Mythology @ FreshCaffeine.com

Mythology of Scotland
Appears in the Shape of a Horse

This is the name of a fearsome water SPIRIT in the folklore of Scalloway Island, North of Scotland. This spirit was also known by the names Nogle, Noggle, Nuggle, Nuggie, and Nygel. It inhabited Njugals Water and manifested itsElf in the shape of a horse with an odd tail like a wheel curling over its back. Like the Each Uisge, it would appear saddled and bridled, prancing on the shore. Should any human try to mount him, the NEUGLE would immediately enter the water with the human unable to dismount, and the victim might never be seen again.

However, the NEUGLE was not always as malicious as the Cabyll-Ushtey or the Ceffyll-Dwr, and the rider would often suffer no more than an undignified drenching, where upon the spirit would disappear into the water as a blue dancing flame. This spirit was fond of water wheels on the mills and would take great delight in causing them to stop, thereby causing immense irritation to the millers. This spirit is said to have been seen in British Columbia by Scandinavian and Shetlander immigrants and has passed into the folklore of Canada as Nogle.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Definition

This is the concept of a supernatural entity that occupies and influences the same world as that inhabited by humans. Although the term may be applied to a deity, it refers mostly to those beings that have lesser powers and limited scope in their activities. All cultures have spirits in their mythology and folklore to some degree. Their character, activities, and relationship to humans and supreme deities form the rich heritage of beliefs in society.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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West African Folklore
Evil Spirit who Posses Children

These are evil forest SPIRITS of the Dahomey and Yoruba people of West Africa. The ABIKU posses babies and small children, drawing away their life essence until the child dies. The spirits may enter a child in infancy or be permitted by the Creator, MAWU, to be born to a family. Once in possession of the infant, the ABIKU are increasingly hungry and thirsty. They devour all the food intended for the child, often providing for other ABIKU without a host. The host child, in pain and depravation despite the efforts of the parents, ultimately dies, whereupon the ABIKU seeks another host.

Parents may protect their children in different ways: They may adorn their children with bells, which the ABIKU hates; they may dedicate the child to a Vodu (a god); they may rub pepper into tiny cuts, as this may drive out the evil spirit; or they may disfigure the child’s appearance to be unrecognizable and unwanted by the spirit, which will go back to the forest. Sometimes, the infant is detained by iron shackles and bracelets with bells to prevent the ABIKU from taking possession in the first place.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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European Folklore
Medieval Evil Spirit

This is the European medieval fiend of the night known in Latin as the INCUBUS, which means, “That which lies upon”. As indicated by its name, this is an evil SPIRIT that mounts a sleeping woman for the purpose of sexual relations. It may take on any shape, male or female, but is usually a semblance of the woman’s husband or lover, or it may be entirely invisible. An INCUBUS was said to be recognized by his cloven hooves and stinking breathe.

The European names for this demon are Follet (French), Folletto (Italian), Alp (German), and Duende (Spanish). The activities of this kind of feind are to be found in most cultures from the earliest times and make their appearance as the pre-Islamic Lilith, the Celtic Dusli, the Teutonic Mara, the Greek Ephialites, the Hindu Bhutas , and the Samoan Hotua Poro. In Europe, the INCUBUS was recognized in both civil and ecclesiastical law during the Middle Ages, and many deformed births, unwanted pregnancies, and unholy night visits were pronounced the work of this convenient demon. By the time that the witch hunting fervor of the sixteenth and seventeenth century had run it’s course, the change in accusation from demonic “possession” to demonic “cooperation” had sealed a horrific fate for thousands of terrified victims.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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English Folklore
Spirit of Cold Weather

In English popular folklore, this is the mischievous SPIRIT personification of freezing weather. He is usually portrayed as a type of Elf dressed entirely in white, with icicles dangling from his clothes. JACK FROST nips at the fingers and toes of those who venture outside on such cold days, and will playfully turn human noses the color of ripe cherries. He frolics along the countryside, leaving twinkling frost crystals decorating everything he has touched.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Mariner Folklore
Evil Sea Spirit
Originated in the 17th Century

