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In Polish mythology, the Wila are reputed in Poland and Lithuania to be the shape-shifting souls of the dead that were believed to visit the homes of their families. Peasants would lay flowers in the entrances to caves where they believed the Wila resided. Offerings for the Wila consist of ribbons, round cakes, vegetables, fresh fruit or other flowers left at sacred trees, fairy caves and wells. They are the female spirits that lived in the mountains, woods, and clouds that could shape-shift into horses, falcons, or swans also.
The Vila, or Willi or Veela, are the Slavic versions of nymphs, who have power over storms, which they delight in sending down on lonely travelers. They are known to live in meadows, ponds, oceans, trees, and clouds (see Leimoniad s, Limnade s, Oceanids, Dryads and Nephelad s). They can appear as swans, horses, wolves, or, of course, beautiful women. Slovak myth tells us that they are the souls of deceased girls who were not baptized during Vladimir's baptisms, and, in fact, the Slavic word for soul is vile.
Veela appear as beautiful women who transform into hideous bird-like creatures when angered in the fictional Harry Potter series, notably in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at the Quidditch World Cup.
Among the Slavic creatures of folklore, for the English-speaking world the wilis are indelibly connected with the Romantic ballet Giselle, first danced in Paris in 1840, with its spectral wilis, young girls who have died on their wedding days, who almost snatch away the hero's life-breath, but must disappear at the break of dawn.
These wilis have been adapted from a poem of Heinrich Heine, who claimed to be using a Slavic legend. Meyer's Konverationslexikon defines Wiles or Wilis as female vampires, the spirits of betrothed girls who die before their wedding night. According to Heine, wilis are unable to rest in their graves because they could not satisfy their passion for dancing when they were alive. They therefore gather on the highway at midnight to lure young men and dance them to their death. In Serbia they were maidens cursed by God; in Bulgaria they were known as samovily, girls who died before they were baptized; and in Poland they are beautiful young girls floating in the air atoning for frivolous past lives.
The first opera completed by Giacomo Puccini, Le Villi, makes free use of the same thematic material. It had its debut in May 1884 at the Teatro dal Verme, Milan, and was revised for a more successful reception at the Royal Theater, Turin, that December.
Poludnica was a Slavic noon demon. She was usually pictured as a young woman dressed in white that roamed field bounds. She assailed folk working at noon causing heatstrokes and aches in the neck. Sometimes she even caused madnessMadness has several uses: One who is affected by madness could be deemed insane or could have a mental illness A band, see Madness (band) A violent flash cartoon series. An online video game called Madness Interactive inspired by the cartoons..
In Slavic mythology Rusalka was a female ghostThis article is about the paranormal. For other meanings, see Ghost (disambiguation). England Ghosts are the supposed apparitions of the dead. A ghost is often thought to be the spirit or soul of a person who has remained on Earth after death. Every cultu, water nymphNymphs : For the use of the term "nymph" in biology, see nymph (biology . For the use of the term "nymph" in terms of fishing, see nymph (fishing . Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class or succubusEnglish inn, suggesting that a brothel could have been found inside. In medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi from Latin succubare "to lie under") is a female demon which comes to men, especially monks, in their dreams to seduce them and have sexual-like demonSatan In folklore, mythology, and in many religions, a demon is a supernatural entity, generally (but not in all traditions) an evil or malicious spirit. The Greek word daemon ω, appears in the works of Plato and many other ancient authors, without who lived in a lake. Her eyes shone like a green fire. Men who were seduced by her died in her arms, and in some versions her laugh can also cause death (compare with the IrishAlthough many of the manuscripts containing texts relating to Irish mythology have failed to survive, and much more material was probably never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of four distinct, if overlapping, bansheeThis article describes the banshee of Irish mythology. For alternate meanings see banshee (disambiguation). The banshee in Irish mythology is derived from the Gaelic bean-sidhe (Mod. bean si"), meaning "spirit woman". They are remnants of the Tuatha de Da). She corresponds to the Scandinavian and German Nix.
The ghostly version of the succubus is the soul of a young woman who died in or near a lake (many of these rusalki were murdered by lovers), and came to haunt that lake; this undead rusalka is not particularly malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged.
The word is generally translated as " mermaid". It is also known as the undine.
The rusalka was the main character in Antonin Dvorak's opera "Rusalka".