House Spirits
/House spirits have been living in our heads (and our hearths) rent free lately! From Central America to Korea and across Europe, spirits like domovoi, brownies, duende, and more have been playing a role in home folklore. So pull up a chair by the hearth and we’ll tell you their tales!
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of animal death, blood, strangulation, transphobia, colonization, child endangerment, and defecation.
Housekeeping
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Cast & Crew
- Co-Hosts: Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin
- Editor: Bren Frederick
- Music: Brandon Grugle, based on "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
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About Us
Spirits is a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and folklore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy retellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every week, on Spirits.
Transcript
[theme]
AMANDA: Welcome to the Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. Every week, we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: And I'm Julia. And Amanda, I've been thinking a lot lately about my house, you know?
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Mostly, it's because I have been— you know the— you get ideas in your head and you're like, "Wow, it would be really nice to move to, like—" insert area here and then you open up Zillow, and you start getting emails about Zillow listings in that area. And you're like, "Damn. Okay."
AMANDA: It's not gonna happen for me, but it's a nice dream.
JULIA: Yeah. Like, you know, the reality is unlikely, but at the same time, you're like, "Could be nice. It could be nice." So I've been thinking a lot about houses and homes. And in particular, after our episodes about gnomes—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —I've been thinking more about other household spirits.
Amanda; Hell yeah. Those are some of my favorites to talk about, the domovoy lives in my head and also my heart, rent-free.
JULIA: But, you know, Amanda, that is a great point. We have talked about several different household spirits on the podcast, but really haven't done too much, like, deep dives into the various household spirits that come about in mythology and folklore, and traditions from around the world. So today, I want to give us a little house spirit roundup.
AMANDA: Hell yeah, dude. I feel like this is such a common time of year for folks to be moving into new homes, new apartments. Maybe they're going to school, coming back from a trip. So I think this is a perfectly timed episode.
JULIA: Excellent. So, you know, let's get crack-a-lacking, because I think you're going to find, one, you've heard of a lot of these before, and two, they have a lot of similarities to one another, and there is a reason behind that, Amanda. And I'm excited to tell you about it.
AMANDA: Julia, your roundups are like an appetizer sampler at Applebee's, okay? They give me everything I want, and nothing too much.
JULIA: Wow. I appreciate that. Thank you, Amanda. That's very kind. Very kind of you to say. All right. So, Amanda, let's start with the one that you've already pointed out, perfect timing, as always. We'll start with the domovoy.
AMANDA: I love these little Russian guys. They just want to be thanked. They want you to respect the home, and then they will, in turn, respect it, and help you keep everything okay. Leave a saucer and milk out time to time. They're gonna be perfectly fine.
JULIA: Exactly. So, translated from Russian, his name literally means "of the household."
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: They are usually depicted as small, old men with gray hair and flashing eyes.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: Ooh, aah. But they usually can also take the form of animals as well in some stories.
AMANDA: So cute.
JULIA: Now in Slavic culture, they are often represented in the household in the form of, like, clay or stone statuettes that are then placed in, like, a niche or niche, depending on how you pronounce it, near the house's front door or above the hearth or oven in a kitchen.
AMANDA: Now, Julia, my grandma, has in her entryway, a little shelf right next to the door where if you're like, you know, going to unlock the keys and put down a cup or your phone or something. That's a good place to put it. And what she has on that shelf is a little statue of a boy peeing from France. Now, is that the domovoy of my grandma's house?
JULIA: I mean, it very possibly could be, Amanda. My question also is, of all the things to get in France, why is it a small boy peeing?
AMANDA: She and my grandpa lived in France early in their marriage.
JULIA: Hmm.
AMANDA: And have some kind of tie. I've— there's multiple of these statues in the house. There's some in the China cabinet.
JULIA: Are they all peeing?
AMANDA: They're all little boys peeing. And—
JULIA: What—
AMANDA: —it must be related to something, because she just calls him, "Little pisser." It— there must be some origins, so ConSpiriters sound off, is the little statuette, a little gold statuette of a, like, boy being, is this anything?
JULIA: Anything? Who can say? Well, someone will hopefully tell us. We couldn't possibly Google it. It's fine. But, Amanda, you'll see this through line for a lot of our house spirits of there being like a location in the household where they are commemorating.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: Usually, it's some sort of household altar of some kind. Now, here, sacrifices were made to the domovoy. Usually, it was, you know, something like whatever was left after an evening meal. Sometimes it was simple as a slice of bread that was sprinkled with salt, and then wrapped in white cloth. But if the domovoy was made particularly angry, say, you're slacking in your duties and whatnot, to the domovoy, a more substantial sacrifice might be required, such as sacrificing a chicken. Usually, the cock, not a hen.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: You have to do that at midnight.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: And then the blood would be sprinkled in the courtyard of your home.
AMANDA: Okay, I'm glad that the domovoy is like, "Let's not get crazy. Don't get my house bloody. You could keep in the courtyard."
JULIA: It's fine. It's fine. We could leave it outside. I'm sure there are some cases where maybe it was inside, but it's like the courtyard was the one I saw the most, so fingers crossed.
AMANDA: Yeah. Oh, I love the domovoy is like, "Uh-uh. This is not a slice of bread problem. This is a your prime rooster problem."
JULIA: Exactly, exactly. However, Amanda, the domovoy's instinct is to protect the well-being of any of the family that resides in its home, and it gives particular attention to children and animals that make up the household, right? Much like the telling of the bees we mentioned in our bees episode, they like to share in the joys and the sorrows of the family. If they are kept in well regard with the family, they would usually sometimes, like, warn the family if there were threats to them—
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: —coming in the future. So, for example, the threat of death or illness, or war coming to the household. You would get a little bit of a warning from your domovoy ahead of time that these things might be possible.
AMANDA: Very helpful.
