Bestiary |
Ozaena
Pliny the Elder, that indisputable authority on antiquity, whose thirty-seven-volume encyclopedia is an amazing work with carefully listed references to sources and authorities, left us a report about it. Like all works of this type, it naturally reflects the knowledge and ideas of the time; we cannot expect a first-century scientist to have developed quantum theory. Much of the information is, from today's perspective, imperfect, outdated, or completely fantastical. It is also overused and misunderstood.
So, Ozena. An octopus whose name reveals its basic characteristic (it is not the activity in the accompanying illustration). It means "stinky octopus," which would refer to the Mediterranean species of cephalopods known today, Eledone moschata, or the musky octopus. Slightly over ten centimeters long (the largest recorded male grew to eighteen), it is not particularly distinctive. According to old records—and that's what we're interested in—it is, however, a creature of various sizes, from small to larger to truly enormous specimens. They all smell bad, and the oversized ones also feed on humans. Pliny mentioned all this, but the core of the relevant passage in his work was information about chronic rhinitis, caused, according to the knowledge of the time, by a polyp of this name.
What we remember, however, is only the supplementary, but more attractive information.
An Octopus on a mosaic in a house in Pompeii (incidentally, the encyclopedist mentioned above died while commanding the evacuation of people during the eruption of Vesuvius, which buried this city). Naples National Archaeological Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsBritish Library, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
5.2.2026 (19.10.2025)
Pippo
Some considered him a tool of the Allies, others of the Fascists and Germans. A ghostly aircraft that, according to many witnesses, appeared in the Italian night sky when the fighting of World War II spread to the Apennine Peninsula.
In the minds of frightened people, it usually – though not always – belonged to the more feared side. Some stories tell of a small bomb that Pippo dropped at the end of its appearance, but most of the time – even though it aroused fear – it just flew by. After dusk, it circled the sky and disappeared.
"Hide, or Pippo will throw you a candy," parents warned their children (which was, of course, a euphemism for a bomb). Not everyone, however, as some reassured their offspring that it was just friendly Pippo. And children, the most frequent, though not the only, recipients of the warning, took the specter accordingly. It was, in short, a more or less common bogeyman, adapted to the times. A hundred years earlier, it might have been the silhouette of a headless horseman showing off in the moonlight.
How various ghosts get their names is often uncertain, as the original source is quickly lost or a more understandable explanation is found. Perhaps because Pippo did not pose a direct threat, he was named after Goofy or after the hero of the then-popular song Pippo non lo sa. Or perhaps after the sound of an airplane engine.
Educational ghosts are necessary in such terrible times. Practically anything will do. Without what we now consider to be sometimes exaggerated reactions, the worst could easily have happened. Although it does not belong here, I cannot help but recall a true story from the family archives.
It happened at the same time in the middle of Europe. My great-uncle Karel Vyhlídka, perhaps as a former legionnaire, perhaps as a retired Ministry of Defense official, perhaps for something else, it doesn't matter, was the commander of an air-raid shelter during World War II. In other words, he was the person responsible for ensuring that when the siren sounded, people dropped everything and ran to take cover. Most of the air raid alerts in those days were drills or false alarms. Until the day came when the sirens wailed across Prague, and it was real. Bombs really started to fall.
Karel checked the situation at the entrance to the shelter. Everyone entrusted to him was inside.
Except for two little girls who, he watched in horror, continued to play outside. After all, it was always just like...
My great-uncle didn't hesitate. He ran outside, into the roar of exploding bombs.
He got the girls to safety.
But not himself.
5.2.2026 (19.10.2025)
Black Donald
In Scotland, it is said that the devil can do any job except tailoring. Tailors always expose him, no matter what Black Donald (which is a common substitute for the taboo word devil, here referring to a man dressed in black) disguises himself as. Europe is small: of course, he is always given away by the hoof on his foot, which we know well from our own legends.
5.2.2026 (2.12.2006)
Sací-Perere
He is small, one-legged, black, naughty, lives in Brazil, and likes to turn into a whirlwind. His magical powers are hidden in a red hat, and his hobbies include hiding things, scaring people, ruffling horses' manes—in short, mischief.
When he is in his wind form, it is possible to catch him, put him in a bottle, and then Sací-Perere must serve his owner.