This fiend or evil SPIRIT of the sea in the folklore of sailors warns of impending drowning and traps the souls of the drowned in his “locker” in the deep. The derivation of the name has several probable sources. It is possible that the name Davy is derived from the Celtic name for watercourse: Tau or Taff, which is the derivation of many river names in the United Kingdom such as the Tavy and Tywi. The Jones part of the name may be from the Celtic diminutive Shon, from which come the first names Sean and John, and which are used in the same way as in JACK FROST, and reminiscent of the Highland SHONEY. There is also evidence of numerous mythological underworld and underworld bone-constructed prisons for the lost souls, the Celtic example being called OCHREN. A further possibility is that Davy is from the West Indian term for ghost or devil known as Duppy, and Jones may be derived from Jonah, the biblical symbol of death and misfortune at sea, all of which would be familiar to the seventeenth-century mariner.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Native American Folklore
Belief of the Taos Pueblo People
Spirit of Good Health

This is a powerful river SPIRIT of the Native American Taos Pueblo people’s beliefs. He is described as having a spiny body, yellow eyes, and a huge mouth. BIG WATER MAN is a guardian spirit of good health and protection against disease. He controls all the areas around the rivers and can cause floods, alter the depth and flow of the rivers, and even cause landslides when he moves too quickly. BIG WATER MAN is constantly rebuffed by the CORN MAIDENS and seeks to punish them for rejecting him.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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German Folklore
A type of Dwarf

In the folklore of Germany, RUMPLSTILTSKIN is a little deformed dwarf of very ugly appearance made famous in Grimm’s Fairy Tales (#55). The story tells how the dwarf helps a miller’s daughter spin straw into gold after she, or her mother, had foolishly tried to impress the king and gain his love. The dwarf’s price for his help was that he should take the first-born child of the marriage. The miller’s daughter readily agreed, but when the child was born and RUMPELSTILTSKIN returned for the debt to be paid, the miller’s daughter , now queen, was distraught. The dwarf was so confident in his victory that he said he would not take the child if she could tell him his name within three days. The queen had never asked the name of her benefactor, and she sent servants far and wide to find it out before the time was up.

Almost at the point of despair when the morning the third day came, a servant happened to overhear RUMPLSLITSKIN’S triumphant chanting in the woods, and she silently hurried to tell the queen. When the dwarf came to take the child, the queen at first pretended not to know his name, then suddenly declared it. RUMPELSTILTSKIN flew into such a rage that he stamped his feet right into the ground and tore himsElf apart trying to get them out.

The appearance and demise of RUMPLESTILTSKIN have many variations throughout Europe and western Russia, where he goes by such names as TOM TIT TOT in England, RICDIN RICDON or ROBIQUET in France, KRUZIMUGELI in Austria, TITILITURE and DANCING VARGALUKA in central Europe, PANCZUMANCZI and WINTERKOLBE in Hungary and so many more from around the globe.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Welsh Folklore
A tricky Fairy

In the folklore of Wales, this is the name of a fairy servant of the RUMPELSTILTSKIN or HABEETROT type. JILI FFRWTAN preformed work that the woman had found impossible to complete without assistance, and the supernatural demanded that the woman must be able to state the fairy’s name in three days’ time or forfeit everything. Before the time was up, the desperate woman came upon the fairy unnoticed. While at her work, the fairy was overheard to sing: “Bychan wyr fy meistres i, Mai Jili Ffwtan ydw i” (Little does my mistress know that I am Jili Ffrwtan). With this, the woman was able to relate the supernatural’s name in time and retain the work completed.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Moroccan Folklore
A type of Djinn
A type of Demon

This is the name of a type of DJINN in the folklore of Morocco. This demon usually manifests in the form of a toad. It is not the usually destructive Djinn, but most people will be respectful; therefore, if it enters the home, no one will molest it. Instead, they will ask it politely to depart.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Hindu Mythology
India Mythology
A type of Demon

