Mythology!

Ee (İye / Iye)

by

Tradition / Region: Turkic traditional beliefs (Volga region, Central Asia, North Caucasus, Western Siberia, Altai–Sayan)
Alternate Names: İye, Ee, Iye, Iyase (elemental forms)
Category: Spirit-masters / place spirits

The Myth

In Turkic traditional belief, Ee (also called İye or Iye) are spirits who permanently inhabit and rule specific places, objects, and elements of the world. Every natural or cultural space is believed to have its own ee: mountains, forests, fields, rivers, springs, baths, mills, barns, abandoned houses, ravines, and swamps all possess their own spirit-master.

These spirits are understood as the rightful owners of their domains. They dwell continuously in one place and govern what happens there. Ee may appear in human form—male or female—and are often described with unusual features such as being blind, slant-eyed, three-eyed, fat, or otherwise distorted. They can be benevolent or hostile, depending on how humans behave toward their domain.

Among the Kazan Tatars, West Siberian Tatars, and Bashkirs, ee are divided into specific elemental and domestic spirits. These include su iyase, the master of water; urman iyase, the forest spirit; and oy iyase or yort iyase, the house spirit. Among the Altai and Sayan peoples, a prominent figure is tag-eezi, the master of mountains and taiga, though ee were believed to inhabit all landscapes and could function as protectors of clans tied to particular territories.

In Western Siberian traditions, ee were believed to dwell in abandoned houses, swamps, and ravines, places considered dangerous or spiritually unstable. In Islamized Turkic traditions, especially among the Turkmens, ee gradually came to be regarded as malevolent spirits or genies bound to specific locations.

Among the Chuvash, the iye is believed to live under the stove or in bathhouses. In these places, it may play tricks on people—pushing them, dislocating limbs, or causing their eyes to twist—but it is not purely evil. The iye can also protect the household, prevent fires, increase livestock, support beekeeping, and bring success in trade. For this reason, offerings such as bread, baked goods, or small objects are thrown onto the stove during household rituals.

In later folklore, ee were increasingly blamed for illnesses affecting people and animals, including weakness, exhaustion, and paralysis, especially in children. These afflictions were believed to result from violations of unwritten rules, such as sleeping on boundaries, lying on damp ground without prayer, or leaving children unattended. To appease or expel an ee, people performed incantations and offered sacrifices such as human- or animal-shaped figurines made from dough, bread, or rowan twigs.

Though feared for their capacity to harm, ee were never simply demons. They were understood as guardians and enforcers of cosmic and social order, reacting to human respect or neglect. When treated properly, they protected their domains and those who lived within them; when offended, they punished transgressions, reminding people that every place in the world had a living master.

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
Philosophical Readings
Psychological Readings
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
Other

Ichchi

by

Tradition / Region: Russian Mythology
Category: Spirit masters / animistic spirits

The Myth

In traditional Yakut belief, ichchi are spirit masters that inhabit objects, places, and natural phenomena. According to this worldview, nature is alive in all its parts, and every thing—large or small—possesses its own indwelling spirit. Mountains, trees, rivers, lakes, fire, tools, dwellings, and even the most ordinary household objects were believed to have an ichchi.

Ichchi could dwell in prominent features of the landscape, such as forests or bodies of water, acting as guardians or owners of those places. At the same time, they could also inhabit humble or easily overlooked things, such as the firebox used in the hearth or tools used in daily work. Because of this, people were expected to treat both nature and objects with care and respect.

When approached properly, an ichchi could become a patron spirit to a person or household, offering protection, good fortune, and harmony. Disrespect, neglect, or improper behavior toward the object or place inhabited by an ichchi could provoke misfortune, illness, or bad luck.

Communication with ichchi took the form of prayers called algys, which were spoken to honor or appease the spirits. Offerings were an essential part of this relationship. These could include horsehair ornaments, scraps of cloth known as salama, non-animal foods, kumiss (fermented mare’s milk), or money. The offerings acknowledged the spirit’s presence and authority.

Ichchi are distinct from other spiritual beings in Yakut cosmology. They are not the high benevolent deities known as Aiyy, nor are they the malevolent spirits such as Abaahy or Uor. Instead, ichchi occupy a middle position as ever-present spirit owners of the world itself.

Similar beliefs in spirit masters exist among neighboring peoples. Other Turkic-speaking groups refer to such spirits as eye or ezi, the Buryats call them ezhins, and the Mongols know them as edzens, reflecting a shared animistic understanding across Inner Asia.

Igrets

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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

by

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.

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
Philosophical Readings
Psychological Readings
Esoteric Deep Dive
  • Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
Other

Utixo’s Rabbit

by

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.

Interpretive Lenses

Religious Readings
Philosophical Readings
Psychological Readings
Esoteric Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
Other