the name of evil spirits. Text hidden

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→ MOLONYA QUEEN (Melanya) - the formidable goddess of lightning, the wife of the Great Thunder Rattler, lives in heaven. Her son is the Fire King. There is a myth about the abduction of Molonya by the god Veles. If you follow this myth - the Fire-king is an illegitimate son. When the whole heavenly family is together, but the family is not getting along, everyone gets angry in their own way: Thunder - thunders, Molonya - shoots golden arrows, the Fire-king rushes on these arrows, setting fire to everything that gets in the way. Sparrow night is a major quarrel in the heavenly family.

MERMAID - the maiden of the waters, according to other legends, the wife of the water. It's high beautiful girl living at the bottom of a pond. A mermaid does not have a fish tail. At night, she, along with her friends, splashes on the surface of the water, sits on a mill wheel, and dives. The maiden of the waters can tickle the passer-by to death or take her away. As a rule, girls who drowned themselves from unhappy love or drowned by their stepmothers become mermaids. A mermaid can marry a man, but this marriage is always unsuccessful.

MOLONYA QUEEN (Melanya) - the formidable goddess of lightning, the wife of the Great Thunder Rattler, lives in heaven. Her son is the Fire King. There is a myth about the abduction of Molonya by the god Veles. If you follow this myth - the Fire-king is an illegitimate son. When the whole heavenly family is together, but the family is not getting along, everyone gets angry in their own way: Thunder - thunders, Molonya - shoots golden arrows, the Fire-king rushes on these arrows, setting fire to everything that gets in the way. Sparrow night is a major quarrel in the heavenly family.

MORENA (madder, margin) is a goddess associated with the embodiment of death, with darkness, disease, with seasonal rituals of dying and resurrection of nature, sometimes with rituals for causing rain. The southern Slavs have it easy flying ghost winters. And when winter ends, a scarecrow of Morena is knitted from last year's straw and drowned (burned, torn to pieces) in honor of the future harvest.

MORYANA - maiden sea ​​waters, daughter of the sea king. Most of the time he swims in the depths of the sea, turning into a fish, playing with dolphins. It comes ashore on quiet evenings, sways on the waves, splashes, sorts out sea pebbles. When the angry king of the sea raises a storm, calms it, calms the storm. In Russian fairy tales, the image of Marya Morevna is close to Moryana.

PARASKEVA-FRIDAY (Virgo-Pyatenka) - a female deity. patroness of Friday. It also favors youth games with songs and dances. Appears in white clothes and guards the wells. Where Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa is depicted on the wooden roofs - there the water is healing. So that the grace of the Virgin-Five does not dry out, the women secretly make a sacrifice to her; sheep's wool on the apron. In Belarus, the custom has been preserved to make statues of her from wood and pray to her for rain for seedlings. dark night.

MIDNIGHT is a woman in white who is working in the field. Favorite time its noon. At this time, she makes riddles to those she meets, and if someone does not guess, she can tickle. Those who work at noon, when custom and nature itself require a break, are punished by noon. It is rare for anyone to see her - whom she punished, prefers not to brag, but to remain silent about it. Noon - embodiment sunstroke.

PRIYA is the goddess of love, marriage and fertility. A young, calm woman with slicked back long hair. Revered by mistresses as the patroness of the garden. Women knew: if you please Priya - weed the grass, water it, thin it out, plant it in the right proportions, i.e. keep the garden in order - it will provide a rich harvest to the table in the fall. And if there is something to serve at the table - and the owner will be pleased, and in the family there will be advice and love. Priya's favorite time is autumn, when the tables are bursting with vegetables, when fun weddings are played.

CHILDREN - maidens of fate, fertility, female power. Their cult arose during the period of matriarchy and is associated with the cult of female fertility. They are present at the birth of children and determine their fate. Usually midwives who take birth know how to appease women in labor so that they help to give birth easily. There were two or three women in labor, later - seven, apparently, corresponding to the days of the week.

MERMAID - the maiden of the waters, according to other legends, the wife of the water. This is a tall, beautiful girl living at the bottom of a reservoir. A mermaid does not have a fish tail. At night, she, along with her friends, splashes on the surface of the water, sits on a mill wheel, and dives. The maiden of the waters can tickle the passer-by to death or take her away. As a rule, girls who drowned themselves from unhappy love or drowned by their stepmothers become mermaids. A mermaid can marry a man, but this marriage is always unsuccessful. Text hidden Mermaid is one of the most conflicting images. Information about him differs significantly in the complex of beliefs of the Russian North (as well as the Urals and Siberia) in comparison with the data of the Ukrainian-Belarusian and South Russian demonological systems.

