Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/350

228 among such Zduhaczs; but in all other respects these genii are considered good and sensible and stand in high repute.

The Montenegrins personify the soul as Sjen or Sjenovik ("Shadow"), this being a genius which has charge of houses, lakes, mountains, and forests, and which may be a man or a domestic animal, a cat, a dog, or—more especially—a snake. It is a general Slavic belief that souls may pass into a Mora, a living being, either man or woman, whose soul goes out of the body at night-time, leaving it as if dead. Sometimes two souls are believed to be in such a body, one of which leaves it when asleep; and a man may be a Mora from his birth, in which case he has bushy, black eyebrows, growing together above his nose. The Mora, assuming various shapes, approaches the dwellings of men at night and tries to suffocate them; she is either a piece of straw, or a white shadow, or a leather bag, or a white mouse, a cat, a snake, a white horse, etc. First she sends refreshing slumber to men and then, when they are asleep, she frightens them with terrible dreams, chokes them, and sucks their blood. For the most part she torments children, though she also throws herself upon animals, especially horses and cows, and even injures and withers trees, so that various means are employed to get rid of her.

In Russia the Moras, or Kikimoras, play the rôle of household gods (penates). They are tiny female beings who live behind the oven; and at night they make various noises, whining and whistling, and troubling sleeping people. They are very fond of spinning, hopping from place to place all the time; and they tangle and tear the tow of women who rise from the spinning-wheel without making the sign of the cross. They are invisible and do not grow old; but manifestation of their presence always portends trouble.

Among the Slavs, as well as among many other peoples, there is a wide-spread belief that certain persons can assume the form of wolves during their lifetime, like the English werewolf, the French loupgarou, the Lithuanian vilkakis, etc.,