5.2.2026 (2.12.2006)
Nuli'rahak
The Eskimos of eastern Siberia have a justified fear of this sea hag. It is not so much that she lives at the bottom of the ocean, nor that all sea creatures belong to her. The important thing is that she is terrifying and feeds the animals entrusted to her with drowned fishermen.
5.2.2026 (11.12.2006)
Tulungusak
When Tulungusak, the Inuit Creator, himself created from clay and sea mud, awoke from his slumber in eternal darkness, he saw a swallow. It led him to the mud at the bottom of the ocean, whereupon Tulungusak transformed himself into a raven and dove to the bottom. He carried the mud in his beak to dry land and planted it in the ground, creating mountains, forests, vegetation, and animals. He also created humans, first men, then women. This meant more work for Tulungusak: he had to teach them natural reproduction, hunting skills, and building, as is usually the case in such situations.
5.2.2026 (11.12.2006)
Sárkány
Specifically, it was a multi-headed storm demon who rode storm clouds in Hungary with a large sabre and a whip. In the company of a sorcerer, he hovered in the sky and watched the earth with his many eyes; as a demon of the air, he was fickle in nature, and when he became enraged, he killed or petrified, which amounts to the same thing.
In Europe, dragons were distinguished by their greater number of heads (if I omit the Slavic deities), and this is also the case here: sárkány is indeed a Hungarian dragon, which those who are not entirely unfamiliar with the language of our former compatriots will surely have discovered. The Slovak dragon is called a šarkan, and neither of the two mentioned differs from the accepted standard: several heads, an unpleasant nature, fire, trouble with heroes, et cetera.
The sárkány has a few other things in common with its Slavic neighbors – first and foremost, its origin. Eastern legends tell us that dragons are usually born to witches, or their prototype, Baba Yaga (whose most famous offspring is the dragon Gorynyč). In Hungary, it is the same – the parent of the sárkány is Boszorkany (one step north of the Tatra Mountains and the translation of witch in the language there = bosorka), who is a witch who turns people into horses. Originally, Boszorkany was a sorcerer, but cultural influences and developments cannot be controlled, and gender change is not unusual in mythology.
I will also mention a nice cosmological idea, not unlike the Norse vision of the world tree Yggdrassil. According to the ancient Hungarians, a huge cosmic tree supported the vault of heaven, with gods dwelling in its crown and demons and heroes living one floor below, while humans and other fauna lived on the ground. The dragon Sárkány dwelled in the roots.
5.2.2026 (17.12.2006)
Jezinky
Jezinky belong to monsters, or composite creatures, which are not common in the Czech environment; they have a female face, a pig's body, and a horse's legs. They are somewhat reminiscent of the Scottish glaistig, but this resemblance is more or less coincidental, because Jezinky, creatures so popular that they have remained in human memory from pagan times to the present day, are demons of the forest. And a variant of wild women. They have close relatives in Poland, where they are called gorne iędze, and more distant ones in fairy tales in the form of witches. Jezinky, as is well known, not only put people to sleep and collect their eyes, but also kidnap children and fatten them up and roast them in their caves.
5.2.2026 (25.12.2006)
Čatež
A Slovenian Wild man. Another in a long line of Slavic vegetation demons has a suspiciously familiar appearance of half man, half goat. I admit that this striking resemblance to Greek satyrs or Pan is not entirely clear to me. The two civilizations are quite distant from each other in terms of both place and time; at the time when the Slavs migrated to southern Europe and could have been influenced by Mediterranean cultures, ancient mythology was becoming an academic matter. And yet, the goat's undercarriage, along with its associated characteristics, appears in various parts of Europe. It even occurs to me that the hooves might have originally been deer hooves... but that's just a shot in the dark at an invisible target.
In any case, the chatez was a pleasant companion to lumberjacks, to whom he brought water, and shepherds, whom he supplied with forest fruits, and an unpleasant opponent to anyone who dared to mock him.
5.2.2026 (25.12.2006)
Grabs
or Drabs or Grabses, are forest men from Lusatia. They contribute to the set of hind limbs common to today's Bestiary in the same way as jezinky, i.e., with a horse's hindquarters. They also fed on the same meat, stealing horses from people, of course, which did not prevent them from attending rural spinning parties or other entertainment, or occasionally taking work at a farmer's.