The first of these complexes is characterized by the following features: firstly, the scarcity of stories about female character called a mermaid; secondly, the rapprochement of this image with the more popular characters for the northern Russian tradition, defined by the terms vodynikha, joker, leshachikha, devil, etc.; thirdly, a noticeably accentuated connection between the “mermaid” and the water element.

In the Northern Russian materials, the fact of a single (and not a group) appearance of mermaids is noted; predominantly terrible appearance, the appearance of a naked woman with saggy breasts or a long-haired, shaggy woman (less often - women in white). Here there are stories about their appearance in the winter in the hole, or that a mermaid in the form of a naked woman is chasing the sleigh of a peasant who was driving through the forest in winter.

In this tradition, bylichki about the cohabitation of a mermaid with a man represent the development of a plot about an “imaginary wife”: a werewolf woman visits a hunter in a forest hut under the guise of his wife, gives birth to a child from him, and when the hunter recognizes evil spirits in a werewolf, the mythical “wife” tears her child in two and throws him into the water (the same plot is typical for the images of the goblin, the devil, the forest girl).

The situation is different with the “mermaid” complex of beliefs characteristic of the Ukrainian-Belarusian and South Russian demonology. There are conflicting descriptions in many places. appearance mermaids sometimes as young beauties, sometimes as neutral female image, then like old, terrible-looking women.

Mermaids became: dead unbaptized children; brides who did not live to see their wedding; children and girls who died as a result of violent death. To the question about appearance mermaids often heard that they walked the earth in the same form in which unmarried dead girls are usually buried: in wedding dress, with flowing hair and with a wreath on his head. That's right, by folk custom, dressed the dead girls, as if arranging a symbolic wedding for them. It was believed that the souls of people who died before marriage could not finally go to the "other world" and from time to time invade the world of the living.

The second most important feature of the "mermaid" image should be recognized as the seasonality of stay on earth. It is widely believed that Rusal Week is a "mermaid holiday"; that's when they allegedly appeared from afterlife and all week they frolicked in the fields, forests, in places near the water (sometimes they penetrated into the houses of their relatives). At the end of this period, the mermaids returned "to their places" (went into the water, into the graves, to the "other world").

According to East Slavic beliefs, mermaids appear in a cereal field during the flowering of rye; among the southern Slavs, it was believed that mermaids, mermaids reside in places of abundant flowering of the plant "rosen". Apparently, it is this circle of beliefs that clarifies the etymology of the “flower” name of the mermaid (associated with the name of the flower “rose”), since it is known that the ancient holiday rosalia, dies rosae was timed to coincide with the period of rose bloom and represented funeral rite in honor of the untimely deceased young people.

Attention should be paid to significant differences between the folklore mermaid and the eponymous in a literary way. A list of all the "mermaid" images created in fiction would be very long list. All of them are depicted as drowned women and inhabitants of the waters, endowed with the features of insidious beauty maidens, women with a fish tail, luring their victims into the water, looking for love earthly youths taking revenge on unfaithful lovers, etc. Such a standard image has become firmly established not only in fiction, but also in everyday consciousness, and in many scientific dictionaries and encyclopedias. Its source turned out to be not so much authentic data of folk demonology as similar characters of ancient and European mythology (nymphs, sirens, naiads, undines, melusines and other water and forest mythical maidens) that have become popular in the book tradition.

SNOW MAIDEN - the daughter of Frost, according to other legends - the granddaughter. Kind, not as tough as Frost. Sometimes in the summer he lives with people and helps them. When she walks through the forest, squirrels, hares and other forest kids look for protection from her. The Snow Maiden's heart is cold, and if someone manages to ignite the fire of love in it, the Snow Maiden melts. It also melts from the rays of the loving Yarila-Sun. Under New Year Together with Frost, her grandfather, the Snow Maiden comes to the children and gives them gifts.

DEATH is a character that is inherent not only to the Slavs, but to the mythology of almost all peoples. A terrible old woman, incorporeal, only bones, with a scythe, comes from hell to the ground to choose another victim and take her life. In many legends and fairy tales, the hero enters into combat with Death, often wraps it around his finger and turns out to be the winner.

STRAFIL-BIRD - mother of all birds, progenitor of birds. The Strafil-bird lives in the middle of the sea, and when it wakes up, there is a storm on the sea. According to other legends, the Strafil-bird tames storms, and at night hides the sun under its wing in order to give light again in the morning. Or he hides the earth under his wing, saving it from universal troubles. It comes from the Greek name for the bird ostrich. In the morning, after the Strafil-bird “trembles”, roosters begin to sing all over the earth.

