Mythology

[Saturn Celeste]

This thread is dedicated to myths around the world.

 

The first myth to explore are the Saja Boys from Korean mythos.

This is a really interesting video explaining just what the Saja Boys are.

 

This is a fascinating dance of the Yunbyul Ballet Company.

 

Share your favorite myths!

[Saturn Celeste]

For the holidays! 😈

 

Krampus

 

2025 Krampus Parade

 

Edited December 18 by Saturn Celeste

[Nemia]

I grew up in the Rhineland area, and there are many local myths and folk tales that have their roots in pre-Christian beliefs. Two of my favourites: the Juffern and the Zubbeldeer. 

 

The Juffern - that's the dialect form of Jungfrauen, virgins. Three majestic, tall, beautiful virgins with head coverings or wreaths on their heads walk through their realm and appear silently to people to help them. You're not supposed to talk to them. These three majestic spirits seem derived from the three matronae, the matrons found on many sculpted shrines in the area. Archaeological findings show that there were sanctuaries for the matronae at important landmarks. I have visited two of them and was very impressed by the strong, mysterious atmosphere there. 

 

As a child, I believed in a female spirit who came to visit me on rainy nights. Her name was Puddle Girl (Pfützenmädchen). I sometimes wonder whether she was somehow connected to the Juffern. 

 

Another folk tale that I like is the Zubbeldeer, the shaggy animal. It looks like a huge, dark, shaggy dog, and it jumps at wanderers at night, climbs on their backs and tries to strangle them. Another version claims that the Zubbeldeer waits for drunkards behind the door when they come back home and jumps on their backs and shoulders to punish them. There is no mythological root for this strange animal. 

 

This area where I grew up was multi-cultural in Roman times. Germanic and Celtic tribes lived there and influenced each other, and when the Romans occupied the area, they brought their culture with them. The border of the Roman Empire was not far, just on the other side of the Rhine River, so there were contacts and certainly also family ties and alliances with Germanic tribes that were untouched by Roman culture. It's a fascinating area. Archaeologists have uncovered statues of Venus and Isis; their cults were obviously brought up North by Roman soldiers. The matronae must have been Celtic or Germanic goddesses, but the sculptured shrines were made according to Roman models. 

 

In later years, the area was Christianised and has remained very Catholic until today. The three Juffern have been re-cast as personifications of the three Christian virtues, Fides, Spes and Caritas (Faith, Hope and Charity). 

 

However, when you go to visit the sanctuaries of the matronae, you will see that the locals still bring them flowers, coins and fruit, and light candles at their feet. Old beliefs don't die, they simply transform. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19 by Nemia

[AtelierCarousel]

1 hour ago, Nemia said:

I grew up in the Rhineland area, and there are many local myths and folk tales that have their roots in pre-Christian beliefs. Two of my favourites: the Juffern and the Zubbeldeer. 

 

The Juffern - that's the dialect form of Jungfrauen, virgins. Three majestic, tall, beautiful virgins with head coverings or wreaths on their heads walk through their realm and appear silently to people to help them. You're not supposed to talk to them. These three majestic spirits seem derived from the three matronae, the matrons found on many sculpted shrines in the area. Archaeological findings show that there were sanctuaries for the matronae at important landmarks. I have visited two of them and was very impressed by the strong, mysterious atmosphere there. 

 

As a child, I believed in a female spirit who came to visit me on rainy nights. Her name was Puddle Girl (Pfützenmädchen). I sometimes wonder whether she was somehow connected to the Juffern. 

 

Another folk tale that I like is the Zubbeldeer, the shaggy animal. It looks like a huge, dark, shaggy dog, and it jumps at wanderers at night, climbs on their backs and tries to strangle them. Another version claims that the Zubbeldeer waits for drunkards behind the door when they come back home and jumps on their backs and shoulders to punish them. There is no mythological root for this strange animal. 