5.2.2026 (25.12.2006)
Mama Cocha
Sometimes and in some places, it is also written as Mama Coca, but it has nothing to do with coca, even though it belongs to the cultural area of its growers, namely Peru. It is a country that stretches upward toward the heavens rather than horizontally, so it is not surprising that the sea goddess Mama Cocha was not among the particularly high-ranking gods of the Incas. Even though she was the wife of Viracocha himself.
5.2.2026 (31.12.2006)
Temaukel
The Patagonian Indians of the Ona tribe worshipped a Creator named Temaukel; he was almighty, had neither wife nor body, and one of his main achievements was to take away the power of women, who had ruled the world until his arrival.
5.2.2026 (31.12.2006)
Kononatoo
And one more Creator, the last for this year. The Orinoco Wara believe in Kononatoo. They once lived alongside their god in the heavens, but humans are curious, inquisitive, and often dissatisfied with their good life. A certain young hunter found a hole in the sky and led his people to earth. They did not particularly like it there, but unfortunately, there was no going back – one of the more voluptuous women blocked the passage, and Kononatoo declared that he would not make any new holes in the sky.
5.2.2026
5.2.2026 (31.12.2006)
Silenus and Satyrs
A lover of undiluted wine (the drinking of which was considered perverse by the ancient Greeks), Silenus was overlooked in the otherwise popular mythographic activity of listing ancestors. Yes, there are several versions of his origin, according to which he was born from the blood of Uranus, born from the earth, begotten by Cybele and Pan or Hermes, but these are perhaps just somewhat desperate attempts by Dionysus' teacher and companion to somehow classify him.
In most legends, Silenus is already a fully formed character, a somewhat simpler, perpetually lubricated old man with a belly, a horse's tail, and horse's ears. He used to ride a donkey, accompanying the god of wine, or in his case, satyrs and nymphs, sometimes the Lord and sometimes creatures similar to Silenus, considered to be his sons, the Sileni, which is why, for easier identification, that particular drunkard is called Papposilenus, Father Silenus, so that the listener would know who was being referred to. But even then, people considered this merry company to be the same, Silenus, satyrs, it didn't matter, and Papposilenus was often simply considered the oldest of the satyrs.
Silenus contributed to the golden fund of Greek myths with a story that truly has the scent of precious metal – it was he for whom Dionysus rewarded the somewhat dim-witted King Midas with the problematic ability to turn anything into gold with a touch. In another story, Silenus's means of transport plays a key role – during the rebellion of the Gigants, the wise drunkard found himself on the battlefield against his will, his donkey brayed, and the Gigants, like the crusaders at Domažlice – or more appropriately the Persians at Marathon, where they were frightened by the Pan's roar – fled. It is sometimes said that he took part in the battle voluntarily and even killed Enceladus, but this may just be his own drunken ex post version, as is often the case.
Satyrs, Silenus' friends and companions, did not differ in character, only in appearance. Originally, they had goat legs, ears, and horns, but over time their hind limbs changed to ordinary human ones. If they wanted to, they considered themselves descendants of Dionysus or Hermes, but for the most part they did not care about their origins. They were mountain and forest demons, always cheerful, cheeky, and intrusive, with an enormous interest in wine, women, and song. They played flutes, cymbals, and bagpipes, chased nymphs, and, as is often the case with such creatures, enjoyed frightening people.
As an untamed and cheerful race, satyrs became a model for hundreds of works of art in ancient times, and they did not lose their popularity in the following eras, even though, due to their appearance, they were adopted by Christians into the large family of hellish creatures (which happened to most forest creatures throughout Europe). Due to their lifestyle, which most people (even if some of us deny it) have always viewed with at least some understanding, they are still depicted, sculpted, and cast in leading roles in operas and plays to this day.
To conclude, I will take a look at what to expect when you dream about satyrs or Silenus. I will use Artemidorus's Oneirocritica as a reference, where we can read the following in the second book:
But the retinue of Dionysus, such as the Bacchi and the Bacchae, the Bassarae, the satyrs, the Pans, and all those whose names are similar, whether they are all together in a group or each by themselves, signify great disturbances, dangers, and scandals, with the exception of Silenus. For he alone is auspicious for everyone who is about to begin some business venture and for people who are afraid.