JULIA: Exactly. Usually, it would occur in dreams or just, like, general signs that something was amiss. It was, as I kind of implied, possible to piss the domovoy off. And in particular, you could piss your domovoy off enough that it would leave your household, thus leaving the members within it unprotected from things like bad luck or misfortune.
AMANDA: Damn. The domovoy really is so much more than like a house cleaning or a housekeeping spirit. It really is getting at things that make the heart of a home. Something that makes you safe and protected.
JULIA: Exactly, exactly. And so when we talk about, like, the domovoy, in particular, the domovoy feels very primal in the way that it is of this house, and it is the family that's coming to reside there, is now their family. If that family moves, then it's no longer associated with them. And we'll see that kind of differs depending on—
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: —cultural influences. Sometimes the house spirit is connected specifically to the family home. Sometimes it is directly—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —influenced by the fact that it is connected to the land in which the family is residing on.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: You know? So it's— sometimes it's allegiance is to a family, or its allegiance is to a home or a location.
AMANDA: Very cool.
JULIA: But Amanda, did you know that there is a female version of the domovoy?
AMANDA: Really?
JULIA: Yes. It is the Kikimora.
AMANDA: Oh. Great name.
JULIA: Kikimora are usually described as having a dog's snout or a chicken beak. Sometimes they also have the qualities of goats, like glowing eyes and goat horns.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: But normally she has feminine qualities to her, depending on her portrayal. She might resemble more of an old woman, but sometimes she's a beautiful young girl.
AMANDA: Fascinating. And I'm just wondering to myself, like, is this what really appeals to the male domovoy? Is, like, you need those flashing eyes, of course, but, like, not just flashing. I want those vertical pupils, Julia, and I want them glowing.
JULIA: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. Yeah, that's tough. That's tough. Well, that's actually really interesting, Amanda, because in some traditions, not only is she residing alongside a domovoy, but she's actually the wife of the domovoy.
AMANDA: I assumed that, and then I realized, "Amanda, that's heteronormative of you. You don't know. You don't know." But it's—
JULIA: Hmm.
AMANDA: —but it's most likely.
JULIA: A safe assumption, actually. So when a house is in order and she is taken care of, you know, given the proper offerings, et cetera, et cetera, she primarily will care for the chickens, and she will take care of household work for the family.
AMANDA: Hell yeah.
JULIA: However, there are probably more stories about, quote-unquote, "bad Kikimora" than there are about good Kikimora, where she will sometimes slip into bedrooms through keyholes and sit on the chests of sleepers who wronged her, trying to strangle them in their dreams.
AMANDA: Wow. How do you wrong a Kikimora that bad?
JULIA: You don't take care of the chickens properly. You don't give the proper offerings. Lot of different—
AMANDA: Oh, shit.
JULIA: —ways to piss off a Kikimora.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: But this also reminds me, very similarly, of the episode that we did on nightmares, and nightmare spirits in particular.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: And that sort of sleep paralysis, heavy weight on the chest description that we've talked about.
AMANDA: So much so. People's brains have been misfiring in this specific way for millennia, y'all.
JULIA: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. As long as we've had brains, pretty much.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: She's also very interesting. If you piss her off, she will break dishes. She'll generally make a lot of noise throughout the night. Basically, she just wants to make it really difficult for you to sleep.
AMANDA: You know, happy wife, happy life. Happy Kikimora, no noises while I'm trying to sleep-ora.
JULIA: I was gonna say Happy Kikimora, then you're gonna be allowed to snore-a.
AMANDA: Also good. See, Julia, mine—
JULIA: Not—
AMANDA: —was the Spanish-Russian version. Yours is the Italian-American editions.
JULIA: Got it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Sure.
AMANDA: And that's the story-a.
JULIA: There is a version of the Kikimora that is actually not a household spirit, but rather is a swamp spirit.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: I figured I'd mention her.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: In this form, she's usually a scruffy, old woman who wears moss and grass for clothing. She frightens travelers. Sometimes she kidnaps children.
AMANDA: Okay. Let's all focus up here. So there's Talia, [10:33] our social manager, Bren, editor. I'm gonna need us to work on an Instagram meme format like, you know, like the Swamp Witch, the Bog Witch [10:40] back to the bog. We need to educate the internet about the Kikimora swamp edition.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: Because I think some— for some people, they're like, "I don't want to work for wages. I want to work for satisfaction. And being the swamp keeper is my satisfaction." You know what I mean?
JULIA: Hmm. Yeah. That's very possible.
AMANDA: Let's work on this.
JULIA: Amanda, you can notice a Kikimora because she will leave behind wet footprints.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: A classic kind of look. And then there's also another version of the Russian Kikimora, who loves to brew beer in the swamp. And it says that when fog or mist rises from the swamp, that is the fumes from her brewing her beer.
AMANDA: New dream job unlocked.
JULIA: I know. That's when you start— when you're like, "Let's meme." I was like, "Wait, hold on, we're missing one key factor here for the meme."
AMANDA: Folks, follow Spirits Podcast, and you will see what we do on either Instagram or TikTok.
JULIA: Now, in the similar vein to the domovoy and the Kikimora, Amanda, is the Brownie, which is a Scottish household spirit. Like the domovoy, in exchange for an offer, usually it's a bowl of milk or cream left by the hearth. They would come at night and perform household chores and farming tasks to make the life of its inhabitants easier.
AMANDA: God, what a dream. Do you ever wish that you fall asleep and then when you wake up, someone else has dusted the house? Because, like, who the fuck has time to dust?
JULIA: Listen, Amanda, I've had laundry in the dryer for two days now, and I keep going to sleep being like, "Maybe someone will fold it in the middle of the night." Who can say?
AMANDA: Now, Julia, have you tried putting a bowl of cream next to your non-existent fireplace?
