Who are the ghouls. Ghouls: who are they

Recently, Russian people began to often complain about ghouls. But not always those whom we call this word belong to this rare type. What are ghouls really?

Who is this ghoul?

Ghouls in Slavic mythology were called the dead, who, due to certain circumstances, rose from the grave. Outwardly, ghouls differ from humans only in sharp teeth, red eyes and a bright blush on their faces. It is believed that after death, sorcerers turn into ghouls, but a living person who has become a victim of a curse or bitten by a ghoul can also become a ghoul. The book "Myths of the Russian people" says that the meaning of the word ghoul is unclear. Some believe that it means "bloated" (from the blood of the victims), others believe that the ancient form of this word means "not burnt."

How is a ghoul different from a vampire?

Having attacked a person, the ghoul first drinks all his blood, after which he eats the flesh. The vampire is limited only by blood. There is a belief that if a monster leaves its victim bleeding but not eaten, it will also turn into a ghoul.

Where do ghouls live?

Slavic beliefs say that during the day ghouls hide in dark places inaccessible to sunlight: most often these are crypts and graves. It is believed that the ghoul lies face down or on his side in the grave and even sometimes smokes a pipe. At night, the creature crawls out of its shelter and visits its home, as well as the homes of neighbors and acquaintances. The ghoul is outrageous, as a rule, within the limits of his native village, in extreme cases - several neighboring ones, because at dawn he must return to the grave.

"Family life" of ghouls

Often the walking dead crawl out of the grave and visit their ex-wives. The most dangerous dead are those who died young as a result of an accident or violent death, the so-called mortgaged dead. In East Slavic legends, it is said that one should not cry for such dead (especially for a wife), because it worries the dead man in the "other" world and he may want to return. From the visits of a dead husband, a woman withers, weakens, falls ill and dies if measures are not taken in time. The people believed that a woman could even give birth to a child from a dead husband.

What abilities does he have?

According to legend, the ghoul has superhuman physical strength and speed: he is able to lift huge weights and break through log walls with a blow of his hand. A running ghoul cannot be overtaken even on a horse. Another distinguishing ability is the amazing vitality of the ghoul, he practically does not feel pain and is not susceptible to stabbing and cutting blows. Ghouls can come out of the grave not only in human form, but also in the form of a cat, or a bat, or any other. It was believed that ghouls cause crop failures and droughts, and are also the cause of plague, cholera and other terrible diseases.

What kind of enemies do ghouls have?

The enemies of ghouls are many animals, both wild and domestic. Often there are skirmishes between ghouls and wolves and bears, who are infuriated by the smell of a ghoul. Domestic animals are also enraged by the smell of a dead man who has risen from the grave.

Fighting ghoul husbands

On her own, a woman will not be able to get rid of the visits of the deceased “dried” to her. She must tell about this to any stranger - mother, mother-in-law, priest, neighbor. Only an outsider is able to correctly understand what is happening and give a woman advice on how to be saved. To do this, a number of techniques are used, built on the same principle - to surprise a dangerous alien with something unusual, out of the ordinary, impossible in normal human life. For example, one of the beliefs says: “Dress your children in wedding clothes and dress in them yourself. When a dead husband comes to you at night and asks what is happening, you should answer him: "I'm going to a wedding - a brother marries a sister." “But is it possible for a brother to marry a sister?” - the dead man will ask. And you answer him: “Is it possible that the dead would go to the living?”

There is another way: sit on the doorstep, comb your hair and chew cannabis seeds at the same time. The dead man will ask: "What are you doing?" It is necessary to answer: "I eat lice." The dead man will say to this: “Is it possible to eat lice?” And the woman must give the already known answer: “Is it possible for the dead to go to the living?” After that, the walking dead will leave his wife alone forever.

Fight against ghouls

In A.S. Pushkin's poem "The Ghoul" it says: " Woe! small I am not strong; The ghoul will eat me completely,
If I myself do not eat the earth of the grave with a prayer.

It was believed that only a piece of earth taken from the grave, eaten with a prayer, could save from a ghoul.

Another method said that the corpse needed to be blindfolded, fill its mouth with sand, cut the veins under the knees and put bristles there - it was believed that then he would not be able to leave the grave. For the same purpose, the coffin with the body of the ghoul was carried around the village three times. It is also considered an effective remedy against the walking of the dead to sprinkle the grave with wild poppies or millet, or to sow poppies during the funeral on the way from home to the cemetery - the deceased will not be able to return until he has collected all the grains.

