Fire serpent (Slavic mythology). Fiery serpent Myths and conspiracies

The Slavs believed that evil has many faces. In their mythology there was an interesting character - a fiery serpent. In Western countries there is a similar creature - an incubus. He seduces widows and girls, taking away their vitality. They say that the fiery serpent can still penetrate the homes of unwary beauties, doing its dirty work. How to deal with it without falling for tricks? Let's figure it out.

Description

This received different names in the villages. Some called him “snake-lubaka”, others - “fiery raid”, others called him more simply - “maniac”, others - “charming”. However, everyone described the purpose of his appearance in the same way. The essence came only to widows and unmarried girls and seduced them with wonderful gifts. Having given herself over to the tempter, the woman withered from a strange passion and died.

The fiery serpent did not appear to everyone. In the evenings he scattered bait on the paths and roads - all sorts of gifts. Either he puts a beautiful ring or a handkerchief, or he hangs shiny beads on the bushes. A fiery serpent appeared at night to the girl who picked up the object without a blessing. With a luminous beam or a fiery broom, he flies up to the chimney of the hut and penetrates inside. And he appears to the beauty in the guise of a man whom she misses. If a widow is chosen as the victim, it means that the spirit looks like her late husband, the girl looks like her absent boyfriend.

It’s easy to recognize a charmer and distinguish him from a real young man: he, as they say, has no backbone. Like any other evil spirits, the fiery serpent cannot correctly pronounce the names of saints. For example, in his mouth the Lord is “Sus Christ”, and his mother is the “Miracle Mother”.

Why does the charmer come to his victim?

The evil spirit of the Slavs appears as the fact that pious people were forbidden to grieve for the dead, to yearn for the absent. This was considered an unworthy and bad deed. Such feelings arose only among those who do not believe enough, and this is already a serious sin. In addition, the tempter could be interested in a girl who lost her virginity before the wedding. The fiery serpent felt that the woman was a sinner and tried to seduce her.

At first, the snake threw gifts at her, testing her. If she showed unreasonable greed, then he himself would show up. This mythological creature, as legends say, had sexual intercourse with a sinner. The woman suffered from this. She transferred her feeling for the absent (or deceased) loved one to the evil spirit, that is, she gave him vital energy. Her health, both physical and spiritual, suffered from this. The girl gradually became dependent on the demon’s caresses and suffered when he was not there. The relationship could lead to a false pregnancy. According to legends, the fetus remained in the body for an abnormally long time - up to several years. When the birth began, instead of a baby, sand or a firebrand came out of the womb. Sometimes a child was still born. It was black, cold, with hooves instead of legs. I didn’t live with such passion for long.

How the fiery serpent was cast out

Contains several recipes for fighting evil forces. The sick woman was given a decoction of overpowering grass or burdock to drink. These same plants were hung on the walls of the room as a talisman. It was desirable for the woman to tell a stranger about her night guest. Among the Eastern Slavs, this condition was considered mandatory. If a woman can open up and understand that something bad is happening to her, then there is hope for salvation. In addition, widows often did not go to bed alone and put the child in bed. Then the charmer did not appear. It was recommended to read the prayer against the prodigal demon over the girl, which was contained in the breviary of Peter the Mogila. And doors, windows and chimneys were consecrated by saying the word “Amen!” If these methods did not help, then respected people in the village talked to the sick woman. They urged to put a cross on the appearing creature. Naturally, the fiery serpent did not agree to this. If the girl persisted, he disappeared forever.

Original method of protection

There is a belief that you can get rid of a charmer in a special way. You need to dress yourself and dress up your children as the bride and groom. When asked by the devilish creature why she is doing this, the answer must be that brother takes sister. The charmer will say that this is not the case. To this one should answer: “Does the dead go to the living?” In the Carpathian villages they assured that the fiery serpent did not appear to the unfortunate woman again.

The danger of this creature lies in the fact that under its influence the woman not only got sick, but went crazy and became inadequate. After a while she killed herself. Sin fell on all her offspring up to the seventh generation, so they tried to rescue the unfortunate woman from the clutches of evil spirits with all their might.

in Slavic mythology

Many peoples have legends about the fiery serpent. It is found in Russian epics and Serbian epic songs. The stories have a lot in common. For example, there is a story about how this creature seduced a woman who later gave birth to a son. The child grew up and defeated his evil father in a fair fight.