JULIA: Yeah, no, I fucked up by not doing that. That's my bad.
AMANDA: Maybe the fire pit.
JULIA: Oh.
AMANDA: And then I think the squirrels will get into it, and you'd have a smelly squirrel on your hands.
JULIA: I do have a fake electric fireplace—
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: —so maybe that's something.
AMANDA: Worth a shot.
JULIA: The presence, Amanda, of a happy brownie means that the household will prosper. They prefer to work at night and alone, and will go out of their way to avoid being seen. Now—
AMANDA: Me too, dude.
JULIA: Yeah, I know, right? Now, many times brownies are associated with living in a specific place, either in the household or on the property. So, for example, the hearth is their domain, but sometimes they're tied to a specific stream or a pond or a rock that can be found on the property.
AMANDA: Makes sense.
JULIA: They are also associated with the kitchen. Now, Amanda, you know how there's, like, hooks that are used to hang pots in kitchens?
AMANDA: Totally.
JULIA: Often, these are, like, hung over the fire so that the washed pots will then dry faster. Now, in Scotland in particular, there are these pot hooks that are often designed with a crook in it, and that is sometimes referred to as the brownie's seat.
AMANDA: Ooh.
JULIA: So it was kind of anticipated that, like, that's their little throne, right?
AMANDA: Oh, it's their little swing set.
JULIA: And if you happened to have a pot hook that did not have a crook in it, a horseshoe could be hung upside down, so that the brownie would have a place to sit.
AMANDA: Hell yeah, dude. I love that.
JULIA: And again, tying, you know, the lucky horseshoe—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —with the prosperous brownie in a household. So you see how, like, some things are connected.
AMANDA: That's really good. We recently said goodbye to the, like, cabin that my grandparents had when they were vacationing, that all of us went to, you know, for, like, our whole childhoods growing up. And each of my siblings and me took a horseshoe which had been hung over the front door of the house.
JULIA: Aw.
AMANDA: And so I'm going to text the group chat later and say that each of us should put it upside down over our hearth or in our kitchens, just to be sure the brownies have a place to vibe.
JULIA: It's very sweet. I like that a lot.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, how brownies are depicted depends on which region you are in, but they're often referred to as being small, ugly, and covered in hair, much like myself. I'm kidding.
AMANDA: Same. Think I wake up like this? Nah.
JULIA: They are typically male, though there have been some tales of female brownies, like Meg Mullach or Hairy Meg.
AMANDA: I love that she is—
JULIA: Shout out.
AMANDA: —very specific. They're like, "That one's Meg."
JULIA: In Aberdeenshire, they are said to have no fingers and no toes.
AMANDA: Uh, wow. Shout out. Must have some good adaptive technology for their chores.
JULIA: In the lowlands, instead of no fingers and no toes, they instead have no noses, but rather a single hole where their nose should be.
AMANDA: You know, as long as it takes in air, we can work with that.
JULIA: They do have the ability to shapeshift into animals and also to turn invisible, which is why you will find that they're not often caught doing the chores that they're famous for. If you do happen to catch it doing its tasks, you'll find that they're often dressed in rags or even naked. But Amanda, don't offer them clothing.
AMANDA: I see.
JULIA: If you do that or you attempt to baptize them, because, obviously, this is a post-Christian addition to the folklore.
AMANDA: Don't do that.
JULIA: It will leave the house forever, which basically opens the household up to misfortune.
AMANDA: Uh, I see. And as usual, folks, for repairing the holes in our hearts that a certain transphobe put there, very few original ideas, so we can just celebrate folklore instead.
JULIA: So the brownies can be a little bit more trickster-like than the domovoy. They'll sometimes target lazy members of the family or servants, and we'll play tricks on them as punishment. So, like, if a lazy servant were to, you know, not do their chores, the brownie might play a little trick on them.
AMANDA: That's fair. I mean, it's a good management technique to be like, "Hey, let's get this together."
JULIA: Which is also interesting when you consider that, in some traditions, brownies were said to be the spirit of a deceased servant who worked in the home, who remains there because he was so proud of the work that he did in life.
AMANDA: Oh. Again, very— I don't dream of labor, but, you know, I see where they're coming from.
JULIA: Amanda, do you want to hear an interesting sort of, "Colonization is bad, but it did result in an interesting thing."?
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: Okay. So there is a Hawaiian spirit that is theorized to be the product of Western colonization and the introduction of brownie lore to the Hawaiian islands.
AMANDA: Oh, my God.
JULIA: This is the Menehune. Now, they share similarities to the brownies, diminutive in size. They are incredible crafts people, et cetera, et cetera. So they are said to appear only during the night and will attempt to create a masterpiece in the nighttime hours. And if they're unable to finish the task during the night, they'll leave it unfinished, but many temples and fish ponds and houses and roads that supposedly, quote-unquote, "popped up" overnight were said to be the masterful work of the Menehune.
AMANDA: That's amazing. They're like crafts people and turbo-charged spirits, like making infrastructure, not just for a family, but for an entire village.
JULIA: Yes. And so the argument that I've seen laid out is that this was a adaptation of brownie lore by the Hawaiian people after was introduced via Western colonization. However, like, it is a little bit difficult to pin down, because the Hawaiian people had an oral tradition. The argument is being made that these stories did not exist before the introduction of Western colonization in the Hawaiian Islands. So it is an interesting theory. I like to think that maybe they are connected in some way. However, I also can absolutely see that there would be household spirits in Hawaiian culture, even before the introduction of Western culture to them.
AMANDA: Another tradition that I absolutely love learning about, and so I'll put on my guest outreach list, Julia. Maybe some indigenous Hawaiian scholars of housekeeping traditions.
JULIA: That could be really interesting. I'd like to see it.
