Tradition: Czech Mythology
Alternative Names: Restless Lights
Category: Ghost
The Myth
The Poor Souls are mysterious spirits that appear as blue lights wandering across the mossy forest floor in the Bohemian Forest. One night, children from Seewies were roaming through the woods when they encountered these strange lights sweeping back and forth in the darkness. Frightened by the sight, they fled until they reached a hermitage, where an ice-gray hermit knelt in prayer.
Inside the hermitage, the children gradually regained their courage. They began pointing at the restless lights and calling them all sorts of names. But their mockery angered the spirits. Suddenly, the blue lights appeared directly outside the window and began pounding against it so violently that the entire building rattled. The children’s courage vanished, and they crawled beneath the hermit’s long beard, desperately begging him to protect them.
The hermit told the children to gather all the breadcrumbs they could find and scatter them in front of the door. They eagerly followed his instructions, offering the crumbs to the wandering lights. Once the spirits had been fed, they calmed down and soon disappeared, returning to their distant wanderings across the moss.
The legend teaches that even a humble offering can soothe restless spirits, while mocking or provoking them may bring fear and trouble upon those who encounter them.
Sources
“Arme Seelen.” In Hans Watzlik, Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/armeseelen.html