Kikimora - secrets of the world. riddles of the planet. Where does the kikimora live Kikimora black and white
chicken god
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(kikimara, shishimora, shishimara, neighbor, mara) - an East Slavic female mythological character living in a human dwelling, bringing harm, damage and minor troubles to the household and people.
Name origin
According to S. Maksimov, the word kikimora is two-part: kick And pestilence.
- "kick"- bird cry;
- "mor"- gloominess, darkness, fog, ghost.
Alternative nickname - "shishimora" there is a taboo name kikimora, so "shisha" was called evil spirits. There is a theory that it goes back to the verbs of Russian dialectal origin "shishit, shishat" - "swarm, move, do furtively."
mythological image
According to Slavic beliefs, kikimors settle in the premises if the “wrong” dead person was buried under them: the corpse of a child, a hanged or inveterate dead person, also in the house where the child died for some reason. There are known beliefs about kikimoras as children abducted or exchanged by evil spirits. It was sometimes believed that kikimoras appear from the love affair of girls with the unclean in the form of a fiery serpent. Can be sent by a sorcerer.
It was believed that kikimors like to joke with people and sometimes appear in the form of a child left on the road; picked up and warmed by people, they run away, mocking them. She was represented in different ways: as the mistress of the hut, the wife of a brownie or a goblin. Kikimora swamp or forest was accused of kidnapping children, instead of whom she left an enchanted log. Her presence in the house was determined by wet footprints. it was believed that you can protect yourself from kikimora by prayer or, conversely, by scolding.
Kikimor's favorite pastime is weaving and yarn. On the night before Christmas they twitch and burn the tow, left without prayer by the scattered spins on the spinning wheels. This feature in the occupations of kikimora makes her related to the pagan goddess Mokosh, the influence of whose cult probably left its mark on the image of this household spirit. Occasionally, kikimora was even considered a female assistant in baking bread, washing dishes, caring for cattle, and lulling children.
In the Vologda province, it was believed that kikimors during Christmas time give birth to their rascal children. Shulikuns fly out of the house through the pipe to the street, where they stay until Epiphany.
It was believed that kikimora can be seen before special events that are significant for family members, often on the doorstep. If she cries or loudly knocks with bobbins for lace weaving, this portends trouble, if she spins, then someone's death should be expected. If you ask a kikimora, then she can answer with a knock.
A caught kikimora could be turned into a human by cutting the hair on its crown in the form of a cross. However, there will always be some drawback reminiscent of the past: stuttering, stooping, weak mind.
In the image of a kikimora, we have a remnant of some lower deity of the ancient Slavs. Belief in them is probably in connection with the cult of the souls of the departed ancestors. Some identify kikimora with the French spirit cauchemar.
Appearance and description
The people imagined the kikimor in the form of ugly dwarfs or babies, whose head was the size of a thimble, and whose body was as thin as a straw. They have the ability to be invisible, run fast and see a long distance, do not wear clothes or shoes - they are forever young girls, small and restless. According to other beliefs, the kikimora looks like a small crooked and ugly old woman, dressed in torn rags, funny and sloppy, who is afraid that she will be blown away by the wind, and therefore does not leave the house. Occasionally, kikimora was represented in the guise of a man. Occasionally in the form of a maiden with loose hair or a long braid, completely undressed or in a single-colored shirt. Occasionally - in the guise of a married woman in a warrior. There were beliefs that the kikimora looked like a dog, a pig, a duck, and also like a hare, a hamster.
Activities and lifestyle
Kikimors usually live behind the stove, under the floor, in the chicken coop, in the barn, in the attic. They can also live in abandoned buildings, in the yard, in the bathhouse, on the threshing floors, even in the tavern. During the day they hide from people, are active at night, sometimes they annoy the owners with noise and fuss. On quiet nights, you can hear them bouncing, spinning and twisting threads. They can spin the left yarn, but not from left to right, but vice versa, but more often they break and procrastinate the threads, burn the tow, tangle the wool that was thrown without blessing. They sew badly, the stitches of the kikimora are uneven, uneven: “You can’t wait for a shirt from a kikimora”(Russian proverb).