AMANDA: Let's see.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, there is also, of course, the Germanic kobold, which, in doing the research for this episode, I realized has so many different subtypes of kobold in terms of like household spirits and also various other spirits that I'm gonna have to save it for their own episode.
AMANDA: Okay. Let's go.
JULIA: Check back in in a couple months if you want to hear a kobold episode. I think you'll be seeing it, I don't know, like November maybe, something like that.
AMANDA: Just in time for hunkering down for the winter. I love it.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, you're probably wondering, as we go through all of these household spirits, why are there so many similarities between these European household spirits?
AMANDA: True.
JULIA: Well, the theory is that a lot of them are inspired by or originate from a Roman tradition.
AMANDA: Oh, really? Aka one of the original empires.
JULIA: So the Lares Familiares are the household spirits of ancient Rome.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: Lares in general, are spirits that influence everything that happens in a particular location or, like, to a particular occupation.
AMANDA: Huh.
JULIA: But when it comes to the household, they were the Lares Familiares.
AMANDA: Aka the family, the domestic, the things right around us.
JULIA: So in an ancient Roman household, the Lares were given daily offerings, usually food, as well as celebrated at annual organized community festivals, right?
AMANDA: Cute.
JULIA: Each household would have, and this is going to sound familiar, a shrine dedicated to the Lares where offerings were made, which was known as the lararium.
AMANDA: Hell yes. This word I've heard of before.
JULIA: Now, depending on the household, the lararium was placed near the hearth that was used for cooking, or if it was, like, a nicer or larger house, placed in a atrium or a reception area where, like, guests could see who your Lares were and how well you're taking care of them.
AMANDA: Uh, very cool. I'm sure there were a lot of, like, politics and almost judgment about like, "Oh, well, this family only had two oranges for their Lares. Like, are you kidding me?"
JULIA: Oh, definitely.
AMANDA: So good.
JULIA: How embarrassing. Yes, you're exactly right, though. That is kind of, like, the political social like, "Oh, wink, you see what's happening here?"
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Lares Familiares have a bit less personality, I would say, than the other household spirits that we've talked about so far on the show. In art, they are usually portrayed as a man wearing a toga with his head covered by the fold of his toga, which sort of denotes that he is participating in some sort of religious practice, either worshiping or acting as a priest.
AMANDA: One of my favorite things we do as a species, Julia, is be like, be rude for God to see the top of my head. We're just gonna—
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: —cover that right up.
JULIA: Oop, oop. Everything above cannot see what is happening below.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: So usually, he is carrying a sacrificial vessel, which is known as a patera or a classic cornucopia.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: He is young. He's usually wearing a garland on his head, and is often standing on tiptoe.
AMANDA: Oh. Because it makes the calves look all nice?
JULIA: I guess so. I'm not entirely sure why on tiptoe, but it's usually how he's portrayed. Now, this is a particularly interesting practice that I want to mention in regards to the Lares Familiares. A lot of household worship, the symbol of the spirit stays at its altar or around its altar, right? But the Lares would be brought wherever its presence was needed or desired.
AMANDA: Just like my Roomba. I say, "Cleaning, son. Kitchen, please." And he goes over there.
JULIA: So, for example, Amanda, if there was a great feast that the household wanted blessed by their Lare, they would bring the altar to the dining table. It also could, for example, act as a witness for household weddings and other important family events.
AMANDA: Aw, stop. I love that.
JULIA: Isn't that sweet?
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: This is also something that I think is really interesting. There is another household spirit that is worshiped by the ancient Romans that was called the Penates [22:43]. And so they were these domestic guardian spirits as well, but they were more tied to the family. So the Pentates [22:51] was specifically tied to the patriarch of the family and his immediate blood relatives, as opposed to the Lares Familiares, who would protect all members of the household, including, like servants, anyone who lived in the household would be protected there.
AMANDA: Yeah. Wow.
JULIA: So for example, if a family was to move out of their home, their Penantes would go with them, whereas the Lare Familiares, which is the single version of Lares Familiares.
AMANDA: Ah, nice.
JULIA: Would stay in the household and care for the next family that lived there. So there is a really interesting split—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —as we talked about earlier on in the episode of, like, what is to the household and what is to the family that resides in that household.
AMANDA: Right on. And I'm sure there were also, like, dramas about, you know— if the eldest son is getting it, and if he's a bad son, will the second son get it? You know?
JULIA: Oh, Amanda, you know. You know I'm gonna tell you a little story here. So much like other household spirits we've discussed previously, they are proud creatures who would turn their backs on members of the household if they were not properly thanked or were neglected in some way.
AMANDA: Let's go.
JULIA: So there is a story by a Roman playwright named Plautus who tells a story about, like, basically, a grandfather begged for the household lar to hide the family gold.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: The lare takes it, he buries it beneath the hearth where the lararium is.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: When the grandfather passes, the lar refuses to reveal the location of the gold because the grandfather's son never honored him or left him proper offerings.
AMANDA: Let's go. Let's go.
JULIA: The same happens to be said about the grandson. They're both assholes. But when the original grandfather, his great granddaughter is ready to marry, she is left with no dowry, because the family is like, you know, miserly and terrible.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: And, like, has wasted the money in different particular ways. However, she goes and she makes a pious offering to the lare, who is then appeased by her devotion and allows for the grandson to find his grandfather's gold after he finally sees the error of his cheap ways.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: He then uses the gold for his daughter's dowry and she is able to marry.
AMANDA: Let's fucking go. Let's go.
JULIA: Oh, so good, so good.
AMANDA: Also, make a will, people. We don't have to want to rely on our household lare to tell our families where our assets are.
JULIA: Especially three generations later.
