RAINFOREST GNOMES
These fairies dwell in the tropical rainforests of northern Queensland,
and are noted for the peculiar relationship they have with the
green tree frogs. They apply a special ointment to the frogs'
tonsils, preventing infection in the humid conditions of their
habitat.
RAKSHASAS
These demon goblins have the ability to change their shape at
will, and can appear as monsters, animals, or, in the case of
the female rakshasis, beautiful women who seduce holy men, then
eat them. They are usually depicted with side tusks, ugly eyes,
curling awkward brows, bull's heads, bloated bellies, tangled
hair and backward pointing hands. They can cause leprosy, call
upon the dead to form a grisly army, and regenerate severed arms
or heads. Most rakshasas live in Lanka, where their king Ravana,
rules, but many haunt cemetries eating the flesh of men and sucking
cows dry of milk. Their power is greatest at night, especially
during a new moon, and it peaks at midnight, though dispelled
at dawn's first light, and abhor sacrifice and prayer. Still,
not all rakshasas are evil, and many are more like the Yakshas
than their evil brothers.
RAVANA
The ten headed, twenty armed king of the Rakshasas, Ravana ruled
in the kingdom of Lanka possibly Sri Lanka) until he was killed
by Rama. Although once he had been imprisoned by a god in a mountain
for a thousand years, he could only be destroyed by a mortal and
thus the gods were powerless to get rid of him permanently. He
came to his end after abducting Sita, Rama's wife, when Rama,
with an army gathered by many of his divine friends including
Kubera, Ravana's half brother, stormed his castle and killed him.
REDCAPS
These evil Scottish Goblins live in ruined castles or watchtowers,
and prey on travellers who venture into these. A redcap has fiery
red eyes to match his cap of red, and possesses eagle's claws
for hands as well as iron boots which enable him to run at a great
speed, but otherwise he resembles a short, stocky old man with
grey hair. He can overcome the strongest human unless he remembers
to recite a few words from the bible, which will cause the redcap
to disappear. If not, he will be killed, and the redcap will renew
the red of his cap by dipping it in the wanderer's blood.
ROBIN GOODFELLOW
The son of Oberon, King of the Fairies and a country girl, he
was left to his mother but given the power to transform into any
shape and have whatever he wished from his father. He enjoys playing
tricks on mortals, such as scaring them as a walking fire or rushing
between their feet as a hare, then turning into a horse and carrying
them away. However, he is often helpful, and will appear at night
to help maidens with their chores. Although his clothes are ragged,
one should leave a bowl of cream out for him rather than clothes
or else he will think you are trying to bribe him. He sometimes
lives in Fairy land when summoned by his father.
RUMPELSTILTSKIN
This famous Dwarf appears in the folklore of Scotland, Austria,
France, Russia and Iceland, but the version of his tale that we
know best was documented by the Brothers Grimm, in which a miller's
daughter, her father having boasted to the king that she could
spin straw into gold, is locked in a cell employed to do this.
Rumpelstiltskin does this for her, on the agreement that she gives
him her first born son. The king marries her, and when a year
later Rumpelstiltskin arrives for the son, she pleads with him
to allow her to keep the child if she can guess his name within
three days. At ther end of the second day, she has nearly given
up hope, but her pages tell her that they saw a short man in the
woods dancing around a fire, chanting "Little dreams the
dainty dame that Rumpelstiltskin is his name!" With this
knowledge, the queen saves her child and the dwarf kills himself
in rage, splitting in half as he stamps on the floor.
RUSALKI
The Northern Slavs use this name to apply to entities which appear
floating on rivers as old women's corpses, their skins wrinkled
and their faces bloated. If a child is curious enough to come
close to the water, the rusalka will snatch him away and take
him below to torture. The rusalki of the Southern Slavs, on the
other hand, appear in the form of beautiful green haired maidens.
They swing on the branches of trees and play on the surface of
the water, sometimes bathing in the lakes and pools and wringing
their locks on the green meads on the water's edge. They are seen
chiefly at Whitsuntide, when people come out and sing and dance
for them, throwing garlands they have woven for them into the
water. However, they are no less dangerous than their northern
relatives. Being the souls of drowned maidens, they are anxious
for company and may lure men to a watery grave with their songs.
They can be avoided by wearing an amulet with wormwood leaves
within, but if foiled, they will tumble angrily in the water,
and like the northern rusalki, tear at the herbage, toss fish
out of the water to die, damage fish nets, mills and dams, and
even cause torrential floods. They are at their most angerous
on Midsummer's Eve, when they are allowed to walk on the land,
in search of their prey, a motive only partially compensated by
the fact that wherever their feet fall, bright blue flowers will
grow.
SATYRS
These male followers of Dionysius had legs, hooves, tails and
ears of goats, as well as coarse hairs all over their human torsoes
and monkey like faces. Their natures were animal, and they enjoyed
music and dancing, as well as chasing Nymphs through the woods.