 

This area where I grew up was multi-cultural in Roman times. Germanic and Celtic tribes lived there and influenced each other, and when the Romans occupied the area, they brought their culture with them. The border of the Roman Empire was not far, just on the other side of the Rhine River, so there were contacts and certainly also family ties and alliances with Germanic tribes that were untouched by Roman culture. It's a fascinating area. Archaeologists have uncovered statues of Venus and Isis; their cults were obviously brought up North by Roman soldiers. The matronae must have been Celtic or Germanic goddesses, but the sculptured shrines were made according to Roman models. 

 

In later years, the area was Christianised and has remained very Catholic until today. The three Juffern have been re-cast as personifications of the three Christian virtues, Fides, Spes and Caritas (Faith, Hope and Charity). 

 

However, when you go to visit the sanctuaries of the matronae, you will see that the locals still bring them flowers, coins and fruit, and light candles at their feet. Old beliefs don't die, they simply transform. 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, that is super interesting. I googled all that just now. Can't help but think of the 3 of Cups as a metaphor for this archetype. I grew up in the Rhineland as well, near Koblenz. But that region has been so utterly destroyed by first the French, then the Allies, that I can't say I have seen anything of that there. Didn't have a Pfützenmädchen either, unfortunately 🙂

[Nemia]

Well, I grew up deeeeep in the countryside... 😉 The Eifel area is wonderfully interesting as well, a world of its own.

 

And yessss to the Three of Cups association! Absolutely. 

Edited December 19 by Nemia

[Mi-Shell]

Hi there! what a wonderful thread!

I am enchanted!

 

As you know, I am of indigenous Siberian Ancestry but I do live in Central Ontario but still follow the ways and wisdoms of my father's tribe and Clan Elders.

I also teach - indigenous wisdom and cross- cultural understanding. 

 

Here now is one of our Siberian tales/ legends about the Plaeiades = the 7 Sister constellation, of Wolves and of - that we indigenous people of Siberia have always known of the existence of our relatives, the indigenous people of North America. 

[Mi-Shell]

The legend of the Eight Sisters:

You all know the constellation in the sky called the Pleiades.
Here in North America among the First Nations People it is usually called
the 7 Sisters.
In my ancestral home in Siberia we also have many tales about the 7 Sisters.
But there is a little twist – you see, for us in Siberia, there used to be
8 Sisters!
Let me use my Moij (mouth harp) and call the story string down from the ancestral memory.

Shayan' am!
A loooooong time ago the 8 beautiful daughters of Ulgen, the Master of All,
who lived in the Sky world were sitting in their favourite blue-black place
in the Night Sky and talked to each other about how concerned they were
about the Human beings now lately all speaking different languages and
adopting different customs and most likely, because of this, starting to
squabble and even fight amongst each other.

They all agreed, the People had to mend their differences and to help them
do that they should all learn the same Sacred Wisdom of how to live in
harmony with all living Beings and with each other. For if all of the
People follow the same teachings, there should be peace among them.
The 8 Star Sisters discussed, how this could be achieved.
And so it came to be, that at the end of that fateful night the 8 Sisters
agreed to go out among the People of all the different tribes and bring all
of them the same Sacred teachings of the Kangy, the Wisdom of the living
Universe.
The Wisdom of the 4 winds,
The Wisdom of Umai Ee'ne, Mother Earth
The Wisdom of Uzen, Father Sky and harmony among all living Beings.
Each of the 8 Sisters chose one of the nations of People she would visit
and instruct.
They also decided to meet again at their favourite place in the Sky a sun circle
from now.
Of course the first and eldest and wisest of the 8 Sisters chose to travel
to the Uryanchai People to work amongst them. - - (my dad's people!)
The second oldest travelled to the lands of the Buryat People
The third oldest Sister chose the Evenki People.
The next Sister selected the Tungus People.
The next Sister travelled further North to the Nenets and Kets People.
The next Sister elected to instruct the Kasak People.
The second youngest Sister chose to see and teach the Mongol People.
The eights and Youngest Sister however was not quite sure, where she wanted
to go.
She could not make up her mind......
The fateful night slowly passed into morning.
Then the 8th and Youngest Sister saw the beautiful Morning Star rising in
the East and decided, that she would follow the Morning Star, until she
found the furthest away distant People that she could find. To them she
wanted to bring the Sacred Teachings of the Kangy.
So of she went, leaving behind the heartland of the Altai, crossing the
endless Taiga = forest beyond , floating across hills and valleys and lakes
and rivers, crossing the jagged mountains beyond that, until she got to
the foggy shore of the big salty water. But even there she did not pause
for long, floating across it on a Moon beam to the other side, where there
were new beautiful high jagged mountains , roaring rivers, quiet lakes, high
hills and open valleys. It was there that she found “her people, the People
she felt she needed to teach. These People were not very different from the
People of her home land, they had left there loooong ago and still
remembered parts of the Sacred Wisdom, but not everything. So in the dark
nights she spoke to them in their dreams and taught them, to remember the
oooold ancestral ways of Beauty and peace:
The Wisdom of the 4 winds,
The Wisdom of Umai Ee'ne, Mother Earth
The Wisdom of Uzen, Father Sky
The wisdom of all living Being being of one Family.
The teachings re-awakened in the People the old remembering and the
Youngest Sister was very glad!
But she found out, that there were more people living further East beyond
these People – and more different People even further East and more beyond
them...!
So Youngest Sister moved on - from one of the tribes to the next to the
next – re-awakening the Wisdom.

