Our grandparents used to scare us with stories about evil creatures abducting bad people. Of course, in childhood we believed the stories and were afraid to stick our noses out from under the covers. Today, we can only laugh at the ghost stories that were a true scare for the people in the past.
People lived in remote mountain settlements, hamlets and were not able to understand the phenomena they encountered.
SOTONA
Unlike other evil spirits, which mostly represented the souls of the dead, Sotona was basically a person living a normal life during the day and turning into an evil creature at night. It would then stalk, choke, and suffocate people while asleep.
It would enter the room of a sleeping person in a form of a stalk of straw, hay, usually like a moth. Sprinkling the house with holy water, placing the broom "upside down" or lying in bed upside down - head to feet were the forms of protection.
SVETLONOS (LIGHT)
Svetlonos is the most famous of all evil spirits known in Kysuce. It is a demonic being called by various names such as corpse-candles or lights. It usually manifested itself by glowing, mainly in dark forests, but it could appear quite close to human dwellings, as well. According to superstitions, they epitomize the souls of the dead who were bearing blame for something during their earth-life.
Svetlonos was a dangerous demon, especially if someone whistled at it. It was strictly forbidden to whistle at night as it was an extreme irritation for the demon. The least it could do was to pee on the offender and leave him alone. If the person had some time to put on some clothes inside out or to lie down in the middle of the road, the evil spirit no longer had any power over him.
UTOPEC (VODYANOY)
Vodyanoy or simply a waterman (known also as a “basrmon” was a scary creature for the people in Kysuce.
Long time ago the local rivers, streams and springs were completely different. They were wild, watery, and dangerous and the vodyanoys of Kysuce were far from the romantic ideas of the little green men from fairy tales.
Near Makov, the vodyanoy took the form of a large black ball lurking mainly on footbridges or near fords where people used to cross the river, whereas round the area of Turzovka, there was a widespread idea that the vodyanoy had the form of a large black dog with shining eyes. Generally, the role of vodyanoys was explicit - to pull people under water and drown them without compromise.
FAIRIES
According to folk traditions, fairies were beautiful female beings (epitomizing the spirits of women who died either at postpartum period or before marriage) whose only occupation was singing, dancing, and slaughtering young men. Fairies danced by the moon in a circle. The man who encountered the fairies when they were at their best or entered their magical circle was condemned to death. They would have danced him to death by morning if he had not quickly put on a piece of clothes inside out. Then they lost all magic power over him.
WARLOCK
A legend spread in Kysuce says that it was the Warlock who led the storm dragon across the sky. The dragon was blindfolded, it was whipping its tail with lightning, brought hail and devastating storms. The warlock was telling him where to flick his tail.
GHOSTS AND OTHER EVIL SPIRITS
There were countless haunted places in the upper Kysuce. White figures, boys in white shirts moving around the spots where a murder took place or where someone died violently.
Ghosts represented the souls of the dead who either returned to this world or were unable to leave it for some reason. Since people were scared of ghosts, it's no wonder they deeply cared for the dead not returning to the earth-life.
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Tradičné liečiteľstvo a ľudová mágia na horných Kysuciach
(author: Jozef Marec)