Kikimora tricks
According to beliefs, kikimoras are a constant source of trouble, appearing in the house and doing minor dirty tricks: they interfere with sleep by rustling, howling, squeaking, crying, breaking dishes, throwing off clothes, driving horses at night, shearing feathers from chickens and wool from sheep:
Sometimes, in a fit of playfulness, kikimoras, like brownies, lean on the owners and strangle them at night, they can pull their hair. The following story was popular:
One of the tricks of the kikimora is described in the novel by Alexei Tolstoy "Walking through the torments":
Textual analysis shows that A. N. Tolstoy used the protocols of real interrogations of the Secret Chancellery. Based on them, it can be concluded that the kikimora was seen in 1722 and, therefore, is the oldest evil spirits recorded in St. Petersburg.
Magic items related to kikimora
Kikimora pupae
There was a belief that kikimor was sent to the owners by stove-makers or carpenters, dissatisfied or offended when paying for the construction. A doll made of chips or sewn from rags, representing a kikimora, is laid somewhere in the house, often between logs or beams, after which a “planted kikimora” appears in the house, sending all kinds of obsessions to the owners: they are shown either a hare, or a pig, now a dog, now a bull, songs-dances are imagined, doors open by themselves.
To stop the atrocities of kikimora, it was necessary to find and burn the thrown doll. Or throw it away in a remote area.
chicken god
It was considered a universal amulet against kikimora « chicken god» - a black stone the size of a goose egg and with a hole of natural origin, a whole neck from a broken jug or a worn bast shoe. "Chicken god" in the Vologda region was also called "kikimora one-eyed". On January 2 (15), on "Sylvester Day", he was hung by a thread on the wall of the chicken coop to protect chickens from brownies and kikimors.
Other items
It was believed that the kikimora did not like the juniper, from the branches of which they made braiding for the salt shaker, so that the kikimora would not carry salt. Pots and other utensils were washed with fern infusion so that the kikimora would not touch them. In one medical book of the 18th century, to get rid of kikimora, it was proposed to put camel hair with incense in the house.
Kikimora in the folk calendar
According to some local beliefs, the kikimora lives on the street or on the threshing floor until Christmas time, and then leaves no one knows where. In the Vologda province, it was believed that a kikimora gives birth to children at Christmas time. Newborns fly out into the chimney to the street, where they live until Baptism, they are shushkans (shushkans). During the Christmas festivities, the old women portrayed “shishimor”: they put on torn clothes and, with a long pointed stick, sat on the floor, hanging their legs from the beam and, putting the spinning wheel between their legs, spun. The girls, laughing, grabbed them by the legs, and the “kikimora” fought them off with a stick. Sometimes a kikimora was portrayed by a guy dressed in old woman's rags and with a clay pot on his head, replacing the kokoshnik. After the pot was broken, the "kikimora" turned into an ordinary guy.
Saint Mariamna, whose memorial day is celebrated by the church on February 17 (March 2), was popularly called Maremyana-Kikimora and was often celebrated a day earlier - February 16 (March 1). “In Little Russia, they obviously drag along the streets at the meeting of spring (March 1) with the singing of stoneflies a stuffed animal called mara or madder.”
On March 4 (17), on the day of "Gerasim Grachevnik", kikimora could survive from the house, at this time they become peaceful. To expel the kikimors, they used a conspiracy: “Oh, you goy, you kikimora brownie, get out of the mountaineer’s house soon!”
Kikimora is an evil spirit that sends nightmares to a person. In appearance, the kikimora is very thin and small: her head is the size of a thimble, and her body is as thin as a reed, she does not wear shoes or clothes and remains invisible most of the time. During the day, kikimors are inactive, and at night they begin to play pranks. For the most part, they do not cause serious harm to a person, basically they only arrange small pranks: either they knock with something at night, or they begin to creak. But if the kikimora disliked one of the family members, then the pranks will become much more serious: the spirit will begin to break furniture, break dishes, and harass livestock. Kikimora's favorite pastime is to spin yarn: sometimes he sits in a corner at night and starts working, and so on until the morning, but there is no sense in this work, he only confuses the threads and breaks the yarn.
Kikimoras prefer human houses as a habitat, choosing secluded places for living: behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic, behind the chest, in the corner. Often a kikimor is taken as a wife.