How to kill a ghoul?

According to Slavic mythology, the ghoul is very difficult to eliminate. It is almost impossible to deal with him in an open confrontation. Due to its physical strength, the monster easily defeats ten people. Our distant ancestors believed that the most effective remedy was to drive a ghoul into the body or into the grave with an aspen stake. Or dig up a grave, cut off the head of the deceased and put it face down between the legs. True, it is still desirable to be one hundred percent sure that you are dealing with a ghoul.

GHOUL, -I, m. The same as a vampire (in 2 meanings).

Watch value GHOUL in other dictionaries

Ghoul- m. yuzhn. and stubborn old. a changeling, a shifter, a werewolf, wandering at night as a witch, wolf or pugachi, etc. and sucking people and cattle; bloodsucker (vampire?); evil bastards....
Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Ghoul- ghoul, m. (tat. - evil spirit; glutton). 1. Same as vampire in 3 digits. and leaf-bearing (zool.). 2. Same as vampire at 1 val. (colloquial). The ghoul will eat me completely. Pushkin.
Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Ghoul- -I; m.
1. In folk beliefs: a werewolf, a dead man who comes out of the grave at night and sucks the blood of people; vampire, ghoul. Fairytale Dreamed of. Scary as........
Explanatory Dictionary of Kuznetsov

Ghoul- This name of the vampire was borrowed from the Turkic languages. In Tatar we find uber - "evil spirit".
Etymological Dictionary of Krylov

Ghoul- the same as a vampire.
Big encyclopedic dictionary

Ghoul- - see Vampire.
Historical dictionary

Ghoul- (Russian; Ukrainian upir, Belarusian ynip, other Russian Upir, Bolg. vpier, vampire, Czech and Slovak upir, Polish upior; etymology is unclear), in Slavic mythology, a dead man attacking people and ........
Encyclopedia of mythology

And the main characters of scary tales. The tales of their atrocities have impressed many poets, musicians, artists and writers. Books and pictures were born that tell about the life of terrible creatures. Subsequently, they gave rise to entire subcultures that worship the supernatural. But what do we know about ghouls? Who are they, what do they look like and do they really exist? Let's try to answer these questions in more detail.

What does "Ghoul" mean?

In ancient times, our ancestors worshiped the forces of nature, in whose hands human life was just a toy. The Slavs believed that the souls of their ancestors returned to their homes, feasted with their descendants and protected them from evil. Back in the Paleolithic or Mesolithic era, when the way of life of people was inextricably linked with hunting, ghouls and beregini accompanied the ancestors from birth to death. Later, the ghouls were presented to the Slavs as disembodied evil spirits of the dead, who hate all living things. Beregini, on the contrary, were good spirits and sought to protect people from all evil. Christianity, which replaced paganism, changed the rites and beliefs of people. Over time, the image of the dead spirit changed and acquired new features. Now the ghouls are the dead, risen from the graves to drink the blood of living people or eat their flesh.

Who becomes a ghoul

Contrary to popular belief, it is impossible to become a living dead person through infection or initiation. This title must be earned by an unrighteous life, debauchery, drunkenness or worship of dark forces. It is known that sorcerers, villains, witches or suicides became such monsters after death. However, some people could simply be unlucky if, for example, they were conceived in an "evil" minute. What this term means, no one could answer, and therefore all those who were born nine months after Lent or a big church holiday were under suspicion. Also, future ghouls could give out a double row of teeth or an evil character.

What does a ghoul look like?

Popular beliefs say that it is not difficult to recognize a ghoul. The most terrible of them are in the form of skeletons or the dead, swollen from drunk blood. Others do not change their appearance so drastically and come to the living in the form of deceased relatives or friends. They are dressed in the clothes in which they were buried, and only the presence of a tail or a growth under the knee from which the soul flies out gives them away. The most cunning bloodsuckers disguise themselves as living people so cleverly that not everyone can distinguish their normal people. However, if you notice that your interlocutor has no shadow, and his lips are unnaturally swollen and bright, then beware. Perhaps a rebellious dead man has come to visit you, wanting to taste the blood. How to resist such a ghoul, read the next section of our article.

