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Igrets

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Tradition / Region: Russian Mythology
Alternative Name: –
Category: Spirit

The Myth

Igrets is a figure from Russian folk belief understood as a malicious type of domovoi, the household spirit. Unlike the more ambivalent or protective domovoi, the igrets is known specifically for cruel and troublesome behavior. It hides objects, causes disorder in the house, torments livestock, and interferes with daily life through spiteful tricks rather than playful mischief.

In popular belief, the igrets is sometimes identified directly with the house spirit itself, and in other cases confused with the devil or a demonic presence dwelling within the household. Its actions are described as aggressive and harmful: breaking things, frightening people, and provoking physical or emotional distress. Because of this, its “jokes” were considered dangerous rather than humorous.

Belief in the igrets was widespread in central and southern regions of Russia, including the Ryazan, Tambov, Kursk, Tula, Voronezh, Penza, and Oryol provinces, as well as the Don region. From at least the 19th century, everyday speech in these areas included expressions such as “Igrets take you,” “Igrets knows him,” or “Igrets is with you,” used to explain misfortune, sudden anger, or destructive behavior.

In some regions, the word igrets was also used to describe physical or psychological disturbances. In Kursk province, it could refer to a violent fit or hysterical episode accompanied by screaming. In Tambov and the Don region, it could mean paralysis or sudden loss of control over one’s limbs. These meanings suggest that the igrets was associated not only with household disorder, but also with unexplained illness or loss of bodily control.

Overall, the igrets represents the darker side of domestic spirits in Russian folklore: a presence within the home that causes chaos, suffering, and fear, and serves as an explanation for sudden misfortune, destructive impulses, or frightening physical episodes.

Igosha

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Tradition / Region: Russian Mythology
Category: Ghost

The Myth

Igosha is a spirit found in Russian folk belief, understood as the soul of a stillborn baby or a child who died before baptism. It is described as an armless and legless creature, sometimes invisible, sometimes imagined as a small, malformed being. Because it died without baptism, the igosha is believed to be unable to find rest.

According to belief, stillborn or unbaptized children often remained close to the place where they were buried—frequently under the floor of the house, near the hut, or within the household space itself. Over time, such spirits could become domestic beings, lingering inside the home and wandering through it at night.

The igosha behaves much like other house spirits such as the brownie or kikimora. It plays pranks, causes disturbances, and brings mischief, especially if it is ignored or disrespected. People believed that if the household failed to acknowledge the igosha—by not leaving a spoon, a piece of bread, or other small offerings—it would become more troublesome. In some traditions, people would throw a mitten or hat out the window as a gesture of recognition, treating the igosha as a house spirit rather than denying its presence.

One belief says that the kikimora feeds the igosha wolfberries, which the spirit can eat without choking, reinforcing its non-human nature. The igosha is often described as incomplete or unfinished, reflecting the idea that it barely entered the world before dying. Its lack of arms and legs is sometimes interpreted as a sign of this incompleteness or as a hint of a snake-like nature.

Information about igosha is rare, and the belief appears only sporadically in folklore records. The figure later inspired the literary fairy tale “Igosha” by V. F. Odoevsky, published in 1833, which drew directly on these traditional ideas of an unbaptized, restless child-spirit haunting the domestic space.

Angako-di-Ngato

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Tradition / Region: Philippines Mythology
Alternate Names: Angako-De-Ngato
Category: Spirit

The Myth

Angako-di-Ngato are spirits feared in the folklore of the Kalinga people of northern Luzon. They are believed to be the cause of illness, afflicting humans with sickness when they draw near or are offended.

When disease strikes without an obvious cause, it is said that Angako-di-Ngato are responsible. These spirits act invisibly, entering the human body or lingering around people, weakening them and bringing suffering.

In Kalinga belief, illness is not merely physical but the result of contact with these malevolent spirits, whose presence disrupts the balance between humans and the unseen world.

Source

Bestiary.us contributors. (n.d.). Angako di Ngato. In Bestiary.us — Mythical Creatures of the World, from https://www.bestiary.us/angako-di-ngato/en

Badnjak

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Tradition / Region: Bosnian Mythology, Croatian Mythology, Montenegrin Mythology, Serbian Mythology
Alternate Names: Badњak
Category: Flame

The Myth

Badnjak is a spirit known among the Southern Slavs, closely associated with Christmas Eve. It is believed to appear either in the form of a bearded old man or embodied within a log prepared for ritual burning.

On Christmas Eve, a special log—also called the badnjak—is brought into the home and placed on the fire. This log is not considered ordinary wood, but the dwelling place or manifestation of the Badnjak spirit itself. As the log burns, it is believed to bring warmth, protection, fertility, and prosperity to the household for the coming year.

In some traditions, the Badnjak is imagined as an elderly, bearded figure who visits the home symbolically through the fire. The crackling, sparks, and glow of the burning log are taken as signs of the spirit’s presence and favor.

Through this ritual, Badnjak remains a liminal being—both spirit and object—bridging the human household and the sacred time of midwinter, appearing each year with the lighting of the Christmas Eve fire.

