Other remedies include the sign of the cross or singing "Sheep's mug, sheep's wool", but in the worst extremity, setting the forest ablaze behind you should grow him so concerned with putting out the fire that he will forget why his mischief fell upon your poor soul. Should one ever encounter Leshi, one must thwart him immediately by turning all your clothes inside out and backwards as well as the collar of one's horse, and placing your shoes on the opposite feet. Upon entering a forest, one always uttered a protective spell or prayer lest they run into him. He is also known to hide the axes of woodchoppers. He has many tricks, including leading peasants astray, making them sick, or tickling them to death. In his evil form, Leshi became a terribly mischievous being that could imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers and lure them back to his caves, where he would tickle them to death. This may connect him in some way to Shamanic mind-altering techniques. In myth and art, the Leshy is often associated with the psychotropic mushroom Amanita Muscaria. He is also said to live in deep caves that lie in the mountain areas.Ī leszy has a close bond with the wolf, and is often seen in the company of bears as well. The Leshi is fond of trees and is said to be heard weeping when one is cut down. The evidence is in the fallen trees scattered about and scared animals. If more than one leshy inhabits a forest, they will fight for territorial rights. Sometimes cow herders will make pacts with a leshy by handing him their crosses from around their necks and sharing communion with him after Christian church gatherings these pacts are said to give the cowherds special powers. Leshies aren't evil: although they enjoy misguiding humans and kidnapping young women, they are also known to keep grazing cattle from wandering too far into the forests and getting lost. Leshies are terribly mischievous beings: they have horrible cries, and can imitate voices of people familiar to wanderers and lure them back to their caves, where the leshies will tickle them to death they also remove signs from their posts. To find the way out, you have to turn your clothes inside out and wear shoes on opposite feet. If a leshy crosses the path of a person in the woods, the person will get lost immediately. They are also known to hide the axes of woodcutters. The leshy has many tricks, including leading peasants astray, making them sick, or tickling them to death. Farmers and shepherds would make pacts with the leshy to protect their crops and sheep. If a person befriends a leshy, the latter will teach them the secrets of magic. He can also vary in size, shrinking himself to the height of a blade of grass when moving through open fields, or growing to the size of the tallest trees when in the forest. In some tales, he appears to visitors as a large talking mushroom. When he is in human form, he looks like a common peasant, except that his eyes glow and his shoes are on backwards. He is said to have the ability to shapeshift into any form, animal or plant. Mass migration of animals supposedly happens at leshy's instruction. Leshy is the protector of all animals and birds in the forest. He was really big, but to hide from people in the forest he turned into dwarf-like creatures. Legend describes him as having a red scarf and his left shoe on his right foot. He has blue blood, which makes his cheeks the shade of blue. He is the Forest Lord and carries a club to express that he is the master of the wood. A leshy has a close bond with the gray wolf, and is often seen in the company of bears as well.
#ORATION OF THE WOLF DICTIONNAIRE INFERNAL SKIN#
He has pale white skin that contrasts with his bright green eyes. He has hair and a beard made from living grass and vines, and is sometimes depicted with a tail, goat's hooves, and horns like Pan. Boruta has been related to the Slavic terms barč (beehive) and bartnik (bee-master), a figure who, in some people, had functions similar to those of a shaman.Ī leshy usually appears as a tall man, but he is able to change his size from that of a blade of grass to a very tall tree. There are also leshachikha/leszachka (wives of the leszy) and leshonky (children of the leszy). Leshii means Forest lord from "les", the slavic for forest. Lesny muzhik/ded (Czech: Lesní mužík, Slovak: Lesný mužík Belarusian: Лясны дзед), (Polish: Leśny dziad) meaning "forest man" or "old forest man".
![oration of the wolf dictionnaire infernal oration of the wolf dictionnaire infernal](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/JG2YAY/lchies-dictionnaire-infernal-JG2YAY.jpg)
The Leshy is known by a variety of names and spellings including Lesiy, Leshii, Leszi, Lesovik, etc.