While Youngest Sister was still busy doing that, the time had come for all
the Sisters to re assemble in their favourite place in the blue-black Sky.
The other 7 Sisters arrived in due good time, greeting each other and
sharing the stories of their adventures. There were maaany stories to be
told, but secretly all of the Sisters were awaiting the return of their
Youngest Sister.
She did not come.
- They waited some more and told some more stories.
She did not come.
- They waited some more and told some more stories.
She did not come.
- They waited some more and told some more stories.
She did not come.
- They waited a whole year and told some more stories.
She did not come.
They got very worrrried! “What shall we dooo?” they asked each other.
“Where is she?”
Has the evil schoolbus, Spirit if the East eaten her?
They decided to call the Animal Spirits for help in finding her.
They asked Ee'ren Adik the Bear but he had not seen her.
They asked Ee'ren Ügü the Owl, but she had not seen her.
They asked Ee'ren Karakoruk, the Raven, but he had not seen her.
They asked Ee'ren Dilgiczec, the Fox, but he had not seen her.
They asked all the Animal Spirits to please go looook for her in all the 4
Winds.
The Animal Spirits agreed and went on their way, while the 7 Sisters waited
anxiously.
Ee'ren Adik the Bear came back first.
“I have not seen her,” he said, “but I can not go very far, if I leave
Gorno Altai, sickness will come over People and Animals and there will be
no Medicine to cure it.”
The Sisters agreed and thanked him for his efforts.
Ee'ren Ügü the Owl came back next, sadly reporting “I have not seen
Youngest Sister, But I can not fly away all too far, as I carry with me the
Power of the Shamans to ward of evil spirits and I need to guide them in
their dreams or they will loose the wisdom of the Kanjy that they just
re-learned......”
The Sisters agreed and thanked her for her efforts.
Ee'ren Dilgiczec, the Fox, came back next. He had run aaaaaall over from
one salty sea to the next and from the northern ice to the southern desert
and has not seen hide or hair of Youngest Sister.
Now he was exhausted and fell to the floor, unable to run aaaany further.
It took a looooong time for Ee'ren Karakoruk, the Raven to come back, He
looked a bedraggled mess , All his nice white feathers were black with
soot!! He told the Sisters, he had flown all the way across
hills and valleys and lakes and rivers, crossing the jagged mountains and
the wide salty sea, in the east, to the other side, where distant
relatives of the People lived.
They had been very glad to see him with his nice shiny white feathers! They
had persuaded him to rescue the Sun, who had fallen into the hands of a
greedy old Khan/ chief, who wanted to render its fat for his breakfast in a
large copper pot. The distraught people had talked him into rescuing the
Sun for them and so he had fought with the nasty chief and grabbed the Sun
with his long ivory white beak and carried it high into the sky. But in
doing that he had singed all his feathers and now they were all black And
his nice gleaming white beak was short and stubby and all black as
well....! He had just barely managed to fly home with his now stubby ragged
wings....
The 7 Sisters were quite upset, hearing that tale and even more upset, that
nobody had found 8th Sister.
That however was the time, when Ee'ren Ügü the Owl suggested to call on
Ee'ren Börü, the Wolf. See, Ee'ren Börü, has the Power to find lost souls
and guide them home.
Besides, Ee'ren Börü, has relatives in every forest and every valley, on
the flanks of every mountain and at the shores of every lake. And they are
talking to each other aaaaall the time – over loooong distances and hills
and valleys...
Yes, everyone agreed: Ee'ren Börü, would find her!

