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Volosen

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Tradition: Belarusian mythology
Alternative Names: Volosen, Volosenya, Valasen, Valasenytsa
Category: Demon

The Myth

Volosen is a supernatural being in Belarusian mythology that can appear in different forms. As a skin demon, it is associated with a purulent abscess that appears on the skin, most often on a finger. The Volosen is imagined as something unclean and otherworldly, associated with strange or misplaced hair.

The hair connected with Volosen may be hair that has remained in a river for three years, hair from a tangled or misplaced bundle, or simply a strand of hair carried away by a bird for its nest. Such supernatural hair was considered the cause of the skin disease. Lithuanians called this kind of hair “devil’s hair,” while Russians called it “zmeevets.”

A Volosen could be driven away through ritual treatment. One method involved pouring hot water through the ears of corn onto the affected area while reciting a special formula. Twisted hairs were also sought on ears of corn. Another method involved taking a bird’s nest full of hair, boiling it, and washing the affected area with the resulting liquid for three days until sunrise.

Another treatment involved melting wax in an old clay pot, adding lard and butter, mixing everything together, and pouring it into cold water. If the mixture spread quickly, it was applied to the affected area until the hair disappeared.

Volosen could also appear as a household evil spirit. In this form, it was described as a small, upright creature covered in thick, dark, long fur. It had large hands with seven fingers, each ending in a long nail. The Volosen scratched people’s faces and tickled their noses.

It was particularly troublesome to women and girls, whom it grabbed by the chest and hair. It could fall onto them with its shaggy body, ruffle their hair, and frighten children by buzzing in their ears or tickling their heels.

In some Belarusian folklore, Volosenya is therefore both a skin disease and a household spirit, ranging from something resembling an abscess on a person’s finger to a small hairy creature that torments people in their homes.

Sources

“Волосень (Volosen).” New Bestiary (Bestiary.us). Accessed September 9, 2026. https://www.bestiary.us/volosen

Bieda

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Tradition: Polish Mythology
Alternative Names: Bieda
Category: Demon

The Myth

Bieda is an immortal demon who brings poverty, hardship, worries, and misfortune upon people. She appears as a thin, emaciated woman who drains the vital strength from those she afflicts.

Bieda can also enter and become an ordinary object, such as a piece of wood. Once misfortune has taken this form, the best way to get rid of it is to pass the object on to an enemy.

Sources

“Bieda (demon).” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bieda_(demon)

Farfadets

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Tradition: French Mythology
Alternative Names: Fadets
Category: Demon, Gnome

The Myth

Farfadets are small supernatural creatures, sometimes only half a meter tall. They are described as wrinkled, brown-skinned beings who usually wear tattered brown clothing, although they may also go naked.

They live in woodlands but may attach themselves to a nearby farm or homestead. Farfadets are generally helpful rather than malicious, although they are playful and mischievous.

They are particularly fond of horses. They may secretly tend and groom them or weave ringlets into their manes. At farms, they perform small tasks in the fields during the night in return for a bowl of milk or cream left outside the house.

However, Farfadets can be driven away by excessive kindness. Leaving new clothes out for them, for example, may frighten them away.

In Provence and other parts of Occitania, similar creatures are known as fadets.

Sources

“Farfadet.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farfadet

Obambou

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Tradition: Gabonese Mythology
Alternative Names: Obambo, Obamba
Category: Demon

The Myth

Obambou is a supernatural being that can be evil and possesses the power to cause harm, although it may also choose to do good. It can possess people, cause sickness and madness, and in some traditions may be the spirit of someone who was not buried properly.

Among the Commi, severe illness could be attributed to an Obambou. An Ogounga, or traditional doctor, could determine whether the spirit was responsible. The Obambou was believed to reside inside the bowels of the afflicted person.

To drive it out, the person’s family, friends, and neighbors gathered around them and made as much noise as possible. They sang, danced, shouted, and struck objects together until the Obambou was driven from the person’s body.

Among the M’pongwe, it was believed that a person could be born with an Obambou spirit and be born insane. More generally, traditions concerning the Obambou held that the spirit could cause insanity through possession.

Another tradition tells of an Obambou that remains in the bush after a person has died and been improperly buried. Eventually tired of wandering, the spirit appears to a close relative and asks them to build it a house near their own.

That night, the women of the village gather to sing and dance. The following day, the people visit the deceased person’s grave and make an idol for the spirit. They build a small hut beside the relative’s house and place inside it the bier on which the deceased was carried to the grave, together with some dust from the grave. A white cloth is then hung over the entrance.

In some traditions, an Obambou is also believed to be married to a female spirit.

Sources

“Obambo.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obambo

Stuhać

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Tradition: Serbian mythology, Bosnian Mythology
Alternative Names: Stuhać
Category: Demon

The Myth

Stuhać is a demonic creature that lives in high mountains and barren, desolate areas. Its appearance is not described, but it is known for wearing clutters made from human ligaments around its legs.

The ligament clutters allow Stuhać to keep its footing while moving across dangerous mountain precipices. If one of these clutters breaks, Stuhać pulls ligaments from someone’s legs and uses them to make a new one.