AMANDA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
JULIA: That'd be bad. That would be bad for everyone, I think. Now, Amanda, I think that the Lares Familiares are so freaking cool, and knowing that there is something of an origin for many of these European household spirits, I think gives us a lot of insight into why certain things are the way that they are. And I'd like to tell you about a few more household spirits, Amanda, plus some non-European household spirits, but first we gotta grab our refill.
AMANDA: I'll make sure to put a little offering on the side.
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JULIA: Hey, it's Julia, and welcome to the refill. Of course, I want to start by thanking our patrons over at Patreon. Thank you so much to our supporting producer-level patrons Uhleeseeuh, Anne, Hannah, Lily, Matthew, Rikoelike, Scott, and Wil. And of course, our legend-level patrons, Audra, Bex, Chibi Yokai, Michael, Morgan H., Captain Jonathan MAL-uh-kye Cosmos, Sarah, and Bea Me Up Scotty. And you can get some cool rewards by going to patreon.com/spiritspodcast. Like, do you want bonus urban legends episodes each and every month? Check that out. Or you can sign up for our seven-day free trial and check out our backlog of bonus urban legends episodes. I think it's a great deal, so check that out. That is patreon.com/spiritspodcast. And hey, if you are sitting on an urban legend that you have maybe teased us about in a former email. Maybe you have been thinking, "Oh, I don't know, Maybe they won't read this." We want to read it, first off. And secondly, spooky season is right around the corner, and we need those urban legends, so send them to us. You can go to spiritspodcast.com/contact or you can email us at spiritspodcast@gmail.com. We are so excited to get spooky season started with a bang. And of course, that means that urban legends are so, so important for us to have. And hey, remember, you can also leave us a voicemail urban legend at 617-420-2344, or just send a voice memo to spiritspodcast@gmail.com. Please, please, please, we want this to be the spookiest spooky season yet, so send us your urban legends. We need them. I also want to tell you about a new show here at Multitude that just premiered this past weekend, Simple and Clean. Simple and Clean is a show where hosts Mischa Stanton and Mayanna Berrin and friends talk about Kingdom Hearts, a little video game franchise about really big feelings. Join them as they discuss the plot, characters, world-building, music, fashion, fan base, and societal impact of a thing that, by all means, probably shouldn't exist. Listen, I was a huge Kingdom Hearts fan when I was a kid. I still haven't played the third one, but it meant a lot to me. It really influenced a lot of my feelings and fashion choices, and things that I like about video games. And it's so cool to hear, in particularly, in episode two, someone who is not familiar with the game getting the plot points of the first game explained to them. It's incredible. And if you've never heard of Kingdom Hearts, that is okay, because they are here to break it down for you, explain why they love it, and hopefully to convince you that this weird, little story deserves a place in your heart. Each week, they attempt to unravel how this deceptively expansive game series has touched an entire generation of deeply earnest weirdos, myself included. And along the way, realize that what they're talking about might not be just a video game, but a whole lot more. So new episodes are every Sunday, and you can get those wherever you listen to podcasts. This episode is sponsored by Blueland. And hey, are you scared of microplastics? Well, to soothe your anxiety, this is the number one thing that I've done around the house to limit my microplastic intake. I've made the switch to Blueland across all the cleaning products around my house. Their products meet the highest standard of clean. They are effective, yet gentle on my family and the planet. Blueland was also named an EPA Safer Choice Partner of the Year. From cleaning sprays and toilet bowl cleaner to dishwasher and laundry detergent tablets, Blueland's formulas are 100% microplastic-free. Made with certified clean ingredients free from chlorine bleach and harsh chemicals that are safe to use around my family, my husband, my family members, when they come over to my house, even the house plants in my house. I love not having to choose between the safe option and what actually gets my house clean. And hey, listen, Blueland is on a mission to make it easy for everyone to make sustainable choices. They believe that hard working clean products can be the norm, not the exception, so that you can do better for your family and the planet at the same time. I am a huge fan of their toilet tablets. I've talked about them in many an episode, but I love that they're essentially a bath bomb that cleans your toilet. And they are proven to work on a range of stains, including rust, mineral deposits, lime scale, and hard water. So they are working hard out there. And Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to blueland.com/spirits. You won't want to miss this, blueland.com/spirits for 15% off. That's blueland.com/spirits to get 15% off. And now, let's get back to the show.
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JULIA: Amanda, we are back. And for this episode, since so many household spirits seem to be appeased with an offering of, like, bread or cream or honey, I chose a cocktail that sort of combines those things, which is the milk and honey cocktail.
AMANDA: Yay.
JULIA: So this is a cocktail that is made up primarily of scotch with a strong honey syrup. For those who don't know, when I describe a strong syrup, it means it's a three parts sweet thing, so either sugar or in this case, honey, and then one part water. So that's how you make a strong syrup. Fun fact for you.
AMANDA: Versus a traditional simple syrup, which is what one to one of sugar and water?
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: This also calls for a bit of cream and then either vanilla or Tonka Bitters, which, if you're not, like, carrying some Tonka Bitters at home, hey, a good investment, especially as you start to get into the winter seasons, like a nice, warming sort of vanilla-y bitters to add to an Old-fashioned is one of the best things ever.
AMANDA: Delish.
JULIA: So I think this cocktail is the perfect offering for a household spirit right before they, you know, get to work for the evening, after the family has gone to sleep for the night.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, we've handled several European household spirits at this point, but how about the haltija?
AMANDA: Never heard of her.
JULIA: Well, this is a Finnish spirit, somewhat similar to the tomte, which we talked about in our gnomes episodes. It is a protector of a specific place and all of the living things that inhabit that place. While there are several different forms of haltija, depending on what area they are the protector of the most relevant one to us is the maan haltija or the land haltija, and also the kotihaltija, which is the home haltija.
AMANDA: Hell yeah.
JULIA: So these take care of the home or the homestead, and much like the other spirits we've talked about so far, they have to be treated with respect in order to keep them happy.