ARTEMIDORUS. Oneirocritica, English translation and commentary by Robert J. White, Noyes Classical Studies, 1975
Drunken Silenus on a donkey as a mosaic, discovered in Pompeii:Naples National Archaeological Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
5.2.2026 (7.1.2007)
Shadhahvar
Shadhahvar is a one-horned creature. It originates from ancient Persia, a culture devoted to monsters. Its real-life model was probably an antelope called an oryx, as it resembles one, except that it has only one horn, which is hollow. When the wind blows through it, the horn sounds like a flute, attracting animals with its strange, pleasant melody. When they come closer, the shadhahvar kills them.
5.2.2026 (14.12007)
Karkadann
Persia again. Karkadann, translated as Lord of the Desert, is a dangerous large animal with one large horn that kills elephants. Dr. Ctesias, an expert on local monsters, describes it as white, with a dark red head and blue eyes. The only creature it fears and that can stop it is, surprisingly, a dove.
Karkadann's ancestor could be the giant Pliocene and Pleistocene woolly rhinoceros Elasmotherium, whose remains have been found in Siberia and China. Or even modern rhinoceroses, if you don't want to believe in the survival of prehistoric animals into the geological present.
5.2.2026 (14.12007)
Laima
The Latvian goddess of fate, Laima, cares for humans from conception to death, as is often the case in such situations. Even in the prenatal stage of human existence, she influences the appearance of the future individual, their character, and the twists and turns of their life path. She therefore keeps a protective hand over both newborns and mothers, but this is not her only guardian function. In the same way that she cares for newborn humans, she also cares for farm animals, horses, and cows. For this purpose, she spends the night under the threshold of the stables. She actually cares for the happiness of the whole family, including the fertility of the fields.
When a child was born, a sacrifice in the form of a chicken or a piglet was brought to her, and a feast was held, because it was necessary to keep Laima, the Mother of Happiness, in favor, otherwise she could take revenge and become the Mother of Misfortune. Well, now that we have taken care of the family, the farm, and the supervision of fate, all that remains is to look at the cult of dead ancestors, or rather, the Doppelgängers, who usually remain in the background of such complex beings. Yes, here too it rears its head in the form of laimé-dalie, the theological Nothingness that participates in human destiny and can leave the body and move into an animal, for example, a swan.
5.2.2026 (21.1.2007)
Xolas
The Alakaluf people of Tierra del Fuego believed that the soul was placed in a person at birth by the Supreme Being named Xolas, who took it back after death for further use.
5.2.2026 (28.1.2007)
Jikininki
The soul sometimes serves as building material for various demons when, for various reasons, a person fails to achieve eternal peace or the right reincarnation. Extensive books of local legends speak for themselves. In the tiny town where I have the honor of living, I can count at least four – two White Ladies, a bloody vampire, a ghostly gypsy woman... and that's not all.
Jikininki, however, is not a specific ghost of a specific individual, but a group of Japanese ghouls, devourers of human corpses. This island version of the Buddhist ghost called préta is sometimes endowed with dangerous-looking sharp claws and flashing eyes, whose gaze can frighten a living person so much that not only their legs freeze with fear.
According to some observers, jikininki are able to use magic to skillfully disguise themselves as living people. During the day. At night, however, they return to their original form.
5.2.2026 (28.1.2007)
Sluagh
This is actually a certain Irish form of the Wild Hunt, composed of the souls of sinners who try to lure other, more unstable individuals into their ranks. They fly in flocks from the west to the windows of houses where someone has died and try to take their soul away. That is why it is customary to keep windows facing west (that direction has always been associated with death and the other world) closed and well secured.
5.2.2026 (28.1.2007)
Vjedogonja
A special entity inhabiting every human being (at least according to the southern Slavs) is the guardian spirit of sleepers. But it does not just guard the bedside; it leaves the sleeper and watches over them and their property. It watches out for other Vjedogonje, and if they try to attack a person, it fights them. It is not a safe fight, because if a Vjedogonja is killed in battle, its human will not wake up from sleep. The idea that protectors or other supernatural beings of the same kind fight each other is quite common in Slavic culture; remember, for example, the East Slavic Domovoy.
Vjedogonja knows the past and the future, but since we are obviously in the world of Doppelgangers, she must not reveal it except in a prophetic dream. And even then, only sometimes. This is common among most Doppelgangers around the world; behavior identical to that of Vjedogonja is found not only among Scandinavian souls and Doppelgangers, but also among American and African ones; if the human race has anything in common on a spiritual level, it is precisely this phenomenon.