In the classical Hindu mythology of India, this is a terrible, destructive demon who, with his brother MANI, worked acts of unspeakable horror and violence on the earth. The lord Siva was so angry that he created a demon of vengeance named MAHAMARI, who was sent to engage in battle with the demons and their horde of fiends. When MANI recanted, KHANDOBA, who had defeated the demon, allowed him to survive, MALLA fought on. Then MAHAMARI commenced devouring the demon’s elephants, warriors, chariots, and weapons. When KHANDOBA also attacked MALLA, the demon appeared t recant just as he was about to lose his head, When the demon asked for three favors to be granted, the wise KHANDOBA removed the demons head, replacing it with that of a goat, and buried the original under the temple; then he took the name MALHARI (killer of MALLA). All of these actions perversely granted the demon’s wishes. In the Masharashtra, the variations of this story give only one demon whose name is MANIMAL.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Islamic Mythology
Religious Mythology
Evil Spirit

In the beliefs of Islam, this is a group of evil spirits and the third species of DJINN. With the IBLIS these SPIRITS, also known as SHEITAN, were created from the smokeless fires of hell. They are shape-shifters and may manifest in many forms such as voluptuous females, ogres, spirits, wild animals, disembodied voices in the desert wind, or the whirlwind itsElf. They lurk in the desert, the wasteland, the crossroads, and the market places, where they prey on unwary humans. The SHEITANS try to ensnare humans at every opportunity with deceits and lead them into sin and everlasting torment. The name SHEITAN was the derivation of the word SATAN, used by Christians as the designation for the devil.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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European Folklore
Enchanted Herb

In European occultism and demonology, this is a familiar demon derived from the nature spirit of the mandrake plant. From the earliest of times, the legends concerning the fatal results inflicted by the MANDRAGORA on anyone attempting to lift the plant out of the earth brought about the stratagem of harassing an unfortunate dog to the plant until the root was clear of the ground. The spirit was supposed to scream as it was drawn from the earth, as this is mentioned in ”Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (1596)”.

Like the appearance of the roots, the spirit of the MANDRAKE is described as resembling a youthful, naked male or female human, which according to Thomas Newton was produced from the spirit of a buried murderer. The plant was used by alchemists and herbalists from the earliest times for it’s alleged fertility and curative properties as recorded in the Judeo-Christian Bible (Genesis 88:14-16). It was also supposed to inflict vanity and lunacy if the resultant potion were taken in excess.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology
Female Spirit

These are female nature SPIRITS especially in the classical mythology of Greece and Rome. They were portrayed as beautiful young maidens dressed in diaphanous flowering garments, with lovely hair tied in the classical Greek fashion with golden bands around their heads. Although not immortal, they were said to live for several thousands of years.

The NYMPHS were usually the attendants of the gods, often provided musical or theatrical entertainment. They frequently played instruments, danced, educated infant gods, and delivered prophecies

There were distinct groups of NYMPHS named according to where they dwelled and what they protected. They could both be benevolent and malevolent toward humans and have also been called demons or spirits.

In the pantheon of the ancient mythologies of most cultures, there are spirit maidens whose activities are the same as those of the NYMPHS and whose roles were as attendants of the deities and having guardianship responsibilities. They are the subject of numerous tales and legends in their own right. The following are the names of groups of NYMPHS from different cultures.

• Cherokee, Native American: ANITSUTSA
• Germany: MOSS MAIDENS
• Greece & Rome: Alsieda, Atlantides, Auluniads, Carmemae, Crenae, Dryades, Hemadryades, Hesperides, Limonead, Meliae, Meliae, Meliades, Melissa, Muses, Naidads, Nepaeae, Naphae, Nereid, Oceanids, Oriadades, Pagae, Pleiades, Slyphs, Undines
• India: Apsaras, Devas, Gandharvas, Kollimalaikanniyarka, Urvasi, Vrikshakas
• Ireland: Suire
• Persia: Houri, Huran

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Mangaia Mythology
Keeper of souls and the underworld
Mother to 4 Fairies