Vette

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Tradition / Region: Icelandic Mythology, Norwegian Mythology
Alternate Names: Vaett, Land-vætt, Wight, Vaette-houer
Category: Nature spirit / house spirit

The Myth

In Scandinavian folklore, a vette (or vætt) is a supernatural being associated with nature, land, and human dwellings. Vættir are understood as spirits bound to specific places, such as farms, burial mounds, waterfalls, fields, or outbuildings. When connected to the land itself, they are known as Land-vættir, guardian spirits of a particular locality.

Early Scandinavian law codes reflect belief in these beings. According to Ulfliot’s law, sailors approaching land were required to remove carved figureheads from their ships so as not to frighten the Land-vættir with their gaping mouths or beaks. The Gulathing law states that Land-vættir were believed to dwell in burial mounds and waterfalls. Spirits associated specifically with burial mounds were known as Vaette-houer.

Over time, the image of the vette expanded beyond guardians of land to include spirits tied to farms and household buildings. These beings were believed to live close to humans, inhabiting barns, stables, storehouses, and homes. They were capable of working tirelessly, completing chores such as feeding livestock, tending children, sweeping floors, and carrying water. When well-disposed, they ensured the prosperity and order of the household.

However, vettir were also known for mischief. If offended or simply inclined to play tricks, they might pull blankets off sleeping people, tickle their heels with cold fingers, mix pepper or mustard into sugar bowls, paint faces, or let animals loose from their pens. Such acts could drive the victims to anger and confusion.

Vettir were typically described as small, stout beings with long gray beards, deep-set eyes, round bellies, thin legs, and rough, low voices. They wore old-fashioned peasant clothing, sometimes red jackets and red stockings, and were often said to walk with birch sticks. Like similar household spirits elsewhere in Europe, they disliked being given clothing openly, though some traditions say they would accept garments if left quietly in a hidden place.

In a broader sense, the word vættir could refer to supernatural beings in general. It was sometimes used as a collective term encompassing elves, dwarves, trolls, giants, and even the gods themselves.

Through these traditions, vettir are remembered as ever-present spirits of place—guardians, workers, tricksters, and unseen neighbors who shared the landscape and daily life of the Scandinavian world.

Alvina

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Tradition / Region: Belgian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

Alvina is a spirit of the air, known to wander endlessly through the sky. When the wind howls and roars, people say, “Listen! Alvina is crying.” Her presence is heard rather than seen, carried on storms and restless gusts that sweep across the land.

According to the legend, Alvina was once a king’s daughter. Against her parents’ wishes, she married the wrong man. For this act, her parents cursed her to wander forever, stripped of rest or peace. From that moment on, she was bound to the winds, condemned to eternal roaming.

Her name has led some to believe that she was the daughter of an elven king, linking her to an otherworldly royal lineage rather than a purely human one. Whether princess or elf-child, Alvina’s fate remained the same: to drift endlessly through the air, her sorrow echoing whenever the wind rises.

Thus, Alvina is remembered as a mournful air spirit, her lament still heard whenever the wind cries across West Flanders.

Source

Abe de Verteller. (2014). Van aardmannetje tot zwarte juffer: Een lijst van Nederlandse en Vlaamse elfen en geesten. In AbeDeVerteller.nl, from https://abedeverteller.nl/van-aardmannetje-tot-zwarte-juffer-een-lijst-van-nederlandse-en-vlaamse-elfen-en-geesten/

The Rabbit Mystery

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Tradition / Region: Japan (Amami Ōshima — Yamato Village)
Alternate Names: —
Category: Rabbit / shapeshifter

The Myth

In Yamato Village on Amami Ōshima, there is a legend of a strange and terrifying occurrence that once plagued the island. Every night, an unknown visitor would appear, stealing a set of rice cakes and kidnapping one person. As night after night passed, fear spread through the village and the number of inhabitants steadily decreased.

At last, two courageous villagers decided to uncover the truth. They prepared rice cakes and carried them in a basket, intending to follow the visitor and discover its true form. As they walked, they suddenly saw many white rabbits appear around them. The rabbits gathered together, chanting softly and repeatedly bowing toward the east, as if praying to something unseen.

The two men sought help from an old woman and borrowed her dog. When the dog was brought among the rabbits, it attacked them, killing and devouring them one by one as they ate the rice cakes and continued bowing toward the east.

Afterward, it was revealed that until that time, the rabbit had been transforming into the shape of a monk. In that form, it had been stealing rice cakes and kidnapping people from the village. With the rabbits destroyed by the old woman’s dog, the nightly disappearances ended, and the villagers were finally able to live in peace again.

Thus the rabbit came to be remembered not only as an animal, but as a dangerous shapeshifter whose true nature had long been hidden beneath a human disguise.

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Utixo’s Rabbit

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Tradition / Region: Khoi mythology (Southwestern Africa)
Alternate Names: Tiqua
Category: Rabbit / divine messenger

The Myth

Utixo is a benevolent sky god of the Khoi people, dwelling above the world and speaking through thunder. He sends rain to nourish the land and watches over human life. In one well-known story, Utixo decided to send a message to humanity concerning death.

