There are so many out there it isn't funny...

Everyone knows Angels, Demons, Devils, etc...or at least I hope you do. They also know the basic Ghost type spirits...

But how many of you know of the Russian based SnowMaiden?

None? No shock. So share with me your wealth of knowledge upon the obscure spirits, give us brief information such as where they're from...and maybe even a link or two to a site that has some info on them..?

??? is that like the snowqueen?
the one with the mirror that got broken so she kidnapped the little boy?

Nope, never heard of her, so please elaborate


Here's my contribution

Semyaza: one of the leaders of the host of Watchers sent by the Hebrew God to watch over mankind and guide them. They revolted and took mortal wives to themselves and thaught various *secret* arts to man for which they were inevitably spanked by god. As discribed in The Book of Enoch


[I got bored with conventional Wizards of the coast D&D rpg’s and discovered Steve Jackson’s In nomine. So I am currently reading up on this stuff and other related material.]

yeah, but thats not really obscure , anyone with even a passing interest in John Dee or the grigori and apochrapha is going to know about the watchers and nephilim.

To true, still you got to go with what you know
So ill be the first to admit that my knowledge of deities beyond this field is miserably lacking.

gwi...hmmm cant remember the name..might be gwildion...Anyway its a welsh spirit, thats only known purpose is to sit on mountain tracks and stare evilly at passerbys, and creep them out.

I used to know loads, I've got bookshelves full of demonology in my parents house, can't think of any now though...

kelpies...half horse half fish that will carry people off to the sea(northern europe i believe)

bunyips
Bunyips are legendary spirits or creatures of the Australian Aborigine. Bunyips haunt rivers, swamps, creeks and billabongs. Their main goal in life is to cause nocturnal terror by eating people or animals in their vicinity. They are renowned for their terrifying bellowing cries in the night and have been known to frighten Aborigines to the point where they would not approach any water source where a bunyip might be waiting to devour them.

mokele-mbembe
The mokele-mbembe is an alleged living sauropod dinosaur now living in the Likouala swamp region of the Republic of Congo (Zaire). The animal has allegedly been encountered by local pygmies who have given the creature its name. Mokele-mbembe means, depending on your source, "rainbow", "one that stops the flow of rivers", or "monstrous animal." The mokele-mbembe is allegedly the size of an elephant (the favorite prey of the local pygmies) with a very long reptilian neck. The creature is said to be hairless and reddish-brown, brown, or gray, with a tail five to ten feet long. The creature apparently spends most of its time in the water, but the pygmies claim they've seen prints left on land of a three-clawed foot.
http://skepdic.com/ticrypto.html

the kelpie i remebered myself, and like fero i have several books discussing various entities...for truly scary ones check into the ancient sumeriand and babylonian religions...now they has some powerful creatures...but i found skepdic.com an interesting site...

A daughter was born to Spring and Frost. They called her Snegurochka ("sneg" means snow). She resembled her father and her beauty was often compared to that of a sunny winter day. Snegurochka's life was carefree and happy in Frost's woodland. A wolf and bear kept guard over her, and other beasts were her devoted servants. In summer she would go to the edge of the forest and from there, hidden from the sun rays by the trees' leaves, watch in silence as the young boys and girls from the village enjoyed themselves singing and dancing. She noticed that the girls lavished most attention on Lel, a shepherd. She also liked him and wished to join them and make friends with them.

One year, when winter was coming to its end Snegurochka's parents let her join the young people, first warning her to beware of Lel, as his songs were in fact sun rays disguised in sounds. They penetrated human hearts and lit the flame of love in them. The young girl assured her parents that she was not afraid of either the sun or Lel and left for the village.

She met an old childless couple. Asked "Whose child are you?" Snegurochka answered that she would be the daughter of the first to find her. So she settled in the village with the old couple. At the very first evening party she attracted everybody's attention. Some of the boys even forgot about their brides. Lel abandoned all his pretty admirers, too. However, he soon noticed that though Snegurochka accepted love, she was unable to return it. Eventually, she understood this, became sad and called for her mother's help. Mother Spring was well aware of women's sorrows and presented her daughter with a wreath of blooming flowers. At once Snegurochka began to see everything about her through different eyes. Everything became more colorful and beautiful. She felt that she was able to love. When her glance met that of a young man who had previously been seeking her attention with no success, her heart caught fire and she... melted.

The sun grew brighter because the clouds by which Frost had been protecting his daughter disappeared. People enjoyed the hot sun and forgot about Snegurochka's death. But in the cold of winter they remembered the love of the Snowmaiden which to this day warms hearts of all who remember this tale.

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a peasant woman looked out the window of her cottage to watch the village children play in the snow. She did this often because, although she led a very happy life with her husband, there was still a longing in her heart. The woman and her husband had no children of their own, and their biggest wish was to one day be able to watch their own child play in the snow.


