Question about Russian Mythology

[The_Edge]

I know this is gonna sound like a strange question. Are there any Vampires in Russian/Slavic mythology, and if so how were they personified?

-Edge

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The strength of the Wolf is the Pack, the strength of the Pack is the Wolf

[Lilly]

http://russianculture.miningco.com/culture/russianculture/msub9.htm

This site has many links that should answer your questions.

Baba Yaga is the only evil one that comes to mind. Russian fairytales usually have a witch as the evil force.

LillyNomad

[This message has been edited by Lilly (edited 27 December 1999).]

[Bernikov11]

Baba Yaga was never really evil though. She was a goddess with dark aspects to her to in the sense of being downright evil she wasn't. I just recently read something on her. Anyway, maybe you heard differently.

[Lilly]

I have many russian fables that depict her as pure evil.

Baba Yaga was the one who parents would scare children with, if they were misbehaving.

[This message has been edited by Lilly (edited 02 January 2000).]

[Bernikov11]

Lilly-

Do you know of a site I could go to to read something about Baba Yaga as being evil? The only thing I read about her was that she was a slavic underworld goddess who presided over death. It was in the book Slavic" Sorcery" which was about an American man who went to Russia to learn about pre-christian rituals of some of the folk magicians in Russia. It wasn't very scholarly though, so maybe the authors representation of Baba Yaga was off.

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[Lilly]

Edge darling,

There is an excellent website called MYTHING LINKS

An Annotated & Illustrated Collection of Worldwide Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & Traditions

To name a few of many:
GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS:
EUROPE
EASTERN EUROPE:
"OLD EUROPE"
"Old Europe": c. 7000-3500 BCE
Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe,
Old Europe
Pan-Slavic Beliefs & Traditions
Russia: Sacred Ikons / Fairy Tales & Folklore / Music / Info: General

The Balkans Other Slavic Lands Baltic States Romania,(Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
Finno-Ugric Peoples (Finland & Hungary)
Eurasia: The Causasus & Beyond
Down to Western Europe

and much much more,
the website address is:www.mythinglinks.org

You will spend hours there. There are so many links to witches, vampires, ogres etc.

Research is my forte. Hope it helps.

Bernie:
There are some erotic rituals on those links; you had better stay away. ~smile~ (kidding)
As usual, the American Author was off. I suspect that "creative license" was used.

As for Babba Yaga, I have in front of me a book of Russian Fairy Tales. It is one of two I purchased in Moscow last summer. The other is a book of Puskhin Fairy Tales.

In the story "Vasilisa the Beautiful", Baba Yaga is depicted as being so evil witch,who was so vile, mean and ugly.She lived in a hut in a thick forest. She allowed nobody to come close to her and ate people as if they were chickens. She especially delighted in eating small children.

LillyNomad
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For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.
Ibid.