Vodyanoy, a water spirit

A strange creature from Slavic mythology is the Vodyanoy, a water spirit that appears

 as a naked old man.
He has a frog like face, long greenish beard and hair, his body which is covered in black fish scales, is usually covered in the muck and slime from the bottom of the river. The vodyanoy has webbed paws, a fish’s tail and red eyes. He patrols up and down his stretch of the river on a half submerged log and is often referred to as ‘grandfather’ or ‘forefather’ by the locals.
If annoyed, he is capable of breaking dams, destroying mills
and will drag people and animals down into the depths of the river where they serve him for the rest of their lives.
To appease him, people who live alongside the river will throw offerings into the water; fishermen will also ask for his help by placing a pinch of tobacco in the water and saying:

‘Here’s your tobacco Lord Vodnik
Now give me a fish’
Known as Vodnik in other eastern European countries, his appearance is reported to be different. He appears to be human except for having gills and webbed finger and his hair and skin is green. These vodyanoy usually appear dressed, albeit as a tramp, complete with hat, usually a boater with long speckled ribbons. His face is covered with a long tangled beard.
These water spirits will sit for hours by the side of the river, puffing out clouds of tobacco smoke from a long curly pipe, or if more than one is present they will play cards. Although they can stay out of the water for long periods they never dry out and any garment they wear will be constantly dripping; a sure sign of a Vodyanoy  if you should ever meet one.
They store the souls of the drowned in porcelein jars which are greatly prized by these creatures, as the more cups they own the higher standing they have amongst other vodyanoy.
If the jar should be broken or the lid opened the soul inside will float to the surface of the water and be liberated.

Folklore of Mermaids: Elizabeth Andrews

When I was just a child....

I grew up in the Dorset countryside, and it was country! Frequently snowed in in the winter, had to travel miles to get to school and the shops and very rarely saw school friends at weekends or during the summer holidays. So this meant having a lot of time to daydream and make believe while playing in the woods and streams.

My family tell me that I had an invisible friend for years, little did they know that it was a faerie! So having such a vivid imagination, and still have, I have started to write and illustrate a series of children's books based around the farm where I grew up,  'The Mice of Horsehill Farm.'

They have a series of adventures throughout the year in and around the farm, I would like to say that they are not all good and sweet! which, ahem, very much reflects my own childhood!

"Deep in a small wooded valley lies an
old farm. A small bubbling stream
flows past the old buildings, it's banks are
lined with young hazel and willow trees
and in the summer the farm is surrounded
by a sea of flowers and wild garlic.

Spillers, Teasel and their five children live
 in the crumbling stone barn. In the winter
they hollow out rooms deep in the hay
where they stay snug and warm, and in the 
spring when the barn is empty of hay the
family move up to the top of the stone
 walls where it is cool and airy."

This is their home on top of the barns stone wall.

Their adventures so far have included naughty squirells, grumpy brownies, faeries and lost dragons.

These are going to be published in a series, three so far, some time this year.

One of my children's stories which is already out there is The Faeries Tea Party.

 " Granny was good at telling stories, Chloe would cuddle up
next to her on the big old squashy sofa and listen to 
wonderful bedtime tales about the faeries, goblins and
 monsters that lived in the big wood at the end of the garden.

Granny had just finished a really good story about a giant who 
ate six faeries every day for breakfast when Chloe asked her
 ' Do you really believe in faeries granny?'
Granny smiled down at her.
'Of course I do, because I know that the faeries visit my 
kitchen every night. That's why I always leave a little drop of 
tea in my cup. They like tea.' She pointed to her favourite
 blue and white cup on the table in front of the sofa. 
'See?' "

'The Faeries Tea Party' is available on my website www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk and Amazon

Kindred Spirit review

Many thanks to the team at Kindred Spirit magazine for such a great review!

"In her charming new book, Elizabeth Andrews writes about, and sketches, the flowers and plants linked to the faeries of our land; here we give you an exclusive glimpse into the springtime world of the magical bluebell and the potent cowslip...."

water, water, water every where!

