House spirit
.jpg)
According to popular belief , a house ghost or house ghost is a spirit being that lives in a house or property . In legends and myths they usually appear as guardian spirits who watch over the house and yard and protect people, animals and property. After violations of taboos or norms by the house residents, they often appear as pests that have to be banned or driven away.
Origins
It is difficult to pinpoint an exact origin of belief in the house spirit. The house spirit was first described by Johann Leonhard Frisch in his dictionary in 1741. He was referred to here as spiritus familiaris and rather describes a good-natured spirit. House spirit as a collective term for several types of spirits was probably unusual here and only developed in later times. As early as the first half of the 20th century , the term was no longer available in German dialects , which led to the assumption that it had developed into a pseudo-scientific collective term.
Classification
Different types of house ghosts can be distinguished, although individual house ghosts cannot always be clearly assigned: special spatial ghosts only inhabit a part of the house or yard, such as the kitchen, the cellar or the stable, which thus becomes a place with certain taboo regulations. Here there are personal service spirits who are at the service of specific residents and help to increase and secure their prosperity, e.g. B. genie or Drake . House dwarfs such as brownies or goblins have a reputation for being invisible helpers in the household overnight, as well as playing their jokes or driving lazy servants. Pests such as night albums or poltergeisters are among the evil-minded house ghosts who are supposed to annoy the residents or even make houses uninhabitable.
To the European house of ghosts include Schrat that Laren , the brownies, some goblins and elves . The house spirit is also the name in European culture for a spirit (often disguised as a pet) that serves a witch and supports her in practicing her magic.
In Thailand the good spirits of a house are said to be at home in a spirit house in San Phra Phum .
In Russia and other Slavic countries, according to popular belief, every house has a domovoi that protects it.
literature
- Florian Schäfer, Janin Pisarek: House spirits! On the trail of almost forgotten characters from the German-speaking world of fairy tales and legends, Böhlau Verlag , 2020.
- Erika Lindig: House ghosts . In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales, Volume 6. Walter de Gruyter, 1990. Col. 610–617.
- Hanns Bechthold Stäubli, Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer : Concise dictionary of German superstition . Digitally revised new edition of the volumes published from 1927 to 1947. Directmedia, Berlin 2006, digital library volume 145 .