He was the one who can!
So the 7 Sisters called Ee'ren Börü:

Houuuuuuuuh!
Ee'ren Börü, heard them and howled back:

Houuuuuuuuh!
And then he came and listened carefully, what everyone said and then
agreed, to go out and ask all his Wolf children to look for and find the
Youngest Sister.
Houuuuuuuuh!

Ee'ren Börü, said and went on his way.
The very first thing he did was, he called aaaaaal his relatives that lived
upon Umai Ee'ne:
And his relatives called back:
Houuuuuuuuuuuh!
Now, you all here listening to this tale, are the relatives of Ee'ren Börü – Soooo
what do you say?
Houuuuuuuuh!
That is not good and loud enough! -

again:

Houuuuuuuuh!

That is better!
Then he told them about the missing Youngest Sister and asked them to go
look for her and relate the message to aaaaal the Wolf families everywhere.
Now all the Wolves everywhere were looking for the Youngest Star Sister and
singing her name into the wind.

The song travelled from one Wolf family tothe next:

Across hills and valleys and lakes and rivers, the high jagged mountains

through the deepest forests, in the southern desert, aaaaall the
way to the edge of the northern ice, in all the western villages at the
edge of the steppes and allllll the way until the song reached the ears of
the Wolves living by the wide salty sea
And there the song floated on a Moon beam across to the other side of the
foggy sea, where it was heard by a Wolf pack that lived there. They took up
he task to relate the message on to the wolf pack living further east of
them and so and on the message about the missing 8th Sister travelled on,
across hills and valleys and lakes and rivers through the song-lines of
the Wolf families.
The song travelled north and south and ever further and further east,
until one morning a wise old Elder of a Wolf family living the verrrrrry
furthest east, a mere day's travel from the shores of yet another salty
sea, heard the missing Sister song and immediately knew, who was meant! He
had seen a beautiful Star Maiden sitting among a group of sleeping human
children teaching them in their dreams:

