Haunted Folklore (Part Five): Animals, Objects and Other Oddities, By Kristina Wojtaszek

Editor's note: Here is the last in Kristina Wojtaszek's "Haunted Folklore" series, which EC has been proud to present this month. With her story, "Cinder," Kristina was one of the authors who contributed to to Specter Spectatcular, published by World Weaver Press. Links to both Kristina's blog and the book can be found below.

Many thanks to Kristina or her fun and informational series.

 

Though widely varied in appearance and cultural affiliation, most of the ghosts of folklore take on a rather human shape; but such is not always the case. In African and Native American folklore, legends of animals and ghosts abound, but the two are not often one and the same. Still, there are cases of animal ghosts in folklore. Frightening fairy dogs can be found roaming the streets of Ireland, while in Europe headless horses ride the skies in the Wild Hunt, or are ridden by headless horsemen--and what about that spooky head of the horse in "The Goose Girl"? There are talking fish bones, phantom birds and even incorporeal cows (was that boo or moo?). In the Scottish version of "Cinderella," "Rushen Coatie," the girl's mother returns as a cow to provide nourishment for her child, following which the cow's bones act in the same manner as the haunted fish bones in the older, Chinese tale. Departed humans whose spirits return in animal form are not all that uncommon. Selkies, creatures of lore who can change shape from seal to human, may be the powerful spirits of those who have drowned. In "The White Trout," a betrothed woman is murdered, and her body dumped into the river. She later returns in the form of a white fish to haunt the waters while waiting for her lover. In the gruesome tale "The Juniper Tree" a murdered stepson takes the form of a sparrow after his sister lovingly lays his bones beneath the tree. He then goes to various townsfolk to sing of his death at the hands of his stepmother.

The motif of bones stirring to life to sing of injustice is also shown in the many variations of "The Singing Bone." During a contest to find a special object appointed by the king, or father, of two children, one is successful and stands to inherit the throne, or family property, until the unsuccessful sibling decides to murder them. One of the victim's bones is later found and turned into a flute that sings their song of betrayal and death, for which the murderer is punished if still alive.

 

Another tale of convicted guilt is that of "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen. A young girl is so prideful of her new, red shoes that she can't help showing them off, even at inappropriate times. For this she is cursed to dance ceaselessly in her shoes until her feet are cut off, still in the shoes she couldn't remove. They continue to haunt her however, her dismembered feet dancing before her every time she tries to enter a church. Other strange objects that haunt include spectral ships (the ghosts of those vessels destroyed at sea), phantom paintings, mirrors, spooky bells or other self-playing instruments, and in modern lore, items such as radios and televisions. Another strange sight are the spectral lights of swamps and deep forests, often said to recede when followed, leading one ever farther from home. Both the Jack-o'-lantern and Will-o'-the-wisp are references to legendary lost souls (named Jack or Will, respectively) cursed to wander the night with only the aid of a torch, a candle, or a piece of burning coal (hence the light).

Bremen Town Musicians, by L. Leslie Brooke

Aside from haunted animals and objects, another oddity of folklore is the tale of humor that often centers around a mistaken spook. In one such tale, "The Town Musicians of Bremen," an odd group of animals scare the daylights out of a gang of robbers who only think they are ghosts (due to the awful "music" they make in the middle of the night). Some of the entertaining Native American folktales also speak of false hauntings, like "How Raccoon Got His Mask" (how did he? By disguising himself as a ghost, or course!).

Whether you enjoy tails of terror, humorous hauntings, unnatural romance, or favorite fables, you're sure to find what you're looking for and more within the vaults of folklore. And for 13 of the newest twists on tales of spooks, check out Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales from World Weaver Press. Go ahead, take a good look around; the dead are everywhere. Just don't forget to take a lantern and scatter a few stones to mark your way home.

Kristina Wojtaszek grew up as a woodland sprite and mermaid, playing around the shores of Lake Michigan. At any given time she could be found with live snakes tangled in her hair and worn out shoes filled with sand. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management as an excuse to spend her days lost in the woods with a book in hand. She currently resides in the high desert country of Wyoming with her husband and two small children. She is fascinated by fairy tales and fantasy and her favorite haunts are libraries and cemeteries. Follow her @KristinaWojtasz  or on her blog, Twice Upon a Time.

