HOST-SPIRITS
HOST-SPIRITS (In Bashkir mythology – eya) is a special category of the spirits in object of the material world. The ideas about them re late to the ancient layer of animistic beliefs (see Animism). The behaviors and activities of the H.s. depend on people’s attitude to them, if they observe certain prohibitions, seek for their favor holding propitiatory rites and sacrifices.
The beliefs about H.s. have been preserved to modern times.
The water host is a greyhaired old man in white long gown or a woman with long hair. The host leans on a staff; the spirit daily checks his underworld property and in the evenings sometimes can go to the bank and drag a person under water. According to beliefs, a flood is the result of the spirit’s anger. He can also control rain. Supposedly, throwing people into the water while praying for rain is an imitation of a sacrifice ritual. The spirits of the water element were likely to ride horses, braid their manes as they favored them. There are images of Mother Water, a longhaired woman, and a Water Girl among the water spirits. According to belief, the beautiful water girl dressed in clothes shining like squama comes to the river or lake bank at midnight or before dawn and combs her golden hair with a gold comb. She appears in the epics, such as “Akbuzat”, “Zayatulyak and Khyukhylu”.
The H.s. of mountains looks like an old man, sometimes it has zoomorpheous features. It is forbidden to make noise, to quarrel, to break trees unnecessarily, otherwise the spirit can become angry and start a hurricane. There is a custom to leave coins on stones, to tie rags of different colors and hang beads on the trees growing on mountain slopes as a gift for the host.
The H.s. of caves is usually invisible but a person can hear its voice while standing near a cave. It can look like a bird, a fox, a snake etc.; some chosen people can see the spirit as Akbuzat rider.
The H.s. of the house, yard and household rarely appears to people. It looks like a gray haired old man that can turn into different ani mals (a calf, a dog, a snake). If it comes in the guise of a neighbor, relative, dead father or grandfather, it is a sign of good or bad fortune. A hobgoblin living in a stove, corners of the house, hayloft etc. is a protecting spirit; if it is favorable to a family it will guard it from bad luck, diseases, evil spirits, evileye etc. People should maintain a comfortable and calm atmo sphere in the house, show their respect to the spirit with propitiatory rites, otherwise the spir it can leave, and the family can lose happiness, luck in business, health and prosperity. If a fam ily moved to another house, they held a special rite to take the spirit with them.
H.s. of barnyard leaves in the hayloft, in the stables etc. It looks like an old man wearing a sheepskin on his shoulders. According to belief, his visit is usually a good omen. The spirit warns the family about the coming offspring in livestock, thieves, fire etc. It was forbidden to beat any animals and to sell old ones, in order to avoid the spirit’s anger. It was believed that beating animals could cause paralysis of a per son’s limbs. H.s. could kill all cattle for re venge. According to belief, there are also H.s. of cattle, H.s. of horses to protect the livestock.
H.s. of the banya look like a small flame, cloud or a clot of smoke that appears from an extinguished stove and sneaks from the banya, creeping along the floor. It likes to do tricks: to pull the legs of a person washing in the banya, to cling to a broom etc. These features made the spirit evil and people began to think of it as of a vessel for evil powers (it is forbidden to wash up after midnight etc.).
There are also ideas about H.s. of trees, for ests, rains etc. There are ideas about H.s. in mythology of many peoples.
A.M. Suleymanova, R.A. Sultangareyeva
