Kikimora, a Domestic Nuisance
First of all, welcome to our new substack. We’ve moved over to this system from Mailchimp in the hopes that it’s less glitchy. If you have any issues, please let us know. This is new to us, and we’re using the basic system at the moment, but it seems rather straightforward.
Second, welcome to all our new subscribers who opted in from our recent Kickstarter campaign for “Magical Healing Trees in Slavic Folklore.” We hope you enjoy our content. We look forward to providing you more interesting topics about Slavic beliefs.
We’re been remiss in sending out newsletters lately because we were busily finishing up the final book of our Dragon Village fantasy series. We’re now on the home stretch. The final two books are written, and are in the editing process. We plan to launch the completed series of all five books as our next Kickstarter campaign. The timeframe is late September or early October. Be sure to follow the campaign so you’ll be notified the moment it goes live.
As a part of that, we’ll be using our newsletter time to tell you about some of the characters you’ll meet throughout the series. Some you may have heard about. Others are probably new to you. All appear in various Slavic tales and folklore.
To start off the series, we’ve chosen Kikimora.
If you’ve watched “The Witcher,” you’ll have encountered a variation of a kikimora in the first season. A swamp kikimora. However, that creature more resembles a bolotnik. This creature likes to frighten anyone who goes near the swamp, and she’ll kidnap children. Another type of kikimora lives in the forest and drags people away. These folks are never seen again. Some stories warn listeners to run if they see a kikimora in a pea field, especially if she’s carrying a large pan, because she’ll fry you on it if she catches you.
However, a kikimora who lives in your home is more of a gentle soul, not a monster that devours people. She’s quite the homebody and doesn’t stray. In fact, it’s quite difficult to get rid of her.
To give you an idea what she looks like, here’s a well-known illustration by Ivan Bilibin.
She’s a spirit who lives in your home. She’s restless and moving about all night long. You’ll know she’s there if you hear scratching noises in the walls and floors or pots and pan clattering. In the daytime, she slips away to hide in any crevice she can find. Often, this is behind a hearth or stove, to keep her warm. She’s also been known to hunker down in the cellar, attic, or under floorboards.
She won’t harm you, but you’re likely to be annoyed when you awake in the morning. If you’ve been working with knitting, crocheting, spinning, or sewing projects and have left it you, there’s a good chance she’s tangled it all up, made the stitches uneven, or even torn them out. She wasn’t trying to be mean. She merely wanted to help, but she’s no good at domestic activities.
Even though she always makes a mess of things, if she creeps out a night and finds that YOU have left your home untidy, she’ll have a fit. She’ll show her displeasure in various ways. She may moan, whistle, or whine, sounding like a spinning wheel. Like a pouty child, she may also stamp her feet, slam doors, and scrape chairs across the floor. If your kitchen is messy, she’ll make it even more so. She’ll clang your pots and pans and throw them around, and she’ll break dishes.
But, if you’re home is tidy (before she gets to it), she’ll also protect her family. She’ll warn you if there’s a fire (unless it’s her setting your kitchen towels in fire). She even has a little magic. With the wave of her handkerchief, she can drive the flames away.
She’s a forgiving spirit. If you’ve messed up—literally—and left an untidy house, you can make up for it th the next night by leaving her gifts. Bread and salt often appeal to spirits. She also has a particular fondess for ferns. Besides leaving some for her, you can wash your dishes, pots, and pans with water in which you’ve boiled ferns. That way, she’ll no longer damage the kitchenware.
We hope you enjoyed your visit with this interesting spirit.
Kickstarter Campaign
Here’s a preview of our campaign story.
Dangers lurk in Dragon Village, but also secrets. Can Theo solve the mysteries before an evil creature conquers the magical and human worlds?
Do you have an adventurous soul, ready to encounter strange magical creatures?
Have you ever wished you could travel through a portal to another world?
Do you love the reluctant hero, strong female friends, and quirky sidekicks?
If this sounds like you, then step through the gate into the magical world of Dragon Village.
Imagine waking up to the rumble of falling water, the scent of spring, enveloping you with radiance and caressing your soul with the thrills of an intoxicating melody. You are next to a small pond where the frogs are lying on green water lilies. Leaves sway from the game of playful fish.
Above you rises the crown of a mighty tree, and on top of it shines like a sun the Firebird. Its colors are like Zuna, the rainbow, arching like a dome over your head. You are still sleepy and haven’t yet woken. From the tree emerges the image of the bird’s patroness, drifting like a morning mist with a soft smile on her marble face. She’s holding a crystal ball.
At the same time, a shadow covers the sky. Above you flies a herd of six-winged deer with glittering amber balls between their horns. Seated on them are women like Amazons, brandishing whips of snakes. The warriors descend with a thud onto the green grass. These beautiful and dangerous Samodivi are dressed in white robes. Their hair floods their bodies like wild foam.
Something disturbs the idyllic moment. The clanging of bells. A group of masked men dance madly. The belt of bells around their waists creates a din that chases away a Karakonjul, a half-man, half-horse creature. The beast shakes his head furiously and turns his one bloodthirsty eye toward you.
A screech adds to the clamor as a house on chicken legs approaches. On its chimney perches a winged purple cat. Not far behind, swimming through the air with a pestle and mortar, the infamous Baba Yaga orders her transportation about with oath after oath.
You try to hide behind the trunk of the tree, encouraged by the smile of the Firebird’s patroness, but something grabs you by the legs. Sharp nails dig into your skin. A bloated, green man with bulging, watery eyes tries to pull you under the water. A Vodnik, a water spirit. You manage to escape. You run, and run, and run. When you think you’ve succeeded, you fall into a dark forest of withered trees, whose bony arms stretch out to grab you.
Amber lights illuminate the trees. Are they fireflies?
No, they’re glass spheres, hundreds of spheres filled with souls.
You close your eyes hoping to wake up from this dream, nightmare. Silence ...
Suddenly, hot air breathes onto your face. You open your eyes and scream. A gigantic dragon's eye pierces your soul
.You close the book’s cover. For this was not a nightmare, but an adventure. You snuggle into your warm bed. Everything around is quiet. The monsters remain hidden between the pages … until you let them loose again the next evening.
This is the world of Dragon Village – Zmeykovo. The books will take you to a world full of familiar and unfamiliar creatures from Bulgarian and Slavic folklore. You will meet a young boy's friends and experience their joys and sorrows.
Laughter, surprises, fear, nightmares ... a recipe for a wonderful adventure.
To become a part of this adventure, join Ronesa Aveela’s Kickstarter campaign. The launch date is set for late September or early October. Sign up to follow it now so you’ll be notified the moment the campaign launches.
If you’re unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it’s a way to get products before the general public. You get not only the books, but also lots of other goodies you won’t find on any retail store. We have fun things planned for this campaign.
If you love DRAGONS, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.
Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ronesa-aveela/dragon-village