The devil

The devil – spirit master of the forest in the mythology of Eastern Slavs. It belongs to the same class of beings that house perfumes, perfume water areas and field spirits.

Belief in such spirits is inherent to many people, change only their names and a description of the appearance. Somewhere he looks like a man (old man in simple clothes), somewhere is a huge hairy creature possessing great power. The last description makes it from a snow man.

There is a popular belief that the devil can alter its growth, to become invisible, to publish different sounds (including talking). In some descriptions it is accompanied by a strong wind. It is believed that the devil no shadow. Some legends says that in order to see the true face of the devil, you need to look through the right ear of the horse or through the clip sitting between three harrows

The devil cares about the forest as his master, guarding him is the protector of forest animals and plants. He can take revenge on the people who litter in the woods, in vain to kill a lot of animals or plants, noise or otherwise behave properly. On the other hand, with the demon you can agree to, for example, showed best berry or mushroom picking terrain, could provide luck in hunting and safe grazing. For successful hunting we can conclude with the demon contract: to bring him a gift of "pervorodnoe" Easter egg, bread with salt or first production.

The influence of the devil was considered the cause of wandering of a man in the woods, tying him to the beliefs about "the prodigal places," or as it's more modern name, including places and with such properties, anomalous zones. He could be seen ahead at a distance and do not let yourself to catch up, setting the stage for a man in a swamp or thicket. For these purposes he could just bring the Wraith to man to get lost even in very familiar place. As a result, with the demon tied the loss of people and livestock in the forest. The cause of his behavior usually are not known.

It was believed that to get rid of the attention of a Goblin you can use prayer, foul, charms, and other means. To remove these charms, you need to wear your clothes inside out.

The devil, like other mystical beings living between our and other worlds, attributed the ability to predict the future.

Despite the technological advances and the almost complete development of territories, the belief in the devil still exists. Mention of it is infrequent, but still occur in modern unexplained facts and true stories.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»