In the legends about the eternal struggle between light and darkness, the charmer is also mentioned. There he appears as an assistant to the devil, who inspires passion in an unprotected woman.

In Right Bank Ukraine there are legends in which this creature is called “obayasnyk”. This is a dead groom appearing to a sinner. To prevent his visits, it is forbidden to look at the stars on Vlas's day.

Conclusion

It is interesting that many peoples have evil creatures in their mythologies that have similar characteristics. Surely they weren’t just invented, something was the basis for the appearance of such legends among people who had no contact with each other. Or maybe, as conspiracy theorists say, they were deliberately introduced into folk art by those who wanted to teach people to obey? What do you think?

(Also snake-lubaka, maniac, fiery attack, charmer) - an evil spirit, a mythological creature in Slavic legends. Often it is an incubus - a hypostasis of a walking dead man or a devil who takes the form of a deceased or absent husband or lover and enters into love relationships with women.

Description

In the air it looks like a fiery serpent (Eastern, Western Slavic). Looks like a luminous fiery rocker, a fiery broom, a ball of blue color (Russian). It appears from the clouds, flies through the air, and, scattering sparks over the roof, penetrates the house through the chimney. When he descends to the ground his wings fall off (Ukrainian, Polish). The fiery serpent was considered an evil spirit that visited at night and in the evening a widow or maiden who was overly indulged in melancholy after the recent loss of a husband or a dear friend (dead or absent). He appears to them, always taking on the appearance of a loved one (sometimes with several heads - Ukrainian, Voronezh) whom they lost, and the women got used to the idea that he was really alive and not dead (or left).

The fiery serpent, although it takes on a human form, has physical defects characteristic of demons: the absence of a spinal ridge (Russian). Like all evil spirits, he is not able to correctly pronounce sacred Christian names: instead of “Jesus Christ” he says “Sus Christ”, instead of “Theotokos” - “Miracle Mother” (Rus). His gifts are short-lived: the gifts he brings to a woman turn into horse dung or stones (Russian, Western-Ukrainian) at sunrise, and money and jewelry turn into shards. To lure its victims, the fiery serpent scatters beautiful things along the roads: beads, rings, handkerchiefs. If you pick them up without blessing, then the unclean one flies to her (V.-Ukr.).

Strangers do not hear or see the fiery serpent, they only hear a girl or woman seduced by the demon talking to him.

Main activities

The main occupation of the fiery serpent is his sexual relations with women.

A woman can become pregnant from a relationship with a demon. Pregnancy in this case lasts an abnormally long time - up to three years and often ends in nothing: sand ends up in the woman’s stomach, she gives birth to a firebrand, etc. (Russian), which corresponds to ideas about the sterility of evil spirits. If a child is born, then he is black, with hooves instead of feet, with eyes without lids (Russian), and his body is cold and like jelly (Z.-Ukrainian). Such a child does not live long and soon dies.

Reasons for the appearance of a snake

In the East Slavic tradition, the main reason for the harassment of the fiery serpent is the violation of the prohibition to grieve greatly for the deceased, to yearn for an absent husband. The serpent gains access to a girl who has lost her virginity (Russian). According to Eastern Ukrainian beliefs, a fiery serpent scatters beautiful things along the roads (or turns into them himself): beads, rings, handkerchiefs, a cross with curved ends. If you pick them up without blessing, then the unclean one will fly to that one.

Expulsion methods

The people visited by this snake lost weight, went crazy, and committed suicide.

Confession to a stranger served as a means of healing from adversity (Eastern Slavic). A woman should not sleep alone, but together with a child or with one of her relatives (Russian). The herb (valerian) and burdock decoction were used as medicine, and burdock stems on the wall were used as a talisman (Russian). It was recommended to read the Psalter in the house, and over the victim - prayers from the prodigal demon from the breviary of Peter the Mogila (Russian), to place the sign of the cross on chimneys, windows, doors with the words “Amen!” (“Aminize”).

Also, through respectable people, they convinced the woman to try to put a pectoral cross on a braid on the image that appeared to her. After three, four or five unsuccessful attempts to put on the cross, the vision should disappear, and the sick one should get better.