Haunted Folklore (Part Four): Phantom Fatale, By Kristina Wojtaszek

Editor's note: Here' the fourth of Kristina Wojtaszek's intriguing and informative series on folklore and ghosts and other spooky types. Kristina's short story, "Cinder" is featured in Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales. For a look at "Cinder," click here.

The fifth and final installment of this series is next week, so don't miss the final spooky folklore update.

Mysterious, seductive, suppressed and sometimes vengeful, the presence of women abound in legend. Often portrayed as specters untamed by man or death, the hidden powers of the feminine spirit, and the ways of Mother Earth herself, are often explored in folklore. Perhaps the most powerful expression of femininity is that of motherly love, so it's no surprise that this nurturing continues beyond the grave in tales of old. From the Brothers Grimm come several such stories, including mothers who return to nurse or provide for their children, looking out for those whose stepparents deal a cruel hand. “The Brother and Sister,” “Cinderella,” and “The Goose Girl”    are a few. Conversely, a living mother might grieve so relentlessly for her deceased child that the child's spirit returns to comfort her, and set him free, as is seen in “The Little Shroud.” The Ubume of Japan is the ghost of a woman holding a baby after death in childbirth. If the child was never removed from her body and placed in her arms, she comes back to haunt by asking those she encounters to hold her child to give her a rest. Occasionally, this ends in doom for those who dare it. In stark contrast to such devotion, the mother in some versions of “La Llorona” purposefully drowns her children in order to gain a new husband. When this doesn't win the man over, she drowns herself, but is then forced to spend eternity as a specter in white weeping and searching for her children in the river.



Dawn Visitation, by Harold Hitchcock

Women in white are a common motif in folklore, even persisting in legends today. In European countries, the women in white may appear near caves or guarding bridges, where they require men to dance with them or kneel before them in order to pass. For this reason, some folklorists believe them to have come from the domestic guardian goddesses called Matres (meaning mothers). Others believe the white women from Germanic folklore to be descended from Hulda who lives in the bottom of a well, and keeps the souls of infants who die. Also known as Dame Holle, she is occasionally seen as the leader of the Wild Hunt or the Spectral Army, whose phantom soldiers cross the European skies.

Another goddess associated with both war and death is the Norse Freyja, who is said to receive half the souls of those slain in battle. The female spirits who choose who live and who die in battle are called the valkyries, specters who might be seen with ravens or horses to forewarn death. The Morrigan, the phantom queen of Ireland, may appear as a crow and her sighting is a sign of death to come. Another group of death bringers are the Kumakatok who knock on doors in the dead of night in the Philippines. There are three, and beneath their hoods, two appear as elderly while one is a strikingly young woman. There is also a skeletal female version of the Grim Reaper in Poland called Śmierć who escorts the dead. Norway's personification of Death is Pesta, an old hag named after the Black Plague. If her apparition appears with a rake in hand, some of the townsfolk will survive the sickness; but be it a broom instead and all are doomed. 

There are countless female deities to spirit away the dead, but most are considered benevolent escorts. The more harrowing spectral women are the seductresses and those who seek vengeance. The Onryō of Japan are usually the returned spirits of women who cause mischief by cursing kimonos, tormenting neglectful husbands, and even beheading the wives that replace them. The Rusalki of Russia are often said to be the spirits of women who drowned themselves or were murdered. Some were young girls who sought to end their lives after an unwanted pregnancy was discovered. They often dance or sing, luring men to follow them into the water, to their death. Many female specters are succubi, seductresses who drain the life from men. Examples include the Kitsune (fox spirits of Japan); the legend of Otsuyu, the phantom woman whose lover is found in the death clutch of a skeleton; and Lauretta Baldusi of “The Ghostly Concert,” who removes her betrothed's femur to form into a guitar.

First called “Conte de fees” in French, fairy tales may have even been named after the feminine spirit, as taboo women were often considered to be fairies. Even the three Fates who controlled not only men, but gods, by the simple domestic task of spinning, measuring, and cutting the yarns of our lives, are just little old ladies.