Sometimes kikimoras are shown to people's eyes, foreshadowing imminent misfortunes: so if she cries, then trouble will happen soon, and if she spins, it means that soon one of the inhabitants of the house will die. The prediction can be clarified by asking kikimora, then she will definitely answer, but only with a knock.
Capabilities
Kikimoras have the ability to become invisible, they can move quickly and see well at a great distance. Kikimoras also see the fears of people, they always accurately determine what a person is most afraid of, and send this particular nightmare into a dream.
Enemies
The enemies of kikimore are domestic animals: cats and dogs. If they manage to repulse the kikimore once, then she will avoid these animals in every possible way, but if the kikimore managed to prevail, then she will continue to torment the living creatures.
How to fight?
Kikimoras can appear in the house in two ways: naturally and sent. If a kikimora was "sent" to the house, then it is necessary to find a kikimora doll in the house (with the help of which they called the kikimora into the house) and burn it. If the kikimora appeared naturally, then there is no point in fighting it, it will not cause big trouble, it is enough to rein in the kikimorawhen it gets too naughty. He is afraid of kikimora of red-hot iron and fire, and you can appease this evil spirit if you wash the floors and dishes in the house with tincture of fern root. So that the kikimora does not carry salt or dishes, it is braided with juniper branches. It is possible to completely expel a kikimora who has arbitrarily settled in a house only with the help of a special conspiracy. In the house, it is necessary to sweep the floors with a wormwood broom, saying:
"Oh, you are a goy, kikimora,
get out of the goryunin's house as soon as possible,
otherwise they will tear you with red-hot rods,
they will burn it with a flame-fire and fill it with black tar.
Be, my words, strong and sculpting,
stronger than stone and damask steel.
The key to my words is in heavenly heights,
and the castle in the depths of the sea, on a fish on a whale;
and no one can get this whale fish,
and the lock cannot be opened, except for me (name).
Everyone, probably, heard the word "kikimora", saw Kikimora swamp in pictures, read fairy tales about her. What do authentic Slavic beliefs tell about Kikimora?
Kikimora domestic - Russian and, to a lesser extent, Belarusian mythological character, mostly female, living in a person's dwelling and in other buildings, spinning at night and bringing harm and trouble to the household and people.
Kikimora is a spirit that does not love people very much. Kikimora domestic annoys the residents of the house, spoils their things, interferes with sleep, scares at night. There is a swamp Kikimora, the description of which differs from the home one. She also harms people - at a meeting she can knock her off the road, scare a child walking through the forest.
Kikimors marsh and domestic become “mortgaged” dead, dead or killed small children, stillborn, miscarriages. Homemade Kikimora could be planted by builders in order to harm the owners who did not pay them off, sorcerers as a type of damage. To do this, they put a doll, a rag, a picture in an inconspicuous place. To get rid of the evil Kikimora, it was advised to find such a lining at home.
My father was building a house, and the carpenters were annoyed with something. They put a kikimorka doll in the last row, under the beam. At night, let's scream: the child roars, it pulls for the soul. We couldn't sleep in this house. The old people judged. I had to remove, open the roof and this row of logs. We found a doll. A small one, sewn from rags.
In the swamp, and sometimes at home, Kikimora could start on its own, for example, at the place where someone, especially a child, tragically died, a crime, suicide was committed. Kikimors are often found in abandoned houses.
What does it look likekikimoramarsh?
No one has yet taken a photo of Swamp Kikimora, but there are many folk descriptions of it. Kikimora marsh in the pictures and in life, as they said, resembles a small hunched old woman, covered with grass and moss, dressed in dirty torn rags. Although Kikimora people are shown marsh and domestic only in exceptional cases, usually foreshadowing misfortune, sometimes you can try to see it:
The owner lay in wait for Kikimora early in the morning and saw: a small woman in a shamshur was sitting on a horse and riding around the manger.
However, if you believe the fairy tales about Kikimora, she is able to take on any appearance - a familiar person, an ordinary woman or man, a beautiful girl with flowing hair. The spirit of the swamp and the house was reincarnated in different animals.
The hostess went for firewood, and in the hut there was a piglet. She came - he was on the bench, on the table, everywhere. And then a dog began to loom in this house.
