Among the Slavonic and gypsy races all witchcraft, fairy- and Folk-lore rests mainly upon a belief in certain spirits of the wood and wold, of earth and water, which has much in common with that of the Rosicrucians and Paracelsus, but much more with the gypsy mythology (as given by Wlislocki, “Vom Wandernden Zigeunervolke,” pp. 49–309), which is apparently in a great measure of directly Indian origin.
“In the Vile” says Dr. Krauss, “also known as Samovile, Samodivi, and Vilevrjaci, we have near relations to the forest and field spirits, or the ‘wood-’ and ‘moss-folk’ of Middle Germany, France, and Bavaria; the ‘wild people’ of Eifel, Hesse, Salzburg, and the Tyrol; the wood-women and wood-men of Bohemia; the Tyrolese Fanggen, Fänken, Nörkel, and Happy Ladies; the Roumanish Orken, Euguane, and Dialen; the Danish Ellekoner; the Swedish Skogsnufvaz; and the Russian Ljesje; while in certain respects they have affinity with the Teutonic Valkyries.” Yet they differ on the whole from all of these, as from English fairies, in being more like divinities, who exert a constant and familiar influence for good or evil on human beings, and who are prayed to or exorcised on all occasions. They have, however, their exact parallel among the Red Indians of North America as among the Eskimo, and it is evident that they are originally derived from the old or primeval Shamanic faith, which once spread all over the earth. It is very true, as Dr. Krauss remarks, that in the West of Europe it is becoming almost impossible to trace this true origin of spirits now regarded as merely diabolical, or otherwise put into new rôles; but among the South Slavonians and gypsies we can still find them in very nearly their old form and playing the same parts. We can still find the Vila as set forth in old ballads, the incarnation of beauty and power, the benevolent friends of sufferers, the geniuses of heroes, the dwellers by rock and river and greenwood tree. But they are implacable in their wrath to all who deceive them, or who break a promise; nay, they inflict terrible punishment even on those who disturb their rings or the dances which they make by midsummer moonlight. Hence the proverb applied to any man who suddenly fell ill: “Naiso je na vilinsko kolo” (“He stepped on a fairy-ring”). From this arbitrary exercise of power we find the Vila represented at times as a spirit who punishes and torments.
Thus we are told that there was once a shepherd named Stanko, who played beautifully on the flute. One evening he was so absorbed in his own music that when the Ave Maria bell rung, instead of repeating the prayer he played it. As he ended he saw a Vila sitting on a hedge. And from that hour she never left him. By table, by his bed, at work or play, the white form and unearthly eyes of the spirit were close to him.
“By a spell to him unknown,
He could never be alone.”
Witches and wizards were summoned to aid him, but to no avail; nay, it made matters worse, for the Vila now often beat him, and when people asked him why it was, he replied that the Vila did so because he refused to wander out into the world with her. And yet again he would be discovered in the top of a tree, bound with bast; and so it went on for years, till he was finally found one morning drowned in a ditch. So in the Wolf Dietrich legend the hero refuses the love of die rauhe Else, and is made mad by the witch and runs wild. All of which is identical with what is told in an Algonkin tale (vide “The Algonkin Legends of New England”).
There are three kinds of witches or spirits among the Southern Slavonians which correspond in every respect exactly to those in which the gypsies believe. The first of these are the Zračne Vile, or aerial spirits. These, like the spirits of the air of Scripture, are evily-disposed to human beings, playing them mischievous tricks or inflicting on them fatal injuries. They lead them astray by night, like Friar Rush and Robin Goodfellow, or the English gypsy Mullo doods, or bewilder and frighten them into madness. Of the second kind are the Earth spirits, Pozemne Vile, in gypsy Pcūvushi or Pūvushi. These are amiable, noble, and companionable beings, who often give sage counsel to men. Thirdly are the Water sprites, in Slavonic Povodne Vile, in gypsy Nivashi, who are to the highest degree vindictive at times, yet who behave kindly to men when they meet them on land. But woe to those who, while swimming, encounter them in streams or lakes, for then the goblins grasp and whirl them about until they perish. From this account by Dr. Krauss, it appears as if this Slavonic mythology were derived from the gypsy, firstly, because it is more imperfect than the latter, and secondly, because in it Vilas, or spirits, are confused with witches, while among the gypsies they are clearly separated and distinctly defined.
Dr. Wlislocki says (“Vom Wand. Zigeunervolke,” p. 253) that “gypsies are still a race given to Shamanism, but yet they reverence a highest being under the name of devla or del.” This is, however, the case to-day with all believers in Shaman or Sorcery-religion, the difference between them and monotheists being that this highest god is little worshipped or even thought of, all practical devotion being paid to spirits who are really their saints. By close examination the Gypsy religion, like that of the country-folk in India, appears to be absolutely identical in spirit with that of American Indians. And I should say that the monk mentioned by Prætorius, who declared that though God and Christ should damn him, yet he could be saved by appealing to Saint Joseph, was not very far removed from being a Shamanist.
The Hungarian gypsies are divided into tribes, and one of these, the Kukaya, believes itself to be descended from the Pçuvushi, or earth-fairies, according to the following story, narrated by Dr. H. von Wlislocki in his paper on the genealogy and family relations of the Transylvanian Tent Gypsies:—
“Many thousand years ago there were as yet in the world very few Pchuvushi. These are beings of human form dwelling under the earth. There they have cities, but they very often come to the world above. They are ugly, and their men are covered with hair. (All of this indicates a prehistoric subterranean race like the Eskimo, fur-clad.[3]) They carry off mortal girls for wives. Their life is hidden in the egg of a black hen.”