They helped Dionysius with his wine making, and often held drunken
orgies or scared sheep and travellers. They were mostly cruel,
greedy, lustful and malicious, but their talent for playing the
panpipes was amazing.
SELKIES
English sea faiires, these are mostly female and usually take
the forms of seals, and reflect this even in human form, their
eyes brown and beautiful and their natures mild. They wear seal
hides and travel easily through the water, although they have
to come up occasionally for air, and are thought to be a race
of humans driven into the sea for some crime. They sometimes shed
their skins and come onto the shore to dance, but if their skins
are stolen by a mortal male at this time, they will be forced
to remain with the man and become his wife. It is best not to
hunt seals for their skins in the regions where they live, as
if this happens, they may raise storms and upturn fishing boats
in a bid for revenge.
SHEN
An overall Chinese term for gods and spirits. The spirits are
always concrete and palpable in their manifestations. They may
be souls of ancestors, patron gods looking after fields, roads
or bridges, immortals, or river gods hungry for human sacrifice.
However, they are generally more benevolent than the Gui. All
shen once lived on earth as mortals and were greatly virtuous,
but died without leaving behind a son to venerate them in death.
We can ask the shen questions by carving words on a bone, heating
it, then reading the cracks, a technique already used in the Shang
dynasty with tortoiseshells and cattle bones.
SIDHE
The general name for the nobility of the Scottish and Irish Fairy
courts, especially the Tuatha De Danaan. They are extremely tall
and beautiful, so much that humans are forbidden to look at them.
Their touch can send a man mad, and their poison tipped arrows
cause certain death, as does the sight of their Queen, Maeve,
whose beauty with her white silk mantle, blue eyes and long, soft
hair often kills men with wonder. They spend their time caring
for their animals, drinking whisky, baking bread and enchantingly
playing the bagpipes, fiddle and flute. They appreciate generosity,
but though your leaving a basket of potatoes or whisky near their
homes in the hills will not be overlooked, be warned: they may
kidnap humans and use them as slaves, after which they are never
quite the same again, becoming either madmen or prophets with
healing powers.
SILKIES
Much like the Brownies, the silkies are dainty little sprites
dressed in rustling grey or white silk dresses who do housework
and chide lazy servants. They are sometimes thought to be the
ghosts of women, and their mission is often to lead people to
the whereabouts of forgotten treasures or documents. Its work
done, the silky will amuse itself by sitting on a tree branch
and leaping out to scare travellers and horses.
SIRENS
These entities of Greek myth were women from waist up and birds
from waist down. They enjoy luring sailors to their deaths by
singing enchanting songs, and when they crash their ships against
the black rocks they rest on in an attempt to get closer, the
sirens stop singing and prepare to devour the sailors' flesh.
Odysseus once survived hearing their songs; he had himself tied
to his ship's mast as his ship sailed past them, and had the rest
of his crew's ears stuffed with beeswax so that they could look
after the ship as he fruitlessly struggled to hear the sirens'
song better. It is said that they were so irritated at being defied
in this manner that they flung themselves from their island and
were killed on the black rocks themselves.
SPIRITS OF ACCIDENT
A variety of the Gui, spirits of accident are the souls of people
in China who have died from accidents, thus perishing before their
appointed times and breaking the cycle of existence. Because of
this, they cannot be reincarnated until they provde the gods of
the afterworld with a replacement spirit. They can only do this
after lingering on the afterworld's fringes for three years, and
their replacement must have died in exactly the same way. They
usually haunt their sites of death after nightfall, trying to
encourage these accidents, making it extremely unwise for mortals
to linger where a fatal accident has taken place.
SPRIGGANS
Ugly little creatures with red eyes, spriggans act as slaves to
noble Fairies or as guardians of hidden treasure. They live in
Cornwall, and although very small, can change their size at will
and are great prophets and magicians. However, their bitter nature
causes them to be better known for their skills in kidnapping
children, destroying buildings and causing foul weather. Still,
they rarely harm humans, preferring simply to be irritating.
SPUNKIES
In Somerset, South western England, these souls of unbaptised
children are doomed to wander teh countryside until Judgement
Day. Like Will o'the Wisp or West European Liekko their presence
is signalled by curious lights from the candles they carry to
find their way at night. They are often malicious, and are often
blamed for upsetting boats or leading travellers astray on the
road, and their presence is most feared on Midsummer's Eve as
this is when they go to Church to meet the newly dead.
STAR FOLK
A handsome race of spirits in Alonguian myth, they live in Star
country in the sky. Star country is a beautiful place, with vibrant
herbage, fragrant air and graceful, harmless birds and animals.
There is a large opening in the ground of Star country where you
can see the Earth. The star folk may cast spells on people through
this opening, so that they fall ill, and from this the medicine
men can tell that they demand a sacrifice from the person s relatives
for food. Star folk may marry humans, but if just visting Star
country, take heed that time may pass differently there.