So I was reading this storytime on /co/ and the question popped
How does one properly appease the house spirit? Leave out some food and keep the house clean? What happens if the food is not consumed, switch it daily?
>depends on the setting
Based on real world mythologies like eastern europe or japan
Dried bread is usually enough.
Also, if you're a hot chick, try to be as naked as often.
>How does one properly appease the house spirit?
Give him bowl of milk, show respect when talking about him and don't use curses and obscenities in his house.
>What happens if the food is not consumed, switch it daily?
It means he isn't pleased with you. He will destroy your gifts if he's angry at you. Try to be friendly.
Saunatonttu likes beer, and it's sacrificed to him by throwing it to the rocks.
During Yule you would leave a bowl of porridge and saunas last steams for him.
>It means he isn't pleased with you. He will destroy your gifts if he's angry at you. Try to be friendly.
I mean, how more friendly can you get than leaving offerings? Nice points though
>Don't use curses and obscenities in his house
Well then.
So, say I move to a new house or apartment, how would one figure out if there's a house spirit already living there?
If one wants to invite a spirit to live in the house, how would they go about it?
bretty cool, what other spirits are there?
>appeasing spirits
>not smiting them
>How does one properly appease the house spirit? Leave out some food and keep the house clean? What happens if the food is not consumed, switch it daily?
In my experience, speak with respect and deference to the spirit, offer good food daily or with hiushold meals.
The spirit may actually help you with cleaning the house.
That domovoi's got the thousand-yard stare goin' on. The thousand-nails-in-the-floorboards gape.
Like, seriously, those people don't have an outhouse so they use the cat or some shit. What the fuck has that poor domovoi been privy to?
Depending on the culture, house spirits were often thought to follow specific families around. You move into a new place and he follows you in. Which can be a big problem if you've pissed him off and he's pulling poltergeist style shit, because no matter how much you move he is going to follow you every time.
Different spirits also expect you to do different things. A domovoi won't want the same things as a bannik, who won't want the same things as a hobgoblin (who were originally house spirits before D&D got ahold of the word) who won't want the same thing as a kobold. Almost all of them HATE being offered gifts that aren't the specific offerings they require, especially gifts of clothing.
To invite a spirit if you don't already have one, just start leaving out offerings. If there's an unemployed one in the region, it'll probably take notice. You'll know when the offerings start vanishing. House spirits were also frequently territorial, there are stories of on fighting another trying to muscle in on its turf. So, if you have a house spirit and move into a house that already has one too? Prepare for fireworks.
So what happens when a family dies out? You know, no heirs, last of the name is dead?
>they hate being offered gifts that aren't the specific offering they require
God damn it. Any way I can see what I'm dealing with before triggering poltergeist mode? I mean, a good piece of bread should appease most of them, right? Clothing is one thing, but everyone loves good food.
My region has a lot of practicioners of african religions, but the whole place is kind of a clusterfuck so I feel like I could get anything from a god to a minor nature spirit
>In my experience
Wanna share more, user?
They like some food an not others. Most European ones liked milk or porridge.
>So what happens when a family dies out?
Domovoi becomes unemployed and maybe new family moving into his house inherits him. Domovois don't migrate from their dwelling without a good reason. When family builds a new house, it doesn't have its spirit owner for some time. If they want good domovoi to move with them, head of the family ritually invites house spirit in the old building to move with them, offers him broom to ride and walks all the way from the old house with it. If broom feels heavier than before, domovoi accepted your invitation.
>how would one figure out if there's a house spirit already living there
House spirits usually live behind the oven or certain corners depending on the building. Leave you gifts near them and wait for reaction.
I'll do that when Christ starts coming around to clean my house and shit
Some live in specific rooms, too. Banniks always live in the bath house. Domovoii always live in the kitchen under/inside the oven.
It should be noted that one of the big no-nos for house spirits is trying to get a look at them. They like being invisible, and anyone who tries to violate their privacy is in for a bad time. Poltergeist shit will just be the start, and if things keep up they'll go full Hinzelmann.
Assuming I leave them a gift they don't like, it's possible to get them to chill later?
Fuck, it looks like it's more guesswork than anything else when trying to determine what I'm dealing with
At least if the house is empty and I can get one in with an offering I'll know what it likes, but dayum
Discussing Hellboy I see?
Here in Sweden we give him a bowl of milk, or some porridge with jam or butter. We also try to be polite when talking about him.
In this particular house it was completely empty of everything not bolted down, furniture and everything, except a painting and a garden gnome from the 30s sitting in the kitchen window. So obviously we left the garden gnome there.
What happens to the offerings? Are they really gone in the morning?
Well, traditionally 'we' as in us Swedes would do that. We don't actually. I imagine that wild animals would take it over the night if we did however.
I wonder if instead of food offerings something like incense or decorating would be good. Maybe an indoor garden, some potted herbs.
I know that sounds new age as fuck, but it's worth considering. What else could be used to appease the house spirits?
Not right now, (they're listening!)
Seriously though, I did a bunch of research and merged House Spirits with will-o-wisps and another popular fantasy race.
>What else could be used to appease the house spirits?
IIRC some cultures celebrated birthday of the house spirit to appease him.
>the birthday of the semi invisible paranormal creature
Well how the fuck do you find that out
It's the day you finished building your house and sanctified it for living with salt and fire.
Faes were I live tended to detest salt,so offerings were better made without a trace of it, they live near the fireplace (than could only be cleaned in a determined day or the goblin would be mad as fuck) too, and only were active be night having to disappear before sunrise.
Bump
>storytime on /co/
It wasn't that piece of shit Seconds, was it?
Well, yes, as a matter of fact it was
Slavic fairies have seen some shit, like unshaved and naked russian women cucking their husbands with bears.
So, any good setting with house spirits and that stuff? Tough I really like fantasy the epic stuff leaves me cold, but I really like a more down to earth aproach.
At least in Finland we had along with Saunatonttu (Sauna gnome/spirit/tomte) other similar spirits, like Kotitonttu (house gnome), Tallitonttu (Barn gnome), Myllytonttu (Mill gnome) and more recently Joulutonttu (Christmas gnome, essentially santas little helper).
Each of them was appeased in similar ways, by keeping the house/barn/mill/whatever clean and by leaving a bowl of porridge or milk somewhere near the place where it was believed to live in.
Also one had to be careful not to appease them too much, like one family did when the lady of the house made some new clothing for their barn gnome, who in turn was very happy for his new clothes but then made sure to not get them dirty and thus didn't do jack shit after getting them.
Here in Norway, you'd traditionally leave a bowl of porridge out for the nisse on major holidays, and a gift on Christmas. The nisse also has gleaning rights on leftovers, so don't be too fastidious about cleaning, picking, reaping, or disposing of stuff. The nisse lives in the barn. If you do not have a barn, it lives in the barrow, because it is the ghost/wight of whoever built the house. If there is no barrow nearby, it lives under the house. As long as the nisse is happy, it will beat the fuck out of any other supernaturals trying to mess with your house, because it has massive home ground advantage. Do not try to catch or compel the nisse, this will make it upset. An upset nisse will start by cursing all your food and drink to rot and go sour and get worse from there. Appeasing an upset nisse involves giving it a large gift, like a cow. Sometimes the nisse can be found playing with your pets or infant children, if you see this, move along and pretend you didn't see anything.