AMANDA: I don't know. I mean— listen, if this episode teaches you nothing, it should teach you to be very grateful to the folks that perform service in your home. If you have childcare help, if you have household help, if you have cleaning help, if you go to a restaurant or a coffee shop, there are many reasons why you should be nice to service industry professionals, but particularly those that work in your home, y'all.
JULIA: Now, to talk about the haltija a little bit, I mean, they are very similar to the other European spirits we've talked about previously, besides the fact that there are very distinct differences between what their domain is. So for example, there's also the Saunatonttu, which is the spirit that protects the sauna and makes sure that people behave properly when using it.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: Which I think is important, personally. That is a vulnerable place to be in, the sauna, and you want to make sure everyone is being appropriate.
AMANDA: Very necessary. Oh, yeah.
JULIA: But if you were to build a new home, for example, Amanda, you were expected to make an offering of water, bread, money, and charcoal to your haltija in exchange for that parcel of land that you're about to build on.
AMANDA: Very important.
JULIA: Yeah, extremely important. So worth mentioning just as a little aside, if not only to talk about sauna etiquette. Amanda, you know that if there is an Italian spirit, apart from the Romans, I'm gonna have to talk about it.
AMANDA: Who'd we find today?
JULIA: I have to tell you about the Monaciello, who is the little monk which comes out of Naples.
AMANDA: Oh, my God.
JULIA: He is a little bit less of a household spirit and more of like a caretaker spirit, but he is associated with the household. So he resembles a little hooded monk. He is short, he is stocky. He is considered, for the most part, a benevolent spirit.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: He focuses less on homes, but he is known to primarily take care of the aqueducts and canals of Naples.
AMANDA: Whoa.
JULIA: They say that he knows every inch of the underground waterways, and, as a result, knew the best ways to secretly enter all of the homes in the city.
AMANDA: Shit. This is like— why hasn't this been adapted into a French language television show that is later streamed on Netflix?
JULIA: It's a great question. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. All right. So he would, for example, work a long, long day making sure that the aqueducts and the waterways were maintained, and then he would arrive in a random home or apartment in the city. And because his work benefited everyone in the city, as you know, public works and services often do.
AMANDA: Sorry, Julia, I live in America in the 21st Century. I don't perceive that.
JULIA: That's why your taxes have to go to roads.
AMANDA: Oh. Oh, no.
JULIA: So he would work a long, long day, and because his work would benefit everyone, it was expected that the residents of the home would share their wine and food with him as a sign of appreciation.
AMANDA: We live in a society.
JULIA: We live in a society. Please give this tiny, little monk a little bit of wine.
AMANDA: How much does he even drink? A thimbleful?
JULIA: He's a tiny, little monk. It can't be that much.
AMANDA: Tiny, little man.
JULIA: Tiny, little man. So of course, as always, there are several stories in which, you know, for the most part, people are kind to him, but there are a few instances where it is said that a family refused to share their—
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: —food and wine with him, and so he left only to return in the middle of the night to steal their valuables and bother the wives at the household.
AMANDA: Let's fucking go.
JULIA: On the other hand, besides him bothering wives at the household and stealing people's valuables, if he came into a home that had little, like, you know, might have been a poor family or something like that, and they still chose to share with him, he would appear again in the middle of the night and lead those in need to hidden treasures or share the stolen valuables that he took from people who didn't need it as much.
AMANDA: Robin Hood, the little monk. I love him.
JULIA: There is even, Amanda, Napoletan phrase, which is, "Forse avrà il Monaciello in casa," which basically means like— you would say this if someone had unexpected good luck, you would say, basically, "Maybe he has a little monk in his house." So I'm gonna start using that now. "Oh, wow, you found 20 bucks in the parking lot. Maybe got a little monk in your house."
AMANDA: "Maybe you got a little monk in your house." And then the person goes, "Excuse me?" And you're like, "Bye."
JULIA: "Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Maybe you got a little monk in your house."
AMANDA: "Listen to spirits. Listen to spirits."
JULIA: I just love him so much. He's so cute. Amanda, the next spirit that I want to talk about originated in the Iberian Peninsula, but then spread to the rest of Spain and also then to Central and South America, because colonialism.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: This is the duende.
AMANDA: The duende, of course.
JULIA: Now, we've talked a little bit about him briefly in other episodes, mainly in his capacity as like a forest spirit and a trickster here in the Americas. But in general, the duende is even more mischievous, I would say, than the other household spirits we've talked about so far.
AMANDA: Okay.
JULIA: Now, there are several different types of duende from different areas. Some are associated, as I mentioned, with nature, but some reside in human homes.
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: Now, there is a mischievous form of the duende, which is known as the Trasgus, and they will enter a home through the chimney and then hide away in the dark and hidden spaces of a home that are rarely visited. So you know how this is gonna go.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: It's not gonna go well.
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: When the inhabitants are sleeping, they'll sneak through the house, moving things around, even stealing things so that they're lost forever.
AMANDA: Damn.
JULIA: Not great. Kind of mean. Now, it is said that if they inhabit a home, they will turn good children into mischievous ones and, Amanda, if left unchecked, a boy influenced by this duende may become one themselves.
AMANDA: Oh, shit.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: I thought you were gonna say might become gay, but that's also, that's also an outcome.
JULIA: That is also possible. But—
AMANDA: Do you know what it means, Julia in Spanish, tener duende, to have duende?
JULIA: No, tell me.
AMANDA: It means to be, like, in your feels.
JULIA: Oh.
AMANDA: it's like— and specifically, duende is like— it's almost like how I would characterize the feeling of, like, performance that we talk about in, like, ancient Greece, when you get, like, swept up in the theater?
JULIA: Oh.
AMANDA: That is— that, like, a flamenco dancer with duende is like— they like— they got the rizz, like they got it.