Methods of dealing with bloodsuckers

Folk tales and legends give us clear instructions on how to protect ourselves from ghouls. We know most of them from Western horror films and the book of the famous Irishman. However, are European methods of fighting vampires so effective and will they affect their East Slavic counterparts. Let's take a closer look at this issue and give "tested" examples:

Ghouls and modernity

Thanks to the hyped Hollywood stories, many descendants of the Slavs no longer remember the beliefs of their glorious ancestors. The images of the terrible dead, who come to dine with living people, are replaced by images of elegant and aristocratic vampires. Unfortunately, few fans of horror films know about the works of the great A. Pushkin, N. Gogol or A. Tolstoy, which still inspire fear and give sleepless nights. Ghouls are a vivid example of folk beliefs that are reflected in modern culture and worldview. Therefore, it will be a pity if we forget about the terrible tales of our ancestors and become frightened by the appearance on the screens of refined nosferatu, born of the fantasy of Western producers.

Ghoul- a common Slavic mythological character, a pledged dead man who rises from the grave at night. It harms people and livestock, drinks their blood, and damages the economy.

The ghoul is dangerous not only because it destroys people and animals - the Slavs believed that it causes natural disasters, famine, epidemics, and harms the entire community. In general, the character is extremely dangerous, similar to vampires from Western mythology.

Not every dead person becomes a ghoul. It was said that those people who during their lifetime were engaged in witchcraft turn into them. Those who died “not their own” death (too early, from an accident, committed suicide) were also suspected of blood drinking, and they were buried “incorrectly” (in a common cemetery, and not at a crossroads). The immoderate grief of loved ones can also cause the phenomena of the deceased. So, dead husbands appeared in the form of ghouls to their wives, lived with them a married life and drank their blood, which is why women died sooner or later.

There was more. She cried for him. He met her, said: “Here I am here. I'll come to you," he says. That night he went to the window, asking for a hammer. She took the hammer and gave it to him. There in the shed he knocked, knocked, and I, he says, got off, as the plow was thrown, and lies. Then he began to go to the hut. She says: "Philip, look at Vasya." And Vasya lay in a shaky place. He didn’t approach the child ... But there was an evan sister who arrived. She says: “What are you, a fool, out of your mind. Is he walking? Once the hay was being harvested in the barn. The hay is fluffed up a lot. She says: "It would be Philip." This is where he ended up. He calls: "Climb on the haystack." She climbed, hit the mother, said: “Lord!” - so no Philip. Then they noticed that he would go into the forest with a rope. Come on, they say, does he go to you - an unclean spirit.

Cursed by blood relatives, the bewitched could also become ghouls. It so happened that this or that person was destined to become a ghoul after death. For example, they were conceived on an odd day, born with teeth, in a "shirt". Those bitten by a ghoul become them themselves. In some places, they believed that living sorcerers could drink the blood of other people in a dream.

What do ghouls look like? How do they attack people?

Ghouls are in many ways similar to living people, you can recognize a specific deceased in them, dressed in what they were buried in. They were distinguished from living people by special signs - a bright blush, red eyes, fangs, sometimes a tail. When they opened the grave of the alleged ghoul, they found that the body was very well preserved, turned upside down or lying on its side. After all, the grave is the only house of the ghoul, where he spends the daylight hours, with the onset of night he visits the houses. He drinks blood from the heart, from the neck - characteristic bites of the teeth and tongue are found in the victims.

They are capable of shapeshifting, turning into animals, birds, insects. Ghouls often attack infants and newlyweds. They are very fast and strong, so with the help of physical strength alone, they cannot be dealt with. If the deceased visits his wife or bride, the woman begins to wither and lose weight. It was said that she could even become pregnant from a ghoul, but the born child would not live long, otherwise there would be no child.

How did you get rid of the ghoul?

Firstly, measures against visits by ghouls were taken even at the time of the funeral. The "mortgaged" dead could not be buried in an ordinary cemetery: the graves were dug at the crossroads, in the forest, behind the cemetery fence. During the funeral, they sprinkled the grave and the road from the house to the place of burial with poppies: supposedly the deceased would not return to the living until he had collected all the grains. It was dangerous to grieve too much for young people who died before their time, otherwise their visits could be called with tears. If the ghoul nevertheless appeared, they tore up the grave of the one they suspected, cut the veins under the knees, filled the mouth with sand, laid bristles, often burned the body, chopped off the head and laid it face down between the legs. Often they were limited to an aspen stake driven into the grave.