This is the name of an ugly, deformed female demon of the underworld in the myths of Mangaia people of the Pacific Islands. There are numerous earthly places where the departing souls of humans set off for the spirit world, known as Avaiki, Haw-aii, or Hawaiki. On the island of Mangaia, the souls depart from a high sea cliff onto a bua tree that emerges for them from the sea, extending the particular branch reserved for their tribe toward the soul. When the soul is on it’s branch, the tree reacts to the underworld, where all the souls fall off the branches and into a net held by a group of demons led by AKAANGA. The souls are delivered to MIRU KURA, whose name means Ruddy, from the infernal fires she tends. She cooks the souls in the flames of hell and devours them. She was said to be the mother of the fairies known as TAPAIRU, KUMU-TONGA-I-TE-PO, and KARAIA-I-TE-ATA. MIRU KURA was eventually defeated by NGARU, who caused a great flood, putting out the fires on which she roasted her victims.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Greek Mythology
Egyptian Mythology
Medieval European Religion
Freighting Spirit

This is a supernatural being in the mythology of ancient Greece. It was also known as ACEPHALI, AKEPHALE, or AKEPHALOS. The ACEPHALOS is described in Egyptian, Greek and medieval European religion and folklore as a frightening SPIRIT. It is a demon that manifests in the shape of a human being but without a head, causing terror and panic in those to whom it appears. In the later folklore of modern Greece, the spirit known as PHONOS (the Greek word for death) has the same physical description and ability to incite terror.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Norse Mythology
AKA Goddess Easter (in English)
Saxon Mother Goddess of Fertility and Spring
Possibly the Origin of Easter

Eostre represents the re-birth of life and nature after the harsh weather of the winter months. The egg is believed to represent that very re-birth.

Similarly, the "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility [was] known variously as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron and Ausos." 1 Her name was derived from the ancient word for spring: "eastre." Similar Goddesses were known by other names in ancient cultures around the Mediterranean, and were celebrated in the springtime.

Eostre is the Germanic Goddess of Spring. Also called Ostara or Eastre, She gave Her name to the Christian festival of Easter (which is an older Pagan festival appropriated by the Church), whose timing is still dictated by the Moon. Modern pagans celebrate Her festival on the Vernal Equinox, usually around March 21, the first day of spring.
Eostre is connected with renewal and fertility. Eggs and rabbits are sacred to Her, as is the full moon, since the ancients saw in its markings the image of a rabbit or hare. She is also a dawn goddess, and may be related to the Greek Goddess of the dawn Eos.

Once, when the Goddess was late in coming, a little girl found a bird close to death from the cold and turned to Eostre for help. A rainbow bridge appeared and Eostre came, clothed in her red robe of warm, vibrant sunlight, which melted the snows. Spring arrived. Because the little bird was wounded beyond repair, Eostre changed it into a snow hare who then brought rainbow eggs. As a sign of spring, Eostre instructed the little girl to watch for the snow hare to come to the woods.

Eostre is the name of a putative goddess of the Anglo-Saxons. The Venerable Bede described her worship as something which had already died out by the time he began writing the first significant history of the Anglo-Saxons. In recent years some historians have suggested that Bede may have made her up because there are no known references to her preceding his work. Others point out that Bede is known as "the Father of English history" precisely because he has long been the source for most of what little we know about pre-Christian English history.

The name Ostara was handed down in the German oral traditions Grimm was recording and he indicated that it was held to be the name of an old goddess, but no earlier texts stating this are known. Grimm suggested that the parallels between the names 'Eostre' and 'Ostara', months 'Eostremonat' and 'Ostaramanoth', and holidays 'Easter' and 'Ostern' implied a common origin.

Similar words, which it has been suggested are variations of Eostre's name, include Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Estre, Eostre, Eoster, Eostra, Eastre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron, Aurora, and Ausos. There is no certain parallel to Eostre in Old Norse though Grimm speculates that a "spirit of light" named Austri from the Eddas might be related.

Ostara (also known as Eostra), a Teutonic goddess of spring, fertility, and the dawn, who also lends her name to estrogen and the East.