JULIA: Interesting.
AMANDA: You know?
JULIA: It is very cool. Maybe it's like—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —you're taken by the spirit, essentially.
AMANDA: It is— yeah.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
AMANDA: It's like presence and passion, especially around performance. So I'm really curious about the origin of those terms.
JULIA: I'm very interested as well. That is not an etymology that I looked into too much. But hey, if you know, please let us know.
AMANDA: I'll have to read deeper in my Spanish etymology.
JULIA: So, Amanda, in certain parts of Mexico, the duende will also live inside the walls of homes. I hate that they're inside the walls. Somehow that makes it so much worse.
AMANDA: Yeah. I know. And, like, I know that's true of, like, Tom and Jerry. Like, what is the hole in the baseboard? It goes into the wall. But I'm still, like— I imagine they have a little, like, subterranean mezzanine down there. I'm picturing kind of Ninja Turtles-esque, like an unlabeled mezzanine between my ground floor and my basement. I don't love to picture in the walls.
JULIA: Sure, sure.
AMANDA: Almost all the time you're with me, and this one. You're like, "Girl, what?"
JULIA: You lost me at, like, the Ninja Turtles. I was like, I get you that you're talking about the sewers.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: But I can't picture that in the house. You know what I mean?
AMANDA: Fair. You know, that's okay.
JULIA: They're usually living in the walls of the homes. Usually, it's in the bedroom walls of young children.
AMANDA: Oh.
JULIA: This version of the duende likes toenails, and it will clip them off of unkempt children in the night. But sometimes, if the nails are, like, too long, like the children aren't clipping their nails enough—
AMANDA: Right.
JULIA: —they'll remove the entire toes. So this is why children are told to keep themselves neat and orderly to keep the duende away.
AMANDA: If someone told me, when I was a kid ,that if I didn't cut my toenails often enough, my whole toe would be gone—
JULIA: It'd be bad.
AMANDA: —I would do it.
JULIA: That would be bad. You know? That—
AMANDA: That's a great legend.
JULIA: I mean, I think there's something to be said about the folklore that is, like, trying to get children to do a certain activity, that they don't enjoy doing, so like, you know, the tooth fairy, but make it evil—
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: —to get children to brush their teeth.
AMANDA: Yeah. And I'll tell you this right now, Julia, one of the worst things you have to do to a kid is cut their nails.
JULIA: Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. So maybe if they do it themselves, or they just submit, you can get them to do the thing, I guess.
AMANDA: Now, we have to get one of this going. We have to figure out how to communicate with dogs and cats verbally. And then we need to tell them about this so that they freak out less when getting their own nails trimmed. And I know you can teach them some words, Julia, but I'm talking about full communication.
JULIA: Amanda, I have a lot of questions about where your mind's at this episode, but I'm loving it.
AMANDA: I'm on my third coffee, and it's later than usual, so maybe this is a new state unlocked.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, I've been loving all of these. I love these European spirits. I love these Central American and South American spirits. But it's not like these are the only places in the world where household deities are worshiped by people. So what I want to talk about next is the Gaishen faith in Korean shamanism. Basically, this is the worship of household gods, which are known as Gaishen, who protect various household objects, as well as, like, specific rooms in the house.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: So for example, there is Seongju, who is the quote-unquote, "owner of the castle." That's what the name literally translates to.
AMANDA: Nice.
JULIA: Which is the deity of the actual house itself.
AMANDA: Cool.
JULIA: So he is the deity of the household itself, but each of these deities that we'll talk about, each of these Gaishen, have a specific place or item in the household that their spirit is said to reside in. Similar to how we talked about the European spirits would be like, "Oh, the hearth is this person's space," et cetera, et cetera."
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: So he would embody either a, like, particular pot that would be filled with barley every spring and rice every autumn, or a piece of paper that was attached to the central pillar of the household. Very prominent and also well-respected in the physical manifestation of the spirit.
AMANDA: Absolutely rad.
JULIA: When a new family was formed or a family moved into a new residence during this time, Seongju was the only spirit that would be worshiped for an entire year in that household.
AMANDA: That's awesome.
JULIA: So basically, like saying, like, "We realize this new house is special to us, and we are forming a new household together with you, the god, so we are going to make sure that you are specifically the only one we're worshiping right now."
AMANDA: That's awesome. And also identifies that it takes a long ass time to settle into a new house. Like that's—
JULIA: It really does.
AMANDA: That's quite a process. Now, what's interesting, too, is he also specifically was believed to guard the patriarch of the family, which—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —seems, again, to be a through line of a lot of the cultures and folklores that we're talking about in terms of household spirits.
AMANDA: And how households are formed, right? Like it is, you know, it is whatever, you know, lineage we're talking about, the— that person that then gets married, makes their own family. Like, that's kind of how it transmits.
JULIA: Now, Amanda, I'm gonna go through several of them, which I think are kind of fun. There's also Teojushin, the patron spirit of the ground that the house is built on. There's also Jowangshin, the goddess of the hearth and the fire found in the home. Classic, beautiful ones, right? But we get even more specific, which I think is great.
AMANDA: So good.
JULIA: There is Menshin, who is the god of the door, who embodies either an amulet or a piece of paper that is attached to the door, and his worship consists of an offering of rice wine that is sprayed on the door and rice cakes left in front of it, particularly around October. That's usually when his worship or his festival are.
AMANDA: Awesome.
JULIA: Eopsin is also worth noting. This is the goddess of storage and wealth in the household. So, like, this idea that if your house is big enough, you actually have a lot of storage for all your stuff.
AMANDA: Yeah. Or I was thinking too, like, the fact of, like, a pantry, right? Like, if you will have to store food and make sure that you have material supplies, you gotta make sure that they're safe, and that's real material wealth for your family.
