Tradition / Region: Czech Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Flame
The Myth
Moss lights are mysterious lights found in the Bohemian Forest.
A farmer from Waid was plowing his fields between light and darkness. Looking down into the ravine toward the Kieslingbach stream, he saw a multitude of moss lights standing below. Interested, he shouted to them, “Sanctus! Sanctus! Sanctus!”
Immediately, the lights danced wildly about like disturbed bees and suddenly scurried up the mountain. The farmer abandoned his plow and cattle, ran home, bolted the door, and closed the shutters.
Outside, the lights scratched furiously at the door and shutters, determined to get inside. It was a long time before they finally left.
When the farmer returned to the field, he could already hear the oxen bellowing in pain from afar. They lay clawed and bloody before the plow.
Sources
Hans Watzlik. “Mooslichter.” In Böhmerwald-Sagen. Budweis: Böhmerwalder Dorfbücher, 1921, Heft 5. Reproduced by SAGEN.at. https://www.sagen.at/texte/sagen/tschechien/watzlik/mooslichter.html