If the ghoul came to his wife, then it was necessary to tell any acquaintance about such visits, because she herself is often unable to suspect something was wrong. The sorcerers advised something to surprise the walking dead:

One woman was visited by her husband. She had two children. And the old man comes to spend the night. She says: "Grandpa, help." He says: “It will be evening, cover the table with a clean napkin, put bread, salt, dress the boy and girl in clean clothes.” She did just that. So she hears: there was a roar, a noise, the door opens, the husband says: “Where is it seen, where is it heard that a brother marries a sister?” And the old man replies: “Where is it seen, where is it heard, that the dead walked?” He will shout: “Ah, guessed it!” - and left. The old man said: the last night, otherwise he would have strangled.

Outsiders can recognize the true nature of a ghoul:

One woman's husband died. He went to her. She fed him pancakes. She bakes pancakes until midnight. Bakes, bakes, and pancakes all disappear. And the young woman dropped the knife, on purpose. She began to raise and sees shaggy legs ...

Talismans, mentions of gods, sometimes rude abuse helped from ghouls.

Ghoul is a hero of Slavic mythology. It is versatile and reflected the ideas of our ancestors about life and the world around us. It is useful to study it for those who want to learn more about the views of our ancestors and continue their tradition.

More about Slavic mythology.

In the myths of different countries there are dangerous creatures, the origin of which is always different. These creatures feed only on people - they either dig up graves and eat carrion, or attack travelers and tear off pieces of their bodies. Sharp claws and teeth allow several such individuals to kill and tear apart an adult in a matter of moments. And these dangerous creatures got the name - ghouls.

Appearance of a ghoul

In different myths, ghouls are mentioned in different ways. A common feature is always partial decomposition of the body, a disgusting smell and sharp claws with teeth. First of all, the difference is the degree of decomposition of these creatures - from rotting the whole body to partial tissue necrosis. The second feature is the claws and teeth, they also differ depending on the mythology - their length can be small, and can reach half a meter. The third feature of ghouls is their growth - it is always lower than human, but there are differences - from half of a human to three-quarters. At the same time, the creatures are always hunched and seem slow, but woe to those who try to escape from this - the ghouls will pursue the running target with lightning speed and tirelessly. And yet, they will never kill a fleeing person right away - they will slowly torment his body so that the victim can live longer and suffer longer.

Ghouls are tied to cemeteries, the places where they were once buried. From one to twenty individuals can coexist in one cemetery. At the same time, there is no competition among these individuals. The larger the cemetery, the more ghouls can live on it and the greater the chance that they are there. And if the burial ground is also abandoned, then the ghouls will be there almost for sure. It is extremely rare that ghouls leave the territory of the cemetery, unless they go to the call of their master.

Ghouls are pack creatures. They huddle together in groups of their own kind to make it easier to hunt, track down and drive their victims. At the same time, there are no leaders in the packs. It is noteworthy that all ghouls are asexual creatures (the process of decomposition primarily concerns this part of the body), so the process of reproduction is not available to them.

masters of the ghouls

All ghouls have owners. It could be the magician who raised the dead from the grave. But more often than not, legends put ghouls in the place of minions. After all, as you know, a person killed by a vampire without proper rituals will rise from his grave during burial. With this man, the vampire did not share his power, but preferred to leave him in an animal state. Answering the call of the owner, ghouls can overcome great distances without feeling tired. They don't feel anything but hunger. But fear of the owner can dull even this feeling. Ghouls are allowed to clean up the traces of vampire meals, and this alone fills them with a sense of endless joy. True, when the owner dies, the ghouls die after him.

wild ghouls

Not all ghouls are destined to serve vampires. Some of them are born after the death of the owner, some as a punishment for sins committed during life. And some rebel just because they want revenge. Such ghouls are not connected with anything. Neither the dark energy of the cemetery, nor the call of the vampire, nor the power of the necromancer is able to influence them. They may leave the cemetery and hunt in abandoned and empty places. They do not shun carrion and animal flesh, but the biggest delicacy for them is a person. Killing such a ghoul is very difficult. Even more difficult than to track down, because he can wander endlessly attacking lone travelers or devastating fresh graves. It is important to note that the meeting of two wild ghouls does not end with the formation of a pack. Wild ghouls that freely roam the world kill their own kind and devour their flesh.