The Berber people of the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco have in their mythology a vampiric bird with a woman’s breasts. Preying on newborn and nursing children, the sheerree hunts at night. The fate of the child depends entirely on which breast it is drawn to. If the child suckles from the correct breast, it will live; if it chooses incorrectly, it will die.
Source: American Philological Association, Transactions and Proceedings, 138; Knappert, Aquarian Guide to African Mythology, 39; Tate, Flights of Fancy, 94-95
Шири
Варианты: Стрикс Ноктюрна
В мифологии берберов, живущих на горном хребте Высокий Атлас в Марокко, есть вампирическая птица с женской грудью. Шири рыскает по ночам, охотясь на новорожденных и детей, кормящихся грудью Судьба ребенка полностью зависит от того, к какой груди он тянется. Если ребенок сосет из правильной груди, он будет жить, если выберет неправильно — умрет.
Источники: American Philological Association, «Transactions and Proceedings», 138; Knappert, «Aquarian Guide to African Mythology», 39; Tate, «Flights of Fancy», 94-95
Shaitans (“to be born violent”) are vampiric beings from Arabic and Rabbinic lore, but from that lore, their pedigree is varied. Some claim that the shaitans are the male children that were born to LILITH and her demon husband, Sammael; their female counterparts are called LILIM. Other sources say that the nomenclature of shaitans also includes the children born from LILITH and her first husband, Adam. Still other sources claim that the shaitans are the children fathered by Adam during the 130 years of separation from Eve.
Regardless of their parentage, the shaitans live in deserted places and are described as being winged men with talon feet. They have the ability of divination, flight, invisibility, and shapeshifting, and are skilled magic users as well.
Source: Davidson, Dictionary of Angels, 270; Lewis, Satanism Today, 247; Messadié, History of the Devil, 300
The Seven Demons
Variations: Seven and Seven, Seven Times Seven
In ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerian mythology claimed that The Seven Demons were the offspring of the god of the underworld and earth, An, and goddess of the sky, Ki. The Seven Demons were the personifications of the violent and deadly forces of nature. They are a collection, considered to be a single entity, and seldom act independently of one another. They are mentioned in several holy texts and demonic banishing rites. They will not go into temples because they are afraid of the images of the Sumer gods, such as Anshar, Enki, Enlil, and Ereshkigal.
Source: Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia, 224; Harris, Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia, 133; Horowitz, Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, 219; Mackenzie, Myths of Babylonia and Assyria, 34
Sekeht (SAH-ket)
Variations: Once there were more than 4,000 names for this goddess, and of those only a few hundred have survived. All of her titles refer to her vampiric nature, such as Devouring One, Lady of the Bloodbath, Lady of Transformations, Mother of the Dead, Pacht, and Terrible One.
Sekeht’s exact origins are unknown but it is long suspected that this vampiric goddess was imported to Egypt and adopted into the religion of the ancient Egyptians. Sekeht was made a daughter of Ra, although she was older than him. She was described and pictured in art as having the head of a lioness and holding a sun disk in her hand. It was a popular belief that there were only two types of demons in the ancient Egyptian lore: those who were under Sekeht’s control and those who were not — yet.
The priests and priestesses of Sekeht were very powerful people both politically and magically. Through the goddess Sekeht, her priests were empowered to heal as well as to control and banish demons. There is an Egyptian text that describes trials and tortures that people went through to become one of her clergy, including having to face down GHOULs and vampires without showing fear.
In the Philippines there is a vampiric creature whose description varies from case to case, but generally it is a large, dark-colored, hornless, smelly goat called a segben. During the day, it is invisible.
The segben attacks its prey only at night. Although it can kill a person simply by looking at him or by biting his shadow, its mere presence will drain off the life of a dying person, consuming it for its own (see ENERGY VAMPIRE). Any child that falls prey to the segben will have its heart made into a magical amulet. It usually does not eat the flesh and blood of those it kills; it prefers to gorge itself on charcoal, corpses, and pumpkins. If seen while in its goat form, it will only be pretending to eat grass.
The segben uses its supernatural speed to prevent capture, but it has a number of forms that it can shape-shift into: a frog with extraordinarily long legs, a goat with exceptionally floppy ears whose hips are higher than its shoulders, and a locust. In all of its forms, it has a horrible smell.