What could be the danger of meetingTOikimora in the swamp or at home?
What are the ways to protect against Kikimora? At home, Kikimora spoils the life of all its inhabitants - hides things so that no one will find them, knocks and makes noise at home, spoils and confuses yarn. They said that this is because Kikimora, the home, also wants to be in charge, but she really doesn’t know how.
Swamp Kikimora scares travelers with terrible sounds. She lures hunters into the thicket, quacking like a duck, for example. They protected themselves from Kikimora swamp with a talisman, as well as from Leshy's leprosy. They did not go to the forest or near the swamp at inopportune times.
It is more difficult to get rid of homemade Kikimora. Fairy tales and beliefs about Kikimora say that if it “scares” at home: strange sounds are heard, things deteriorate, in a word, everything that we call a “poltergeist” happens, you need to look for a doll or other thing unnoticed by ill-wishers, get rid of it with a special ritual. They said that Kikimora can be caught, cut off the hair on the back of the head with a cross, and she will turn into a person, but in some way inferior.
Swamp kikimora is afraid of amulets - “chicken gods” (stones with a through hole), they carried it with them, hung it at home; juniper, fern.
February 16 performed a ritual of getting rid of kikimors. It was believed that on this day they are especially peaceful. Veduns performed rituals against annoying household spirits.
Tales aboutkikimorumarsh
Swamp kikimora is a more popular character today. Tales are told about her, pictures are drawn. They told in such tales that Kikimora swamp kidnaps children in the villages, replacing them with their own or even with logs.
In some fairy tales, Kikimora acts as a good-natured character, rocking children, trying to help the hostess of the house, which makes her related to the brownie.
In some places, it was believed that Kikimora was the wife of a brownie, or they brought her image closer to Domakha (a female brownie). Kikimoru swamp, which can be seen in modern pictures, is often brought together with a mermaid. She is a real spirit-embodiment of nature.
Kikimora home and Kikimora marsh are two different characters. If Kikimora is domestic - a more ancient character, fairy tales about her have been preserved from antiquity, then Kikimora swamp is more of a heroine of modern cartoons and stories.
Kikimora is a famous character in Slavic mythology. In order to get to know the world of Slavic beliefs, the worldview of our ancestors, it is useful to study the stories and myths that have been preserved about the spirits of nature, the house, and everything that exists. In addition, this activity is extremely exciting!
More about Slavic mythology.
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In mythology, the mention of creatures such as is very common. Their other names are shishiga or shishimora. Who they are, where they came from, and how they interact with a person, people are still interested in.
Who is Kikimora swamp?
Initially, the word "mora" appeared, and then "kiki" was added to it, which meant hunchbacked. The word kikimora is called a wife, who guards a human dwelling. She is usually represented as a woman with matted hair and very ugly. Her home is considered to be her home.
Her sister can be considered a swamp kikimora. In some ways, they are similar both externally, and in character, and in behavior, but there are also certain differences. Kikimora marsh- this is the wife of the goblin who live deep in the swamps. In contrast, they have green skin and very long hair covered with mud. Kikimora marsh rarely seen in front of people, and they are also very afraid of sunlight, because under bright light their skin takes on a green tint. So they live in deaf swampy places and fool the heads of travelers passing through the forest.
What marsh kikimoras look like
As well as household spirits, they take the form of an ugly woman with small eyes, thin lips and a hooked nose. There may be warts on her face. The hair of such a kikimora is very long. She weaves mud and swamp plants into them. dress up marsh kikimoras, usually like a network. She also loves various furs very much, which she also uses as an outfit.
A simple person sees this creature extremely rarely. Usually appears in front of those whom they themselves lured into the marshy swamps. They are shown to frighten and completely disorganize a drowning person.
The appearance of marsh kikimora
Very often you can hear that women with a nasty grumpy character who are constantly unhappy with everything are called kikimora. This comparison was not accidental. This wickedness really has a very bad temper.
Where did swamp kikimoras come from?
On this occasion, several versions are put forward. Babies who were hated and cursed by their mother, as well as drowned and unbaptized female children, can become swamp kikimors. Also, a fiery serpent flew to widows and girls yearning for their beloved, which turned into a young man and seduced the unfortunate. From such relationships, children were obtained, who became kikimors.