JULIA: And that's a great point, Amanda, because unlike the other Gaishen, she is embodied not by inanimate objects, like the other gods, but usually is portrayed as being either a snake or a weasel, which would eat vermin-like rats and mice, so you would keep all of those vermin out of your stores. So there— you are, exactly around the money as per usual.
AMANDA: Amazing.
JULIA: If you wanted your household to be rich, you would make sure to give her your offerings, because, again, if you have a goddess of storage and wealth in your household, you know that you're doing something right.
AMANDA: Let's make sure she keeps the money. Okay?
JULIA: And then finally, I wanted to shout out Cheukshin, who is the goddess of the outhouse and the toilet.
AMANDA: Very important, often overlooked.
JULIA: She was beautiful despite her domain, but was apparently exiled to that position in the outhouse by the supreme deity.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
JULIA: Now, offerings made to her were more to avoid her rage than to appease and honor her.
AMANDA: Sure.
JULIA: So, for example, if, like, a shoe or, God forbid, a child would accidentally fall into the pit toilet, an offering had to be made. And of course, you would also make an offering to her when an outhouse was built.
AMANDA: Right on. I wonder if there was ever some kind of colloquial phrase, like, when you say like, "Oh, I have to go, like, powder my nose," is like, "Oh, I have to go make an offering," I guess.
JULIA: Well, actually, speaking of that, Amanda, an offering typically made to her is this rice cake that would be filled with as many ingredients as possible, which, in the translation, would translate to the dung rice cake.
AMANDA: Yep.
JULIA: Uh-hmm.
Amannda: That'll do it.
JULIA: Yeah. Also, she was said to despise children, because, in her origin story, it was a child that caused her exile—
AMANDA: Hmm.
JULIA: —to the outhouse, and will often try to trick children into falling into the pit toilet.
AMANDA: You know, Julia, a good thing to warn kids to be a little bit cautious around is the pit toilet.
JULIA: A 100%. Yep. That is something to be concerned about, for sure. To finish this off, Amanda, I want to talk about Zashiki-warashi, the parlor child, which are yokai who live in the parlors and storage rooms of a house.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
JULIA: Like many of our household spirits, they could bring good fortune, but they were also little pranksters.
AMANDA: Little piece of shit, I bet.
JULIA: They typically appear as red-faced children anywhere from three to 15 years old.
AMANDA: That's a range.
JULIA: And there would be boys and girls spirits that are mentioned in the folklore. The boys are often seen wearing black while the girls wear red. Though this is not like a hard and fast rule, and sometimes—
AMANDA: Uh-hmm.
JULIA: —in the description and in seeing these spirits, their gender is ambiguous.
AMANDA: Right on.
JULIA: Whereas the European house spirits are usually solo creatures, with only kind of one inhabiting the house, unless it's the Kikimora and the domovoy, several Zashiki-warashi can be found in a household at once. And their childish nature is tied to the fact that they love a prank. They will make sounds at night like someone is using, like, the spinning wheel, or like there's dancing going on, and then when you go down there, there's no dancing.
AMANDA: Oh, shit.
JULIA: They don't enjoy having guests in the household, and they will specifically prank guests. So if you are staying in a guest room in someone's house, you might end up being harassed by these spirits who will ride on top of the guest room futons and turn over the pillows to keep you awake.
AMANDA: That's okay. That's amazing.
JULIA: All while being invisible, which is extremely fun. And if you try to stop them, they are— like, try to, like, grab the pillow and take it away from them—
AMANDA: Right, right.
JULIA: —they're so strong that you can't even, like, manage to wrangle your pillows back.
AMANDA: Incredible. Damn.
JULIA: Also, they cannot be seen by anyone other than the members of the household or the family that resides there. So you're basically, again, like, wrestling with an invisible creature while trying to get your sleep on.
AMANDA: And you know, there are definitely times when you're in a new bed and you're awake— and you wake up and you're like, "Where am I? Like, what am I doing?" A little bit of maybe vertigo, as you're, like, falling in and out of sleep. And so this is such a wonderful explanation for those feelings.
JULIA: Exactly. What's also really interesting is it said that they can also only be seen by children. They will also play with the children of the household when there are no adults around. But is believed that to see the Zashiki-warashi is to bring fortune to the household and to protect it. And if they were to leave the home, the prosperity of the house will decline. So I think it's really interesting and really fun how all of these household spirits are so tied to the fortune of a household, and the idea of, like, maintaining a proper household is what leads to a family's stability and their ability to prosper in the future. So the idea of, like, you know, keep your own household in check and everything else will fall into place, I think, is a really interesting sort of through line for all of these household spirits.
AMANDA: Totally. And I hope it also reminds anybody out there right now who is moving, dealing with disruption in their living space, maybe dealing with some maybe material insecurity, that— it's really something that affects every single aspect of your life. And so if you're finding that it's difficult to think about creativity or work or your social life, or like self-improvement, or any of those other things, when your base is not steady, I think [50:48] give yourself a little bit of forgiveness and understanding today, because that is incredibly difficult to do when, you know, the thing you want to lay your head on a clean, safe pillow at night, but that's not there. It's hard to do anything else.
JULIA: That's absolutely true. And the idea that appeasing a spirit in a small but significant way, they can help make the burden of finding a household and maintaining a household a little bit easier, is something that I think does appeal to a lot of people, and it's why we see it in so many cultures across the world.
AMANDA: Well, Julia, next time I'm at your house, I'll make sure to bring a little extra cream and a little extra bread. Keep everybody happy.
JULIA: Yeah. And, you know, I'll make us a milk and honey cocktail. I think it'll be great.
AMANDA: Sounds like a plan.
JULIA: Well, the next time you leave an offering out for your household spirit and hear some interesting noises in the middle of the night, remember, stay creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
JULIA: Later, satyrs.
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