SUDENITS - the spirits of fate among the Slavs, female creatures that determine the fate of a person at his birth. Three sisters, always together, immortal, come at midnight on the third day after the birth of a child and call his fate. As they call it, it will be so, no one can change the prediction. One of the sisters offers death, the other - physical disabilities, and the third says how much to live, when to go to the crown, what happens in life. Her prediction usually comes true. Text hidden

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Women in mythology (mainly Greek and Roman, Scandinavian and Slavonic)

Amazons (militant Virgins), Valkyries (Scand.)
Ariadne (Greek: Daughter of the king, ball, thread)
Artemis (Greek Daughter of Zeus, goddess of hunting, childbirth, chastity)
Pallas Athena (Greek Goddess of war, victory, wisdom, knowledge, arts, crafts, daughter of Zeus), acc. Bellona (Rome)
Aphrodite (Greek Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, eternal Spring)
Gaia (Greek Goddess of the earth, based on mountains and seas, 1st generation of gods)
Harpies (Greek Goddesses of the whirlwind, female birds)
Hekate (Greek Goddess of darkness, witchcraft, moon, hunting,)
Hecuba (Greek Personification of Sorrow and Sorrow)
Nemesis (Greek goddess of retribution)
Galatea (Greek. Animated. Statue; Nereid)
Nereids (Greek Mor. Nymphs, 50 daughters of the Mors. Elder)
Nike (Greek. Winged. Goddess of Victory), resp. Victoria (Rome)
Charites (Greek Goddess of beauty and grace)
Cassandra (Greek prophetess)
Greek 9 muses, goddesses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne: Clio (patron. Stories), Euterpe (lyric. Poetry), Thalia (comedy), Melpomene (tragedies), Terpsichore (dances), Erato (love. poetry), Polyhymnia (hymns) , Urania (astronomy), Calliope (epic poetry
Leda (Greek: Elena's mother)
Medea (Greek Sorceress, golden fleece)
Hypermnestra (Greek, Danae disobeyed, the ancestor of the Argos kings)
Danae (Greek: Daughter of the king, mother of Perseus)
Nymphs (Greek. Deities of nature, alive. In the mountains, forests, seas, daughters of Zeus) - Bacchantes, Nereids, Naiads, Dryads
Penelope (Greek. Symbol of marital fidelity, wife of Odysseus)
Psyche (Greek. Personification of the human soul
Persephone (Cora, Greek Goddess of fertility and the kingdom of the dead, wife of Hades)
Sirens (Greek. Women-birds, lured sailors with beauty and voice)
Andromeda (Greek: King's daughter)
Circe (Kirka, Greek sorceress, insidious seductress)
Aurora (Rom. Goddess of the Dawn)
Graces (Rom. 3 goddesses of beauty and joy)
Danaids (Greek 50 daughters of Danae, fill a bottomless barrel with water)
Venus (Rome. Goddess of spring and gardens, love, beauty), Flora (Rome.)
Diana (Rom. Goddess of vegetation, women in childbirth, moon)
Minerva (Rome. Goddess of crafts and arts, wisdom and cities, triad)
Mermaids (glory. Spirits of water and vegetation)
Vestals (Rom. Priestesses)
Vesta (Rom. Goddess of the house. Hearth)
Trivia (Rom. Goddess of 3 roads)
Themis (Greek goddess of justice)
Fortune (Rom. Goddess of happiness, good luck)
Furies (Rom. Goddesses of vengeance), resp. Erinnia (Greek, Eumenides)
Ceres (Rom. Goddess of agriculture and fertility), resp. Demeter (Greek)
Juno (Rom. Goddess of marriage, motherhood, women), resp. Hera (Greek Queen of the Gods, sister and wife of Zeus)
etc. etc.

Vivid female literary and film images (based on real events or fictional, unknown women - prototypes)

Scarlett O'Hara
Esmeralda
Maggie Cleary
Natasha Rostova
Tatyana Larina
Giselle
Carmen
Bella
Ophelia
Lady Macbeth
Mary Poppins
Bonnie Parker
Assol
Nikita
Isolde
Yesenia
Emmanuel
Desdemona
Isaura
margarita
Jane Eyre
Juliet
Asya
Aida
Feride
Angelica
Lucky Luciano
Anna Karenina
Jane Marple
Milady
Catwoman
Lara Croft
Arina Rodionovna
Dulcinea Tabos
Tess D'Urbelville
Natalie Goncharova
Constance Bonacier
Vassa Zheleznova
Anna of Austria
Anastasia Romanova
Shahirizada
Pocahontas
Alice Liddell
The Snow Queen
Alyonushka
Pippi long stocking
Alisa Selezneva
Snow Maiden
Malvina
Tortilla
Ellie
Gerda
Elena: beautiful, wise
Cinderella
Thumbelina
etc. and etc

Women in the Bible, Quran, religion

Virgin Mary, Mother of God
Eve, mother
Esther
Judith
Hagar
Leah
Rachel
Rebekah
Sarah
Deborah
Anna, Madonna's mother
Maria Magdalena
Ruth

Will be replenished