My thoughts are running on water at the moment, I am in the middle of my new book ' The folklore of Mermaids', 90 pages in and still going full steam. It is usually about the 150 page mark that I start to flag!
With all this water about you would have thought somebody would have seen a mermaid but no.. the nearest is the crocodile that was reported near Bristol by a bus driver, he still maintains he saw it and who is to say he was wrong. Strange things get flushed down the drains!

Water has always been venerated, except when it's coming in the front door, take well dressing for example. This is a survival of well worship, the waters were either considered to be prophetic or a cure for ills. Well dressing usually occurs at Ascension tide, this has survived in several places. panels of elaborate pictures of saints were erected around the well. Now it is more common to find the wells decorated with ribbons and flowers asking for wishes to be granted or for cures for illnesses. The association of well worship and tree worship was very close, it was common to find single trees close to the wells and it was upon these that the offering were often placed.
A well worship ceremony was held in Tissington as far back as 1350 in thanksgiving for the peoples' escape from the Black Death. Half of Derbyshire died from this disease but Tissington escaped; this was ascribed to the purity of the water in its five wells.
Near Brampton in Northampton shire, Marvel - sike Springs was considered to be able to predict death or trouble by running in great gluts of water. This spring only ran at times of trouble or evil.
The Drumming Well situated in the same county, gave out a loud drumming noise before any important happening, it was heard before the Scots came to England in the Civil War and again just before Charles II  died.
It is still common practice to drop coins into wells and make a wish, crooked pins are dropped into some wells as offering to the lady of the well. The pin was considered to be a very appropriate offering, as it was connected to the donors clothes but it was also made of iron.
Sometimes the guardian of these wells takes on the form of a mermaid or meremaid, yes I have got back to the subject of mermaids! These are often more malicious than the sea going creatures and can cause a lot of trouble in their pools and surrounding areas.
At Childs Ercall some workmen were enticed into the water when a meremaid offered them gold, they only escaped when one of the men used an oath when he saw the size of the lump of gold the meremaid was holding. Lucky for them for undoubtedly they would have met a nasty end!

Heres a lttle ditty....

Oh my god the sun is shining! if that is not enough to make you smile try reading this..
Found this piece of advice in The Perpetual Almanack, an indispensable tool!

Cut nails on a Monday, cut them for health

Cut them on a Tuesday, cut them for wealth

Cut them on a Wednesday, cut them for news

Cut them on a Thursday, a pair of new shoes

Cut them on a Friday, cut them for sorrow

Cut them on a Saturday, see your true love tomorrow

But cut them on a Sunday, your safety seek

For old Nick'll have you the rest of the week!

 

 

Ivy Faerie: available as cards or prints, ideal for the festive season!

www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk

Apart from being one of the plants brought in for the Christmas decorations the ivy has some interesting folklore surrounding it.

This is taken from my book Faerie Flora;

"This plant brings good luck, fun and happiness, and growing some over the outside wall of your house will deter misfortune.

If you have a house plant of ivy and it dies this might signify that financial problems may be looming.

Ivy is the symbol of fidelity and it used to be customary to hand a wreath of ivy leaves to newly weds. The bridesmaids would also carry some mixed in with their bouquets as it was believed to aid fertility and bring good luck. Wands entwined with ivy are still used in nature fertility rites and in spells for love magic.

For a woman to dream of her future husband she must collect some leaves and recite the following:

Ivy Ivy I love you

In my bosom I put you 

The first young man who speaks to me

My future husband he shall be"

We decorate our houses with greenery at Christmas as did our Roman and Teutonic predecessors as part of their winter festivals.

In some areas it is believed to unlucky to bring Holly and Ivy in before Christmas Eve and all the boughs must be taken down before Twelfth Night.

Faeries and goblins come in with the greenery to shelter against the winter cold; in return for this they would behave and cause no mischief. This is why the boughs must be removed otherwise the more malicious kinds of faeries will be encouraged to stay.

New Faerie Dolls, perfect for Christmas!

Perfect for Christmas Pressies,
 yes, it is that time of year again!
Handmade in Somerset and available from my website
 www. magic-myth-legend.co.uk
please contact for overseas shipping costs

 Beatrice the Faerie Bookworm

 Zelda

 The Green Man

Granny