Utixo declared that death would not be eternal and that humans would one day rise again. To deliver this message, he chose a rabbit as his messenger and sent it down from the sky to the people.

As the rabbit traveled, it became confused and forgot the message it had been entrusted with. When it finally reached humanity, the rabbit spoke the opposite of Utixo’s words, telling people that death was final and that they would not rise again.

Because of the rabbit’s mistake, death became permanent in the world. From that time onward, humans were said to die forever, and the rabbit was remembered as the bearer of the wrong message, whose error changed the fate of humankind.

In Khoi tradition, this story explains why death is irreversible and why the rabbit holds a special place in myth as a divine messenger whose failure shaped the human condition.

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Penanggalan

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Tradition / Region: Malay folklore (Malaysia and wider Southeast Asia)
Alternate Names: Penanggal
Category: Vampire / witch

The Myth

The Penanggalan is a nocturnal vampiric being from Malay folklore. By day, it appears as an ordinary human woman, but at night it separates its head from its body. The head flies freely through the darkness, trailing its internal organs and entrails from the neck. From a distance, it is said to glow or flicker like a small ball of fire, resembling a will-o’-the-wisp.

The name penanggalan comes from the Malay word tanggal, meaning “to remove” or “to take off,” referring to the creature’s ability to detach its head. The Penanggalan is not an undead corpse but a living woman who has gained this ability through black magic. According to tradition, a woman becomes a Penanggalan by performing a ritual bath in vinegar, meditating while her body is submerged except for her head. Through this practice, she learns how to separate herself from her body at night.

When active, the Penanggalan soaks its dangling organs in vinegar to shrink them, making it easier to reattach to its body before dawn. Because of this, the creature is always associated with a strong smell of vinegar, which is said to betray its true nature even during the daytime.

At night, the Penanggalan hunts for blood. Its preferred victims are pregnant women, women who have recently given birth, and young children. Traditional Malay houses were built on stilts, and the Penanggalan was believed to hide beneath them, extending its long tongue upward to feed on the blood of new mothers. Those it feeds upon are said to suffer a wasting illness that is often fatal. Even being brushed by the dripping entrails of the creature could cause painful, festering sores that would not heal without the help of a bomoh.

The Penanggalan is closely related to similar beings across Southeast Asia, all sharing the same basic form of a flying female head with trailing organs. These include the Ahp in Cambodia, the Kasu in Laos, the Krasue in Thailand, the Ma lai in Vietnam, the Kuyang and Leyak in Indonesia, and the Manananggal in the Philippines.

Protection against the Penanggalan involves physical barriers. Thorny leaves of the mengkuang plant are scattered around houses or hung near windows to snag and injure the exposed organs. Shards of glass fixed to the tops of walls serve the same purpose. Pregnant women are said to keep scissors or betel nut cutters under their pillows, as the Penanggalan fears sharp metal.

A Penanggalan may be destroyed if its abandoned body is found. Filling the neck cavity with broken glass will tear its organs apart when it tries to reattach. The body may also be sanctified and burned, or otherwise prevented from reuniting with the head before sunrise. In some accounts, turning the body upside down causes the head to reattach incorrectly, exposing the creature’s identity to everyone.

In Malay tradition, the Penanggalan remains a feared figure of the night—born of witchcraft, moving unseen above villages, and preying upon the most vulnerable while hiding in plain sight by day.

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Cikavac

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Tradition / Region: Serbian Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Bird / Pelican

The Myth

The Cikavac is a creature of Serbian folklore, described as a strange winged being that is neither fully bird nor beast. It is said to resemble a bird with a long beak and a pouch like that of a pelican. The Cikavac does not appear naturally in the world but must be deliberately created through a secret ritual.

To obtain a Cikavac, a person must take an egg laid by a black hen. The egg is then carried under the armpit of a woman for forty days. During this time, strict rules must be followed. The caretaker must not confess sins, must not pray, must not wash her face, cut her nails, or speak of what she is doing. If these conditions are kept, the egg hatches, and the Cikavac is born.

Once created, the Cikavac becomes bound to its owner. At night, it flies out to perform tasks on their behalf. It is said to steal honey from neighboring beehives and milk from other people’s cattle, bringing these goods back to its master. Despite this, the beehives and animals it visits are often described as remaining unharmed.

The Cikavac is also believed to grant its owner the ability to understand the language of animals. Through this power, humans gain insight into the hidden world of beasts and birds, learning things normally beyond human hearing.

The Cikavac remains close to the household that created it, acting as a secret helper and bringer of prosperity. Its existence depends on secrecy and careful observance of the ritual that brought it into the world. If the rules are broken, the creature is said to fail to form or to disappear.

In Serbian tradition, the Cikavac is remembered as a liminal being—born through human action, moving between forest, farm, and home, and serving as a hidden companion that operates under cover of night.