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Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology
Originally Wind Spirits
Later became Demons

In classical Greek and Roman mythology the Harpies were originally wind SPIRITS personifying the storm winds, hurricanes, and whirlwinds, and later transformed to the role of vengeful hideous demons or fiends. There are various accounts of their origins: They are the daughters of THAUMAS and ELECTRA, or the daughters of NEPTUNE and TERRA, or the daughters of TYPHON and ECHIDNA. Their number also varies from one to five according to the author. Homer mentions PODARGE, meaning swift-foot; Hesoid mentions AELLO, meaning swift as the storm, and OCYPETE, meaning swift flying; and other mention CELENO, KELIANO, meaning black, and AELLOPUS, meaning storm-footed. They are described as having bird bodies with the heads and torsos of ugly women, bears’ ears. And human arms with talons for fingers. They were not only ugly but foul smelling, and they contaminated whatever they touched. The HARPEIES feature in the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, who eventually help bring about the demise of these demonic creatures.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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European Folklore
A.K.A. Berg Dwarfs, Bjerg-Trolde, Skovtrodle (wood troll)
A type of Dwarf or Troll

They are a species of troll often appearing in the shape of a toad. There is a well-known tale of a mid-wife who, on her way home from a successful human delivery, notices in the road a fat toad with white stripes and remarks to it that she will gladly deliver it too. A fortnight later, on hearing a cart draw up outside her door, she sees a little man with a long white beard. He entreats her to attend to his wife just as she had promised. This the midwife does, but she cannot help remarking on their poor abode. The little new mother tells the midwife to anoint her eyes with the liquid nearby, whereupon a vision of great beauty and wealth was revealed to her, and she receives much gold for her service. The little mother then tells her to jump from the cart when she reaches the boggy ground, otherwise the little man will not take the midwife home and may dispose of her. In fear she does as she was told and arrives home safely with her reward. Some time later in the market place she recognizes and greets the little old man who immediately pokes her eyes out.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Greek Mythology
Roman Mythology

In the classical mythology of Greece and Rome, she was a nymph, the daughter of PENEIOS, the river god. She spurned the love of the god A href="http://myths.freshcaffeine.com/2006/05/apollo.html">APOLLO, and was pursued by him. As she reached the riverbank, DAPHINE implored her father to rescue her. She became rooted in the spot, with bark covering her body, and her hands, arms and head growing feathery leaves – safely changed into a laurel tree.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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Egyptian Mythology
Son of the Sun god Ra
God of stabilization and justice in the cosmos

A little known god who appears in the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts, WENEG was a son of the sun god RE (RA) and seems to symbolize order and stability by supporting the sky and thus preventing the chaos outside the cosmos from crashing down upon the world. In this aspect he bears a different yet related role to that of RE’S daughter MAAT and is also similar to the HEH deities which support the sky. WENEG was also said to be a judge of other gods, again perhaps paralleling the judicial role of goddess MAAT.

SOURCE: The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt

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Norse Mythology
Meaning: female choosers of the slain
ODIN’S battle or shield maidens

They rode over the battlefields and selected the EINHERJAR (“heroic dead”) who would go to VALHALLA. They probably derived from something more dreadful than the attendants of Valhalla, and must have originally been the goddesses of slaughter itsElf, wild Amazon-like creatures who took great delight in the severed limbs and bloody wounds of battle. Something of this early terror can be imagined in an account of the battle of Stamford Bridge, King Harold’s victory over the Norwegian army dreamt of a Valkyrie before the battle. He thought he was on the king of Norway’s ship, when he beheld a great witch on an island, with a fork in one hand to rake up the dead and a trough in the other to catch all of the blood.

SOURCE: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology

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European Folklore
A type of Spirit or Devil

This is the name of an evil SPIRIT or devil in the folklore of the Basque people of southwestern France and northwestern Spain. Aatxe, which means Young Bull, is also known as Etsai. This spirit is a shape shifter who most frequently appears in the form of a bull, but may also assume the shape of a human. Aatxe inhabits mountain caves, from which he emerges only on stormy nights to wreak havoc and cause destruction.

Source: Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins Encyclopedia

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