5.2.2026 (7.2.2007)
Plur on mBan
Beltaine is an ancient Celtic holiday that, surprisingly, has also been preserved in Bohemia. It was celebrated on the night of April 30 to May 1, yes, I mean Walpurgis Night. It is surprising that, although its meaning has changed – originally it was the opening of the pastoral year – it has survived to this day. Without Christianity taking it over, as happened to its autumn counterpart, Samhain.
The Irish goddess Plur na mBan once belonged to Beltine. Her name – Woman of Flowers – reveals why. She was the daughter of Queen Niamh of the Land of Eternal Youth, Tir na n-Og, and the famous bard Oisin, who left Tir na n-Og before she was born.
5.2.2026 (11.2.2007)
Fuath
In Scotland and northern Ireland, this is sometimes the name given to common British water demons such as Each Uisge and Kelpie, but in the Highlands, this name is sometimes assigned to any evil creature. As water spirits, they usually have a hairy yellow coat, webbed feet, and a thorny tail, but they do not have a nose. Their favorite color of clothing is green, but not the green of Czech water sprites, but the usual green of Irish supernatural beings. Just like our water demons lure single girls, these Scottish ones try to do the same, and the offspring of such misalliances tend to have webbed feet, tails, and the unpleasant certainty that sunlight or steel will kill them without any problem.
5.2.2026 (11.2.2007)
Bellona
In the almost confusing crowd of Roman deities, Bellona (sometimes Duellona) is not entirely invisible. Although she is not one of the best-known gods, people today are still able to remember her. And classify her, when it comes down to it.
Like Minerva later, Bellona was the goddess of war. In Mars' shadow (she was most often his sister, but in peripheral versions of the myth, sometimes his daughter or wife), she did not receive much glory. In her temple, the Senate decided on granting military leaders permission for a triumphal march through the city, or received ambassadors. Her feast day was celebrated on June 3. Bellona's origins are not entirely certain; she was probably based on an Etruscan goddess, and when compared to her Greek counterparts, apart from a slight flirtation with Athena, she was likened to Enyo, Ares's warrior companion.
At the end of the Republic, Rome knew of another Bellona. This cult came from Asia Minor; she was sometimes called Bellona Ma, and her priests wounded themselves during worship and sacrificed their blood to the goddess.
5.2.2026 (18.2.2007)
Morvran
After a short trip to the Apennine Peninsula, I return to the Celts. To Wales, where one of the local gods, Morvran in Middle Welsh, otherwise Morfran, and yet otherwise Afagddu, held the office of local god of war. He was the son of the giant Tegid Foel and the goddess of inspiration Cerridwen, and was neither particularly intelligent nor handsome. He used the latter in battle, believing that no one would attack such an ugly warrior. According to others, however, he preferred to fight invisibly.
His loving mother tried to help him with her famous potion, but when she asked Gwion Bach to stir it, three drops splashed onto his fingers. Gwion swallowed them, gained knowledge, and immediately ran away in horror, because knowledge alone does not necessarily lead to wisdom and prudence. (In fact, after swallowing the three drops, the potion was exhausted and turned into poison, but I simply couldn't resist the previous sentence). Cerridwen began to pursue him in the usual (now fairy-tale) sequence of transformations (he a hare, she a dog, he a bird, she a hawk, etc.), she caught up with him when Gwion was disguised as a grain of corn, transformed herself into a hen, and pecked at the grain, which resulted in Gwion's rebirth, as he sprouted in the hen's, pardon me, God's stomach. However, he came into the world as Taliesin, the greatest of poets.
Back to Morfran.
According to the Mabinogi, a book of Welsh legends, Morfran and Afagddu were brothers, and the younger one, Afagddu, was ugly. The ugliest. Whether there were one or two, in any case, this handicap in the family was compensated for by their sister Creirwy, who was, for a change, the most beautiful girl in the world.
5.2.2026 (25.2.2007)
Cuegle
At first glance, this Cantabrian monster looks terrifying. It walks on two legs, has a long beard and black skin, but that's where the resemblance to humans ends. It has three hands without palms, a large horn on its forehead, three eyes—one red, one blue, and one green—and five rows of sharp teeth. It feeds on protein in any animal form, which wouldn't be so bad, but it also occasionally steals and eats babies. Fortunately, there is a simple defense. Every cuegle remembers its own childhood, when its mother fed it holly or oak leaves. So it takes to its heels as soon as it smells it, let alone sees it.
5.2.2026 (10.3.2007)
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