Kristina Wojtaszek grew up as a woodland sprite and mermaid, playing around the shores of Lake Michigan. At any given time she could be found with live snakes tangled in her hair and worn out shoes filled with sand. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management as an excuse to spend her days lost in the woods with a book in hand. She currently resides in the high desert country of Wyoming with her husband and two small children. She is fascinated by fairy tales and fantasy and her favorite haunts are libraries and cemeteries. Follow her @KristinaWojtasz  or on her blog, Twice Upon a Time.

Haunted Folklore (Part Two): Spectral Celebrations, by Kristina Wojtaszek

Editor's note: Here's part two of Kristina Wojtaszek's darkly (well) detailed series on macabre traditions all over the world. Honoring the dead is in the spotlight this time, and Kristina takes readers all over the nether world in this post. 

Kristina's short story, "Cinder," is one of 13 in an anthology recently published by World Weaver Press called Specter Spectacular: Thirteen Ghostly Tales. For a peek at Kristina's tale, which I have read and thoroughly enjoyed, click here.

Several rows of "empty" chairs are placed before live performances in China during the Hungry Ghost Festival. These are reserved for the dead, who return through the open gates of the underworld--with an appetite. Some of the spirits have necks stretched thin and pine for food, as well as every other part of a life left behind. Once burned in offering, Joss paper (made from bamboo or rice) can be used as money or objects in the afterlife. Joss paper can be formed into everything from toothbrushes to sports cars. At the end of this month-long festival, lotus-shaped paper lanterns are set to float away, leading the ghosts back to their former realms.

Every culture, every country, has its stories and traditions gathered around ghosts. Even in the skeptical U.S. we take part in holidays that have pagan roots in paranormal legends. Halloween is in fact a remnant of the Gaelic harvest festival Samhain, celebrated on the last day of autumn, during which the world of spirits was believed to be closer to the physical earth than at any other time of year. Mexico's Day of the Dead is probably the most well known spectral celebration that persists today. The day before All Souls' Day (celebrated on November 2 by Roman Catholics) Mexican families gather together to welcome home their deceased relatives, who settle in the mountain pines in the guise of monarchs. Baron Samedi, the god of death in Haitian culture, receives offerings of spiced alcohol after loud music is played to awaken him during the holiday of Ghede, which also occurs in conjunction with All Souls' Day.

Saint Giles--His Bells, by Charles Altamont Doyle

Much like the Day of the Dead, the Obon or Bon Festival in Japan is a Buddhist holiday during which families assemble to clean and care for grave sites, and the spirits of the departed are expected at the family alter. During Pitru Paksha in India, prayers and food offerings are made to the last three generations of lost loved ones in order to help them cross over to heaven. Rather than butterflies, their departed are said to appear as crows to except their offerings. In Nepal, ghosts are lead to the afterlife by cows in the Gai Jatra. After this somber procession comes a time for merriment with costumes and satire. Rather than dressing up themselves, during Bolivia's Festival of Skulls it is the skulls that are decorated and given gifts, such as cigars tucked between their teeth. In return, the dead reward their relatives with blessings. Wrestling matches are often a part of the celebrations in Korea's Chuseok festival. Celebrated during the fall, offerings of the harvest are made to the dead in thanksgiving for a bountiful year. In Sicily, the children who pray for the souls of the departed leave their shoes out, hoping for sweets and toys left by the ‘muorti’ (the dead), helping them to hold onto memories of lost loved ones.

Even more universal than fear, it seems that celebration, dance and offerings are in order to honor the dead. As the medieval Dance of Death showed to celebrants each year, death is undeterred by belief, class or culture; death unites all.

Kristina Wojtaszek grew up as a woodland sprite and mermaid, playing around the shores of Lake Michigan. At any given time she could be found with live snakes tangled in her hair and worn out shoes filled with sand. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Management as an excuse to spend her days lost in the woods with a book in hand. She currently resides in the high desert country of Wyoming with her husband and two small children. She is fascinated by fairy tales and fantasy and her favorite haunts are libraries and cemeteries. Follow her @KristinaWojtasz  or on her blog, Twice Upon a Time.