The husband one day suggested to his wife that they should go outside and build a snowman, instead of sitting in the house all day. The wife agreed, but wanted instead to build a girl - a snowmaiden. The couple spent that whole day carefully building and molding a snowmaiden. They inserted two bright blue beads for eyes, and a bright red ribbon for her mouth. Then they stood back to look at their beautiful creation. As they watched they noticed something, it looked as if the snowmaiden was smiling. The couple then realized that she was coming to life. After she smiled her hair curled up and she walked into the house. The peasant couple finally had a daughter of their own!


Snowmaiden grew to be beautiful. Her eyes gleamed bright blue and her flaxen hair hung down to her waist. Snowmaiden was however very pale, with no color in her cheeks or lips, but this did not make her any less beautiful.


As winter melted into spring, and the weather started getting warmer, Snowmaiden started to behave strangely. She no longer wanted to go outside to play with the other children, and she began to hide in the dark places of the house. The husband and wife began to worry about her.


Soon summer came and Snowmaiden was more withdrawn than ever. One day her friends asked her to join them on a trip into the woods to pick berries. Snowmaiden was reluctant to join, but at the persistence of her parents went along. In the woods Snowmaiden was sure to stay in the shade. When nightfall came her friends built a fire, and played games jumping over it. Snowmaiden, however, sat by an icy river. Her friends called to her to join their games, but Snowmaiden did not want to go. But as the night went on Snowmaiden grew very lonely by herself at the river, and decided to join their games. "Jump over the fire!" her friends yelled at her. Snowmaiden took a step, ran towards the fire,jumped, and melted away. The poor peasant couple were once again childless.


~~I also ran across another site(can't find it now) which introduced me to this infamous strange one. It talked about how it was a winter spirit that looked like a beautiful maiden, and actually lacked any real gender.

Household Spirits — They are almost always males, usually small, very old or very young, strong, loyal to the farm, and sometimes wear a little red hat and grey. Some common motifs include teasing the nisse (eating food that was meant for it, leaving feces as food for it instead, not putting the butter on top of the porridge), sending the nisse to steal from other people's farms, the heavy burden, etc. If, for some reason, the nisse is exorcised from the farm, then he takes with him all that he brought or did, thus the farm falls to ruin. [armaður "hearth man", tomte "homestead man"]
nisse — The nisse are related to the huldre-folk, but are not so dangerous. They are guardians of the house or farm who will defend its welfare. They are inordinately strong, but of diminutive size. The term nisse is derived from the Danish / German St. Nicholas, and the nisse themselves are thus distant relations of Santa Claus.
gardvord — From "farm guardian", these nisse are more sinister and are very big (some have seen them lay there elbows upon the roof). In a variation of the Lanky Tor story, the gardvord saves the guy by chasing after the trolls. [tunkall or "yard fellow" (common in western and northern Norway), godbonde]
klabautermann — This is spirit who guards the ship. In one story it woke up the ship's mate when the lamp went out, and in another it held the masts together.

Thanks for sharing those

Tengu - The Mountain Demon

A prominent demon in Japanese folklore is the ‘Tengu’, a mythological being living in mountain forests. Artistic depictions of the ‘Tengu’ range from stumpy, bearded creatures to beings with great lumpy noses. According to lore, anyone entering the territory of the ‘Tengu’ unwittingly can fall into strange and unpleasant situations. The ‘Tengu’ can, in a flash, transform themselves into ugly little men, women and children; then they maliciously tease people with all sorts of nasty tricks. As quickly as they appear, just as quickly they vanish. Some ancient beliefs depicted the ‘Tengu’ as creatures of war and conflict. Sometimes their actions in legends are hypocritical. Artists depicted them with a bird’s head on a human body with spreading wings and clawed feet. Until the 14th century, evil legends were told about the ‘Tengu’; but gradually they evolved into both good and bad beings. Many tales were told of the ‘Tengu’ overcoming evil. In the Buddhist belief they became guides for monks in understanding the Dharma tenets and sacred rites, and also protected Buddhist shrines. In the 18th and 19th centuries they were revered as mountain deities- tributes were offered to them. The woodcutters and huntsmen offered tributes to the ‘Tengu’ deities in order to receive success in their work. Those that were less respectful found themselves in all sorts of trouble. The belief in the ‘Tengu’ continued until the beginning of the 20th century. Today ceremonial festivals are held in their honor. Tales are still being told of them in modern Japan. In some areas, woodsmen still offer rice cakes to the ‘Tengu’ before starting their work.

sounds like the wee folk...

Most stories or myths of "foreign" origin yield striking similarities to those of the European countries.

Makes you think whether there might actually be some/a truth/s to them.