On Vlasev's day you cannot look at the stars without seeing a fiery serpent (Russian). A common belief was that if you surprise a snake, it will disappear. To do this, the woman dressed her children - a boy and a girl - in wedding dresses or dressed in them herself. When the snake asked why she was doing this, she answered: “A brother takes his sister” - “But how can it be that a brother takes his sister?” - “Is it really possible for a dead person to go to a living person?” (Carpathians). After this, the fiery serpent left its victim alone.

Myths and conspiracies

Myths about the fiery serpent are found in Serbian epic songs, Russian epics, fairy tales and conspiracies, as well as in the hagiographic Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, which is based on folklore material.

The fiery serpent concerns a plot about his criminal relationship with a woman, from whom a son is born, who subsequently defeats his demonic father.

In conspiracies it is mentioned as an assistant who has the ability to inspire passion in a woman.

Ukrainian beliefs

Obyasnyki- that’s what they called in places on the right bank of Ukraine flying kites. It was believed that if you grieve greatly for the deceased, the latter turns into the evil spirit obyasnyka and flies at night to the grieving person. This demon is better known as the flyer; Innocent Gisel mentions him. The belief about obyasnyki is adjacent to the extensive cycle of tales about the dead groom (a theme developed in Burger’s ballad “Lenora”). Special monographs on the dead groom - by Professor Sozonovich (in Russian) and Professor Shishmanov (in Bulgarian). For information about obyasnyk-letavs, see Art. Podberesky in “Zbior Wiadomósci do antrop. krajowej" (IV, 9) and in Chubinsky's "Transactions" (I, 193). The very word “obayasnyki” is curious, in which the ancient Slavic word “obaviti, charm” is preserved, meaning to bewitch (originally - to stipulate, cf. “tale, charm”). In ancient Russian monuments (for example, in Azbukovniki) a similar term is found - charm, in the meaning of sorcerers.

Fire serpent in literature

The image of a fiery serpent was captured by the Russian poet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet in the ballad “The Serpent,” written by him in 1847.

Serpent Fire

In Slavic mythology, a serpentine demon endowed with anthropomorphic features. The cycle of myths about the Fire Serpent was reflected in Serbian epic songs, the ancient Russian story about Peter and Fevronia of Murom, Russian epics and conspiracies, as well as in legends preserved in ancient Slavic traditions. The Fire Snake marries a woman, after which a creature of the snake breed is born, for example, the Fire Wolf Snake, the son of the Fire Snake, enters into single combat with his father and defeats him. The Fire Serpent is the embodiment of the element of fire: this is its function, as well as its connection with the treasures and wealth that it brings to the house where it flies. In conspiracies, he is called upon as a magical creature capable of inspiring passion in a woman.

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Fire serpent (fiery, flyer, raid, raider) Fire serpent (fiery, flyer, raid, raider) - in Slavic mythology, this was the name of the demon in the form of a fireball, which flew into the chimney and appeared to women who yearned for their husbands, accepting human form.

Fire Serpent
Maiden on a fiery serpent. Splint.
Serpentine [ ] werewolf demon [ ]
Mythology	Slavic
In other cultures	Obyasnyki, Vereselen
Illustrations on Wikimedia Commons

Fire Serpent(Also snake-lubaka, maniac, fiery attack, charmer) - an evil spirit, a mythological creature in Slavic legends. Often it is an incubus - a hypostasis of a walking dead man or a devil, taking the form of a deceased or absent husband or lover, and entering into love relationships with women.

Description

In the air it looks like a fiery serpent (Eastern, Western Slavic). Looks like a luminous fiery rocker, a fiery broom, a ball of blue color (Russian). It appears from the clouds, flies through the air, and, scattering sparks over the roof, penetrates the house through the chimney. When he descends to the ground his wings fall off (Ukrainian, Polish). The fiery serpent visits at night and in the evening a widow or maiden who has been overly indulged in melancholy, after the recent loss of a husband or a dear friend (dead or absent). He appears to them, taking on the appearance of a loved one for whom the hostess was yearning. According to legend, from such visits a woman begins to wither and die.

