Who were our ancestors afraid of? Anchutka, shishimora and other dangerous characters of the mythology of Ancient Russia

If we are talking about the mythical characters of Ancient Russia, then everyone will immediately remember Baba Yaga, goblins, water and brownies. In fact, the otherworldly world of our ancestors was much more diverse and scary, since there were a lot of different spirits and they were lying in wait for people everywhere - at home, in the field, in the forest, on the river and in the open sea. Among them were kind, neutral and, of course, evil. We will tell you about the most dangerous entities that our ancestors feared.

For a long time it has been believed that the dead are extremely hostile to the living and are happy to harm them if there is such an opportunity. And according to beliefs, those who died unbaptized, not inveterate, as well as those who were not buried, had it. Such dead people were called ghouls – they could not find eternal rest and wandered in places familiar to them during their lifetime or at the place of death, waiting for the living to attack them. Wizards, witches and just very bad people could become ghouls after death.

Ghouls, unlike ghouls, became people during their lifetime, from the bite of a werewolf. These creatures could either tear a person to shreds and eat, or just bite to replenish their ranks. The chance of becoming a victim of a ghoul was very high at night in the cemetery, but sometimes, when food was especially difficult, these creatures could appear near a human dwelling.

A crucifix, a Bible, holy water or things made of silver could protect against ghouls and ghouls. It was believed that ghouls do not tolerate sunlight, which is disastrous for them. It is with the legends about ghouls and ghouls, which almost all peoples of the earth have, that an irrational fear of night cemeteries is associated.

But our ancestors believed that it is possible to become a victim of evil spirits not only at night, but also during the day. In summer, on the hottest days, when the midday sun heats the air to a trembling haze, a careless peasant can meet a Midday woman in the fields. She is a tall and very thin woman with a haggard face, holding a sickle or scythe in her hands.

She walks through the fields when the sun is at its zenith and looks for those who have neglected their lunch break and continue to work despite the heat. The midwife cuts off their heads as a warning to everyone else. This evil is especially dangerous for children whose parents have left unattended in the field – it replaces them with its cubs, scary and evil.

In some regions, it was also believed that before killing a Midwife, she makes complex riddles to the victim and if answered correctly, death can be avoided. Despite this, the peasants preferred not to tempt fate and left the fields until the day passed the middle.

This character of ancient Russian mythology was omnipresent and could be found in the bath, in the fields, in the forest and even in the river. This scum looked like a horned dwarf with a shaggy body and a bald head, on thin crooked legs without heels. It was forbidden to call Anchutka's name out loud, so as not to invite trouble.

This creature could treat people differently. Steppe and forest anchuts were rarely interested in people, but those living in a bath or a river were not averse to fooling around. Sometimes they joked and did small dirty tricks to people, and sometimes they caused serious harm or even death.

In the bath, anchutka could overturn a jug of boiling water on a person, put a footboard so that he fell or let a fume into the room. In the river, an evil dwarf was sitting under water where everyone used to swim and could drag a swimmer under the water and drown him. When a person unexpectedly drowned in shallow water, his death was attributed to anchutka, and in a pool – to a water one.

Shishimora is a creature that looks like a small, dry old lady with an ugly, nosy face. She tries to stay close to the person, so she settles behind the stove, in the attic or under the floor. Shishimora's hands are constantly shaking, which is why everything she touches breaks and spoils.

The old lady tries her best to help with the housework, but because of her peculiarity, she brings only harm. Dishes that unexpectedly fell to the floor, tangled or torn yarn, dough that did not rise, or cattle injured in the stall – all these problems were blamed on shishiga.

In the old days, it was believed that this creature could be settled in the house by stoves or carpenters who were deceived when paying for work. If they dispersed peacefully with the builders, and shishimora still pestered the owners, they believed that the soul of an unbaptized baby turned into evil spirits. Mortality during childbirth was very high then, so it was difficult to argue with such an argument.

The forest for our ancestors was not only a breadwinner and supplier of building materials, but also a mystical place inhabited by many different spirits. One of the most dangerous forest dwellers was considered Famously skinny as a pole and a very tall creature with one eye and tenacious clawed paws.

People fed Famously both physically and emotionally. In Russia, it was believed that it was dangerous not only for lonely travelers, but also for quite large groups of people. These evil spirits could kill several peasants, and leave one alive to enjoy his horror and hopelessness.

But even a very persistent person does not have a single chance against an evil creature – regardless of whether it managed to cause fear or not, Famously brutally killed its victim.

No less frightening creatures inhabited in the old days and the imaginary world of the inhabitants of the Carpathians, in whose mythology Slavic beliefs and creatures from the European bestiary were intricately intertwined.