Tradition / Region: Komi mythology, Russia Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Fish, Spirit
The Myth
In the waters watched over by the Komi people dwells Ai-cheri, a powerful spirit who rules all fish. Rivers, lakes, and hidden currents fall under his quiet authority, and every creature with fins is said to move by his allowance.
Ai-cheri lives in harmony with the vasa, the spirits who govern the waters themselves. Together they keep the balance of streams and depths, deciding when waters are generous and when they are withholding.
When a fisherman casts a net and later finds it missing, the loss is not blamed on chance or current. It is said that Ai-cheri himself has taken it, either as a warning, a reminder of respect owed to the waters, or simply as an act of his unseen will.
Thus, every net drawn from the river is offered with caution, and every net lost is accepted as the hand of the lord of fish moving beneath the surface.
Gallery
Sources
Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Ai-cheri. In Bestiary.us, from https://www.bestiary.us/ai-cheri/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Ai-cheri