Friday, October 5, 2007

A brief post about house spirits.

Russian House Spirits:

A Domovoi is a male house spirit in Russian Folklore. They are small, covered in hair, and they may have tails or horns. They live under the stove or in the threshold of the door. They are generally helpful, maintaining peace and order, but if they are unhappy (due to profane language or neglect of chores) they play nasty tricks, which become gradually worse until the problem is remedied. People will leave out food offerings at night to appease them.
The female equivalent, sometimes said to be married to the Domovoi, is Kikimora. She lives in the cellar, and when all is well, she looks after the chickens and helps with the housework. If all is not well, she becomes a nuisance, although not as malicious as her husband.

Note: want an adorable Domovoi or Kikimora doll? You can find some here:
http://www.stpetersburger.com/html/russian_toys_1.html

2 comments:

GraceyK said...

I like the descriptions for the dolls on the website:

Young Domovoi
"This lovely and smiling young Domovoi is affecting and amusing at the same moment and cannot leave you indifferent!"

sounds really cuddly

Dr. Michael A. Denner said...

damn! that's why my domovoi is always screwing things up!

i had no idea that russians had female household spirits.