Sources

“Stuhać.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuha%C4%87

Rokita

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Tradition: Polish Mythology
Alternative Names: Rokita
Category: Demon

The Myth

Rokita is a demon said to inhabit the gateways to the underworld.

He is associated with wild and isolated places, particularly wetlands and forests. Rokita is also said to dwell inside old willow trees, making these trees another place where the demon may be encountered.

His domains therefore lie between the human world and the underworld: the wetlands, forests, and ancient willows that conceal the entrances to the realm of the dead.

Sources

“Rokita (folklore).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokita_(folklore)

Poroniec

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Tradition: Polish Mythology
Alternative Names: Poroniec
Category: Demon

The Myth

Poroniec is a malicious and hostile demon believed to arise from the soul of a miscarried child or aborted fetus. The same fate could befall a child who was stillborn, died, or was killed by its mother shortly after birth and was not buried according to traditional customs.

Poroniec was considered an especially powerful demon because it possessed the potential of a life that had never been fulfilled.

Beliefs about Poroniec were connected with numerous taboos surrounding pregnant women, mothers, and newborn children. Pregnant women were forbidden from looking into wells or drawing water from them. Women with newborns were forbidden from leaving the house with the child, particularly going out into the fields, and sexual intercourse was also prohibited.

Newborn children were subjected to protective magical practices. One such practice involved wiping the baby with a bunch of straw. The mother was traditionally kept inside for the first six weeks after childbirth. Only after this period was she taken outside, while the child was considered fully human and given a name.

There was also a belief that a miscarried child buried beneath the threshold of a house as a foundation offering could instead become a favorable Kłobuk. In this way, it would not become a Poroniec.

Sources

“Poroniec (demon).” Wikipedia, wolna encyklopedia (Polish Wikipedia). Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poroniec_(demon)

Habernitsa

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Tradition: Russian Mythology, Polish Mythology
Alternative Names: Chabernica, Habernitsa, Cornflower Wraith, Lady Cornflower, Cornflower Witch
Category: Demon

The Myth

Habernitsa is a noon demon who appears as a young, slender woman dressed in azure, with cornflowers woven into her hair. She wanders along the boundaries of fields at midday.

She becomes angry with people who trample the grain or work with sharp tools in the fields at noon. Those she considers deserving of punishment are put to sleep by her whisper.

Once they have fallen asleep, Habernitsa causes them terrible pain and injuries. She can inflict headaches, paralysis, and severe pain in the lower back. In some cases, she attacks more violently, breaking the victim’s arms, legs, or neck.

To avoid Habernitsa’s wrath, field workers must stop working and take a break at midday, at the time of the Angelus.

Sources

“Cornflower Wraith (Habernitsa).” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornflower_Wraith

Marțolea

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Tradition: Romanian Mythology
Alternative Names: Marț-sara, Marți Seara
Category: Demon, Sheep

The Myth

Marțolea is a demonic being that lives in the mountains and descends on Tuesday nights. Its gender is uncertain because it can change its form. It usually appears as a goat with a human-like head, horns, and hooves, but it can also take the form of an ugly old woman dressed entirely in white, a soldier, or a handsome young man.

Marțolea comes at night to punish women who work on Tuesday, a day that is considered semi-holy and must be respected. It forbids four particular household tasks: spinning wool, sowing, boiling laundry, and baking bread. It can lure women with its singing before punishing those who have continued working.

Its punishments are terrible. Unmarried women may be killed, with their guts ripped out and hung from nails on the walls or around the dishes. Married women may be killed, or Marțolea may possess their baby or their husband when he is away from home.

Marțolea appears differently depending on whom it encounters. To married women it appears as an old woman, to married men as a virgin, and to unmarried women as a handsome young man.

Those who respect Tuesday and refrain from the forbidden work are rewarded instead. Marțolea may leave eggs on their doorstep or bring them flowers from the highest mountains of Bucovina. On the first night of March, women wearing Mărțișor charms may also receive a silver coin from Marțolea, which they must keep throughout the year.

Sources

“Marțolea.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C8%9Bolea

Yan-gant-y-tan

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Tradition: French Mythology
Alternative Names: Yan-gant-y-tan
Category: Demon

The Myth

Yan-gant-y-tan is a strange demon that wanders through the countryside of Finistère at night. He carries five candles, one burning on each finger of his right hand, and spins them around like a flaming wheel.

Because of the candles, Yan-gant-y-tan cannot turn quickly while walking, since doing so might extinguish their flames. His appearance is sometimes described as that of a wiry old troll or a hairy wild man, but the five burning candles on his hand distinguish him from other creatures of this kind.

Encountering Yan-gant-y-tan is considered an evil omen, particularly for travelers journeying at night. One way of avoiding his bad omen is to leave a small bag of gold or a gold chain around a travelers’ post. Yan-gant-y-tan will take the offering and leave the house alone for another day.

Despite his reputation as a bad omen, Yan-gant-y-tan can also appear to travelers who have no light and give them five candles, allowing them to find their way through the night.

Sources

“Yan-gant-y-tan.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed September 9, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan-gant-y-tan