For this reason, neighbors looked after lonely women, and when they noticed that a young widow was talking to herself, they believed that a fiery serpent was flying to her. Then the neighbors began to save the woman, because if this was not done, she would soon die.

The fiery serpent, although it takes on a human form, has physical defects characteristic of demons: the absence of a spinal ridge (Russian). Like all evil spirits, he is not able to correctly pronounce sacred Christian names: instead of “Jesus Christ” he says “Sus Christ”, instead of “Virgin Mother of God” - “Miracle Mother” (Rus). His gifts are short-lived: the gifts that he brings to a woman turn into horse dung or stones (Russian, Western-Ukrainian) at sunrise, and money and jewelry turn into shards. To lure its victims, the fiery serpent scatters beautiful things along the roads: beads, rings, handkerchiefs. If you pick them up without blessing, then the unclean one flies to her (V.-Ukrainian).

Main activities

The fire serpent is considered an evil spirit. The creature gains access to a girl who has lost her virginity (Russian). According to Eastern Ukrainian beliefs, a fiery serpent scatters beautiful things along the roads (or turns into them himself): beads, rings, handkerchiefs, a cross with curved ends. If you pick them up without blessing, then the unclean one will fly to that one. In Siberian villages, for example, they believed that stars falling from the sky were fiery snakes. It should be clarified that not every bride or widow is at risk of being caught in the net. If a girl is shy and conscientious and protects her honor, then the snake will fly by.

In the house, the snake turned into a man for whom the woman yearned. Then the fiery serpent goes into the upper room, hugs and kisses the woman who has been waiting, goes into bed with her, and treats her to gingerbread. The main occupation of the fiery serpent is his sexual relations with women.

It was believed that there was a way to determine whether it was the husband who had returned or whether a snake had flown into the house. It was necessary to feel the spine on his back: if there is a spine, then this is the husband, if not, then the fiery serpent.

A woman can become pregnant from a relationship with a demon. In many places, the birth of illegitimate children is still attributed to the visit of the fiery serpent. Pregnancy in this case lasts an abnormally long time - up to three years and often ends in nothing: sand ends up in the woman’s stomach, she gives birth to a firebrand, etc. (Russian), which corresponds to ideas about the sterility of evil spirits. If a child is born, then he is black, with hooves instead of feet, with eyes without lids (Russian), and his body is cold and like jelly (Z.-Ukrainian). Such a child does not live long, and soon dies.

Expulsion methods

The people visited by this snake lost weight, went crazy, and committed suicide.

Confession to a stranger served as a means of healing from adversity (Eastern Slavic). A woman should not sleep alone, but together with a child or with one of her relatives (Russian). The herb (valerian) and burdock decoction were used as medicine, and burdock stems on the wall were used as a talisman (Russian). It was recommended to read the Psalter in the house, and over the victim - prayers from the prodigal demon from the breviary of Peter the Mogila (Russian), to place the sign of the cross on chimneys, windows, doors with the word “Amen!” (“Aminize”).

Also, through respectable people, they convinced the woman to try to put a pectoral cross on a braid on the image that appeared to her. After three, four or five unsuccessful attempts to put on the cross, the vision should disappear, and the sick one should get better.

Myths and conspiracies

Myths about the fiery serpent are found in Serbian epic songs, Russian epics, fairy tales and conspiracies, as well as in the hagiographic Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, which is based on folklore material.

The fiery serpent concerns a plot about his criminal relationship with a woman, from whom a son is born, who subsequently defeats his demonic father.

In conspiracies it is mentioned as an assistant who has the ability to inspire passion in a woman.

Ukrainian beliefs

Fire serpent in literature

The image of a fiery serpent was captured by the Russian poet Afanasy Afanasyevich Fet in the ballad “The Serpent,” written by him in 1847:

The grass is falling with a little evening dew,
A black-browed widow is scratching her braid and washing her neck.
And he doesn’t take his dark eyes off the sky at the window,
And a long snake flies, coiled into rings, in bright sparks.

And the noise is getting closer, closer, and over the widow’s yard,
Fire breaks out over the thatched roof.
And the black-browed widow will immediately close the window;
Only kisses and words can be heard in the bright room.

see also

• Aitvaras - analogue in Baltic mythology
• Vereselen - analogue in Chuvash mythology