Wise words of the 4 Winds, the Earth Mother and the Sky Father

and harmony among all living beings.
So the next night this Wolf Elder went back to that human village by the
shore of a lake to find the Star Maiden.
And yes, he found Youngest Sister and he sang the song to her, the song of
her being missed and about the worry of her 7 older Sisters.
Youngest Sister was overjoyed to hear from her siblings and wanted to tell
them, that she was all right and that she loved them very much but that she
could not yet come home because there were yet more human clans to be
taught the Wisdom of the 4 Winds, the Earth Mother and the Sky Father and
harmony among all living Beings.
And so she sang a message song for her 7 Sisters back home to the Wolf
Elder and he in turn sang it to the Wolf family that lived west of his home
range and they in turn carried the message further west and further west
from there over hills and valleys and lakes and rivers... And so the answer
song reached the frozen edge of the salty waters in the west of the land
that we today call British Columbia.
When the western-most Wolf pack assembled at the western-most beach of the
wide salty sea, they sang the song and made sure, that on a Moon beam it
floated across the wide salty sea all the way to the other side......
And over there it again was picked up by Ee'ren Börü,'s children that
lived on the that side of the foggy sea. They in turn related the
song-message on and on and made sure it travelled over hills and valleys
and lakes and rivers, across the Taiga forests, across the rivers and
valleys back to Gorno Altai and all the way to Ee'ren Börü himself.
Ee'ren Börü,. was very pleased and right away went to the 7 Sisters and
told them the good news about Youngest Sister being found and being well.
How they were happy and overjoyed to hear that! They danced in the Sky and
they sparkled soo all the People living on top of Umai Ee'ne could see it
and of course they had maaaaany more questions and so they asked Ee'ren
Börü to ask Youngest sister all the things they wanted to know and all the
advice they wanted to give.
And Ee'ren Börü, changed the questions into songlines of the Wolf clans
and so related the message via his Wolf family all the way east, across
hills and valleys and lakes and rivers... across the high jagged mountains,
to the wide salty sea and on a Moon beam across to the other side and again
from one Wolf family to the next across hills and valleys and lakes and
rivers... and back to Youngest Sister and then her answer had to travel
back west, across the hills and valleys and lakes and rivers... the high
jagged mountains, across the Taiga forests, across the rivers and valleys
back to Gorno Altai and all the way to Ee'ren Börü,, who in turn had more
advice to relate from the Older Sisters that needed to go aaaaal the way
across hills and valleys and lakes and rivers... ........
Well, you get the idea!
And it is still going on!
If you hear the Wolves singing tonight, that is, what this is all about.

My question to you however is:
Have you already, in one of your dreams, received the message from one of
the Sisters, maybe even Youngest Sister?
The Wise words of the 4 Winds,

the Earth Mother and the Sky Father

and harmony among all living Beings??
Did you hear it? Do you remember?
Do you follow it?
 

[Saturn Celeste]

On 12/19/2025 at 7:30 AM, Nemia said:

However, when you go to visit the sanctuaries of the matronae, you will see that the locals still bring them flowers, coins and fruit, and light candles at their feet. Old beliefs don't die, they simply transform. 

You are so right, @Nemia!  What an interesting story!  I read a lot of Norwegian tales to my son when he was little and it saddened me to see the conversion of many myths to Christianity.  But I am always happy to see myths that have withstood the test of time.

 

I searched google to see if there was an image of the Zubbeldeer but was unsuccessful.  Great story, Nemia--glad I don't drink anymore! 🦌

 

[Saturn Celeste]

20 hours ago, Mi-Shell said:

I am enchanted!

I was enchanted with your story, @Mi-Shell!  It was so visual to me, watching each animal friend head out to search for the sister.  I loved it!  I can imagine the moij in the background and the wolves howling.  Thank you so much for sharing this!

btw, a favorite band of mine is Otyken.  Are you familiar with them?  They do use the Moij as an instrument.

 

[Misterei]

On 12/19/2025 at 12:16 PM, Mi-Shell said:

... My question to you however is:
Have you already, in one of your dreams, received the message from one of
the Sisters, maybe even Youngest Sister?
The Wise words of the 4 Winds,

the Earth Mother and the Sky Father

and harmony among all living Beings??
Did you hear it? Do you remember?
Do you follow it?

What a lovely story @Mi-Shell. Thank you for sharing it.

The image of the star maiden and the sleeping children struck a chord.

Yes, I ask for guidance to come in my dreams--and it often does. I don't always remember it completely and often i don't understand it or only understand it after reflection or events unfolding. I always follow it if I understand it. Other times it's not about following anything but more like seeing clearly exactly where I am. Navigate or illuminate.

Edited December 21 by Misterei

[Saturn Celeste]

Happy Yule!

 

 

[Mi-Shell]

How very interesting! 🙂

Happy yule and all other festivities!

 

Here are a few of our Wolves, pictured from the living room window.

 

 

 

Edited Saturday at 09:36 PM by Mi-Shell

[Saturn Celeste]

On 12/27/2025 at 4:36 PM, Mi-Shell said:

Here are a few of our Wolves, pictured from the living room window.

I could look at your photos all day!  Thank you for sharing your wolves!