The smell and sight of thick smoke is enough to keep a segben away, as will the scent of spices and the clang of knives.
Source: Ateneo de Davao University, Kinaadman, 50; Paraiso, The Balete Book, 15; Ramos, Creatures of Philippine, 70; Ramos, Creatures of Midnight, 53, 95
In Romanian vampiric lore there is a vampiric creature called a sburator (“flying man”), which is essentially a variation of an INCUBUS. Described as being an extremely handsome man, the sburator is virtually custom made for the victim, making it the perfect lover. Once every seven years, at night, it attacks the woman, slipping into her home through an open window. While she is asleep, it kisses her so gently that she may not even wake up. The next day, the woman awakes feeling drained of energy, her body throbbing with pain, and she is easily agitated (see ENERGY VAMPIRE). Once a woman has had an encounter with a sburator, she is not interested in other men.
Source: Florescu, The Complete Dracula, 374; Senn, Were-wolf and Vampire in Romania, 44; Stratilesco, From Carpathian to Pindus, 175
The Ashanti people of Africa have in their lore a vampiric creature called sasabonsam. This bearded man-faced creature that stands about five feet tall has a mouth full of fanged teeth, a row of scaly ridges over its bloodshot eyes, and a small horn that protrudes from the top of its head. Its very long arms are like gigantic bat wings that have a twenty-foot wingspan, its torso is skeletally thin, its legs are permanently bent, and there are three toes on each of its feet. The sasabonsam’s body is covered with black and white spots, adding to its camouflage as it sits in the cotton tree, dangling its stringy legs below. When a person walks underneath and brushes against the legs, it snatches up the person, pulling him into the tree and biting off his head, then drinking up the blood. The belief that the sasabonsam lives in cotton trees is prevailing, as can be proven by the great height that these trees grow to — everyone is afraid to cut them down.
Sasabonsam can cause sickness in a person just by looking at him and are oftentimes used as a servant by an OBAYIFO.
There is an article that was written in 1939 for The West African Review that reported that a sasabonsam had been successfully hunted down and killed.
Source: Jahoda, Psychology of Superstition, 12; Rattray, Ashanti Proverbs, 48; Shuker, Beasts That Hide from Man, 103-105; Williams, Psychic Phenomena of Jamaica, 16-18
В японском фольклоре практически всё, достигнув преклонного возраста, может превратиться в духа и стать ёкаем. Когда дерево цубаки (зимняя роза или камелия японская) достигает старости, его дух обретает способность покидать своё дерево, а также получает странное и загадочное могущество, благодаря которому очаровывает и обманывает людей.
Цубаки — вечнозелёное дерево, у которого есть необычное свойство: его увядшие цветы не опадают постепенно лепесток за лепестком, а сразу падают на землю. В результате, среди японцев оно давно ассоциируется со смертью и эксцентричностью (например, его нельзя привозить в больницу или в подарок больному человеку).
Культурно-географическая классификация существ:Культурна-геаграфічная класіфікацыя істот:Kulturalno-geograficzna klasyfikacja istot:Культурно-географічна класифікація істот:Cultural and geographical classification of creatures:
Айну-кайсэй — дух-ёкай из японского фольклора, пришедший в него из сказок народа айнов*.
Как правило, описывается одетым в традиционную мужскую верхнюю одежду айнов, которая сплетена из «аттуса» (размельчённого и смягчённого волокна внутренней части коры дерева ильма). Появляется в старых или незанятых домах.
В фольклоре Соломоновых островов, Боонгурунгуру — опаснейший из лесных духов. Это ужасный демонический кабан, на плоской длинной голове которого растет папоротник, а на бороде — гнездо диких шершней. С диким визгом Боонгурунгуру проносится по лесу, ведя за собой целое стадо, способное растоптать все на своем пути, и даже сравнять с землей целые деревни.
...зловещее рычание — то был крик Боонгурунгуру, дикого кабана, очень крупного и коварного. Все избегали встречи с ним. У него был плоский удлиненный череп, злые глаза. Мчался он, словно молния, увлекая за собой множество поросят, бесстрашных и задиристых. Земля дрожала под топотом их копыт (395: с.14).
Культурно-географическая классификация существ:Культурна-геаграфічная класіфікацыя істот:Kulturalno-geograficzna klasyfikacja istot:Культурно-географічна класифікація істот:Cultural and geographical classification of creatures:
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