Carpenters and stove-makers, who were not paid by the owner for their work, can launch a harmful creature into the house. After the payment was made, everything fell into place, and no one was knocking or rattling with tongs.
There is a belief in the Urals that children who have entered swampy places are stealing bumps - this is swamp evil spirits. She hides in the mud all day, showing only her fluffy hair. Towards evening, swamp hunters - tussocks come out and look for their prey. Noticing the child, they wrapped their arms around him like ropes and dragged him into the quagmire. After that, another swamp kikimora appeared.
In remote villages, strange meetings of people with swamp wickedness still take place, especially in those places where the swamps are terrible and impassable. Usually such stories are connected with the disappearance of children. In the Ural village, the girl who disappeared in the swamp appeared only a few years later. She continued to live unsociable, and no one wanted to communicate with her. When the opportunity presented itself to save a man lost in a swamp, she did it. But the saved had a feeling that something had happened to him, something mystical and unreal. He lost track of time, was left without a basket of mushrooms and berries, and right next to the village. While a minute ago I was drowning in a quagmire. Such mysterious stories happen to people quite often, but they are rarely voiced.
The connection of swamp kikimora with the gods
Swamp kikimores and their domestic sisters have their own birthday, which is associated with the appearance of the goddess Mary. On March 2, winter ends and spring comes. Special rituals were associated with this event.
First of all, you need to clean your home. An old broom was used as a ritual broom, which was swept in all corners. Then it was wrapped and thrown away from the house, and sometimes burned to the ground. In addition to the house, it was necessary to sweep the entire yard and paths to the well or reservoir, and the crossroads were also used as a landmark.
Old clothes and broken dishes were thrown out of the house as far as possible. Most often, it was left at a crossroads or at a well.
Some owners were forced to leave their home and go to live elsewhere, when the kikimors began to bring them out and survive. People sometimes tried to drive this obsessive spirit out of their homes. In this case, church incense could not be dispensed with. Animal hair was sprinkled on them and the amulet was thrust between the boards. In this case, there was a magical conspiracy.
Kikimora marsh and her antics
It is impossible to get swamp kikimors out of their native swamps, and no one tried to do this, since even the most disastrous places must have their own owner. very secretive, they are never specifically shown to the eyes of people, but their presence is felt. When a person finds himself in a swamp, he often hears characteristic sounds. Gurgling, crackling, the cry of a child or the cry of a woman, the howl of a dog, and so on, is very often heard from the swamps. Who can make such sounds?
Scientists say that gases come out of the swampy depths that can emit a certain sound background, but not everything can be justified by this phenomenon. The cry of a person is difficult to confuse with the release of methane.
Usually, a person who hears an invocative cry of his own kind tries to help, without thinking about the danger that lurks under the green mosses. Stepping on such a place, the savior begins to sink into the slushy slurry, from which there is practically no escape, while crying and moaning can turn into demonic laughter. At this moment, the drowning man sees a terrible sight. From the open mosses and swamps, an incomprehensible creature with green skin, long, matted hair and dressed in an outfit woven from algae appears. Kikimora marsh appears at the last moment to see the agony of the dying and frighten him so that there is no more strength left to resist the quagmire.
Swamp Spirit Helpers
The insidious and terrible for a person swamp kikimora has several assistants and servants who are afraid of her and arrange various dirty tricks for people. Swamps and bastards, skunks and villains pose a danger to people.
It is not surprising, for those who have been to the swamps, such a phenomenon as the appearance of lights. Blue lights, flickering and flashing from nowhere, frighten travelers and beckon them. Since those who do not know that there is a swamp ahead, go to the light, as to a human dwelling. These same fires, according to popular belief, light marsh kikimoras and their closest assistants.
According to not fully proven and researched data, swamps are considered the cradle of all life on earth. About two thousand mummies have already been found in them. And in the depths of peat, you can find the prints of creatures that previously existed in nature. A person feels very uncomfortable in these places. He begins to experience horror, a sense of fear and weakness. Perhaps this is due to the many secrets hidden by the swamp, or maybe because of the presence of evil spirits there.
