Also called Boginki, Mamuna, Dziwożona, Mamuny.
Their story
In Polish folklore the boginki, also called mamuny and dziwożony, lived near rivers and marshes, where they were heard beating washing at night. They were said to steal human babies and leave their own ugly offspring, the odmieńce or changelings, in their place, and so new mothers were not left alone before churching. They could also lure young women into the water.
Best times to give to them
- after childbirth
- Kupala Night
What they like being given
- a red ribbon on a baby's cot (a traditional protection)
- bread left by the river
- care for new mothers
How to honour them
- Support new mothers in the weeks after birth, which the old customs were really about.
- Tie a red ribbon to a cradle as a sign of protection.
How they can help you
- protecting newborns
- caring for new mothers
- understanding changeling tales
Symbols
- washing beetles on a riverbank
- long hair
- a changeling child
Changeling beliefs sometimes caused harm to disabled children; the stories should be read with that history in mind.
Sources
- Oskar Kolberg, Lud
- Aleksander Gieysztor, Mitologia Słowian
More Slavic beings
- Div The crying omen in the tree-top
- Vodyanoy The old man of the millpond
- Polevik The spirit of the fields
- Poludnitsa Lady Midday of the harvest fields
- Mavka Hollow-backed maiden of the Ukrainian woods
- Mora The night-mare who sits on the chest
- Zmey Gorynych Many-headed dragon of the byliny
- Firebird The glowing bird of the golden apples